Love by the Slice (Valentine’s Sweethearts)

Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

EZRA WAS DEFINITELY going to lose that bet. Greg and Shelly had gotten right up to February, and everything was good. Better than good. When Lacey had gushed that baking cookies together over video chat was one of the most romantic things she’d heard, Ezra had clenched his teeth and gone back to doing inventory.

On Saturday afternoon—February the first, thank you very much—both Ezra and Greg were prepping Loveless for a big weekend. Hartwell was hosting their annual ice sculpture exhibit in the town park, and Loveless was sending their food truck.

Shelly glanced at Lacey’s hand. “You really aren’t going to get an engagement ring?”

Ezra called from the stock room, “I offered!”

Lacey shook her head. “He offered. He showed me several lab-grown diamonds to figure out what I liked, but they’re so impractical for a professional kitchen.”

Shelly said, “You still could wear one.”

“Sure, I could, but they can harbor bacteria, and they’re hard to keep clean.”

Ezra emerged from the stock room carrying two cans of tomato sauce. “How romantic. Honey, will you marry me? You and forty billion bacteria? ”

Lacey fluttered her eyes at him. “Ezra, I love you and your forty billion bacteria. Yes, I will marry you.”

Greg mock-gagged because these two redheads were simply too saccharine together. Ezra bowed. “I and my filth thank you.”

As he set the cans on the counter for Greg heat up, Ezra said, “Pretty sure I was the only one here when Barrett thought he lost his wedding ring in a meat lover pizzas. I had to remake that. Next, we sorted through all the shredded cheese and hunted everywhere because we didn’t want to give some customer an unwelcome dental surprise. Of course, an hour later, he found it alongside the sink.”

Greg said, “I’m guessing that was the moment you resolved never to wear one.”

Ezra said, “Easily decided at the time, since I had no plans to get married.”

Lacey rubbed her chin. “Think of all the money you’d have saved, having neither a wedding nor a wedding ring!”

Shelly said, “Well...it’s still a shame. You deserve a ring.”

Oh, that was a thought. Since Shelly never touched the food, Greg could get her jewelry for Valentine’s Day. He’d have to gauge how much to spend, of course. Too much, and she’d think him rushing things. Too little, and she’d find him unserious. Maybe he should bring her with him to shop. If she chose it, he couldn’t get it wrong.

As Greg turned on the Hobart mixer to start the dough, Lacey leaned against the counter. “If you two have a minute, Ezra and I have been talking about opening a second location.”

Even Shelly looked surprised. Greg blinked. “Wow. Where?”

Shelly added, “And how far would I have to drive to get to it?”

Ezra made a slow-down motion with his hands. “Easy. We’re not planning to ruin your life.”

Not nice, since that’s what Ezra had accused Greg of doing.

“The new location would be outside our current delivery area so we wouldn’t cannibalize our customer base.” Lacey snickered. “We’ve done more than a few food truck events in Juniper, so we already have some name recognition. We’d launch with the original ‘Loveless One Hundred,’ and then expand according to what that town prefers.”

Ezra said, “And—”

Lacey sighed. “I’m getting to that.” She turned to Shelly. “For you, it would be the same. You could deliver here the way you usually do, but if it worked better for you to switch to the new location, that would be fine.” She turned to Greg. “You, on the other hand, have more decisions. We’d ask you to pull more hours and take on a few more responsibilities. Things like training another cook and doing more with the inventory.”

Greg thought a moment. “That would mean full time?”

Shelly straightened.

Ezra said, “If you wanted to come onboard full time, then yes, that’s what we’d do. We’d re-title you a floor manager or the like, and we’d work out a raise because you’d be doing more.”

Lacey said, “Or, alternatively, if you’re happy with the way things are, we won’t do that, and you can continue working at this location part time the way you are now.”

Shelly looked pleased. “You wouldn’t be working two part-time jobs anymore. You could have a real career.”

Not something Greg had been looking for, but it made sense they’d see it that way.

Ezra said, “The thing is, you know how business plans work, so we’ll need your answer in the next couple of weeks to write up a business plan and figure out what position we’re hiring for.” He got a wicked gleam in his eye. “And if I’m heading over to Jake’s to poach their current floor manager.”

When Lacey snickered, Ezra shrugged. “Business is business.”

Shelly said to Greg, “But that’s great! You could still help your dad with the machine shop, but you never wanted to stay there to begin with. You could come here and really launch.”

Greg raised his hands. “Slow down. I need to think about this.”

Shelly said, “What’s there to think about? You said you were killing time at your father’s place. Why stay?”

Ezra raised his hands, palms outward. “Um, Shelly, you’re at about a ten right now, and you need to dial it down to a three or four. It’s up to Greg where he works, and we don’t need an answer now.” He turned to Greg. “Two weeks, though.” His eyes narrowed. “Even if that means you wait thirteen days and flip a coin when I call for an answer on Day Fourteen.”

Greg opened his hands. “It’s like you know me.”

Shelly said, “Or you could make the decision now and manage the new location.”

Greg said, “They don’t even have a new location yet. Only plans.”

Shelly opened her mouth to keep harassing Greg when the back door opened, and in stepped a man with dark eyes and a salt and pepper beard. Lacey said, “Oh, I’m sorry. We aren’t open yet.”

The man glowered at them. “I need you guys to stop doing something. My kid came home with a pizza box from this place, and he tells me you guys are giving him free food.”

Shelly said, “Greg did. What’s the problem?”

Lacey looked at Greg. “You did?”

Shelly said, “New Year’s. The kid was dumpster diving.” She looked at the man. “You’re talking about Rowan? You’re his grandfather?”

The man scowled. “Look. I know you think you’re helping, but there’s no need. He’s not starving.”

Shelly folded her arms. “Really? He did a great imitation of it.”

Lacey lowered her voice. “Shelly, hang on.” She turned back to the man. “I’m one of the owners, and I didn’t know any of this. Can you back up and tell me the whole thing?”

The man glared at her. “My grandkid’s been coming here and getting pizza, but he hasn’t been paying. Your cook says he gets a free pizza every day, and my kid takes it instead of him. I don’t believe him.”

Lacey’s eyes flickered to Greg. “They are allowed to make a free pizza every day. I don’t police who eats it. Is your grandson allergic?”

“It’s not that he’s allergic. It’s that this isn’t right. He’s not a charity case.”

When Shelly said, “There’s nothing wrong with charity,” Greg flinched.

“Shelly—”

She interrupted. “No, there really is nothing wrong with charity. Sometimes it’s necessary. I wish to high heaven my mother had taken charity.” Shelly turned back to Rowan’s grandfather. “If he’s coming here and getting a meal, what’s the problem? We’ve just verified he’s not stealing.”

The grandfather said, “This isn’t your business.”

Lacey said, “Excuse me, sir, but it very literally is my business. It doesn’t sound like they’re giving him anything they don’t want to, and they’re not giving him anything they’re not allowed to give. As such, they’re not in any trouble with me. So, let’s talk about you.” She tilted her head. “You object to him receiving pizza because you feel it’s shameful?”

Shelly folded her arms and drew breath, but Ezra said, “Shelly. Let the man talk.”

Lacey said, “Since it’s your grandson, we’ll follow your rules, but I want to be clear about the issue.”

The man smoldered, and for once, Shelly waited him out.

Greg leaned back on one leg. Ezra still wore a dark scowl, but he didn’t seem ready to fight. This wasn’t about to become a physical altercation, and even if it was, an injured guy in his sixties versus two guys who routinely hauled fifty-pound bags of flour was not going to finish that fight.

The man sighed. “Look, times are tough. But they’re tough for everyone. Rowan...he takes on the weight of the world. I didn’t know what trouble he was getting in because he didn’t tell me. We can handle this. But I need him not to be hiding things from me, and I need him not to be begging for food.”

Shelly glanced at Greg, who decided now wasn’t the time to talk about sardine and pineapple pizzas and fake addresses. Shelly said, “Rowan never begged. For that matter, he didn’t even ask. He was shocked when Greg offered.”

The man shifted his weight. “You’re saying you got a look at him and decided he was starving?”

Shelly cocked her head but didn’t answer.

Lacey said, “What can we do to help? My brother could eat his weight in pizza when he was in high school, so I get it if he seems like a bottomless pit.”

Shelly said, “No, you’re not getting it. If Rowan’s looking out for you, that’s the opposite of what should happen. You’re raising him, not him raising you. He’s trying to take the burden off you because he does carry the weight of the world. And that’s not fair. Let us take some of that weight for him while he’s taking the weight for you.”

“He shouldn’t be doing that.” Rowan’s grandfather’s voice lowered. “He’s a good kid. None of this is his fault.”

Lacey hummed. “Is there anything else we can do for him? How old is he?”

Shelly said, “Too young to get a part time job.”

Rowan’s grandfather said, “Twelve.”

Lacey paused, looking down.

Ezra glanced at Greg, but Lacey and Shelly had this in hand. Why was this guy even here? He’d be able to solve this problem if he just let everyone help him the way they were trying to. Let the food pantry drop off food and let the school give the kid new clothing from that random fund. Let social services step in and detangle it all out for him.

Finally, the grandfather said, “I don’t want you thinking I can’t care for him.”

Shelly looked about to detonate, but Lacey said, “I haven’t heard anyone saying that. What I hear is my employees caring about Rowan, and also about you.”

The man crumpled his hat. “I don’t need anything, either.”

Lacey said, “You need to know Rowan is doing well. There’s nothing wrong your concern.” She grabbed a menu and a pen. “If you ever want to know if Rowan’s here, you can call the shop, or you can call me direct on my cell phone.” She wrote her name and number up the margin. “My employees are amazing, and if they wanted to help, it’s to their credit. If you don’t want the help, they will stop.”

Shelly said, “But I hope you won’t.”

He muttered, “Fine.” He took the menu. “Thank you.”

It sounded like he’d had to pry those words from himself with a can opener, but he’d said them. Lacey escorted him to the front door, and after she closed it behind him, Ezra let out a huff. “Well, that could have gone bad.”

Shelly glared at Greg. “A lot of help you were.”

Greg raised his hands. “You had it!”

“You didn’t do a thing!” She stepped toward him. “You’d have just gone along with it if he’d stuck to his guns.”

Greg stepped back. “Relax! We weren’t going to let the kid go hungry.”

“So you’d have crossed his grandfather? You’d just have told everyone what they wanted to hear?”

Behind Shelly, Ezra was shaking his head. Greg said, “There wasn’t any point in riling him up. Lacey was talking him down.”

“Lacey shouldn’t have had to talk him down!” At the front door, Lacey was re-locking the door. “You should have stepped forward and told him he had no right to starve the kid just because he’s too proud to accept a little help, or maybe because he didn’t even notice his grandson needs help.”

Lacey said, “And both of you, I need to know in advance if we’re helping someone. There are things we can do as a business rather than slipping a kid free pizza every few days.” She looked from one to the other. “We could offer a portion of one day’s receipts to that school fund you mentioned. But if you give him free pizza, and he ends up getting food poisoning, or he chokes on the crust, or heaven forbid he has an allergic reaction, especially because he’s a minor, suddenly it’s us on the hook.” She took a deep breath, then glanced at Greg. “I don’t expect you to think of all that, but it’s something that’s going to come up if you end up managing a location.”

Shelly turned away. “Not like you have to worry about that. Greg’s not going to take it because that requires work and sacrifice”

With the slightest of eye-rolls, Ezra shook his head. Greg said, “What did I do?”

Shelly called over her shoulder, “Nothing! Lacey, call in one of your other drivers. I’m too sick to work today.”

Ezra walked off into the supply room, and Lacey looked at a retreating Shelly, then at Greg. As Shelly stalked to her car in the alley, Lacey said, “What was that about?”

Ezra called from the supply room, “This is two entire weeks before I thought it would happen.” He stuck his head out. “Good job. Maybe go after her.”

Greg said, “Let her walk it off. She’ll cool down.”

Ezra looked defeated. “It’s your funeral. Go talk to her, or it’s not happening.”

Greg said, “It’ll be all right,” but ten minutes later, with Shelly not returned, the words echoed in his mind.

“It’ll all work out” meant someone until the moment it didn’t.