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“Don’t worry about it. It’s a small town. People are bound to talk about a new business.” I just hoped they weren’t predicting my demise.
Hailey tipped her head to the side. “What are we going to do to counter his opening? A trivia night?”
“Should we do a monthly trivia night? I just worry it won’t be as popular as the ones held in bars. We don’t have a liquor license.” Not that I wanted to serve beer on top of coffee.
Hailey pointed a finger at me, her gaze filling with excitement. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”
“Serving alcohol?” I asked skeptically.
“Branching out into other options in case he takes business away from you.”
I’d toyed with a different business model over the years, but the coffee shop was doing so well that there was no need to explore it further. “I’ve thought about selling specialty items: spices and popcorn from Ocean City and local items like crab soup.
“It’s a nice idea, but not enough to counter a potential loss in customers, though.”
I held up a hand. “I’m not saying we do it yet. But I’ll investigate how much it would cost, what we’d need to do to add a small kitchen. I could serve wine and appetizers.”
Surprisingly, Hailey didn’t scoff at my ideas. “Let me call in a couple of contractors, get some quotes, and you can run the numbers on your end.”
I loved having options. For the first time since seeing Ben in my store, my chest felt lighter. There was a store by the harbor front that sold liquor and wine, but it was more of a liquor store. It didn’t serve food. There was nothing similar.
“Would you miss Java Coffee, though?” Hailey asked.
“I don’t know. I want my business to be successful, but I’m not sure I want the hours that come with servicing wine. Plus, I want to be present for Abby and Hunter. She needs help in the evenings.”
Some things are just dreams. They don’t ever see the light of day.
Hailey chewed her lip. “It’s perfect for me. I could write in the daytime and work here in the evenings.”
“You’d be okay with that?” I asked. “What about your writing?”
I didn’t want to detract from her dream. Not when she’d already spent so many years living someone else’s—specifically her grandparents’ Spice & Tea Shoppe.
Her nose wrinkled. “That won’t pay the bills for a while. It’s something I enjoy, but I don’t know I’d want the pressure of making a full-time income from it.”
“It’s too soon to know.” She’d finished her manuscript but was going through lengthy edits and getting discouraged. She was overwhelmed with the self-publishing process.
“Ryan works late nights anyway. And if the idea takes off, you could hire more people. You could still work a few nights a week. Especially when Hunter doesn’t have practice or games.”
“Maybe.”
Hailey snapped her fingers. “I got it. You can serve coffee in the morning and wine in the afternoons and evenings. It could be a dual business.”
“You just got out of a business you weren’t crazy about. I don’t want to pull you into another one.” As much as I appreciated her help, I refused to let her waste any more time on something she wasn’t passionate about. She’d just sold her grandparents’ shop because she wanted to focus on her writing.
“Let me worry about what I want,” Hailey said pointedly.
“Let’s do the groundwork, then. I like having the option if we need it.” I made a note on my daily to-do list. I had several Post-it pads on my desk. One for my daily to-dos, one for my long-term to-dos, and one for my employees. If it wasn’t on the list, I’d forget. I preferred writing them down so I could cross them off when I completed them, but I had notes on my phone for when I thought of something outside the store.
Hailey clasped her hands together. “I’m so excited to get started. I know you’re worried about the competition, but I think this will be an amazing opportunity for you.”
I’d always thought Ben brought out the best in me. Maybe I’d gotten complacent as the only coffee shop, but I wasn’t ready to credit Ben for motivating me to step things up.
“We make a good team,” Hailey added.
“We do.” I think it was because she wasn’t emotionally invested in my business. She could see the bigger picture, the possibilities and risks, that I couldn’t.
Hailey’s expression turned serious. “Can we talk about something personal?”
