Chapter 7 #2
“Fair enough,” he finally replied equably, “but then you’re only catering to 20 percent of the population, and as you are running a business, not a food bank, you might want to think about the other 80 percent, if you’d like to stay afloat.
What do they want? How can you make Miller’s Mercantile appealing to all, or at least most, of the residents of Starr’s Fall and the surrounding area? ”
“If I knew the answer to that question,” Jenna returned tartly, goaded into it and wishing she wasn’t, “I would be doing it. Obviously.” And if that was all the advice he had, it wasn’t very helpful.
“I think we’re all wanting the answer to that question,” Michael interjected with a rueful laugh.
“We’re all struggling, one way or another.
Times are hard, and like Jenna said, people don’t have a lot of extra money to spend.
We need to give them a reason to come to Starr’s Fall in the first place and spend money here, not just in one place, but all over. ”
“Which requires working together, to make sure Starr’s Fall as a place is an appealing shopping proposition,” Jack agreed.
“From what I’ve seen on the Main Street, there are some great novelty stores—the boardgame café and the pet store and bakery in particular are out of the realm of the ordinary, certainly.
” He smiled at both Laurie and Maggie in what Jenna expected was an attempt to show he didn’t mean it as a criticism.
“Most people will travel some distance for a novelty store,” he continued.
“But it helps to have some anchors in place, as well.” He glanced around the room.
“Have you ever been to a quaint little town that’s all antique stores and kitschy boutiques, but no pharmacies or hardwares?
If you don’t like the kitschy stuff, there’s nothing for you there, and that’s the kind of situation you want to avoid in Starr’s Fall.
You want to make sure there’s something for everyone on the Main Street, including covering the essentials, like with Miller’s Mercantile, for all demographics. ”
“But that’s what I’ve been doing ,” Jenna burst out, frustrated now.
He was reading from her hymn sheet like it was rocket science and he was the only one who understood it.
“I’ve kept a firm commitment to the basics, and that hasn’t been working all that well.
” She glared at him like it was his fault, but he just smiled.
“So maybe you need to re-evaluate what that firm commitment looks like,” he suggested.
“You think?” Jenna shook her head, annoyed as well as exasperated. “Well, if you have any bright ideas, do let me know.”
She’d meant it as a put down, but Jack surprised—and aggravated—her by saying in that same pleasant voice, “Actually, I do have some ideas. But we don’t need to take up the Business Association’s time by going through them. Why don’t we talk after the meeting?”
Jenna stared at him for a full five seconds before she finally managed a jerky nod. “Fine,” she said, and then grudgingly added a very belated, “Thank you,” simply because it seemed expected.
Michael took back control of the meeting and as they started talking about next week’s Fall Festival as well as making plans for the Winter Wonderland Weekend in December, Jenna wondered what kind of advice Jack Wexler was going to give her.
Would he be all condescending, telling her how to run the store his way, which might work in Manhattan but not in small-town Connecticut?
The prospect was already making her grit her teeth, but, Jenna acknowledged, he had had a lot of success in business, and she was getting desperate, so…
maybe she should keep a semi-open mind. She’d listen to him, anyway, even if she suspected she wouldn’t want to hear his advice.
Sure enough, as the meeting broke up an hour later after tabling further discussion about the Winter Wonderland Weekend to next month, Jack ambled up to her, all relaxed ease and careless confidence, which set Jenna’s teeth on edge before he’d even spoken.
If he really had run his own venture capital firm, she reminded herself, he might have some ideas about how to run a business. He just didn’t have a clue about Starr’s Fall… or her.
“I feel like it’s time to bury the hatchet,” he told her without preamble.
They were standing off to one side of the basement, but Jenna knew everyone had to be holding their breath, trying to listen in.
“I think it’s three times now we haven’t got off to a very good start, and I have to take at least partial responsibility.
I certainly could have been a lot more tactful in how I spoke of your store, and for that I’m sorry. ”
“Well,” Jenna managed after a second’s startled pause, because she hadn’t expected such an upfront apology, “I appreciate people who call it as they see it.”
“Even if you see it differently?”
His eyebrows rose in query and something compelled Jenna to admit, “I don’t see it that differently, to be honest. I know Miller’s Mercantile is struggling.
I know it looks like it might be on its last gasp, and you were right, it pretty much is.
I just don’t like some snooty out-of-towner saying so.
” She smiled to show she was joking—sort of—and Jack gave a theatrical wince.
“Snooty out-of-towner? Guilty as charged, I guess. Was it the Porsche that gave it away?”
“And the Rolex, and those loafers.” She pointed at his feet. “Although they’re better than the brand-new hiking boots you wore when I saw you in The Starr Light. Did they give you blisters?”
“Yes, bad ones. I had to limp all the way back to my Porsche.”
Jenna pursed her lips. “Oh, dear.”
“Your sympathy is overwhelming.” His mouth twitched in a smile as he cocked his head, looking amused rather than offended. “Why do I feel like I’m a terrible cliché?”
Jenna gave him an innocent look, eyebrows raised. “Because you are one?”
“And you’re not?” he countered, and she let out a huff of laughter.
“Let me guess. Crazy cat-owning spinster who is as quirky as the shop she runs?”
His mouth curved and his eyes glinted, and Jenna was… affected. She tried to ignore the flutters that had started up in her middle. “Do you own a cat?” he asked.
“No.”
He laughed softly, the sound seeming to wind its way around her senses. “Well, not that cliché, I guess.”
“But another one?”
“You tell me.” It was, Jenna reflected, starting to feel like they were flirting… and she didn’t mind.
Whoa, Jenna. Remember that it’s a guy exactly like this one who broke your heart and worse, destroyed your confidence? You want to go there again?
Not that she had any intention of anything happening between her and Jack. A little innocent flirting was one thing…
“Tell you what,” Jack said, one hand tucked in the pocket of his pressed khakis, the epitome of relaxed confidence.
“Why don’t you come to dinner one night this week and we can discuss how I think you could improve the mercantile?
I’ll do my best not to sound like a know-it-all, and I won’t even charge you my usual management fee. ”
Jenna was reeling from realizing she’d just been asked on the approximation of a date, so it took her a moment to ask, “And what is your usual management fee, out of curiosity?”
“Two percent of the invested funds I’m managing.”
“Considering what’s in my bank account, you wouldn’t be getting much,” Jenna replied.
Had he really just asked her to dinner ?
Jack just smiled, waiting for her response, and a sudden, heady feeling of recklessness gripped her as she lifted her chin.
“But in any case, dinner sounds like a better offer for both of us, so if you really did mean it, then I accept.”