The Sweetheart Deal

She stole a glance down the aisle to where Adam sat listening to the other bank manager. Had he changed from the angry bully she remembered? The one who hurt others to keep everyone at a distance? He turned and found her looking at him. She turned back and tried to keep her focus on the speaker, her cheeks heating at getting caught.

After another hour, the session broke up with Rick assuring everyone that there would be a follow-up next week at the town council meeting. Megs rose to her feet and reached behind her to grab her thick coat. The snow had stopped for now, but the frigid temperatures had returned with a vengeance. She struggled to get the parka over her shoulder when a helping hand intervened. She turned and looked up into Adam’s long thin face. She stammered and cursed her flaming cheeks. “Thanks.”

“I meant what I said up there, Megan. I’m here to help.” He glanced past her, at her sister and Sam, then nodded and left.

Megs turned to Kelly. “What was that about?”

Her sister shrugged. “Sounds as if he wants to help you.”

“I don’t want his kind of help.” But she felt less sure of that than before.

“But you might need him more than what you want.”

Megs noticed him walk up the aisle to the back of the auditorium before getting stopped by several people with questions. He leaned down to hear them better and seemed interested in what they had to say. He seemed so different from the boy who had bullied her and her friends. Less hostile, more willing to help. But could she trust him? She already had two strikes against her with the other banks. What could it hurt to try the third at Foster with Adam?

But to help her case, she’d be sure not to show up with empty hands reaching out.

* * *

WHEN SHE RETURNED HOME, she scoured Grammy’s cookbooks for the best recipe to use for what she had in mind. She needed to tempt Adam with her sweet treats, but it had to be special. Something more would be required than a batch of chocolate-chip cookies if she expected him to hand her a loan for thousands of dollars. It had to require an effort on her part since she was asking for the same thing from him.

Cannolis? She wrinkled her nose. Those always sent the wrong message, especially if it was a gift for the opposite sex.

Strudel? Nah, she didn’t want to come across as flaky as the pastry.

She willed Grammy to direct her hands as she flipped through pages, as if the woman could tell her from the other side what to do about the business. The back door opened, and Kelly breezed in, her cheeks flushed and lips swollen. Megs gave a smirk but returned her gaze to the cookbook. “Said good-night to Sam?”

Kelly brought her fingers to her face and nodded. “That man sure can kiss.”

“Hmm, I’ll have to take your word on that.” Despite the fact that she’d known Sam longer and perhaps in some ways better, it was her sister’s attention he had snagged. She flipped through more pages and sighed. “So now that you’ve gotten the all-clear on the house, what are you two going to do with it?”

Her sister hung up her bright pink wool pea coat on a peg, then took a seat across the dining room table from her, snatching a cookie from an overflowing plate. “Good question. The will won’t be out of probate for a few more months, so it’s not as if we have to decide right this minute.”

Megs looked up at her. “Do you think you have the money to buy out Sam’s half? Or are you two planning on something more permanent?”

Kelly teased, “Now that I don’t have my paycheck from the bakery, I have even less money than before. And Sam hasn’t mentioned the future lately. Maybe he’s having second thoughts.” She munched on her cookie for a moment before she said, “The best thing would be to sell the place. As much as I hate to say it.”

Megs shook her head. “Sam’s planning a future, all right. And you’re the only one he’s intending to spend it with.”

Kelly shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

They both looked around the renovated dining room that now opened into the living room. It would be a shame to have to leave not only their family home, but the beautiful showcase that Kelly and Sam had turned it into. But for them to each get their share of the inheritance, it meant selling would probably be their best option. Kelly frowned. “I don’t want to think about that right now. Crazy meeting tonight, huh? So are you going to finally meet with Adam and discuss that loan?”

“That’s what I’m working on.” She held up the cookbook and pointed to a recipe. “Does he look like a Napoleon kind of person?”

Kelly took the book from her. “He’s too tall. You thinking of buttering him up with one of your pastries?”

“I need him to see that I’m more than just doughnuts and cookies. That I’ve got a head for business as well as baked goods.” She picked up Grammy’s old recipe ledger that now had a warped cover from the water damage. She opened it and with a finger traced the blurry handwriting. The ink had run on certain pages, and she wanted to howl at the loss of not only the recipes but Grammy’s notes. This book was her legacy from the woman who had taught her to cream sugar and sift flour. Her mentor who ate the first piece of her peasant bread and sampled her crème fraîche. She ran a hand down one page. “I keep hoping that something will jump out as the perfect recipe.”

“Like this?” Kelly turned the page around of the cookbook she’d been looking at and pointed to their grandmother’s handwriting. “She wrote that these were perfect for desperate times.”

“I’m not desperate.” At her sister’s doubtful expression, she shook her head. “I’m not. Worse comes to worst, I take the insurance money and start over somewhere else.”

“But then it wouldn’t be the Sweetheart.”

“It would. Just in a different location.” She took the book from her sister. “But it wouldn’t hurt to try. Right?”

She read over the recipe for baci, a small Italian cookie that Grammy recommended dipping in chocolate. It looked easy. Simple but elegant. And she had all the ingredients already. It could work.

At this point, it couldn’t hurt.

* * *

MEGS TOOK THE cream canvas bag from her backseat and carefully placed it over her arm as she shut the door. She glanced up at the bank and took a deep breath to calm the buzzing bees that filled her belly. She could do this. She could go in there and prove to Adam that the Sweetheart deserved that loan. That she could meet the repayment terms without a struggle.

She had to do this.

Another deep breath, and she walked forward. She’d arrived ten minutes before her appointment time, but she hoped that he would see it as a sign of her determination rather than desperation. She opened the front door and allowed Mr. Finney to enter before she followed him inside.

The lobby looked the same as it always did when she brought in the daily deposit, but it felt different today. Ominous. Foreboding? Megs really had to stop reading those regency romance novels for a while. She felt as though she was going off to face the lion in his den, and knowing Adam as she did, it might not be that inaccurate of a description.

She signed in on the clipboard then took a seat to wait her turn, putting the bag at her feet. She glanced inside at the plastic container of baci that rested on top. She’d had Kelly and Sam taste test them before she had filled the container for Adam and his staff. If Kelly’s and Sam’s moans of pleasure had been any indication, she had something special in her arsenal against the bank manager.

Adam’s office door opened, and the man himself stood in the frame. He looked taller, thinner than his high school days, and he wore a tie and suit rather than a letterman’s jacket and worn jeans. It was the look in his eyes that made her pause. The wariness remained there.

“Megan Sweet?” He called her name as if he didn’t know her. As if he’d never hurt her.

She took another deep breath and rose to her feet. Grabbed the handles of the tote bag and brushed past him into his office, trying to ignore the spicy scent wafting from him that hit her nose as she did so. She took the chair in front of his desk and removed the plastic container from her bag and placed it in her lap. Popping open the top, she let the aroma of chocolate fill the tiny office. She removed a napkin with the Sweetheart logo and placed a baci on it before putting it in front of Adam.

He frowned. “What’s this? A bribe already?”

He claimed he’d changed, but he’d just proved that nothing had. He still used words to hurt and belittle. She bristled in her chair and pointed at the pastry. “It’s a treat for you and your staff from the Sweetheart.”

He eyed it, then took it in his hand. She watched as he lifted to his mouth and raised one eyebrow. He chewed it slowly, his tongue darting out of his mouth to lick any crumbs left on his lips. He nodded. “Good.”

“This is just a sample of what I can do.” She brought out her recipe ledger and spread it open. “My grandmother not only left me the bakery, but all her time-tested recipes guaranteed to make the Sweetheart a success for years to come. And success means money, which means you and I both profit. See this recipe for True Love’s torte? It’s a hot seller especially around Valentine’s Day, which is just around the corner and...”

Adam held a hand up. “Recipes and products that sell are good.” He paused. “For you, that is. They don’t mean a thing to me or the bank.”

Megs sat back in her seat and crossed her legs at the ankles. She regretted having worn her practical boots rather than the high heels that Kelly had suggested. “Sex sells,” her sister had told her as she pulled out a different outfit from what she currently wore. Maybe she should have worn the low V-neck wrap dress rather than the turtleneck sweater under the wool blazer.

“So that’s it? You’re turning me down already?” She rose to her feet and grasped the handles of the tote bag.

Adam came around the desk and put a hand on her shoulder. “Where are you going? We’re just getting started.”

“I’m not about to sit here and let you mock me. I put up with enough of that when we were teenagers.” She grabbed her coat that she’d draped on the back of the chair. “I have too much to do to waste my time with you.”

Adam left her side and stood in front of the door. “You’re so quick to judge me.”

“You taught me well.”

They glared at each other until he blinked. “I’m not mocking you, Megan. I’m trying to tell you what I’m looking to get from you. While I appreciate you bringing the cookies today, I need more than that to risk the bank’s money on the bakery.” He seemed to rise several inches as he gestured to the chair she’d vacated. “Now, why don’t we sit down and go over what I need?”

She eyed him warily. She didn’t have much choice, did she?

* * *

ADAM BLINKED SEVERAL times before Megan took her seat and placed her coat and bag in the empty chair next to hers. He let out the breath he realized he’d been holding and returned to his seat behind the desk. He pulled out a folder and handed it across to her. She looked up at him with those hazel brown eyes filled with past pain. He knew he’d been responsible of putting that there and had regretted it every day since. “If you look at the first page in your packet, you’ll notice that we will need several documents from you to support your loan application. Tax returns. Profit and loss statements. An accounting of all your assets and liabilities.”

She looked over the list and seemed to grow pale in front of him. He’d heard a lot about her prowess as a baker, but very little about her as a businesswoman. Perhaps she hadn’t had to worry about the business side of things until recently. He was tempted to reach out and put a hand over hers. Instead, he clasped his hands in front of him and rested them on the desk. “It sounds a lot worse than it is. Your accountant will have most, if not all, of these documents. I will try to make this as easy on you as possible.”

She peered up at him. “Why?”

“Because I want to help you out.”

“Again, why?”

He cleared his throat. “Listen. I know our past history doesn’t make us friends or anything, but I could be your ally.” Before she could ask again, he barreled on. “Because I want to make up for what happened. Because you didn’t deserve anything I did to you. Or your friend.”

She paused and eyed him again. “If we work together on this loan, I want a couple of ground rules.”

That didn’t sound good. “Okay. Like what?”

She held up one finger. “No talking about the past. Especially about Kenny.” Two fingers. “Nothing to be done or offered out of pity or trying to redeem yourself because of said past.” Three fingers. “And we keep this on a purely professional level.”

“I can agree to those terms. Should we shake on it?” He held his hand out to her.

She stared at it, but kept her hand to herself. “And no touching.”

“You have a lot of rules.” He gave her a smile, hoping to lighten the mood. But the scowl on her face remained, so he put his hand back on the desk. “Fine. No touching.”

She looked back at the document list. “I have some of these items with me. Jack thought I should be prepared for anything.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a thick binder. “I’m glad I listened to him.”

Was this Jack her boyfriend? He tried to recall anyone with that name in their graduating class but couldn’t come up with a face. And why did the thought of Megan with a boyfriend make his heart sink? Not that she shouldn’t have one, as pretty and as sweet as she was. But the idea didn’t settle well with him.

She flipped through the binder and unsnapped the rings so that she could remove several pages. She handed them across the desk to him, and he stood. “I’ll go make some copies of this for your file. Can I get you anything while I’m out? Coffee? Water?”

“Hot tea, if you have it.” She flipped through the binder some more, then pulled out two more pages. “You may need these, as well.”

So civil. So polite. Adam nodded and took the pages as well as the cookies to the break room with him. He found Eva having her lunch, and held out the container. “Megan Sweet brought treats for the entire staff.”

She chose one and bit into it, closing her eyes as she chewed. “That girl is truly talented.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Lord knows I loved Addy, but her granddaughter is even better at making the bakery run than she was.”

Adam leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “You think the Sweetheart would be a good risk?”

Eva finished swallowing her bite and smiled. “Don’t you?”

“I’ve got to make copies.” He held up the pages and walked out of the break room. Why was he already second-guessing Megs’s request for a loan? It wasn’t as if he was using his position to repay her for the past by green-lighting the request. Besides, she probably still had that same backbone that had helped her stand up to him and would use it again to rebuild the business and make it thrive.

He got his copies and returned to his office, handing Megs the originals. She spent several minutes reorganizing the pages back into her binder, and placed it in her bag. She studied the lone piece of paper left in front of her. “I noticed that the document list asks for a business plan.”

He sat behind his desk and steepled his fingers in front of his mouth. “Did you come prepared for that, as well?”

“You want it in writing? Rather than me telling you that I sell bread and cookies to the town?” She shook her head. “Because that’s my plan for the business. Not that difficult to figure out.”

He frowned at her. “No, I want a written description of your business, your target consumer as well as a forecast for any future growth. How many employees you have and your labor costs. A budget. I want hard numbers based on the information you gave me here.” He lifted the pages from his desk and waved them in her direction. “A concrete business plan for the Sweetheart.” When she continued to stare at him, he longed to groan. Instead, he put the papers back down. “You do have one, right?”

She stared at her hands. “Only in my head.”

“That’s a great start, Megan.” He watched her until she raised her head to meet his eyes. “If you’d like, I can help you formulate one to go along with your application.”

She stood and grabbed her coat and bag. “No, I think I can figure it out on my own. I don’t need you to do anything but put in the application.” She nodded at him then turned to leave.

He rose to his feet and walked behind her out of the office. “I’ll expect your application soon, then.”

She didn’t say anything but waved at his tellers before leaving the bank.

Well, that didn’t go too badly.

* * *

MEGS WALKED TO her car and opened the back door to put her tote bag in before letting herself into the driver’s seat. Don’t cry. Not here. Leave the parking lot and then you can lose it. She started the car and paused for a moment before putting it in gear.

Once out of the parking lot, she let the tears that had been threatening since walking into Adam’s office fall down her cheeks and drip off her chin unhindered. The fact that she’d had to go to him of all people with hat in hand to ask for money. Then for him to make her feel smaller than an ant because she didn’t have a written business plan. And if she didn’t have Jack for an accountant, she wouldn’t know the first thing about his list of required documents.

She felt like a fool in more than one way.

A fool to assume she had the business sense to run the bakery. If anything, she learned that she still had more to find out. And she felt foolish to imagine she could face him again without feeling like a fifteen-year-old afraid of the big bully. Without remembering Kenny and what it had cost him.

Her cell phone buzzed, and she answered it through the speaker phone on her car.

“How did it go?” Kelly, of course.

“I’m not sure exactly. He needs a written business plan, and I don’t know the first thing about writing one.”

“So we’ll Google it and put one together.”

“And the application is like twenty pages long.” She sniffed. “And it’s Adam Hawkins. I don’t exactly have the best history with him.”

“A lot can change in twelve years.”

She was probably right. Megs was glad she’d made that rule about not bringing up the past. Why rehash it?

Then, why hang on to it?

Okay, her conscience had a good point. Adam seemed to have gotten past all of that, and she needed to, as well. Just bury those memories away. Let it go. Move on. And every other cliché she could think of. “Yup. It’s for the best. Time to forget and—”

Her sister chuckled. “I didn’t say forget. I mean, he was a bully who hurt a lot of people. But he seems to have changed, so that’s all over with.” There was a pause. “Right?”

It was over, all right. Because there was no way that Megs was going to let him humiliate and hurt her or anyone she loved ever again. “Right, Kel.” Her phone buzzed, and she checked the caller ID on her car’s console. “That’s Mom. I’ll be home in about ten minutes.”

She switched the call using the buttons on her steering wheel and took several deep breaths. Talking to her mother was easier now that they had established a relationship as adults, but she couldn’t forget the abandonment. “Hi, Mom. Where are you today?”

Her mom chuckled. “Megs, I’m not exactly a globe trotter. Still in Florida, though Stan is talking about moving on to Arizona where it’s drier. Better for his asthma.”

Megs frowned. “Stan? I thought you were with Michael.”

“His kids didn’t like me much, so there you are.” Her mom was suddenly silent on the other end. “Listen, sweetie, I heard about the Sweetheart. Are you going to be okay?”

How? Lake Mildred, Michigan, was a long ways from Florida, but obviously the local grapevine extended that far south. “I’ll be fine. I met with the bank manager to discuss getting a loan to rebuild the bakery.”

“Can you afford that?”

“I can’t afford not to.” Because the option of doing nothing was unthinkable. “Unless you have some money you could lend me.”

Her mom laughed, but it sounded false. “Oh, sure. Let me send you a check for twenty thousand. Will that work?” Another pause. “You know if I had anything, I’d be the first to be sure you had enough.”

Her mom had never been one she could depend on in a crisis. She’d always turned to her dad, then Grammy after he’d died. They’d been the steady, strong ones in her life. Not her mother. “Thanks anyway, Mom.” Megs turned down the street where she lived. “I’m almost home, so I’ve got to go. Have fun with Stan.”

“Oh, I will.” Then her mother was gone.

Megs ended the call by pressing a button and gripped the steering wheel. It was time to start depending on herself. Time to do something different. Be something different. She could be strong on her own. Do it all herself.

But first, she’d have to research what a written business plan required.

CHAPTER THREE

THE LIGHTS FROM the cabin lit the way for Megs and Kelly as they walked carefully over the icy path, balancing several boxes of pastries and cookies as well as two loaves of sourdough bread. Kelly glanced behind them. “I’ll get our overnight bags after we put all this inside.”

Megs kept her eyes forward, skirting around a patch of ice. “Why we have to hold this girls’ weekend at a remote log cabin is beyond me. Why not a spa or the casino? Just because Jack has the room for all of us under one roof...”

“I think this will be fun.” Kelly giggled and walked faster to the front door. “How many did you say will be here?”

“Depends. Every year is different.” She paused before the top box could slide off the two others and land in the snow. “I doubt Suzy will be here since she has the baby. And sometimes people bring friends and... Maybe ten?”

They had finally reached the front door. Megs used her foot to knock since her hands were full. “Open up or none of you get any treats.”

A woman in a hoodie and sweatpants answered the door. She turned and yelled into the cabin, “Dessert is here. The fun can begin.” She took two boxes off Megs’s load and held the door open for them. “Penny is setting up all the food in Jack’s kitchen. Megs, you know the way.”

“Thanks, Shelby.” Megs stepped inside the cabin. The front room was a large open space connected to the kitchen and boasted huge windows that looked out into the woods surrounding it. She led the way to the kitchen and smiled at Penny, a friend since high school. “Hey, you made it this year.”

The older woman shrugged. “My husband decided that he could live without me for a weekend.” She gave a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Tell me you brought those chocolate things I love.”

Kelly set her load on the countertop. “If they’ve got chocolate, then yes she made them. She’s been baking all week for this.”

Penny opened a lid and took out a mini éclair and bit into it. “You’re a genius, Megs. Honestly.”

If only she could convince Adam of that. She still had the application sitting on top of her dresser, waiting for her to work on that. And the business plan. She should have been doing that rather than baking for the girls’ only weekend. But she had priorities. She looked around the room. “Where is everyone?”

“I found some old photos in the study and they’re having a look at those. There will be cries of laughter any minute now, Jack wasn’t the cutest of babies.” Penny’s brother lent them the cabin for their girls’ weekend every year despite his sister’s constant teasing. Penny smirked. “Those pictures probably won’t help get him married off any time soon, I’m afraid.”

Kelly’s eyes lit up, and she left to join the other women. Megs chuckled. “So didn’t need to know that about my accountant.”

Penny shrugged and continued getting the food set up for their first evening. Megs reached for a container and stacked crackers on a plate. “Everything okay? You look a little pale.”