Page 61 of Suddenly Beck

She shuffles through the paperwork handing me various pieces of paper.

‘This is all of them?’

‘The ones I know about,’ she replies.

‘Okay,’ I muse as I stare at the numbers and make quick calculations in my head. ‘The way I see it, we pay off the debts and take on some new staff. It will take time to earn back the trust of or suppliers, so we may have to pay those up front for a while. On the plus side, we’re going into the busy summer season, so if we can get people through the door, we can start building the business back up.’

‘That’s all very well, Nat, but where am I going to get that kind of money? There’s no way the bank is going to lend that amount, not in the current economic climate, and if by some miracle they did, I couldn’t afford the interest rates.’

‘Doesn’t matter.’ I shake my head. ‘Because the bank isn’t going to lend you the money... I am.’

‘I’m sorry, what?’ She blinks.

‘I’m going to lend you the money,’ I tell her. ‘I’m not going to take a wage either, I don’t need it. Right now, we need to plough as much money back into the business as possible to get it back into the black.’

‘Nat.’ She frowns. ‘Did you not see how many zeroes were on those figures.’

‘Yes, I did.’ I smile. ‘I do have a masters in finance you know.’

‘Nat, you can’t possibly…’

‘Mel.’ I lay my hand over hers reassuringly. ‘I have money, way more than I need or want. I have a very sizeable inheritance from my grandfather on my father’s side that was held in trust for me until I turned twenty-one, and when I did, I bought the flat in Chelsea, but trust me, it didn’t even make a dent. Not only that, but all the money I made working for my father’s company, I banked because there was nothing I wanted to spend my money on that badly. My nest egg is more than substantial. Trust me, I can afford this.’

‘But why?’ She frowns. ‘Why would you do this?’

‘Because my gut tells me it’s the right thing to do,’ I say quietly. ‘My gut told me to get on that train, and then it put me on that bus and led me to the beach, and so far, it hasn’t steered me wrong.’ I squeeze her hand again. ‘I believe in you. I believe in this place. Sully’s had a great reputation before Scott tried to ruin it. It’s a great building, although it could use a fresh coat of paint. It’s in a prime location, and you do have a loyal customer base, once they see things are changing, they’ll come back.’

‘But you’re taking a huge risk, Nat,’ she replies worriedly. ‘It’s a lot of money.’

‘It’s my money.’ I shrug. ‘We’ll go to a solicitor and have contracts drawn up so it’s all legal and above board. You have two options, I can either invest the money in the restaurant, and once it’s turning a profit again you can pay me a small percentage return on my investment, or I can make it a loan, in which case once the place is making a profit above a certain percentage you can start to repay the capital. The only difference is I won’t be charging you interest.’

‘Nat,’ she says quietly. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘I only have one stipulation,’ I tell her seriously.

‘What?’

‘No one else knows,’ I reply. ‘This is just between you and me.’

‘Why?’ she asks curiously.

‘Because I like just being Nat,’ I tell her honestly. ‘I don’t want people to look at me and see the money because they’ll look at me differently.’

‘People… or Beck?’ she asks, her eyes locked on me. ‘Because Beck’s not like that.’

‘I know he’s not,’ I tell her solemnly. ‘This isn’t about Beck. I just want to be Nat. Being a chef is my dream, and you know.’ I shake my head and give a little laugh. ‘Maybe one day I’ll want to open a restaurant of my own somewhere. You gave me a chance, now I’m giving you one. I’ll lend you the money and you teach me how to be a chef and run a restaurant, and we’ll call it even. Deal?’ I hold out my hand.

Her face breaks into a slow and wide smile. ‘Deal,’ she says softly as she takes my hand and shakes.

‘Okay.’ I grin. ‘Then let’s figure out how to save Sully’s.’

Chapter Seventeen

Nat

Never let it be said I don’t like a challenge…

I sit cross-legged on my bed in the B&B furiously tapping away at the keys of my brand-new laptop. The box and packaging is discarded lazily on the floor along with the packaging for my new iPhone. Although I left my old phone in my flat in London, along with all its contacts, there was nothing on it I wanted. However, with everything going on at the restaurant, I need one, not only so Mel can get hold of me without having to leave messages with Bea at the main desk, but so I can manage the new social media accounts I’d created for Sully’s.