More Than Anything (Broken Pieces 1)

“I can’t accept that,” Tina said, inserting an entire glacier’s worth of ice into her voice. Wanting this woman to know exactly how insulted she was by even the suggestion of charity. Daff responded to her affront by rolling her eyes.

“Okay, get your panties out of that twist. I had your friend pegged as the easily offended one, not you. I’m not charging you, because you’re the one doing me the favor. Do you have any idea how mind-numbingly boring it is to sit at home every day waiting for this baby to pop? Spencer won’t let me lift a finger at home, and for some dumb reason he seems to think using one’s brain is overtaxing as well. I need this. Or I’ll go stir crazy.

“Besides, I think this will be fun. It really won’t require too much work from me at all. You’ve already done such a fantastic job with the place. It looks amazing, and the food is wonderful. MJ’s now has the potential to be a drawing card to tourists and out-of-towners as well as locals. And that would be great for the entire town. It just needs a few tweaks.”

Tina considered Daff’s words for a moment, and the defensive tension slowly drained from her. Hearing praise from someone as impartial, blunt, and honest as Daffodil Carlisle felt . . . well, it felt amazing, actually. It felt like validation, like she was doing something right. Like her instincts about the place may not have been as terrible as she had started to believe they were.

She had failed at so very many things since her baby’s death—it had become her norm. She had allowed herself to start each new job or project with the assumption of failure looming over her. And her family’s low expectations had only reinforced that lack of self-belief. But maybe MJ’s really was her chance to move forward. Her opportunity to finally—after so many years of failing at so many things—allow herself to succeed.

Not wanting to seem too eager, she gave Daff a long, measuring stare before resting her elbows on the desk and steepling her fingers. She hoped she looked as cool and businesslike as the guys who did the same in the movies.

“Okay,” she said, relenting. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Half an hour later, Tina couldn’t keep the excited smile off her face. Daffodil Carlisle looked a little peaked but extremely satisfied with herself. Her smugness was completely justified. She had outlined a comprehensive social media marketing strategy and partnership ideas with a few of the local businesses, including her husband’s Riversend store and an upmarket clothing boutique she had worked for in the past. Daff’s community-outreach ideas were also phenomenal; it would mean more work, but she had suggested donating pastries to some of the local charities, as well as the youth center her husband ran. She had even proposed catering the city council’s next few meetings free of charge. “Give a little to get a lot,” was her motto, and Tina could not find a single flaw in that strategy. Gaining favor with the leaders would go a long way in a small town like Riversend.

“This is really great, Daff,” Tina enthused, and Daff smiled smugly. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of some of these things myself.”

“This is why I demand my husband pay me the big bucks,” she said with a grin. “I know my stuff.”

“I can’t let you do this without some compensation,” Tina said again.

“Free meals for the hubby, Charlie, and me for a year. We’re the ones scoring.”

“Done.” Tina stretched her hand out across the desk, and Daff shook it firmly.

“I want to get started on this right away,” Daff said. “I’m due in just a few weeks, and I won’t have as much time to dedicate to this project after the baby gets here. I’d like to get the ball rolling, start a Facebook page; I know someone who can set up a website, and I’ll do the newsletter every month. We can showcase things like seasonal specials, new menu items, staff news, and so on. I know a journalist with the local paper; we can do a spread on the restaurant and everything it has to offer.

“But here’s the thing: I can only do so much, Tina. You and Libby, you’re the driving force behind the brand. This is a close-knit community, and MJ’s has long been the social hub of the town. People consider you an outsider, and it didn’t help that there was absolutely no promotion of the relaunch and no attempt to engage the locals whatsoever. Not even an ad in the paper. It offended folks. They think you don’t care about MJ’s or how much it means to the town.”

Tina winced at that bit of honesty. Her botched PR attempts coming back to haunt her.