The Sweetheart Deal

“This is just a sample of what I can do.” She brought out her recipe ledger and spread it open. “My grandmother not only left me the bakery, but all her time-tested recipes guaranteed to make the Sweetheart a success for years to come. And success means money, which means you and I both profit. See this recipe for True Love’s torte? It’s a hot seller especially around Valentine’s Day, which is just around the corner and...”

Adam held a hand up. “Recipes and products that sell are good.” He paused. “For you, that is. They don’t mean a thing to me or the bank.”

Megs sat back in her seat and crossed her legs at the ankles. She regretted having worn her practical boots rather than the high heels that Kelly had suggested. “Sex sells,” her sister had told her as she pulled out a different outfit from what she currently wore. Maybe she should have worn the low V-neck wrap dress rather than the turtleneck sweater under the wool blazer.

“So that’s it? You’re turning me down already?” She rose to her feet and grasped the handles of the tote bag.

Adam came around the desk and put a hand on her shoulder. “Where are you going? We’re just getting started.”

“I’m not about to sit here and let you mock me. I put up with enough of that when we were teenagers.” She grabbed her coat that she’d draped on the back of the chair. “I have too much to do to waste my time with you.”

Adam left her side and stood in front of the door. “You’re so quick to judge me.”

“You taught me well.”

They glared at each other until he blinked. “I’m not mocking you, Megan. I’m trying to tell you what I’m looking to get from you. While I appreciate you bringing the cookies today, I need more than that to risk the bank’s money on the bakery.” He seemed to rise several inches as he gestured to the chair she’d vacated. “Now, why don’t we sit down and go over what I need?”

She eyed him warily. She didn’t have much choice, did she?

* * *

ADAM BLINKED SEVERAL times before Megan took her seat and placed her coat and bag in the empty chair next to hers. He let out the breath he realized he’d been holding and returned to his seat behind the desk. He pulled out a folder and handed it across to her. She looked up at him with those hazel brown eyes filled with past pain. He knew he’d been responsible of putting that there and had regretted it every day since. “If you look at the first page in your packet, you’ll notice that we will need several documents from you to support your loan application. Tax returns. Profit and loss statements. An accounting of all your assets and liabilities.”

She looked over the list and seemed to grow pale in front of him. He’d heard a lot about her prowess as a baker, but very little about her as a businesswoman. Perhaps she hadn’t had to worry about the business side of things until recently. He was tempted to reach out and put a hand over hers. Instead, he clasped his hands in front of him and rested them on the desk. “It sounds a lot worse than it is. Your accountant will have most, if not all, of these documents. I will try to make this as easy on you as possible.”

She peered up at him. “Why?”

“Because I want to help you out.”

“Again, why?”

He cleared his throat. “Listen. I know our past history doesn’t make us friends or anything, but I could be your ally.” Before she could ask again, he barreled on. “Because I want to make up for what happened. Because you didn’t deserve anything I did to you. Or your friend.”

She paused and eyed him again. “If we work together on this loan, I want a couple of ground rules.”

That didn’t sound good. “Okay. Like what?”

She held up one finger. “No talking about the past. Especially about Kenny.” Two fingers. “Nothing to be done or offered out of pity or trying to redeem yourself because of said past.” Three fingers. “And we keep this on a purely professional level.”

“I can agree to those terms. Should we shake on it?” He held his hand out to her.

She stared at it, but kept her hand to herself. “And no touching.”

“You have a lot of rules.” He gave her a smile, hoping to lighten the mood. But the scowl on her face remained, so he put his hand back on the desk. “Fine. No touching.”

She looked back at the document list. “I have some of these items with me. Jack thought I should be prepared for anything.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a thick binder. “I’m glad I listened to him.”

Was this Jack her boyfriend? He tried to recall anyone with that name in their graduating class but couldn’t come up with a face. And why did the thought of Megan with a boyfriend make his heart sink? Not that she shouldn’t have one, as pretty and as sweet as she was. But the idea didn’t settle well with him.

She flipped through the binder and unsnapped the rings so that she could remove several pages. She handed them across the desk to him, and he stood. “I’ll go make some copies of this for your file. Can I get you anything while I’m out? Coffee? Water?”

“Hot tea, if you have it.” She flipped through the binder some more, then pulled out two more pages. “You may need these, as well.”

So civil. So polite. Adam nodded and took the pages as well as the cookies to the break room with him. He found Eva having her lunch, and held out the container. “Megan Sweet brought treats for the entire staff.”

She chose one and bit into it, closing her eyes as she chewed. “That girl is truly talented.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Lord knows I loved Addy, but her granddaughter is even better at making the bakery run than she was.”

Adam leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “You think the Sweetheart would be a good risk?”

Eva finished swallowing her bite and smiled. “Don’t you?”

“I’ve got to make copies.” He held up the pages and walked out of the break room. Why was he already second-guessing Megs’s request for a loan? It wasn’t as if he was using his position to repay her for the past by green-lighting the request. Besides, she probably still had that same backbone that had helped her stand up to him and would use it again to rebuild the business and make it thrive.

He got his copies and returned to his office, handing Megs the originals. She spent several minutes reorganizing the pages back into her binder, and placed it in her bag. She studied the lone piece of paper left in front of her. “I noticed that the document list asks for a business plan.”

He sat behind his desk and steepled his fingers in front of his mouth. “Did you come prepared for that, as well?”

“You want it in writing? Rather than me telling you that I sell bread and cookies to the town?” She shook her head. “Because that’s my plan for the business. Not that difficult to figure out.”

He frowned at her. “No, I want a written description of your business, your target consumer as well as a forecast for any future growth. How many employees you have and your labor costs. A budget. I want hard numbers based on the information you gave me here.” He lifted the pages from his desk and waved them in her direction. “A concrete business plan for the Sweetheart.” When she continued to stare at him, he longed to groan. Instead, he put the papers back down. “You do have one, right?”

She stared at her hands. “Only in my head.”

“That’s a great start, Megan.” He watched her until she raised her head to meet his eyes. “If you’d like, I can help you formulate one to go along with your application.”

She stood and grabbed her coat and bag. “No, I think I can figure it out on my own. I don’t need you to do anything but put in the application.” She nodded at him then turned to leave.

He rose to his feet and walked behind her out of the office. “I’ll expect your application soon, then.”

She didn’t say anything but waved at his tellers before leaving the bank.

Well, that didn’t go too badly.

* * *

MEGS WALKED TO her car and opened the back door to put her tote bag in before letting herself into the driver’s seat. Don’t cry. Not here. Leave the parking lot and then you can lose it. She started the car and paused for a moment before putting it in gear.

Once out of the parking lot, she let the tears that had been threatening since walking into Adam’s office fall down her cheeks and drip off her chin unhindered. The fact that she’d had to go to him of all people with hat in hand to ask for money. Then for him to make her feel smaller than an ant because she didn’t have a written business plan. And if she didn’t have Jack for an accountant, she wouldn’t know the first thing about his list of required documents.

She felt like a fool in more than one way.

A fool to assume she had the business sense to run the bakery. If anything, she learned that she still had more to find out. And she felt foolish to imagine she could face him again without feeling like a fifteen-year-old afraid of the big bully. Without remembering Kenny and what it had cost him.

Her cell phone buzzed, and she answered it through the speaker phone on her car.

“How did it go?” Kelly, of course.

“I’m not sure exactly. He needs a written business plan, and I don’t know the first thing about writing one.”