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“While she started the event, ultimately, what injured you were the racks while you were on the premises of the bakery.”
“Not my side, though.”
She waved her hand around. “Send them the bills. Whatever they reject, you can submit to insurance. How did things go at the police station yesterday?”
Ahh, the real reason Ivy wanted to have breakfast with me this morning.
“I just gave them my statement, Ivy. I didn’t see her or ask about her. Gabe told me she’s being held in Saginaw.”
“Did she make a statement?”
“Apparently, she admitted to the attack since they arrested her wearing the clothes with my blood on it. I don’t know what they’ll charge her with but I told Gabe they should consider getting her help rather than incarcerating her. It turns out she didn’t stab me with a knife, but a self-defense tool on her keys. It wasn’t intentional, she just had it in her hand when she rushed me. She was simply too drunk to use any kind of good judgement.”
“Well, as much as I don’t like Brenda, I’m glad at the very least she didn’t come prepared to hurt her own daughter.” She stroked the hair on Lucy’s head. “I can’t imagine ever wanting to put my daughter in that kind of danger.”
“True, but the difference is, you wanted Lucy. She is the best part of you and your soulmate combined. That’s a completely different scenario than my conception.”
She nodded, still stroking Lucy’s head. “I want to give her a brother or sister one day.”
“I know you do, Ivy. You have time, she’s only two.”
Her laughter was quiet when she nodded. “Shep and I agreed to wait another year and then we’d start trying for Lund baby number two. By then Lucy will be old enough to go to preschool a few days a week to give me a break, and when the baby is born, she’ll be nearly four. Old enough to help, but still young enough to appreciate a sibling.”
“I like how you have it so perfectly planned out. Life happens when you least expect it, Ives.”
She held up her hand. “Okay, that’s fair. Let me just say that’s the loose understanding that Shep and I came to for now. I need time to find a manager to help lighten the load before I can consider it. I also want to get all the diner business that we still do on paper transferred over to the computer. I’m constantly losing paperwork in that disaster of an office, so I need a program to track everything better. I also want to find a program that will track our most ordered and least ordered items on the menu, so we can adjust the menu accordingly. Especially the seasonal dishes. It would be nice to know how much we’re selling without having to go through order slips every night. We can’t even base it on product used because we cross use so many products here.”
I nodded with her and finally jumped in. “I have a program right off the top of my head that would do that. I use it in the bakery for our seasonal cakes and donuts. Wouldn’t take me long to set it up for you. I can work with you to find the best program for everything else, but chances are, we could employ the same one I use for the bakery.” Ivy sat with her mouth hanging slightly open. I leaned back in the booth and waved my hand. “Or not. It’s up to you.”
“You can do all of that?” she asked as though I just told her I was a champion pole vaulter.
“Ivy, I have a degree in restaurant management. Yeah, I can do all of that and more.”
She leaned in across the table. “I need you here, Indie. Desperately. Help me.”
“I would, but Ivy, I have the bakery. That’s a full-time job in itself.”
“It’s running smoothly, right?”
“Of course, but you still need a manager.”
“Mel.”
“Who manages the diner bakery business and trains all the kids. There’s only so far that she can stretch.”
She sat silently for a few moments while staring out the window. I could tell she was trying to work something out in her mind, so I waited her out. Finally, she turned to face me. “What if I make Mel the manager of the entire bakery? Could she handle it?”
“Of course, but again, she just doesn’t have the time.”
“She would if I hired a full-time baker, which would be a lot easier than hiring a manager, I’m learning. If I had another full-time baker, and Mel took over running the bakery as a global unit, then you’d be free to manage the diner.” I was about to speak when she held up her hand. “If you want to, that is.”
“This is your diner, Ivy. I don’t know how the people of Bells Pass would feel if you aren’t managing it.”
“No, I would be,” she said right away. “We’d be co-managing. Obviously, you can’t work seven days a week for sixteen hours a day. But if I have a co-manager, then I know on the days you’re working, I’m free to do paperwork and spend time with the family. I’d only be at the house, for the most part, so if a problem arose, I could run over. I have at least a month of work just trying to organize the office.”
“I could get the office in shape in less than two weeks if we move everything to the programs we talked about.”
She held her hand out at me. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. I need you here, Indie. Please.”
