17. An Idea is Brewing
SEVENTEEN
An Idea is Brewing
TARA
“Here you go, honey.” Helen stepped inside the office the next afternoon with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and tater tots from Jo’s.
Tara stretched her arms above her head. “Is it lunchtime already?”
“It’s past one thirty.” Helen pulled up a chair next to her daughter. “How’s it looking?”
Tara cleared a place on the desk and took a bite of the sandwich. “Oh, yum,” she closed her eyes and chewed a bite of the sandwich. “This hits the spot.”
“I called over to pick it up, but Jo walked it over. Said she needed a break, anyway.”
“That was nice of her.” Tara squeezed a couple of ketchup packets onto the container. She dipped a tot into the condiment and popped it in her mouth.
“I have tea and water in the fridge.” Her mom stood up and opened the door.
“Water, please.” Tara unscrewed the lid and took a long drink. “Thank you.” She took another drink and then faced her mom.
“Mom, you and Dad still own this entire building, right?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“Do you have anyone lined up to take over the retail space next door?”
“Not yet.”
“Any interest in the office spaces upstairs?”
“Oh, goodness.” She released a long exhale. “I haven’t even been up there in a while. I don’t even know in what condition it’s all in. The keys are in the top drawer though, if you want to take a look.”
She took another bite of her sandwich when the shop bell rang. “Do you need to go up front?”
“No. Lydia came in at 1pm. I wanted to come back and check on you.”
“Thanks for this. I’ve missed these, though yours are better.”
“Of course,” Helen mused. “And I always served it with tomato basil soup.”
“Mmm. It’s not even cold outside, but that sounds so good.”
“Maybe I’ll fix some for dinner one night next week. We can take dinner to your father.”
“He’d like that.”
Tara’s throat tightened, and tears filled her eyes. “I’m so glad he’s going to get better.”
“Shh. Shh. Shh.” Her mom grabbed her hand. “Don’t let it get to you. What happened, happened. We can’t change that. We just have to be grateful he’s going to mend. Besides, we have good insurance.” Her mom laughed. “We’d better, considering we pay an arm and a leg for it.”
“Well, yeah,” Tara sniffed, “but did you see what happened to Dad’s arm and leg?”
For a few seconds, her mom appeared taken aback. A second later, she snorted, and they both burst into laughter.
“Oh geez. I didn’t mean it like that,” Tara breathed between laughs as she grabbed her stomach.
“I know, but I think I needed that.” Her mom wiped tears from her eyes. This time, they were tears of laughter. “Just don’t tell your father.”
“I won’t. I promise.” Tara caught her breath. “Hey, Mom. Before you head over to the hospital, can you let me know if we’re signed up for HomeFest? It’s coming up in a few weeks.”
“No. We usually close early that night.”
“Really? It would be great for sales.”
Helen shrugged. “Sign us up.”
“I’ll check to see if we can still get in. While we’re at it, do you mind if I work on the shop website?”
“Go to town! We’ve been meaning to do something about that.”
“Well, you don’t actually have one. I mean, I found a couple of Yelp reviews, but that’s about it. They were all positive, so that’s good.” When she glanced up from her sandwich, she was met with a confused expression on her mother’s face.
“What’s Yelp?”
“Seriously, Mom?”
“You’re the technology-minded one, Tara. I’ll leave that to you.”
“Great. I’ll set us up for eCommerce.”
“You can do that?”
“Mom, I really hope you’re kidding when you ask these things.”
“Um…”
“Yes. We can do that.”
“Okay, good. I love you, honey. I won’t be in tomorrow morning since I’ll be at the hospital for your father’s knee surgery. Would you mind opening and covering until Lydia can get in?”
“Already planning on it.”
Tara and her mom had been splitting time at the hospital, with Tara going in the morning and then coming to the shop around eleven a.m. to work until close while her mom went to the hospital after Lydia came in. “I’ll be over after close tonight, too. Sound good?”
“Yep. See you there.”
Tara stood and wrapped her arms around her mom in a warm hug. “I love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too.”
Tara worked a few more hours and started putting short and long-term plans of action together for her parents’ store, trying to fill in things they stopped doing out of a need for more time or, she hated to say it, apathy. When she had some solid ideas for the shop, she pulled out her phone and dialed a familiar number.
“Ronna Jackson.”
“Hi, Ronna.”
“Tara,” her boss’ voice sounded upbeat. “It’s good to hear your voice. How’s your father doing?”
“Much better, thanks.” Tara caught her up on the latest with her dad. “It’s stressful. I won’t lie.” Just saying the words out loud made Tara actually think about the tension in her shoulders. “But we’re hanging in there. The shop is still up and running.”
“That’s right.” Tara could hear the smile in Ronna’s voice. “Independent bookstore, right?”
“Yes, and they desperately need it to be brought into this century. That’s part of why I’m calling you. I could use your help.”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“I want to run something by you. I’ve been going over the books and things and have some ideas on how to make improvements.”
“You never stop working, do you?” Her boss’s voice shared a friendly tone.
“Certainly not here, no. I just,” Tara paused, “I think they’d be an excellent candidate for our kind of help. I can do all the work on this end, of course, but I could use a pair of objective eyes on it since I clearly have an emotional connection. I love the store, so I’m a tad biased.”
The sound of friendly laughter filled the air. “Hard to be objective when you grew up in the store you’re now trying to help.”
“Very true.” Tara joined in the laughter. “I really could use your advice.”
“Of course. This is the shop you hope to take over someday, right?”
“Yes.”
“Email me your preliminary file, and I’ll look at it.”
“Thanks, Ronna.”