The Mysteries of Max: Books 43-45 by Nic Saint

Author:Nic Saint [Saint, Nic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Puss in Books
Published: 2021-09-04T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Nina Balicki, the owner and proprietor of Nina’s Place, seemed only too happy to talk about her relationship with Ben Saker, which surprised me a great deal. Then again, she probably had been keeping it a secret for so long she was practically bursting at the seams to have it out in the open. To shout it from the rooftops: I’m getting married to Ben!

Well, she didn’t shout that to Odelia, of course, but she had all the air of a woman who wanted to do exactly that.

“So you and Ben have been seeing each other for how long now?” asked Odelia.

“A little over two months now,” said the young woman.

“It must have been tough to keep it a secret.”

“Oh, you can’t believe how hard it was. But we had to. Ben’s dad would never have understood, and his mom is dead-set against it, too.”

“Edwina doesn’t want her son and you to be together?”

“No, absolutely not. You see, Edwina is very attached to Ben, her one and only son, and she has big plans for him. She told him as much. She wants him to marry into some wealthy family. A family who might invest in the bakery, maybe—I don’t know how the mind of that woman works.” She made a face, and it was obvious she wasn’t all that fond of her future mother-in-law. “But instead of some rich girl, Ben chose me!”

“And asked you to keep a low profile.”

“How did you find out?”

“I have my sources,” said Odelia, with a quick glance to me and Dooley.

We were in Nina’s Place, which Nina had momentarily closed for this interview.

“So what are your plans now?” asked Odelia.

“Well, we thought about announcing our engagement once the funeral is over. And then we’re going to team up and turn Nina’s Place and Saker’s Bakers into one big shop.”

Odelia’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re going to… merge the two businesses?”

“Yes, we are. You see, we both want to expand, but we don’t want to move from this location, which is great. So the only solution is to knock out that wall over there and create one big new shop, combining our skills and offering our customers the best of both worlds: the traditional baking that people associate with Saker’s Bakers, and my health-focused approach.”

“Have you discussed these plans with Edwina?”

“Absolutely not. She’d only try to stop us. No, we’re going ahead with the plans until it’s too late to put a stop to them. Ben hired an architect, and he’s promised us that we can open the renewed shop in three months. Just in time for the wedding.” She grinned a mischievous grin.

“But isn’t Edwina going to kick up a fuss?”

“Well, let her. Ben is in charge now. So she can do her worst, but he’s not budging. He’s determined to see this through. He knows that the future of Saker’s Bakers is in offering people what they want, and not forcing them to keep buying what Ben’s dad thought they should have.” She shrugged.

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