Page 37 of So Wrong It Must Be Right

When Carter finally pushed through the restaurant door, she let out a sigh of relief. It didn’t eradicate the nerves, since she had a whole slew of them, but at least he was here.

He was here and she could lay out her plan and . . . he would say yes. He would have to say yes, wouldn’t he? What would be the benefit to saying no? Even if he wanted nothing to do with a real relationship between Dinah and Carter, this wasstillin his best interest.

Is it in mine?

That scary question kept popping up in her head, and she kept pushing it away. Of course it was. This idea was genius. Kayla hadn’t gotten excited about it, but Kayla was having her own weird thing.

Carter slid into the seat across from her, an almost-smile on his face. Yeah, he was not helping her nerves at all.

“So, do we have to do the dinner thing or can we just get this over with?”

Yeah, definitely not helping with the nerves. “If that’s what you want, we can do it that way. I’ll cut straight to the chase.” And hopefully not lose her lunch in the process.

Before she could get any more words out, the waiter appeared. Carter smiled at him, though it was still that tight, lackluster curve. Even when he turned it on her. “You know, why don’t we order some dessert? They have really great cannoli here, if you like it.”

“Okay. Yeah, that’d be great. Maybe a bottle of wine too. Whatever dry red you’ve got on hand.”

Carter shifted uncomfortably as the waiter left, but she could see there was a certain struggle going on with him. He was here, and he didn’t want to be here, but at the same time he’d showed up and ordered the cannoli. He’d agreed to meet her. So whatever was happening, he was just as conflicted as she was.

Which was a helpful reminder. One that allowed her to calm down a little bit.

“Right. So cut to the chase on this whole business thing?”

Dinah gave a sharp nod. “The fact of the matter is, neither Kayla nor I were particularly one hundred percent behind Craig’s idea to buy out the three lots behind Gallagher’s and turn them into a parking lot and a farmers’ market. But we were both very into the idea of hosting our own farmers’ market, especially in this neighborhood and with our locally brewed beer available.” She could tell he was losing interest word by word, second by second.

She tried not to panic, because sheneverpanicked when it came to business. She was always smooth and in charge. She couldn’t lose it now just because a guy she . . . cared about, somewhat, was involved.

What kind of businesswoman would she be then? “I ran my idea by Kayla and our head chef at Gallagher’s, and I think I have a way to involve you in our plans without buying your land.”

“I’m not trying to be a dick here, but I don’t need to be involved with Gallagher’s. I’m not selling, period, so I don’tneeda compromise. I do just fine on my own.”

“You could do better. It would bring us both added revenue. Because I think a lot of people are very into the local food movement right now, and if you became a food supplier, we could develop a small, but completely local menu. It would be a serious draw and solve both our problems.”

“But I don’t have a problem. I was never going to sell to you.”

Dinah swallowed down her frustrated comments and snarky retorts. Sure, he hadn’t planned to sell to her, and she knew how much the land meant to him. So, yes, it probably would’ve been quite the climb to get him to sell, but she wasn’t ready to concede the point that he might have sold to her if she’d found the right leverage.

But she didn’t want to find any kind of leverage. She just wanted to have things work. She wanted to help Gallagher’s in a way Uncle Craig couldn’t argue with. He couldn’t argue that this wasn’t a much better use of their money and connection with the community. Even if he didn’t agree, the board would surely outvote him.

A farmers’ market would cost so much money to start, and working with Carter wouldn’t take very much at all: a new menu, and most of the food costs would simply be diverted from the food budget they already had.

Carter was a stubborn man, suspicious after having been burned a lot. She needed to find some patience with him. He probably deserved a little bit of patience.

He’d bought her coffee. He’d made it. He was a man worth . . . well, something.

“Are you saying that you sell every piece of produce every season at a few farmers’ markets? Wouldn’t it be easier to work as a partner with a restaurant that would—”

“Get to dictate what I grew, and when they wanted it, and what quality it had to be. A partner who would have a say in everything I do on a day-to-day basis. A partner who could pull out at any time, leaving me with nothing. Is that the kind of partner you mean?”

“Obviously there would be a contract, and—”

“A contract that would benefit Gallagher’s far more than it benefited me. Even if I could afford a lawyer, I can’t afford one like yours. Any contract would be stacked against me from the start.”

Dinah couldn’t believe he was still arguing with her. It had been a perfect solution. How could he not see that?

“Dinah, I know you’re trying to do the right thing here.”

His estimation she wastryingto do something right only made her bristle further. She had every right to buy his land, too. This was not about doing the right thing, it was about compromise. Help. Working together.

---