Page 36 of Coffee Shop Girl
Half-sisters.
“I see,” I said. It all made sense now.
Bethany stepped out from behind the counter wearing her usual faded black apron with pockets in the front. She tucked her hands into the pockets, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. It was her only tell.
“Maybe you see a little of it,” she murmured, “but not entirely. Their bruises have faded for now, but if Jim gets ahold of them again, they won’t.”
My fists clenched at my sides. A little fire had ignited in Ellie’s tempestuous gaze, but she hadn’t moved a bit. Lizbeth peered at me from the top of a book, her long legs sprawled over the side of her chair, as if she wanted to shield herself from the world but didn’t want to miss this moment.
I held Bethany’s gaze in wordless question. Bethany nodded, her jaw tight. All right, then. Stakes were higher. Abusive father of young girls. Challenge accepted. Nothing would feel better than taking this bastard down.
“I brought out everything that I have on the coffee shop.” She waved a hand toward the cluttered table. “Any paperwork Dad left when he died. Books. Receipts. Whatever. I think there are delivery logs there too. I haven’t really kept track since I took over.”
The flippantwhatevermade my skin crawl. No wonder this place was such a hot mess. No part of the numbers of any brick-and-mortar business could bewhatever. This clutter, while entirely unnecessary with the right organizational system, could hide a gem.
Could. We’d see.
Her nose wrinkled. “Owning a business is a lot of paperwork.”
“You don’t own a business yet,” I said quietly. “You’ve been operating one, but until you can walk away without fear of debt, you don’t truly own it. The bank owns it. You’re running it. There’s a difference between keeping plates in the air and sculpting, executing, and realizing a vision.”
That same annoyance I’d seen the first time we spoke about this flared up in her gaze. “I disagree,” she croaked. “But for the sake of efficiency, we’ll go with that. I’mrunningthis business.”
No, it was running her, but now wasn’t the time for that clarification.
A few things clicked for me in that moment. Bethany was taking a huge risk bringing these girls into her life, and even though I didn’t have any of the details, I could tell they weren’t sister-close yet.
Not only was the risk significant, but her business was about to bottom out. Her only chance to prove herself able to provide for these girls was likely just about to crash in a final blaze of financial debt and lackluster glory.
If she truly lived upstairs, that meant losing the Frolicking Moose really did mean she’d lose everything. So would the girls. Someone at the gas station had mentioned that Bethany had walked away from college after her father died, which meant she had no real chance of saving herself or them without this firepit.
But there was something in her eyes that told me she wasn’t ready to walk out of the flames yet. Impressive as hell. As long as she’d try, I would too.
And then she would win.
Setting aside the unnerving desire to maim the man who’d harmed either of these girls, I nodded to the table.
“Then let’s get started.”
13
Bethany
“This is bad,” I whispered, “isn’t it?”
A muscle in Maverick’s cheek twitched as he stared at the mass of papers in front of us. The disaster that the Frolicking Moose hid was so much bigger than I’d really wanted to know. It seemed easier to not think about it.
Until it wasn’t.
Recent credit card statements told only part of the story. There were invoices due on supplies. Some insurance for the building that was just about up, and three mortgage payments I hadn’t paid. Not to mention the line of credit with the bank that was just about gone. Still didn’t even cover the credit card debt, either.
“It’s ... not great,” he finally said. He glanced up briefly through thick eyelashes before turning back to his computer. Why did men get the most gorgeous eye fans?
“Worse than you thought?”
His lips thinned.
A spreadsheet filled the screen as he scrubbed a hand over his now-full beard. Lizbeth watched like a hawk from a nearby chair. Ellie sat in the hallway where she could see the front parking lot and dash away whenever a new customer appeared. She moved like a cat.
