Page 267 of A Taste of Vanilla

“I don’t like this,” Oliver groans.

“We need food, drinks, visuals, a social campaign, press, and a bar partnership,” Marley lists.

“Remove the bar partnership,” Oliver requests.

“No.” I roll my eyes.

“Adding bar partnership twice, then,” Marley says.

“I don’t need the bar to become some kind of pastry annex.”

“It already is.”

He shakes his head. “It’s not.”

Marley places her hand on her hip. “Oliver, what happened to that folder in your office?”

His eyes widen.

I turn to him. “What folder?”

“I don’t know.”

“The one that says BOAT SHOE JUDAS EVIDENCE.”

He looks pained. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Marley takes off, returning a few minutes later with a manila folder in her hands. “This is part of the relaunch.”

I take it, opening it to find everything Elise had given me. With everything else going on, I nearly forgot about it.

“We need to build a timeline,” I say firmly.

“I can do that.” Marley nods.

“And I’m going to talk to that lawyer. See if she handles this kind of thing too. I want to know what I can say publicly and what I should hold onto. I don’t want to make a legal mess, but I’m also not going to hide evidence.”

Marley’s fingers fly over her keyboard.

“Press strategy, then. Not defensive. No direct attack unless it’s safe.”

“Right.”

The next hour unfolds messily. Necessary.

We spread everything across two tables. Elise’s printed folder, my sales reports, screenshots of positive posts, old invoices, vendor payments, customer comments, the bad review, the old positive review, my notebook, and one plate of fries that Oliver brought back.

At first, I avoid the old Barrett review.

Marley looks up. “You okay?”

“No,” I say honestly.

“Want me to handle it?”

I shake my head. “No.”

My fingers close around the frame. His words are still there, preserved.