Chapter 37: The Bakery in Danger

Faye, Arthur, and Rachel all sat down at a table.

“What’s wrong, Faye? Are you sick?” Arthur asked.

“No, thank goodness. It’s not about me, it’s about the bakery.”

“Oh no,” Rachel said, fearing the worst.

“The bakery is close to closing. I owe a great deal of money and, even if I had the money, I can’t keep up with demand. It’s a great, big, complicated mess. I’m sorry, Rachel, Honey, I made you think I had everything under control, but...I just don’t,” she said, covering her face with her hands in an effort to close herself off from her problems and hide her tears.

Rachel could hardly believe her ears. Hadn’t Faye said a few days before that everything was well? So how come now things were starting to fall apart like this? Especially now since Arthur was about to confess his feelings for her. “We could raise the money somehow. A fundraiser perhaps?” Rachel suggested.

“Honey, the people of this small parish have been supporting this place with their purchases as much as possible. They can’t afford to give any more than they already have. Plus, by creating a big demand, they have created an odd problem: a demand so great that we cannot meet even if I had more ovens and more workers.”

“Well, you don’t know until and unless you ask,” Rachel replied, trying to keep things on a positive and upbeat note. “We have to do something. You’ve put everything in this business, which has helped build the community here. It’s the bakery and the pub: the mainstays that people support. The bakery is more than about buying food and coffee; it’s about coming together.”

“Maybe we could find a new investor. Someone with deep pockets. Rachel is right. Once people know I have no doubt that they will come together in unforeseen ways,” Arthur asked.

“Arthur, you are a townie. Do you know anyone with several thousand pounds to invest in a bakery?!” Faye asked, slightly raising her voice, as she realized more and more how desperate the situation was and how far away she was from a solution.

“No, I don’t, but then again, I never asked,” he retorted.

“Well, I think we ought to give a fundraiser a shot. We could make it a sort of game, Arthur. Let’s see who can raise the most money,” Rachel enthusiastically commented.

“I don’t know, Honey. I don’t want to take handouts.”

“It’s not charity. You are asking for a business, not for you, to be funded personally. You could make contributors shareholders in the business. It would be more like a loan that you could pay back with dividends,” Arthur’s mental wheels were turning.

“How much do you need?” Rachel asked.

“A hundred pounds or ten thousand, it doesn’t make a difference. It’s all beyond my reach right now. I’m going to go by the bank and see if there’s some line of credit I could apply for,” Faye decided. “You two can continue brainstorming if you like. I appreciate your positive creativity for this problem.”

With that Faye left. She looked as though she was already beaten and that bothered Rachel for many reasons. The bakery was to be the modest income she needed to survive without her father’s money. Now that source’s stability was in question and her employer was in dire need.

“I still believe in a fundraiser,” Rachel stated.

“And I believe in a new investor,” Arthur maintained.

“Why don’t we make it a fun competition, then?” Rachel said with a grin.

“How so?” he wondered, lost in thought about the distressing predicament his godmother found herself in. She had been so helpful to him while he was in school in England and needed a job for spending money, that he wanted to do anything and everything he could to help her out.

“Like I said earlier, let’s see which method can raise the most money to save the bakery!” Rachel exclaimed.

“Splendid. And I say that not because I know I can win, but because it is such an awesome idea. It seems like I came up with it myself,” he chuckled.

“Very funny.”

“What will you do for work if the bakery goes under?”

“No, no, no. Let’s not entertain any negative thoughts until we’ve both given it our all. We have to keep positive for Faye. She looked worried sick.”

“Yeah. When I worked here growing up, the bakery had just opened and sometimes she had to use her personal funds to make payroll. I only know this because I overheard her meeting with a banker here. I guess she forgot i was still here cleaning up.”

“Oh, Arthur.”

“Yeah. I think she has a lot more to lose than we originally realized. She might have poured all of her personal funds into the business over the years and will have nothing to live on.”

“You’re right. This has to work. It’s business but it’s also personal,” Rachel resolved.

Rachel and Arthur strategized their fundraising efforts until Faye returned in time for tea. Faye went to the back of the bakery and stayed in the kitchen until close. Rachel realized Faye needed time to herself and was a competent Assistant Manager, smoothly handling things on her own. At the end of the day she and Arthur went to the back to check on her and then leave. When they got to the back, they saw her packaging day old bakery goods for sale.

“There’ll be a lot more of these once word spreads,” Faye said in a quiet, almost inaudible voice.

“Don’t count yourself out of the race yet,” Rachel warned. “The solution could be right around the corner and we haven’t seen it yet.”

“We came up with a few ways to get the money. I’m going to work on getting new investors and Rachel, with her beautiful smile and pleasant disposition, is going to use a more grassroots approach.”

“No pity and no charity, understand?” Faye stated in an upset tone, not wanting to get her hopes up at their mention of a solution.

“Not at all,” Rachel agreed.

“How did things go at the bank, Faye?” Arthur asked, trying to see if Faye had any success there.

“Dismally. They just reminded me that with small businesses that already had a loan or two, they had to monitor how well they were doing with their current financial commitments before they would be eligible for a line of credit. I am not doing well with my expenses. If I was doing well with my other loans, I wouldn’t need the help. I don’t own the building or the land it’s on... If I could satisfy the demand, I would be in a better spot financially, but I do well just getting through the day with its ebbs and flows as is. D*mn.”

“It’s baffling how we can be so busy with customers, yet be so financially strapped,” Rachel said, struggling to understand a problem she had never before encountered: not having enough money.

“We sell flour and water. We are not a basic need. We are a luxury, a want, meaning people can do without us but we can’t do without them. That’s how. Everything else is a gamble,” Faye explained soberly.

At that, Rachel and Arthur took their leave of Faye when they started to question themselves and their way of trying to help. They decided to let her process things on her own and in her own way. They had every certainty that fundraising might raise some free publicity and increase foot traffic, nevertheless. They were hopeful, but it was hard to stay upbeat with their leader, Faye, casting a cloud of doubt and hopelessness about the bakery’s chances of survival.