Chapter Two
Friends Forever
Listening to the sharp click of her heels reverberating in the hallway, Cal sighed.
He should go apologize, but honestly, he didn’t think he could do that without risking another argument.
Multiple late nights pouring over the books, a week of putting out fires, and dealing with today’s Mom-zilla, Jennifer, left him short-tempered and desperately in need of sleep and some stress relief.
A part of him recognized Rachel was simply trying to be helpful, but he resented the implication he couldn’t handle his business.
Although he recognized that she gave as good as she got.
She stood her ground and told him where to go and probably would have given him directions if he’d asked.
Her face flushed, eyes flashing, and her hands clenched with suppressed energy—she was utterly magnificent.
In a different life, he would have prolonged the encounter just to see what she’d say or do next.
Rubbing his face with a hand, he inhaled deeply and picked up a trace of her delightful fragrance. It was a light floral scent, but with something else woodsy about it. Like cedar. He couldn’t pinpoint it, but its delicate nature seemed to contradict the impassioned, bold woman he’d just meet.
Returning to the kitchen, he caught Joanne’s eye, and they quickly ran through the menu to confirm everything. Overall, things were in better shape than he thought. While he knew Joanne and her crew were capable, he’d just come to double check.
“We may have a few holes here and there,” Joanne said. “But with our substitutions and a few work-arounds, no one will know. And,” she continued with a chuckle, “I’ll ensure every dish that goes out is up to Jennifer’s standards.”
Cal groaned. The property had been open as a wedding venue for two years, and he still wasn’t sure who was harder to deal with, brides or mothers of the bride.
“That’s wonderful to hear, Joanne. Also, be certain everything that goes to table five is as close to the menu as possible.
That’s where the groom’s Scottish grandparents are sitting. ”
“Thanks for the heads up,” Joanne said, jotting a note on her sheet before going back to the stove.
Passing through the kitchen, he dodged the workers and servers putting together last-minute items. Time for him to get out from underfoot and let the team do their thing.
His jaw tightened as he maneuvered around the boxes of cauliflower that had just come in.
The close quarters were an annoying reminder that his parents had a point about the necessity of a commercial kitchen.
Before leaving, he snagged a piece of Scottish tablet from the tray by the door.
Taking a bite, he turned and made his way along the hall to his office.
The dessert was amazing. Kind of like fudge in a way.
The sugar just melted on his tongue. He had to remember this and recommend it to other caterers who used White Hall Estate.
It was an unusual sweet treat. Maybe he could sneak back and nab another little piece towards the close of the night.
Although most likely, there wouldn’t be any left.
Tucked into the rear section of the house, his office was nothing special to look at, as his entire focus for the past few years had been renovating the estate for use as an event space.
Maybe one day he’d get around to making some improvements in the administrative areas, but for now, his sole focus was on pushing the business forward.
White Hall Estate had been in his family for generations, his grandfather or Pops, as he called him, being the last to reside there.
After his death, seeing the estate sitting empty and rotting away was something Cal couldn’t live with.
He wanted to revitalize the old estate and make it the amazing destination he knew it could be.
He’d spent so many wonderful summers here, he could not walk away.
Unfortunately, his parents didn’t feel the same pull to the property.
When he’d approached them, they had reluctantly agreed to let him try to create a profitable business there.
Little did they know he had big plans for White Hall.
Being an event venue was just the first step in the many he knew he needed to make.
His ultimate goal was to secure the financial prosperity of the property for generations to come.
It was imperative that the family’s land and Pops’ legacy were safe.
And to do that, the estate needed to grow well beyond weddings.
His phone buzzed with an incoming call. Looking down, he settled into his office chair before happily accepting it.
“Vinny! How are you, man? How’s the restaurant business doing today?
” His friend from college, Vinny, ran an amazing deli just down the road from the estate.
While everything Vinny made was delicious, Cal had developed a severe addiction to his roast beef sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies.
“Hey Fitzy,” Vinny responded, defaulting to Cal’s college nickname. “I’m doing good. Busy as always. But as you know, it’s a food business, so something is always going off the rails.”
“Ugghh, don’t remind me. It’s been one thing after another over here. The caterer’s food delivery was messed up for tonight’s event, so we’ve been running around like crazy.”
“Do you need anything?”
“Nah, thank you, man. I appreciate it, but we’re all good. Joanne Mulberry is catering tonight, and she’s got it locked down.”
“Oh, she’s great. Runs a tight kitchen.”
“She does,” Cal had to chuckle. “But tonight, it was me laying down the law in the kitchen.”
“What’s this?” Vinny laughed. “I gotta hear this one.”
Cal filled his friend in about his heated discussion with the event guest. Then added, “Maybe I’ll hunt her down at the reception and apologize.”
“What you ought to do,” Vinny pushed back, “is either work with Trace on her job performance or fire her. We both know she’s not well-suited to the job. While she’s not responsible for the food order being wrong, I know what you're not saying. You had to cover for her again, didn’t you?”
“I know, Vinny. I know,” Cal replied, reclining in his chair.
“I’ve just been running so fast trying to get this place going that I haven’t had time.
But you’re right. I have to make the time.
Her mistakes are typically small little things, but they’re just adding up and pulling me away from the other stuff I ought to be doing. ”
Vinny laughed. “Like pulling you away from having a pissing match with a guest?”
“Ugh,” Cal groaned. “I can’t believe I did that. But man, you should have seen her. Charging through the kitchen, ready to tell me what to do and how to fix things I already had handled.”
“She really got under your skin, didn’t she?”
“No!” Cal replied sharply. “She didn’t.” Vinny made a noncommittal noise, so Cal continued.
“I simply couldn’t tolerate one more person telling me what to do in my business, especially since I already had it handled.
” He didn’t dare voice that part of him had been utterly captivated by her energy.
Vinny would never let him live that down.
“Speaking of which,” Vinny said, pulling Cal back to their conversation. “How are your parents?”
Having close friends who saw too much was both a blessing and a curse. Exhaling loudly, he responded, “Exactly how you think they are.”
“So, no movement from them to relax the requirements of the deal?”
“No, not yet. I’m scheduled to meet with them, but I’m not hopeful.”
“Do they understand how much of a success you already are? To have renovated the estate and launched it as a venue for functions—at a profit. Cal, that’s huge.”
Cal felt those words land. It was simple to lose sight of what he’d accomplished when faced with his parents’ continued disapproval. “Thanks, Vin. That’s deeply appreciated. But you know my parents. To them, the estate is a disappointing holding in their portfolio.
“I mean, I get it. They’re financial advisers.
They don’t get my interest in hospitality, nor do they have the emotional connection to this place that I have.
They set a profitability level that needs to be met.
For them, it’s a case of the numbers not meeting expectations.
” Of me not meeting expectations, he added in his head.
It was hard to believe his parents couldn’t see how important the estate was to him. Not only was it multigenerational land, but Pops had lived here all his life. Pops, who had taught Cal to love the estate equally.
“I’m hoping they’ll give me an extension so I can try to get a little more profit before they toss out our deal.
” He wasn’t willing to consider what would happen if that occurred.
“If I can get some more events booked, I think I’ll have a strong case.
I want to branch out from weddings. It would open up a lot more options for us.
Either way, I’ll give it my best and hope my parents relent. ”
“Well, you know we all believe in you, brother.”
“Thanks, Vinny.”
“Anytime, Fitzy. And if we can help, please don’t hesitate.”
“Thanks. I will.”
“Speaking of all our friends,” Vinny said, shifting gears. “I was calling about Friends’ Weekend, but with all you have going on, maybe we should postpone.”
“No way,” Cal responded immediately. “It took us months to get all our calendars synced up to find a weekend we're all free. I’ll be damned if we cancel because I have stuff to deal with. We all have stuff.”
Rescheduling Friends’ Weekend was out of the question.
It had been far too long since they’d all gotten together.
While no one lived that far away, things always seemed to pop up to ruin the plans for a big get-together.
Vinny, Jacks, Panda, Holly, Erin, Ryan, and Cal had been friends from the moment they met, and those bonds had only deepened through the years.
The seven of them met at Stonehill College, all living in the same dorm freshman year.
From the dorm, they’d moved into college townhouses, making sure they all remained in the same housing block.
Even after graduation, they’d kept in touch and were a tight group.
To Cal, they were family. Far closer to him than his parents or even his brother, James.
Now that the estate was partly renovated, he was excited to host his friends.
Not only to show off what he’d been working on, but to spend time with them all.
Actually, during Cal’s college years several of them had visited the estate while Pops was alive.
While it wouldn’t be the same without Pops, he was hoping to capture some of the same feelings. Kind of bring the estate back to life.
“Hey, I’m looking forward to it too, Cal, but in case you have to deal with your folks or book another event in there over that weekend, we would all understand. The estate is more important than one weekend.”
“I hear you, Vinny. But I haven’t even had a nibble of interest on those dates, so we are a go to have Friends’ Weekend. If that needs to change—which I know it won’t need to—I’ll let you all know.”
“Got it,” Vinny replied. “So, what should I bring?”
Cal and Vinny got into the details, handing out assignments to each of the friends as to what to bring or buy for the weekend.
For Cal, that weekend couldn’t come fast enough.
He just wanted to sit back alongside his friends and spend a few days laughing and talking and not worrying about the estate or the deal he’d struck with his parents.