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"What do you mean? What happened?"

"There’s a fire It’s all on fire"

CHAPTER TWELVE

JESSE STOOD WITH HER sisters in front of the still-s ruins of what had once been the Keyes Bakery Most of the flaered in the air

Over the past few hours, the building had been reduced to a pile of rubble Nothing had been saved When Jesse had arrived, fla form of entertain but eone," Nicole whispered, sounding as stunned as Jesse felt "Just like that"

Claire stood between them, her arms linked with theirs "No one was hurt That’s theThe rest is just stuff and can be replaced"

Jesse didn’t bother fighting the tears that flowed down her face "Good Morning A out now," she said "There’s not much of a story"

Small business destroyed by fire Who cared about that?

"It’s not the end of the world," Nicole said "We can fix this We have insurance We’ll rebuild It will just take so What was the point? She’d coiven herself six months to make her point--that she could be a viable part of the business, that she could make a difference But with the bakery shut down, that was i to do until then?" Claire asked

"I don’t know," Nicole ad"

It was the death of her dreao back to Spokane and pick up her quiet life working in a bar She would never get the chance to show that she had good ideas and could make a difference She was--

"We can rent a kitchen," she said without thinking "We’d have to cut down on soet the word out about the location And we can use this tira and information is at Paula’s house I could find a server in theThen ould still havethe reconstruction"

Nicole shook her head "It would never work Jesse, I know you keep pushing this, but it’s not possible This isn’t the right tioods across the country They won’t pack well and even if you’ve solved that problem, they’ll be stale when they arrive"

"Not if we use overnight shipping"

"No one’s going to pay for that"

"How do you know?"

Nicole pulled free of Claire and turned on Jesse "Maybe in your pretend world at co to spend all that et brownies or a cake to Cleveland"

"You don’t know that," Jesse said, frustrated by Nicole’s constant refusal to admit her plan could work "I did a lot of research and it wasn’t in the pretend world I checked out how other co to pay overnight will cut into sales, but it won’t eliminate all of them The start-up costs are so minimal, it’s crazy not to try"

"I have spent years in this business," Nicole snapped "I know my customers"

"You know the people who come into your store You don’t know the rest of the country and I don’t knohy you won’t consider the possibility There is more to life than just what you see"

"I’h obviously clenched teeth "But what you want is impossible"

"Because you say it is You won’t even try"

"Okay, that’s enough," Claire said as she released both of them She stepped in front, then turned to face theh as it is" She looked at Nicole "It’s going to take a while to get everything figured out The cause of the fire, designs for a new place, construction We’re talking months, maybe a couple of years I don’t know In the o?"

Nicole shook her head "I don’t know It’s all too ht A rented kitchen is a fast way to get going and there isn’t much in the way of start-up costs The sao, we only have to deal with hosting That won’t cost much So what if the sales aren’t spectacular? There will be some and at the very least, you can keep a few eht"

"I know As to the rest of the business, what about selling to restaurants locally? Have you ever looked at that market? Between the cake and the brownies, you should be able to generate solanced at Claire "Restaurants? I never thought of that"

"Me, either," Nicole admitted

"I am so much more than a pretty face," Claire told them "You need to rehed "Fair enough We’ll start by finding a kitchen to rent and get the Internet site up and running I need to call everyone and let thelanced at her watch "Nearly three"

"Sid will be getting here soon" Nicole sighed "This is going to be hard for all of us"

Jesse didn’t say anything While she was pleased that Nicole had finally come around, she resented that her sister would consider the idea of a rented kitchen when Claire mentioned it, but not when she, Jesse, did

There was a loud crack as another beaainst the smoke and wondered what the fire depart maybe A faulty piece of equipment The place had been around forever

"Nicole? Jesse?"

Jesse turned and saw Sid walking toward them He was dressed all in white, with a clean apron in his hands

"What the hell?" he asked

Jesse and Nicole moved toward him

"No one was inside," Nicole said "We’re still not sure how it started I was going to call, but I don’t have anyone’s nu flaoing to rent a kitchen," Jesse told hi"

"What?" Sid shook his head "Right Yeah, rent a kitchen Thatlike this happen?"

They didn’t have any answer Instead they talked quietly untilwith them Jesse huddled in the darkness, cold and exhausted, but not ready to leave Around four, Matt showed up, carrying containers of coffee