Lord of Rain (The Dragon Demigods #5) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,68

is about.”

“There’s no fuss.” He waves his hand, making a face.

“Dad, they charge more than we do.”

His eyes widen, and he gasps. “Did you buy something from them?” He frowns. “Why would you do that, Ashley? We have perfectly good items here at Buns. You didn’t need to go there.”

“That’s not why I went, Dad. I wanted to see the place. I wanted to try their pastries, coffees, and sandwiches.” He needs to understand that they offer a better selection. “How can we compete if we don’t know what we’re up against? How can we formulate a plan?”

“What do you mean by plan?” He frowns. “Buns has been around since you were a baby, Ash. We’re not going anywhere. It’s just a little bump in the road. We need to weather the storm. That’s all.”

“Dad…” I shake my head. I have to be careful how I proceed. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I have to make him see reason. “Maybe you should come with me to Sweet Things and take a look for—” I stop talking because my father’s face is going red.

“No! I don’t need to set foot in that place. They’re a franchise. There’s no way the service and standards can be as good as Buns. I don’t believe it.”

“I’m afraid they are as good, if not better.”

“No way.” He shakes his head, frowning.

“Dad, they have an awesome setup. You need to see—”

“You prefer it there?” he barks. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. My daughter prefers the competition over her own flesh and blood.”

“That’s not it. Of course not. I love Buns. I love you and Mom. We have to face reality though. I’m stating facts here. They have a beautiful front-of-house with tables and chairs.”

“We have our bench.”

“People want to sit down and enjoy their—”

“Nonsense! People are busy. Why would anyone want to sit inside a bakery? No! You’re wrong, Ash.” Just because people wouldn’t want to sit at Buns, doesn’t mean that they don’t want to sit and enjoy their food in a sunny, bright environment. I can’t tell my dad that.

“All I know is that every table was taken. I—”

“So, you’re saying we should put a couple of chairs and tables out, and our lost customers would come right back?”

“No, that’s not—” I want to tell him how we need to think about bigger changes than that. Changes that might involve knocking down a wall or two.

“Exactly!” He pulls in a breath. “It’s a bump in the road, that’s all! It’ll be fine.” He flaps his hand again.

“It won’t, though, not unless—”

“You’re so negative.” His voice is hard. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Now he sounds sad. He’s looking at me with such disappointment. “Out of everyone out there, Ash, I would have thought that you would’ve been our biggest supporter.” He shakes his head, standing up. “Let me guess, you bailed on us because you figured we were going under. I hate to break it to you, missy, but that isn’t going to happen. Not on my watch. You should go back to your corporate job. We’ll be okay without you.” Then he walks out.

I’m reeling. My dad is wrong about everything. I’ve been dreading having this discussion with him because deep down inside, I knew it would go down like this. My dad is proud. He’s also very old-school, and I never realized how much he hated change. The fact is that Buns is still exactly the same as it was ten or fifteen years ago.

I’m frustrated. I feel tears well, but I fight to pull myself together. Tears won’t solve anything. I’ll give him some time to cool off, and then I’ll try again. I will also speak to my mom. Maybe she will listen to reason. I know that she’ll ultimately side with my dad on whatever he says, but maybe I can somehow convince her to whisper in his ear. Even if they make small changes, like a coffee station. It wouldn’t have to be as fancy as Sweet Things – but at least something. Throw in a couple of those ready-to-go sandwiches, and we’d be going in the right direction. There are small things they could do to change things right now. No money necessary. Like me making those plaited loaves. Why can’t Simon start with a Bread of the Day or even a Bread of the Week? Something different to our current offerings. My dad will see that our customers want to try