The Maverick - By Jan Hudson Page 0,29

summaries of the books for both Chili Witches and their other properties, covering the past six months. Cass was very familiar with the figures because she’d helped Sunny and the accountant prepare them.

The elder sisters looked them over carefully. “Very nice,” Min said. “It appears as if you girls are doing well with the business.”

Gloria beamed with pride. “I knew everything would be in good hands. I didn’t know we were worth so much.”

“With the downturn in some of the markets,” Cass said, “I think our company is doing exceptionally well. So well, in fact, we’ve had some offers to expand in new directions.”

“As well as some other offers,” Sunny said, glancing quickly to Cass, “that we’ll get to later.”

Cass could see those antennae of her mother’s going up again. “I’m intrigued now. What are these mysterious other offers?”

“Well,” Sunny said, then cleared her throat. “We’ve had an offer to buy Chili Witches and the entire property around it.”

“Really?” Aunt Min said. “For how much?”

When Cass told them the figure, both her mom’s and her aunt’s eyebrows went sky-high.

“Holy guacamole!” her mom said.

“That’s a fortune!” Aunt Min added.

“But, of course,” Cass said, “I wrote and declined their offer.”

Gloria and Min looked at each other.

“And,” Sunny said, “I received a special delivery recently from the same gentleman. This time he upped the offer by ten percent.”

“Oh my!” Min said. “He’s persistent.”

“He’s a bastard!” Cass exclaimed. “Dollars to doughnuts his company plans to tear down the whole block and build an ugly high-rise. No way, Jose! Chili Witches is not for sale.”

Gloria and Min looked at each other again.

“Let’s move on to those offers to expand you mentioned,” Min said.

Sunny handed out more papers. “This company would like to introduce our chili as a frozen food item, first in selected markets, then nationally if it goes well. This is their proposal and marketing plan.”

“Have you checked out this company?” Gloria asked.

“I did,” Cass said. “They have an excellent reputation and a good track record.”

“I’d like to give this some more thought,” Min said, “but it looks like a fine idea to me.”

“I agree. Anything else?”

“Another company that specializes in the start-up of franchises has approached us about franchising Chili Witches,” Cass said.

“You mean like McDonald’s or KFC?” her mom said.

Cass smiled. “On not so grand a scale.”

“Wouldn’t that require a tremendous amount of work?” Aunt Min asked.

“Only at first. This company has developed a model for franchising that streamlines the process considerably. They have a lot of experience. Of course, they take a big cut of the pie, as well.”

“I think this franchising idea will take several nights sleep, but it sounds a little scary to me,” Gloria said. “What do you girls think?”

“We’re still sleeping on it as well,” Sunny said.

“Wouldn’t marketing a frozen chili be in direct competition with franchises?” Aunt Min asked.

“Actually, no,” Cass told them. “The stores, as they call them, would be another marketing outlet. Eat some, take some home for the freezer.”

There was a rap on the front window, and Cass looked up to see Belle Outlaw Burrell waving and smiling on the other side of the glass. Cass felt the blood drain from her face, and Sunny looked as if she might bolt out the back door.

Chapter Twelve

Cass hadn’t felt such panic since she’d been called into the vice principal’s office when she was in the eighth grade. No way could she ignore Belle, but she could try her best to head off any problems. Talk about secrets biting you in the butt.

Jumping to her feet, she pasted on a bright smile, waved to Belle and hurried to the front door. She fumbled with the lock and finally got it open. Throwing her arms wide, she ran outside and wrapped her cousin in a big hug.

“For gosh sakes, don’t mention the Outlaw family,” Cass whispered in her ear. “We haven’t told Mother yet. Follow my lead. I’ll explain later.” She grabbed her hand and dragged her inside.

“Why are you closed?” Belle asked.

“We had a flood,” Cass said. “Look, everybody, it’s Belle Burrell. Belle, this is our mother, Gloria O’Connor, and our aunt, Minerva O’Connor. We call her Min. Belle is Sunny’s and my dear friend from Wimberley. She owns the newspaper there. Mother and Aunt Min just got in from France a couple of days ago. They rented a house there and have been having a grand time.”

“Welcome home,” Belle said. “I’m delighted to meet you. Sunny and Cass speak of you often. I dropped