Before We Kiss (Fool's Gold #14)(74)

Sam walked to the front of the room and clipped on the microphone. He looked out at the people watching him and felt unexpected nerves. He was used to speaking before large groups. He did it all the time. But those talks were about sports or having a winning attitude. He wasn’t used to lecturing on finance.

“Success in business can be measured in many ways,” he began. “Market share, customer loyalty, brand recognition. But at the end of the day, if you can’t pay your bills, none of that matters. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the failure rate of small businesses. After five years more than fifty percent of them have closed. So what makes the difference between the ones that succeed and the ones that don’t make it? How can you use what you already know to your advantage? How do you make sure you’re in that successful fifty percent?”

“You’re going to answer all those questions, aren’t you?” an older woman asked. “Because just asking them isn’t helpful.”

Sam glanced at her and recognized her as one of the old ladies who showed up regularly to watch the morning basketball games he played in. Eddie or Gladys, he thought, not able to tell them apart.

“I’ll do my best,” he told her. “One of the most important aspects of a small business is managing cash flow. You have to pay for inventory before your customers can buy it. You can do your best to get terms that minimize payments you have to make, but you’re going to have to pay for what you have in your store, which means you need to get your customers to pay you as quickly as possible.”

He clicked on the screen and pushed a button on his laptop. The first slide came up. Sam explained about inventory control and billing, in general terms. Dellina had told him to use her mishaps as an example. He had re-created invoices from fictitious companies, plugging in the numbers, but keeping her information private, and went over the difference between an estimate and what was actually billed. He’d worried about boring his audience, but they all scribbled frantically as he talked. When he was done, nearly every hand shot up as the participants began to ask questions.

When he’d finally answered them all, his audience began to get up and leave. He saw both Taryn and Dellina sitting in the back and started toward them. Patience stopped him in the aisle.

“You’re going to keep doing these, aren’t you?” she asked. “It’s so helpful. I took night classes at the community college, but your information is more practical.”

“Sure,” he told her. “If there’s interest.”

“There is,” she said. “Nearly all the businesses in town are small. We survive on tourist dollars for the most part. It’s important we’re doing everything to maximize those dollars.” She smiled. “Thanks for making it all so clear.”

She stepped away and the older lady—Gladys or Eddie—took her place. “You did good,” she told him. “You’re more than a pretty face and a great butt.”

Sam stared at her, not sure how to respond to that.

“I enjoy those basketball games of yours. Eddie likes Kenny because he’s bigger, but you have style when you play. You remind me of a gentleman friend of mine.” She sighed. “He was handsome. Successful in business, like you. He showed up in Fool’s Gold maybe ten years ago and cut a swath through the single ladies of a certain age. I heard some of them allowed him to buy into their businesses.” She shook her head. “Not me. What’s mine is mine. No man’s going to take it away from me. But he sure knew what he was doing between the sheets.”

Sam looked around frantically for an exit. This was worse than dealing with his mother. At least he could tell her to stop. Politeness dictated that he not interrupt a woman old enough to be his grandmother.

Taryn and Dellina strolled up.

“Are you torturing Sam?” Taryn asked.

Gladys grinned. “Maybe. But I think he’s man enough to handle it.”

Sam wanted to say he wasn’t. Not at all. But before he could figure out how to make that confession, Dellina was guiding Gladys away.

Taryn watched her expert maneuvering and smiled. “You found a good one with her, Samuel. Dellina takes care of you.”

“You know it’s not like that,” he said.

“You’re involved.” She watched Dellina chat with Gladys before the old lady left. “At some point you’re going to have to get over yourself.”

“Now you sound like Jack.”

“He can be insightful on occasion.” She looked around at the emptying room. “Nice job. You impressed our business neighbors. They’re going to love us even more.”

“I’m happy to share what I know.”

She linked arms with him. “I appreciate the distraction. Angel’s gone for a couple of days and it’s boring without him.”

“Where did he go?”

“He didn’t say. Mayor Marsha had a special project for him. Ford went along, too. He didn’t share details. I doubt it’s dangerous, but it’s possibly not legal.” She sighed. “He’s just so sexy.”

“Yeah, and could we not talk about that?”

Taryn laughed. “I’d accuse you of being jealous, but you have your own thing these days.” Her humor faded. She faced him. “Seriously, Sam, I had my reservations, knowing what you’d been through, but Dellina’s a sweet girl. Smart, funny, pretty. I know what you’ve been through. I know you don’t trust easily, but at some point you need to take a risk. I don’t want you old and alone.”