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CHAPTER 45

On Kent’s suggestion, they met at The Yard. Given how she wanted to make up for quite a few things, Gemma arrived five minutes before they were due to meet and was planning on getting the drinks in. It was, therefore, a surprise to find Kent already there and a pint of cider waiting in her place.

“Don’t worry, it’s still cold,” he said. “I saw you coming down the road. Although if I’ve got it wrong, I’ll drink it, and you can get something else.”

“This is perfect, thank you,” Gemma said before removing her coat, sitting down, and taking a longer-than-average sip. She was hoping the drink would ease some of her nerves, but short of downing the entire pint, she doubted it was possible. The entire walk there, her mind had been skipping over every conversation she and Kent had had and how they would have gone differently if she’d known he was officially her boss. It was a futile exercise that left her regretting everything she’d said and desperate for a cigarette, though she’d kicked the habit over five years ago and had no intention of going back to it. Strangely, though, actually seeing Kent there, with a pint in his hand, made her feel notably calmer.

“Okay then, boss, I guess we should start talking,” she said.

Kent grimaced.

“I don’t want to be the boss. I want us to be a team, but yes, we have things to talk about.”

“Well, for starters, if we are going to keep those new tills, we need to get rid of all the random things on there.”

“Random things?”

“Caramel frappes? Pepperoni hot pockets. Things we really don’t and aren’t ever going to sell. I was looking at it all this afternoon when I was trying to get to grips with it. Why are they all on there?”

“Oh. Yes.” Kent took a sip of his drink, and it felt like he was avoiding looking Gemma in the eye, but a second later, he was smiling at her. “It’s just a second-hand till, that’s all. I suspect that’s why they’re still on there.”

“Wow, I can’t believe they ever used it. It looks brand new.”

“You’re right,” Kent said. “It does, but moving on from the till, I know it’s hard to hear this because I know how hard you work, but given its location and size, the café should be bringing in, conservatively, double what it is.”

“Double?” Gemma said.

There was no way she believed that. Sure, their prices were lower, but they were always busy. How did he expect them to handle any more without increasing the number of staff, and surely that would cut into the profits even more?

“That’s conservative,” Kent said. “And there are a few things we can look at straight away to turn that around. To start with, we could fit far more tables into the space. There’s room for at least thirty per cent more inside and outside needs to become strictly for customers. Loads of people just like to sit down and have a look at the view. They don’t even buy a takeaway coffee. That’s what public benches are for. It’ll be a bit awkward at first, telling people they need to buy things if they want to sit at ourtables, but let’s be honest, they already know that. That would be one way of upping how many covers we can do without needing any major changes.”

Gemma agreed with the outdoor issue. In the summer, it often became a meeting point for people, and while they sometimes came in for drinks or food, they didn’t always. But adding more tables inside? That was a different matter.

“People like the fact that we have more room,” she said. “They bring their dogs in, especially in the winter. It gives them space to lie down with a bowl of water. We could lose a lot of regulars if we don’t have the room for them.”

“Which is all very lovely, but dogs don’t buy coffee and meals.”

Gemma hummed lightly. “They could.”

“Sorry?”

She nodded to herself as the thought took on a more solid form in her mind.

“There’s a restaurant out near Burnham that’s got a dog menu. Things aren’t that expensive or anything, but I bet the ingredients are cheap as chips. With the number of dog walkers we get in the summer, I bet that could be a way of bringing in some extra revenue without changing anything, really.”

When she finished talking, she found Kent staring at her intently, a peculiar glint in his eyes that caused her pulse to flicker.

“You see, I told you we’d make a good team. Now, I know you don’t want to hear it, but we need to put the drink prices up so that they’re in line with the rest of Maldon... so let’s see if we can agree on what they’re going to be.”

CHAPTER 46

Kent had come prepared, with the prices of every drink from every coffee shop in Maldon on his tablet. Looking at the numbers like that, en masse in front of her, meant there was no denying it. They were missing out on some serious money.

“I just feel bad,” Gemma said honestly. “Some of the elderly people that come in can’t afford to pay much more, and a cup of tea in the cafe is often the highlight of their day. I really don’t want to take that away from them.”

Kent rested his chin on his knuckles as he stared at the prices.

“Okay, so why don’t we do a smaller size special? And we can do a loyalty card, so every twelve drinks, they get a free one.”