Chapter One
Laken Singleton blew the ash brown hair out of her face as she added whipped milk to a coffee. Tinsel decorated the counter she stood at in honor of the upcoming holidays. She’d been working at Coffee Hut for three years now. She’d just been fired from her second job a few hours ago. The diner she’d been working at was closing down due to decreasing revenue.
She needed both jobs or she wouldn’t be able to afford to live and scrape a little bit into savings every month so she could go back to school one day.
Her co-worker and friend, Jen, sauntered up beside her to grind beans. “Mr. Cranky-pants is throwing another tantrum. You know you’re the only one who can calm him down.”
Sure, it was childish, but Mr. Cranky-pants was the name Jen had given their manager, Kevin. Laken rolled her eyes and sighed. She was too tired to deal with Kevin today. “I’ll see what’s going on. Be right back.”
She followed the narrow hall back to Kevin’s office, wiping her hands on her apron. “Hey, Kev, what’s wrong?”
“The cash register came up short again yesterday. If it happens again, I’m going to have to let one of you go.”
Whoa, this wasn’t just a bad day. This was a big freaking deal. Neither she or Jen could afford to lose their jobs. Jen had a little boy at home, two years old, and no one to support them. It would be Christmas soon and Laken couldn’t imagine how awful it would be if Jen couldn’t buy her little boy any gifts.
On the other hand, since Laken’s dad had died, she had no one to support her, either. Somehow, even though he’d been partners in a business and they hadn’t exactly been poor, her father hadn’t left a will. If he had, no one could find it.
Her stepmother’s first action after the funeral had been to kick Laken out of the house and vow not to give her another dime, either for college or to live on. Laken didn’t mind so much being financially independent if you could call the frugal way she lived that, but her father had saved all her life for her to become a doctor. It’s all she’d ever wanted.
She brushed her hair away from her espresso black eyes, where it had fallen from her bun. “Kevin, calm down. There’s got to be a logical explanation.”
Kevin stood and scrubbed at his short beard with a hand. “If there is, I can’t figure it out. I don’t think either of you girls would steal from the till, but I’ve got to answer to the owners.”
Laken sat down in a chair beside his desk. “Have you considered the register might be going wonky? It’s pretty old. It’s not out of the question that it’s not recording when we have to comp a coffee or invalidate a sale.”
“I’ll see about getting a new one, but I honestly doubt the owners are going to spring for it.” He sat down behind his desk and picked up the phone. “You should get back to work.”
Laken’s chest hitched when she tried to breathe. This was scary, for her and for Jen. Maybe she should start looking for a new job? She’d hate to leave this place, though. She knew her job, she was good at it and she liked Jen. She even liked Kevin, much as she hated to admit it. But something had to change. She just couldn’t afford to get fired. If she were going to leave, it needed to be on her own terms.
***
Trevor sat across the table from Eleanor Singleton, his best friend’s widow of the last three years. This was one hell of a way to spend his forty-fourth birthday. He drummed his fingers on the table, eager to get this meeting over with.
They didn’t have a board of directors or investors. There was only him and Eleanor.
Before, when it was him and Frank, things had been easy. This company was their baby. Trevor had no kids of his own. When his wife was alive, he never gave up half hoping she’d take pregnant, but she never did. He supposed one of them had been infertile. She hadn’t been interested in pursuing any treatments. He’d accepted that, as he had many things going on in his life. It hadn’t been a happy marriage.
He never intended to settle for less than the best life had to offer ever again.
“Eleanor, you can’t really want to sell the company Frank worked so hard to build.”
“I have no interest in this company, especially if it’s not bringing me any profit.” She scowled at him and lit a cigarette. There was an ordinance against smoking in public places, including office buildings. Eleanor could care less if they got cited, so she lit up during all of their meetings. It never seemed to worry her that Frank had died of lung cancer after a long-fought battle to survive.
Trevor stood and shut the office door, so at least his employees wouldn’t be subjected to her secondhand smoke. “Goddamn it, how much do you want for your share?”
She picked up a pen, grabbed a post-it and shoved it at Trevor. He picked it up. It was outlandish—the company, which she only owned half of, was nowhere near this much. “If we sold today, you’d never get this much.”
“All the same, if you want my half, that’s what it’s worth.”
He’d try reasoning with her. He willed his voice to come out calm and even. He couldn’t seem to help his jaw clench. “Why do you want to sell?”
“I want to move me and my kids to Florida. I’m tired of living through these cold winters here in Ohio.” She fluffed her hair out and gave him a serene smile.
“Ellie, be reasonable for a change. What if the company were turning a profit again?” Running the business without Frank and his ingenuity had proved more difficult than Trevor would’ve ever imagined.
She stabbed her cigarette out in her empty mug of coffee. “I’m through being reasonable. I’ve waited and waited for you to pull this company together, and I’m done waiting.”
“We’re finally out of the red. We’ll be profitable again within the next year.” Trevor had worked his ass off to bring the company this far.
“You forget that I don’t still have Frank’s salary to support me.”
That was just selfish lies—Frank had left behind life insurance, savings and this company. He’d heard through the grapevine that Eleanor and Laken, Frank’s daughter from his first marriage, had parted ways. He didn’t ask her about it. She held fifty percent interest in his company. If he could afford to buy her out, he would, but he doubted he could. He’d been keeping the company afloat for the last few years with his own savings.
Eleanor jumped up. ”I’m done arguing with you, Trevor. Either make this company profitable in the next three months, or we sell. That’s all there is to it.”
She stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her, and he sat down. Rage and helplessness sizzled through his veins, reminding him of the night when he’d asked his wife for a divorce.
He’d never forgiven himself for what happened after, and now he was letting Frank down, too. He refused to accept that there was nothing he could do.
***
Laken pushed her braid back over her shoulder and blinked at the man who’d just come into Coffee Hut. He looked familiar. Like, really familiar. And he was handsome, a little bit older. Thick brown hair came down in a widow’s peak on his forehead. Caramel brown eyes and full lips rounded out his features. Even though he’d probably shaved that morning, a trace of stubble shadowed his chin.
He came up to her, in his business suit, and tilted his head. “Laken? Is that you?”
“Oh, my gosh.” She would recognize that voice anywhere. She hadn’t seen him in three years. “Trevor Elliot. I knew that I recognized you.”
“How are you? You doing okay?” He looked around at the dilapidated cafe then back at her, an eyebrow raised.
“Let me get you some coffee and then we can sit and talk for a few minutes. What would you like?” She smiled, she couldn’t help herself. It had been so long since she’d seen a friendly face. And a handsome one, too.
He ordered a plain black coffee and she grabbed a latte for herself, then led him to a table in the corner. “I’m taking my break, Jen,” she called out over her shoulder.
“Cool,” Jen replied, helping the next customer. They were a hole-in-the-wall business, but they got by with plenty of locals coming in for coffee.
They sat together and he just stared at her until she became so uncomfortable that she took a sip of her latte and gazed out the window.
“I’m sorry,” he said. He didn’t sound sorry and his eyes roamed her body. “You’ve become such a beauty. I can’t seem to reconcile you with that tomboy I knew.”
She wished he wouldn’t. Her cheeks flamed at his praise. She didn’t know why, maybe because she tingled when he looked at her, but she wanted him to find her attractive.
Of course, he’d never be interested in her. She was young, inexperienced. She’d never thought that not being with anyone sexually made her somehow deficient, before now. Of course, a man like him would want someone who knew how to be a lover.
Her cheeks burned, probably turning her face an uncomplimentary shade of red, at the turn her thoughts had taken. She scrubbed absently at the Formica tabletop with her napkin as Christmas music flowed from the speakers “So, tell me how you are, Trevor. How’s business?”
“It’s business. Could be better, could be worse. We’re doing okay now, but losing your dad was a huge loss.”
“For me, too.” She put a hand over his and a thrum of electricity shot through her.
“So what are you doing? You should be just about finished with your undergrad degree, shouldn’t you?”
“I work. And work some more. I’m saving for school right now, not attending.”
He turned his hand over to squeeze hers. “But your dad saved all his life for your schooling.”
“Tell my stepmother that.” Laken sighed. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. Let’s talk about happier things.”
“You can’t be making much here.”
“I get by.” She sat up straighter in her chair. She wanted him to see her as a woman who took care of herself.
Not that it mattered. She’d never actually fall for anyone, much less someone the same age her father would be now. When you loved people, you just ended up losing them. It was a hard lesson, but she’d learned it.
“At least come work for the company. We can get you a secretarial job. It would pay better, and you wouldn’t have to work two jobs.” He let go of her hand, as though he’d just realized they’d been clasped together for the longest time. “I insist. Let me help you out that much. Your dad would want me to.”
She looked around Coffee Hut, and thought what it would be like to not be on her feet for sixteen hours a day? Just then, Kevin came out, a murderous expression on his face. The time had come. He was going to have to fire one of them. Maybe if she left on her own, Jen could keep her job.
“Yes. I am all about working at my dad’s company. I’d love that.”
“Great. Come in tomorrow. I’ll have HR get you set up with someone right away.”
He took a last chug of his coffee, got up and walked out.
Laken crossed behind the counter and tugged Kevin back into the hallway. “I know you have to get rid of one of us. Let me save you the trouble—I quit.”
Kevin ran a hand through red hair that badly needed a trim. “I hate that it’s come to this.”
“Me, too. But Jen can’t afford to be without work and a great opportunity just came my way. Two birds, one stone, right?”
Laken took off her apron, handed it to Kevin, and walked out to give Jen a hug. “Call me later, I’ll explain everything.”
And just like that, Laken walked out of Coffee Hut and into, hopefully, a brand new life.