Sweet Love (NG5)

14 - Her dream

MARCH

Reluctantly, Kat woke on Monday morning. Although a day of paperwork and getting their accounts in order didn't excite her, she poked Bryce beside her in the bed. He had awoken to eat a sandwich with her by the TV. Her excitement about the photographs received a muted response from him. She went to sleep before him, but both needed to wake up.

"Bry. Bryce. You need to wake up."

He groaned. Usually, he would come to enough to know he had a boner and press it against her. It had been awhile since they had sex, but wasn't it inappropriate to get it on while mourning? She hadn't been in the mood, but he hadn't tried.

"Come on. BRYCE! Get up!"

"Jesus, Kat, why are you a nag?"

"Because we need to straighten out our paperwork."

"My back hurts."

"Take a hot shower."

His back hadn't been the same since he hurt it in an accident a few years back. It was his low tolerance for pain complaining. She worked on her feet twelve-plus hours a day, five days a week. Her back hurt too, but she did stretches most days, when she remembered. Bryce never did his exercises.

"Come on. I'll make us cappuccinos when we get there."

Bryce looked like a deadman walking when she finally prodded him into the shower. Thirty minutes later, they drove in her car to their restaurant. The bubble of their dream bursted with all the hard work and sacrifice required. In the kitchen, she fired up the fancy coffee machine. Bryce leaned against the counter looking pale. He had better not be getting sick.

"Did Pops leave you any money?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"

He looked at his toes. "We could use an infusion of cash."

"We are full almost every night."

"Unless it rains or snows or it's bitter cold."

"But those days are not all the time." She looked at him. "Is that why you didn't pay the produce bill? I wrote a check."

He didn't respond as she handed him a frothy drink. Her tummy felt like the acid, so she skipped making one for herself. She pushed him into their small office and froze when she saw a pile of unopened envelopes.

"What have you been doing?"

"I'm behind. We're behind."

She tore open the envelope from the electric company - past due. Their meat supplier - past due. "Let's pay these bills."

Bryce cleared his throat. "We need cash."

She opened another envelope and slapped it down. "No wonder we were eighty-six the merlot and whatever else. We have to have cash. We took in thousands on Friday and Saturday night. Every table was filled."

"We have payroll and other expenses."

"Let me see." Kat grabbed the closed laptop off the desk. She knew the password, but hadn't looked in months. She almost dropped the laptop when she saw the balance. It was less than the meat order and they owed for wine, electric, propane, the list went on.

"What the hell are all these withdrawals? Where is our money?" She scanned. "Jesus, you never paid the rent."

They leased the space for the restaurant and had sunk her investment into the kitchen and dining room renovations. Another restaurant had been there before them, but even still they freshened it up and updated the kitchen. She put her future into the business.