The Texan's Second Chance. Allie Pleiter

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СКАЧАТЬ Witt, but folks have to like whoever’s behind the counter.”

      “She can sell, I’m sure of it,” Witt agreed. “She’s easy to promote—I’m sure she looks great on camera, and that’s an asset.” Witt glanced over at Ellie. “Am I allowed to say that?”

      “Yes, you’re allowed to say that,” Gunner answered before Ellie could. Sometimes the brother-sister tension with those two ran a bit strong. Gunner was clearly the boss—and always had been—but Ellie wasn’t shy about asserting herself.

      “You’re right there. Jana’s got loads of personality. She’s the whole package,” Ellie said as she sat back. “And yes, I will admit, most of the servers and even lots of the corporate staff back in Atlanta thought she was a looker.” She pointed at Witt. “But that’s not why we hired her. We hired her for her skills.”

      “Yes, we did,” Witt agreed, the sensation of the perfectly melted cheese on his tongue still a vivid memory. Of course the food was the first priority. And he would have happily shared that tiny space with a burly guy who could cook as well as Jana. Still, any man with a pulse would concede that the scenery inside the Blue Thorn Burgers truck only added to the charm. “She has her share of opinions, too. And she isn’t shy about sharing them. Kind of like the other woman in this company.”

      “Funny.” Ellie gave Witt a look as she took another biscuit from the plate at the center of the table. “Did you have discussions, debates, or full-out arguments?”

      “All three, I think, but it was okay. More like creative tension.” He didn’t mind being challenged if it led to better ideas and stronger business practices in the end. And he had a feeling most of Jana’s ideas would be good ones. If they could strike a good working partnership, everything would work out fine. He was going to make this work, no matter what it took.

      “Jana will take another couple of days to get the truck up and running, I’ll hire one or two support workers...”

      “Like Jose?” Ellie cut in. She’d insisted Witt hire one of the high school kids she and her fiancé, Nash, had met while running an after-school program for local at-risk teens. Ellie and Gunner cared a lot about what they did and how they did it. The Blue Thorn Ranch was about much more than the bottom line, which was what made it so satisfying to work with them.

      “Like Jose,” Witt replied. “I think he’s coming down tomorrow. Are you sure the kid is okay staying with his brother down in the city? I mean, I’m all for giving kids opportunities, but a start-up food truck is going to call for long hours and hard work. Jose knows it won’t be like some episode of a Food Network show, doesn’t he?”

      “Jose will be great,” Gunner confirmed. “That kid’s not one bit afraid of hard work. He’s really grown up since graduation. I’d hire him on the ranch if we had work for him.”

      Despite Blue Thorn’s long history, most of the recent changes—converting it into a bison ranch and expanding Blue Thorn Enterprises—made it feel more like a start-up. Blue Thorn had run into some difficult times in the past few years under Gunner and Ellie’s father, but the new generation of Bucktons were working hard to right the ship. It had its stresses, but Witt found it far more satisfying than the situation he’d left behind at home, watching his role at Star Beef get chiseled down to nothing by his sister and her ambitious new husband. Business was booming, as it had been for years, but he didn’t feel wanted or accepted. And this was still family, after all—Witt’s dad had been brother to Ellie and Gunner’s father, Gunner Senior. This opportunity with his cousins at Blue Thorn had been an answer to his prayer, a place to show the world what he could do at a time when he was feeling truly stalled.

      “If the food truck is successful, we could think of other mobile ventures,” Ellie added. “I know of at least one yarn company that has a mobile store just like a food truck. We could do that here, you know.”

      “One expansion at a time, Els,” Gunner said as he rolled his eyes. He turned to Witt. “The truck’s own website and all that stuff is nearly ready?”

      “It links right up with the ranch and store sites,” Witt answered. Ellie did all the public relations for the consumer side, and the wholesale piece had been up and fully running without a hitch. “Two-thirds of your customers have converted to the online ordering system, and I’ll be visiting the rest after we get the truck settled in. We’re ready.”

      “And the social media? Twitter, Facebook, Insta-whatever, all that stuff?” Gunner asked.

      “Instagram. Yes, we’ll be hitting all that at full speed as soon as Jana gives the all clear,” Ellie explained. “And Jose said he’d help, too. That kid would cut off his own arm before he’d put down his cell phone.”

      “We agreed—after a lively discussion, mind you—on a soft opening,” Witt went on. “Showing up unannounced at a variety of places until we both are sure the product and the system are perfect.”

      “How close are you?” Gunner asked.

      Witt took another biscuit himself. “That depends on who you ask. There was some debate—” he gave the word emphasis as he looked at Ellie “—as to the merits of long lines.”

      “Long lines?” Gunner questioned.

      “I think long lines are great marketing. Makes you look like you’re in demand.”

      Ellie raised an eyebrow. “And Jana?”

      “She says a line can be long enough to put someone off. We settled on a goal of no more than six people waiting for the first two weeks, with an option to renegotiate.”

      Ellie frowned. “I know you. You’ve calculated a burger-per-hour profit ratio, haven’t you?”

      Witt stalled. “Well...maybe. We do need some benchmarks to shoot for. You can’t tell me you didn’t have goals like that back at GoodEats.”

      Ellie’s expression told Witt just what she thought of such goals. “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” she said. “That woman knows her stuff. You’ve already arranged to shoot some photos and videos the first week, haven’t you? I predict Jana’s going to be a hit.”

      “Like our burgers,” Gunner chimed in.

      “Exactly like our burgers,” Witt agreed.

      There was a pause in the conversation before Gunner shifted uncomfortably in his chair and said, “Your mom called.” He said it softly, slowly, which told Witt he knew exactly what the admission implied.

      “No kidding.” Witt said. “Checking up on me now that I’ve jumped the family ship?”

      “I told her you’d only jumped to a related shipping line. But yes.” Gunner ran a hand across his chin. “She said your dad asked a lot of questions.”

      “What’d you tell her?”

      “The truth,” Gunner replied. “I told her Star Beef’s loss was our gain. I told her I think Uncle Grayson will regret letting you leave.”

      “I still don’t think he gets it,” Ellie offered with compassion in her eyes. They’d talked long and hard about his moving to Blue Thorn. Ellie knew what it was like to grow up with fathers like the Buckton brothers and how chilly it could be in the shadow of the Eldest and Heir. His sister Mary СКАЧАТЬ