“Do you know how much easier your baking routine would be if you’d just look into leasing the space next door to Harper’s Coffee? No more loading up the car, no more getting up extra early because you only have one oven…”
“Dad, really? You want to have this discussion now?” She braced her hands on the counter and faced her father. “I’m still working on getting you to see reason about yourself and this inn.”
He rolled his eyes. “I am seeing reason. I took a tumble anyone in my position could have taken. Should I have waited until someone was home to climb the ladder? Yes. I won’t make that mistake again. Lesson learned.” He rose from his seat and walked over to the coffee machine and took the cup she’d forgotten, added milk, and took a sip. “See? Perfectly capable of doing things for myself.”
She blew out a breath. “I need to get into town. I’m glad you’re feeling better, Dad. Really. If you need anything–”
“I’m here. You didn’t want help taking your muffins to town, so I’m hanging here with James.”
“We’re going to discuss what remains to be done on renovations,” her father said, clearly excited and pleased with himself.
Parker shook his head. “Not helping,” he muttered and she couldn’t help but chuckle under her breath. Her dad was a stubborn man.
And she didn’t wonder where her own personality had come from.
“Which reminds me, you need to look into hiring a decorator to redo the inside of the place. We’re going to change it all up and I want you to feel like you’re picking what you want,” her father said, sipping from his mug.
“Why do I feel like you’re ignoring me?” she asked.
“Maybe because I am? This is happening,” he informed her.
She knew when to give up the fight at least for now. “Okay, you two. See you later.”
Later, after the morning rush, during which Emily helped out because Harper was short-staffed, they were able to sit down at a quiet table to talk.
“Whew. That was a busy morning,” Emily said.
“It was. And I’m grateful for it. Which is why what I have to tell you is so important.” Harper fidgeted in her seat and it was obvious she had something on her mind.
“Talk to me.”
“Okay.” She looked around, obviously making sure they were alone. “My landlord called. He got an offer. Not just on the store we have our eye on but he offered to buy out my lease because they want to purchase the entire block.” Harper’s eyes opened wide. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
Neither could Emily and her stomach twisted painfully. She’d been putting off this decision because she could. Because the perfect store was there waiting for her to come around or not. “What did you tell him?”
“That the coffee shop is my life and I had no desire to walk away. I said I had a lease he couldn’t break and that I’d get back to him about an offer on the place next door. Oh hell, I broke down and begged him not to sell. I don’t want a landlord who’s going to make my life hell and evict me!”
Emily pinched the bridge of her nose, a headache beginning to form there. “What can we do?”
“Don’t be mad.”
She narrowed her gaze. “What did you do?”
“I made us an appointment with the bank,” Harper said on a rush. “In” – she glanced at her phone – “fifteen minutes so we could apply for a small-business loan.”
Emily bit down on the inside of her cheek. “Don’t you already have a small-business loan?”
“Yes, but I’m making my payments. Look, we have to try. This is our dream, right? Well, it’s going to dissolve in front of our eyes if we don’t at least attempt to do something to stop it.”
Knowing this was it, that she either jumped on opportunity or regretted it forever, she looked at her best friend and nodded. “Okay. Let’s go apply for a loan. I have to warn you, I don’t have any collateral.”
“Goodwill goes a long way in small towns. I hope,” Harper muttered, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of her chair.
They headed to the bank to meet with the loan officer. Emily didn’t leave overly optimistic but she knew she’d tried. She had statements and paperwork she had to forward to them and she decided to hold on to hope.
But she swore Harper to secrecy. She didn’t want to tell Parker she’d applied for a loan. She knew he was wealthy and he clearly had the money to fund the inn. For sure, he’d offer her a similar deal to the one he’d made with her father. She didn’t want to owe him money.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. It wasn’t that she put him in the same category as Rex or thought he’d try to control her even if she did take a loan from him. It was that she didn’t want him to feel like he had to keep propping up her family because he felt bad for them. Or because he liked her. Or was sleeping with her. He wasn’t a bank. And that was that.