Part 5 (1/2)

As there weren't any profits from which to get a cut, it wasn't a happy thought. ”I want to bring in my own suppliers.”

”We honor these first.”

She recognized the stubborn set of his mouth. She could fight and scream and possibly threaten physical violence, but he wouldn't back down. Her only option was logic.

”Fine. I'll use them for now, but if they screw up even once, it's over. I'll go to someone else.”

”Fair enough.”

”You better have a talk with them. I'll put money on the fact that they haven't been delivering their best here. That had better change.”

”I'll get on it.” He pulled a PalmPilot out of his jacket pocket and wrote on the small screen. Cal was such a guy-always in love with his toys.

”Shouldn't the new general manager be handling that?” she asked. ”Don't you have coffee you should be selling?”

”Funny you should mention that,” he said.

She leaned against the counter and looked at him. All the warning signs were there-the brightness in his eyes, the slight smile, his sense of being totally in charge of the situation. Not that he was. This was her dream they were talking about and she wasn't going to let anyone mess with it.

”Let me guess,” she said dryly. ”I'm not going to like who you've hired.”

”I don't know.” He shrugged, then smiled. ”It's me.”

She'd been expecting either a name she didn't recognize or someone she'd worked with in the past and hadn't liked. But Cal? Her stomach heaved once as emotion flooded her.

No. Not Cal. So not a good idea.

”You won't have time,” she said quickly. Oh, sure, he was good-she remembered that much. He'd walked away from the family steak house to start his own thing, but it hadn't been because he was failing. On the contrary, profits had been up substantially. But here? Now?

”I'm taking a leave for four months,” he said. ”I'll still go in to The Daily Grind office, but just for a few hours a week. My focus is The Waterfront.”

”Why didn't you tell me when I asked the first time?”

”I thought you'd turn down the job.”

Would she have? She wasn't sure. Not that she would let him know she wasn't sure.

She laughed. ”Gee, Cal, I thought your brother was the one with the big ego. Now I see it runs in the family.”

He didn't even look uncomfortable, which was just like him. Instead he stared at her.

”Given our past, it was a reasonable a.s.sumption. Working together under any circ.u.mstances could be challenging, but in a restaurant...” His voice trailed off.

She turned away. Her point exactly. ”I don't care who I work with as long as he or she is good at the job. So show up, give a hundred and fifty percent, and we'll be fine.”

”Penny?”

She breathed deeply, not wanting to give in to the anger inside of her. Deep, buried anger that made her want to lash out. It was the past, she told herself. It was long over. She had to remember that.

But her list of grievances-his wrongs-wouldn't go away. She wanted to scream them all and demand explanations. Talk about unreasonable.