? ? ?
Three weeks later, Phoebe served her idea to the family along with angel food cupcakes topped with summery lemon frosting—confections to show off the product and to sweet-talk funds out of Jake.
“Seriously?” Jake laughed. “You want me to invest in cupcakes?”
“No, I want you to invest in me. The women I work with and me. Smart women who only need a break.”
Noah and Kate looked from Phoebe to Jake and back again.
“Umm . . . I think it sounds cool,” Noah said.
Phoebe wished Noah took on a role other than mediator in the family. He reminded her of Deb, but he lacked her sister’s protective armor.
“Thank you, Mr. Business,” Jake said.
Phoebe clenched her hands under the table. Jake’s answer to Noah’s sensitivity was intended to toughen up their son, believing that was the only way to help secure his future. “Thank you, honey.”
Noah shrugged, either pleased at her appreciation or acting cool for Jake. The older the kids got, the harder it was to read them.
“This is my plan: I work with Eva—she’s my assistant at Cooking for English—as my partner. She’s smart, calm, and organized, with an incredible head for numbers. Then I thought I’d pick the two students most likely to help make it a success. Zoya, the woman from Russia, because she’s brave and—”
“You need to be brave for cupcakes?” Jake asked with amusement.
“You need to be brave to throw yourself completely into a business. You know that. Zoya had the guts to face down the Russian bureaucracy. Plus, her energy level amazes me. And she loves money.” Phoebe sent Groucho eyebrows to Jake. “You should appreciate that.”
“How about the second one?” Noah asked. “What’s her specialty?”
“Linh’s funny. Which is an important quality when things get rough. She’s artistic. And she’s the best cook in the class.”
“It sounds kind and caring—like everything you do. But do you expect to make money?” Jake asked.
“Look at Mrs. Fields and Famous Amos. Niche brands are taking off. I expect to make enough, eventually, to donate to Mira House. This won’t support them, but it can help. More than that, I’m looking for Eva, Zoya, and Linh—and others someday—to make decent salaries. Maybe buy-in with an ownership program. As we grow, and need more employees, we’ll always hire from Mira House.”
“I won’t lie. I’m impressed. That’s a lot of planning for a short time,” Jake said. “You want to weigh in here, Katie?”
“Not really.” At twelve, Kate often spoke like such a know-it-all that she seemed a Jake replica.
“But I want to hear your opinion,” Jake said.
“You only want to hear opinions if they match the ones you think are right.” Kate placed a second cupcake next to her half-eaten first one. “These are delicious.”
“I doubt they’re low calorie.” Jake took a second one for himself.
“And I doubt it will show up on my body like it will on yours,” Kate said. “You have an old metabolism. I don’t.”
“Ah, but you need to worry about catching a man. Not me.”
Phoebe glared. “Kate doesn’t need to worry about anything except keeping up her terrific grades and doing her chores.”
“You don’t need to defend me, Mom. Dad’s kidding. God. Don’t be so hard on him.” Kate rolled her eyes. “Let’s get back to cupcakes. Finally—something interesting in this family. Noah is right. It does sound cool.”
“Wow, I came up with something cool. Did you hear, Jake?”
“You’re always cool to me, hon.” He stretched out his legs and crossed his arms across his large chest. “Have you written out a business plan?”
“Some. We’re still working on it. The nutshell is this: What better way to help the women I work with than building a business with them? We could be the first of a kind. A Mrs. Fields, begun and run by women who had to leave their own countries.”
“Backed by my money, which I hand over like a big present?” Despite Jake’s needling words, he seemed interested. He had his business gleam in his eyes.
“You hand over plenty now.”
“That’s because I get tax deductions.”
“We can set it up as a nonprofit! It can go through Mira House. These women got so excited today. We spent the whole time planning and coming up with ideas. We even have a name.”
“So you’ve given this actual serious thought? Besides a cute name?”
“I’m so serious, you can take it to the damned bank.” Phoebe folded her hands on top of the table. “And you’re going to be part of it. I’ve been there for your business. Now you can be here for mine.”
“What’s the name, Mom?” Kate asked.
“The Cupcake Project. At first, we had Cupcake Heaven, but this combines serious and sweet. Eva, Zoya, and Linh came up with it.”
Noah pulled himself up as tall as possible. At ten, he was always the shortest in his group. “I think Cupcake Project’s a great name.”
“Me too.” Kate stuck her tongue out at Jake. “You’re being mean. All you want to do is make money. Mom wants to make the world better.”
“Okay, okay. You show me the written plan, then I’ll look at how I can help out.”
Jake might think he kept his soft spot for the kids’ opinion of him hidden, but anyone with a heart saw it. Phoebe rose, walked around the table, and gave Jake a kiss. He needed to bluster, but he’d come around.
The Cupcake Project.
Finally. Something of her own.
CHAPTER 13
Phoebe
As far as Jake knew, the Cupcake Project bubbled low. During the past five months his support came in waves, first praising new recipes and then peppering Phoebe with nervous questions about how he or the family could survive without her constant attention. Phoebe veiled the gritty parts of the work, hoping to slide as much as possible past his radar.
The previous evening, after dinner, he’d given in to his reservations. “Who’s going to take care of your business when we’re out of town?” After the question, he had grabbed an oversized cupcake covered with pink peppermint frosting and dusted with crushed red and white candies. “What about when I want to go out for dinner or a movie? What’s the plan if there’s an event where I need you?”
“Who takes care of JPE when you’re away?” she asked.
“Honestly? Sweetheart, we can’t compare JPE to the Cupcake Project, can we?” He shook his head and laughed.
At night, sleep eluded her as she planned ways to run a business around Jake’s schedule, the kids’ school, and their myriad Greenwich community activities. Her parents weren’t getting any younger. Nor were Jake’s.