CH21

It was roughly an hour and 30 minute drive to Rapid City to get to the airport. Johanna was still working out how Rick had talked her into watching over Alexis and the dogs, let alone do that on a day that Oscar was coming out to show her everything he had been working on. What was worse was that Kate and Rick weren't there to advise her what to do. What would they think of what Oscar had come up with? Johanna was sitting at the curb waiting for him to show up. "I hope Katie is enjoying herself," she said to herself.

She snapped out of it when Oscar tapped on the passenger side window. Johanna unfastened her seat belt and got out to open the back lift gate so he could stow his luggage. He had a lot more luggage this time than last, too. He still had his large, flat, portfolio case, however in addition to his carry-on bag like last time, he had a fair-sized suitcase.

"Thanks for picking me up. I thought Rick would be here," Oscar said but wasn't unhappy to find Johanna here. "Rick and Katie are out camping at some lake north of here. I know she took her swim suit though I'm betting the water will still be rather cold," she explained. "Sounds like those two are having fun. And how are you Alexis? Are you giving Johanna any trouble?" Oscar teased. "Alexis is an angel. A far cry from when Katie was her age," Johanna replied, answering for Alexis.

"I highly doubt Kate was that much trouble." Oscar defended her since she wasn't here to do it. "Katie kept me and my husband on our toes. It only got worse when she reached her teenage years. You'd have thought we were both public enemy number one. We were ruining her life." Johanna all but quoted her.

"Like being expelled from school for fighting?" he asked. "My son Michael," he explained when she turned her head to look at him quickly before turning it back on the road. "His last year of middle school, I got a call at work that Michael was being held in the principal's office for fighting. When I arrived he was sitting in a chair in his office with a real shiner. A real beauty. The swelling caused his eye to close and it became necessary for me to take him to an eye specialist to find out if the idiot had damaged it permanently," he remarked.

"And?" she asked. "Enough that it put a halt to his potential for a basketball career," Oscar explained. "Oh no, I'm so sorry," Johanna said, now happy that her Katie was still undamaged for the most part. She had a few scars thanks to her time in the New York Police Department, but nothing that bad.

"It taught him an early and expensive lesson. He was actually pretty good at basketball even at his age. He's doing fine now though. He has a job at a high school teaching Physical Education. He's also their head basketball coach. There's an old saying, 'Those who can't, teach.' Well, he can't, but he does teach pretty good. His school has reached the state finals the last three years. He's had a few kids that have been offered scholarships at different colleges. He's had a few good kids, plus he has his own 'I was stupid' story to tell them to try and set them straight," he explained.

"Sounds like he has turned his life around, you must be proud," Johanna said knowing she was proud of Kate and had told her so when she got her job as deputy. "Is he married, any kids of his own?" she inquired and turned her head for a second to look at him, except what she saw told her that was a bad question.

"Not anymore," Oscar answered in a monotone. "I'm sorry if I brought up old wounds." Johanna knew what those were. "No it's alright. Michael found a really nice girl and married her. I wished his mother had been around to see it. It was a lovely wedding. She was a nice girl," he told her. Johanna caught onto the "was" part right away. "What happened, if I may ask?" She was curious but didn't want to open old wounds.

"Same thing that happened to my wife. Michael was just 12 when she was diagnosed with cancer. She fought it as hard as anyone. I spent what felt like the next year in the hospital. She became weak from chemotherapy and the radiation treatments. She lost all of her hair and was convinced that she was ugly and that I didn't love her anymore. She refused to let Michael see her like that. I finally snuck him in once while she was sleeping so he could at least see her. She was so damned stubborn, she never did see him before she left us. I still don't understand how Michael doesn't blame me for letting her pass on without letting him say goodbye. We don't talk too much about her anymore," he explained.

It had Johanna blinking back tears as she drove. Jim had died in a heartbeat and she knew how much that hurt. She didn't know what would be left of her if she had watched Jim die like that.

She took a quick look in the rear view mirror to peek at Alexis who was sitting there with tears streaming down her face. She pulled over and sat in the back seat the rest of the trip while letting Oscar drive using directions her GPS gave him.

Johanna put Alexis in the living room with one of the books that Rick had left with her along with the bag of dog treats which had Midas and Maggie sitting and watching every move she made.

"I've got a lot to show you and go over with you. Let's start with a site plan of what your restaurant will look like." Oscar pulled out a satellite photo of her site with her building imposed on it. That was followed by a drawing of the site plan. "We had a little trouble with the city about pulling the building out as far as I wanted, even with the drive through for the fire department. I widened the drive through by 3 feet and that satisfied them. It only took one foot off of our foot print which meant we lost 6 seats. We don't have to do anything to the parking lot, they're happy with the way it is. So we'll be using the strip mall parking as our overflow parking."

"I got your email about fireworks and have worked out a permanent spot from which to shoot them. I also got your email about wanting to display your cookies. I'm dying to eat one of these tarantula cookies! I've included a display case that will hold about 8 of each of your cookies on the list at the receptionist area. Your customers will see them first on their way in and order them after dining or on their way out and take some home with them," Oscar told her.

"We only have booths way in back and down this side. Everything else is a table that either seats four or two. You have 182 total seats after we lost 6 across the front. This first line behind the doors is the service line. Coffee, tea, soda, water, fruit drinks, ice cream freezer, freezers and coolers for desserts. The next line is the cooking line. Ovens, griddle, laser egg cooker, steamer, mixer, slicer, fryers, potato peeler, …" Johanna stopped him. "Laser what?" she asked. That had Oscar chuckling. "It's pretty much what it sounds like. You place eggs in one of three locations and in seconds it uses lasers to cook an egg. Hard boiled, scrambled, over easy or over hard. All you have to do is insert the eggs and push a button and poof, cooked eggs. Closest thing we've come to the Jetsons we've had yet." He was still chuckling.

"Next thing you know they'll have robot cookers." They'd put her out of a job. "Never going to happen. Robots are only good at repetition. They can't cook with love like you can. I've tasted your food. There's a piece of you in every dish. No robot will ever accomplish that," he told her which had her blushing a little.

"Now to the other areas. We were able to keep the existing rooftop A/C units though we had to add one for the addition like I thought. The water entrance is too small so we will have to connect to the city main with a new line and a new water meter. The electrical was way too small as anticipated. The transformer was also too small. Those two things are not cheap. The natural gas was also too small, however we've found out that the line to the building is big enough, we just need a bigger gas meter and all new gas piping inside the building. The existing water heater was also too small so we will be replacing it." Oscar kept pointing out where all of these items were located.

"The existing building does have a fire riser so all we need to do is install new sprinkler heads in new locations. That will make your insurance company very happy and you, too, since it will be harder to burn your building down," he pointed out. "We managed to place a gas-fired fireplace on each side of your addition. They are the smallest and least expensive I could find. They're so small they won't keep anything hot. They're only there for looks." He indicated where they were on the drawing.

"Ready for the big one?" he asked but didn't wait for her to answer and took out a board that showed the rendering of the outside from one corner of the building. It had the size, height, and colors he'd chosen based on the menu she had sent him and the logo she wanted to use along with the Yellowstone pictures and other décor items that were inside the restaurant. He pulled the first one out and laid it on the table, this one he stood on its end. Johanna sucked in a big breath and held a hand over her mouth. It didn't look anything like a Wendys® anymore. It was so very different. She could even see the stone exterior of the fireplace on this side and the outside.

"This is the daylight look and this..." Oscar flipped the board. "is the look at night," he said. She moved the hand off her mouth to wipe the tears away. The building had only a little color yet the lights he was using cast colors all over it.

"Now we'll move inside." And he brought out another board that showed an angle view of the interior. In this case the booths that went down one side. Oscar started searching through his carry-on bag and pulled out samples. "This is the floor, this is the tables and this is the chairs." He went diving into his carry-on again. "This is a sample of what we will be using outside and inside for the fireplaces." He handed it over for her to hold.

"You can see the color on the walls behind all of the pictures of Yellowstone, though I may have found an artist that is trying really hard to make a name for himself. So you may have a few original paintings of Yellowstone instead of more pictures," he remarked. Oscar stood back and let her look through everything for herself.

"And what's all this going to cost me?" Johanna asked the big question. If it was too much she was dead in the water. He dove into his carry-on again. "Oh, the chairs are rattan while the booths are leather using this." He handed over another sample to her. It also explained why he had a suitcase this time instead of just a carry-on. He was using the carry-on to hold all of the samples. Next he handed over an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. It was broken down into various sections. Addition, remodel, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, kitchen and exterior lighting and site changes.

Building cost - $656,000

Site work - $52,000 (including repair of street to connect new services to city services)

Permits/Fees – Estimated at $32,000

Furniture, Kitchen equipment, fixtures and signage - $732,000

POS ordering system - $24,000

Smallwares: Dishes, silverware and other utensils - $35,000

Initial Inventory (food) - $32,000

Liquor license - $4,000

Additional funds for first 3 months of operation (This estimates your initial expenses for 3 months of operation. These expenses include working capital, payroll costs, food and liquor costs, utilities, ordinary maintenance, local advertising, advertising fees, telecommunication services, Internet, and other expenses normal in operating a restaurant.) - $405,000 (does not include the owner's salary)

$1,557,000.00

+ $233,550 for 15% for unexpected costs

$1,790,550.00

Johanna wasn't sure what she was expecting it to cost, was this too much or too little?" This doesn't show the original cost to purchase the existing Wendys®," she pointed out. "It also doesn't include the cost of the land." She didn't see either of those. "And where are your costs, you've done so much. I know you're not doing all this for free." She had found another missing cost. "Where's the legal, accounting, and insurance costs?" She had found more missing costs.

"OSCAR!?" Johanna turned on him and glared at him. 'Rick wasn't kidding, Johanna can be scary.' he thought.

"All of those costs have already been spoken for. This is the amount of money you need to provide to open this restaurant and run it for the first 3 months. You can expect to make between 2.2 million and 3.5 million annually not including expenses, IRS, or other unforeseen costs. Your salary, if you are careful and successful, will likely be six figures," he offered trying to redirect her thinking.

"Three point five million? Gross?" Johanna's jaw dropped a bit. Oscar nodded. "Yes, based on averages of other restaurants of this size all over the county. Yours will, of course, change each year but you can easily expect to make 3.5 million if not more the first year. Some months and even years will change while you are operational. You keep the locals happy and you can expect to be very successful," he added.

"I need to talk with Katie. Where's the phone?" She got up to start looking for the cordless phone that had a habit of not being put back in the charger. She blamed Katie."Call her in the morning after she and Rick have had some fun. You did say they were camping next to a lake. Maybe she can convince him to go out on a boat," he said. "Besides I want to taste one of these menu meals that you will be serving. I didn't eat lunch just so I would have room," Oscar told her. "I should get cooking then since it looks like I'll be doing a lot of it," she remarked and headed for the kitchen. "That's the spirit," he told her then went to sit next to Alexis who had been very quiet.

"Hello Alexis, how are you?" Oscar asked her but only got a shrug of her shoulders. He hadn't had a little one to deal with for a long time, but that didn't mean he didn't know what to do. He wrapped an arm around her and tugged her into him. "I'm sorry you had to hear all of that in the car honey. You don't need to be sad. My wife had a good life and I loved her a lot. I told her all the time that I loved her." He squeezed her tight for a moment.

"She died." Alexis stated. "Yes, she did, but I made sure she was loved. That's all you can do for another person. Make sure they know they're loved. Do you know you are loved?" he asked not noticing that Johanna was standing not too far away watching and listening. Alexis nodded. "Your daddy loves you?" Oscar questioned. "Anyone else?" He hoped he wasn't playing with fire here. "Kate?" Alexis offered. "Kate loves you. Can you think of anyone else?" he asked thinking he knows of one if she doesn't. Alexis shrugged her shoulders.

That had Johanna on her knees in front of Alexis as she took her hands. "I know Katie loves you honey and I love you. I'll bet Oscar here loves you, too. You have a lot of people who love you. What about your friends at school? Paige, Jenny, and the others? You are more loved than anyone I know," Johanna said to her and watched Oscar squeeze her a little. "I'll bet Midas and Maggie love you. How about you take their favorite toys and go outside and play with them. I'm sure they are dying to play with you. They want you to love them, too," Johanna reminded her and got Alexis to smile. "Come on find their favorite toys and go play with your dogs," she said and lifted her up.

"You were good with her," she said after Alexis and the dogs were gone. "Rick's a good friend; I've watched her grow up, she's a great kid," Oscar told her. "She has my daughter wrapped around her little finger. I've watched Katie sit there and hold her like her life depended on it and I haven't seen her do that with anyone's child," Johanna told him thinking back.

"What happened to your husband if I may ask?" Oscar inquired not knowing just when he died or from what. "Jim died about 8 months ago. I didn't take his loss very well. I think I scared Katie pretty badly. I still haven't thanked her for what she's done."

"He was downtown probably looking for something for my birthday that was the next week," she paused, since it still hurt to talk about it. She didn't miss Oscar's groan about the timing. "He was run over by a drunk who had a blood alcohol level so high it was amazing he was still conscious enough to drive. He was driving without a license thanks to the multiple DUIs he had. He was also rich so we accepted the settlement that we were offered."

"Mostly it was Katie who handled everything; I wasn't any help at all." Johanna remembered what she did or, more accurately, didn't do. "You're entitled to the pain. You dated, got married, your marriage grew, and you had a child. You're supposed to be devastated. Trust me I know." His wife was long gone but that didn't mean he hadn't forgotten her. "I can't even imagine your pain. Jim was gone in a heartbeat, most likely didn't feel a thing. Your wife became ill and the cancer took its time. It's a type of pain I'm not sure I could withstand," she commented.

"I won't lie; I've had better times. At first all I could remember of her was that one bad year. It took a lot of courage to go back and look at old photos and remember the times before she got sick. Those good time pictures helped me a lot when I was down, suicidal down," Oscar remarked as Johanna stopped her dinner prep to look at him.

"You want some advice from someone who has been where you are now? Go look at the pictures you have. Your wedding pictures, pictures at the beach, pictures taken while on vacation. Those stupid Christmas pictures that you mostly took because of your child, which Jim just happens to be in. When you can look at them without sobbing and crying yourself to sleep, you've come to terms that he's gone and that you loved him. That he knew he was loved and not forgotten. When you reach that point your heart will be open again," he apprised her.

"Is your heart open again?" she questioned since she didn't see how hers ever would be again. "I think so," he said. "Does that mean you've met someone that you could let in again?" He had been alone a lot longer than she had. "I'd like to think so, but I'm not sure she does. But I'll keep my eyes on her and when that time comes, hopefully I'll be there. No one is sure just how much time you will be granted. My loss has taught me to grab and hold on or I may lose it forever," Oscar told her.

"Now, what amazing meal are you making tonight?" He smiled since he had found a good cook.