Page 2 of Poppy's Place

Carter

(Three Weeks Later)

I was in my office when Rory poked his head around the doorway. “I’m hungry.”

Looking up from my computer screen, I shrugged. “Okay.”

“Let’s go get a muffin.” He stepped farther into the room. “Your treat.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned back to my computer. “You make millions in commission every year. You don’t need to hit me up for free snacks. Just go over there and buy a damn muffin.” I looked up again, remembering that I skipped lunch. “Actually, get me one too. I’m starving.”

“See.” He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked over to me. “Just go with me. I’ll buy, but they give us the best service when you’re with me.”

“That better not be true.” I stood up and stretched, loath to admit that a walk and some fresh air sounded pretty good. “My staff treats everyone like the owner…at least, they’d better.”

Now he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, they do. Just come with me. I want to run something by you.”

“Of course you do.” I put my computer to sleep and then walked around the desk. “I’ll go, but since they’ll give it to us for free, you better put a fat tip in that jar before we leave.”

Rory grinned. “I’m about to give you a fat tip, so let’s go.”

It was a warm day, with the sun shining high in the sky. I grew up in Sunnyvale, California and never planned to leave. It was just too perfect 98% of the year. And the other 2% was still better than what most regions considered a good day. We were about ten steps out of the building we shared office space in when he went for it. “Okay, I have an idea.”

“Go ahead.” Rory had a lot of ideas, and I seemed to be his favorite sounding board, so I just played along. Some of them were actually pretty good and had made me millions over the years. “Lay it on me.”

“You know how the new stadium project was just approved for development and should be finished in a few years?” When I nodded, his eyes lit up. “Well, I’m thinking we should start buying some of the old houses and condos around here as short-term rentals. We can rehab them over the next year and make a killing once the stadium opens up. I’ve found a few places I really like, but to do this right, I want to bring in a few partners.”

I raised an eyebrow and turned to him. “And I’m one of the chosen few you’ll allow to give you money for this little endeavor?”

He clapped my shoulder and chuckled. “Exactly. What do you say, man? I’ve got several listings I think we should check out. They might not all still be available, but if we can get a few dealsin the pipeline, then I’ll manage the renovations so we can get them rentable within a few months. By the time the stadium opens, we could already be in the green.”

I had many businesses, but most were retail or commercial office space. Nothing residential. And I was intrigued by the idea. “Yeah, I’d consider that. Find a few places you think could work and then let me know what the numbers look like.”

“I knew you’d love the idea.” Rory was almost giddy. “You always know a good proposal when you hear one.”

A few minutes later, we walked into one of my coffee shops. I had three franchises in the area, but this one was walking distance from my office building in the charming downtown district. I’d always loved the area and planned to acquire other businesses anyway, so it just made sense. “Anything around here?”

When Kylie saw me walk in, she waved and asked if I wanted my usual.

“Yeah, banana bread and an Americano to go. And whatever this dude wants.” I nodded toward Rory then went back outside to sit at one of the four bistro tables.

Rory joined me a few minutes later with our coffees and pastries. He sat down and immediately bit the top off his blueberry muffin. “So, is that barista single?”

“Kylie?” I chuckled. “No, and her boyfriend is twice your size, so I’d keep my distance.”

“Noted.”

I leaned back and stared straight ahead, noticing the signage from the daycare center across the street was gone and thewindows had been covered up from the inside. “You know anything about that place?”

“What place?” Rory leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he squinted up. “No, but it looks empty. Lemme check.” He pulled out his phone and started digging around in some public records app.

I tried to recall the last time I saw activity over there, and it seemed like it had been at least a few months. “See what it’s zoned for. I think the upstairs is residential like this place.”

“Yeah, it is.” He flipped through screens on his app and then huffed. “We missed it, but it would have been perfect. Zoned for commercial or residential…so yeah, same as here.”

“Wonder who bought it.” I took a sip of my coffee and looked for clues, but without being able to see inside, there wasn’t much to go on. “Look up the deed and we’ll see who bought it. Maybe they’re planning to flip it, and we can take it off their hands at the premium. Probably still a good deal.”

Rory shoved another piece of his muffin into his mouth and nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”

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