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He could see little glimmers of confidence in her that needed to be pushed out. He’d done that with his staff over the years. He’d learned to figure out what motivated them to do their best.
Some people needed hard love. Some needed a gentle prod. Others needed kindness and a chance.
He was thinking Hadley fell into a combination of the last two.
It wasn’t just with work though that his mind was spinning. This felt more personal to him and he wasn’t sure why.
Kelsey started to punch a few buttons on the keyboard and then her printer went off. She rolled over in the chair to grab the sheets and hand them to him.
“I imagine you want to talk about Southside? Here is what I’ve got so far in the time you’ve been running it. I’ve got it compared to this time last year too.”
“Shit,” he said, looking them over and not stunned to see how much more of a profit he was running at. “You’ve been busy and working fast.”
“I always will for you. And maybe there is part of me that feels as if I pushed you toward this, with the Breatons being my clients, that I wanted to make sure I didn’t steer you wrong.”
“You never have before,” he said. “Things are looking better than I thought.”
“I know you have it figured out in your head, but seeing it on paper is nice too.”
He didn’t have the head for numbers like his sister or mother, but he knew how to run his business. He’d gotten that from both of his parents.
His father had owned restaurants and pubs over the years. Not that Kyle Raymond was a cook. Nope, he was a businessman and had a lot of venture deals. He’d actually lost track of everything his father owned fully or was in a partnership with. Maybe two bars, one on the island, one off. Nothing in competition to him in terms of the food industry.
But he did know his father had the island movie theater and bowling alley for sure. Pretty much anything family oriented in entrainment, his father had his pulse on. There were rental homes, hotels and more off the island. Yeah... too much for him to remember or even care about.
“Yes,” he said. “Okay. I need an advertising budget. That is why I’m here.”
“You’re going to listen to me,” Kelsey said, clapping her hands sarcastically.
“Very funny,” he said. “I listen to you all the time and you know it.”
“Because the older sibling is always the wiser.”
“You’re only older by eight minutes,” he said. Kelsey never let him live that down either.
“No time to get into old arguments,” he said. “I’ve got Stan’s daughter, Hadley, working for me.”
“Really?” Kelsey asked. “I’ve heard her name before but didn’t know she was on the island.”
“Guess she moved back a few weeks ago. Stan came in and asked if there was a place for her while she got on her feet. I’m not sure what was going on or happened and didn’t ask. She’s worked there before and I thought I’d give her a chance. It’s working out better than I thought.”
“You’re smiling,” Kelsey said. “Do you think she’s hot?”
He wanted to snarl at his sister. “So,” he said.
Kelsey laughed. “Now I know what your motivation is. I never thought you’d do that.”
“First off,” he said slowly, “I said I’d give her a shot before I even met her so I had no idea what she looked like and I don’t hire people based on that. You know it. I just figured everything that Stan and Louisa were doing and giving me control of it was the least I could do. Second of all, she’s worked there for years on and off when she visited and she’s great with the customers. But more than that, she is a baker. A home baker, but she’s outselling me.”
Kelsey started to laugh even louder. “That has to be killing you.”
He thought it would. “Actually, it’s not. I don’t know much about her other than she’s quiet and lacks confidence in things. But she shines when she’s baking.”
“Aww,” Kelsey said. “She found one of your little weak spots. You love to see people shine when they find a passion in life.”
This time he did growl at his sister. “Zip it,” he said.
Kelsey shrugged. “Fine. I get it. She’s doing well and that might explain why your dessert sales were high last week.”
