Page 84 of Coffee Shop Girl
Credit Card Statement Available.
I opened the statement and skimmed to the bottom of the page. Total due: $39,987.
Monthly charge: $3,700.
My breath stalled in my chest. Maverick made me go through my numbers every day. But transfers and credit card processing fees and months of drowning made it hard to trust anything. I opened another tab, navigated to Dad’s business bank, and logged in. A spinning wheel filled the screen before the accounts revealed themselves.
My breath caught.
In the account that I would pay the credit card from was $3,725.
Not only was there enough to cover the credit card payment for the month, but twenty-five dollars left over. That meant I’d made twenty-five dollars in profit.
This stupid coffee shop had actually made money. This crazy business actuallyworked.
Tears thickened my throat, making it difficult to breathe. My vision swam. This worked. I looked up to tell Lizbeth, but the words didn’t come out.
We’d not only pulled a small profit, we’d covered expensesandcharges. That meant Maverick’s plan had already started to turn us around. The proof lay in front of me. If we continued on this path, I would have the evidence I needed to keep the girls. Eventually.
“It’s working,” I whispered.
Lizbeth glanced up, one eyebrow raised. She pulled an earbud out. “What?”
Clapping, I twirled in a circle. Ellie peered at me from the pantry, where she tied lures with Devin. They’d rigged a little office out of a lamp and a bag of coffee beans.
Whooping, I typed in the numbers, hit send, and made the credit card payment. Then I slammed the laptop shut and started to dance.
“We made twenty-five dollars!” I cried. “We mademoney!”
Lizbeth’s eyes widened. Even at sixteen, she got it. She knew that this meant we had a fighting chance against Jim. With a cry, she turned on the old radio and cranked the music. A fast-paced song filled the room, and we started to dance. Ellie and Devin joined in, whirling and bumping around the chairs, bright with laughter.
A lightness filled my chest as I grabbed Lizbeth and Ellie in my arms and spun. Maverick stepped outside the office with a questioning expression. I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the dance.
“We made a profit!” I cried over the music. “I made the minimum paymentand twenty-five dollars!”
His expression brightened. “Yeah?”
“We’re doing it! We’re turning this business around!”
He twirled me with the music. Our dance party blared out the windows as we celebrated our massive success in the summer sunshine.
* * *
A week later,I bit my bottom lip. A half-grin lived on my face as I stared at my text message exchange with Mav.
Hey Mav.You’re taking tonight off from renovations, right?
Yep.Waiting for some stain to dry. Appliances are being delivered tomorrow.
Want some company?I’ll bring dinner.
Bring yourself first.
My thoughts spiraledlike birds when I arrived at his place. The expiration date was coming up on our whirlwind ... romance? Adventure? On the drive over, I’d promised myself to enjoy every minute. Because, eventually, this would end.
Eventually.
In the future.
