I looked back across the operation and noticed that the people working here were really hustling. This looked like a hard job, and there weren’t many employees to share the labor.
“Thank you very much for the tour,” I said to Kekoa and shook his hand. “I know you need to get back to work now.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied. “You can go out through the green door to the store.”
I grabbed Jack’s arm and spun him away before he said something else embarrassing. “I have some more questions for Jessica,” I told him. “Please let me do the talking.”
“What? Kekoa said I asked a good question.”
“Kekoa was trying to be nice. You kept interrupting.”
“You’re no fun today,” Jack said while he opened the door to the store. “Let’s get some more coffee.”
The tasting room where we had entered the building was up front by the road. The store was on the left side of the building and was bigger than the tasting room. It was also nicer looking, with different colored bags of coffee on shelves around the walls serving as decoration. Jessica greeted us again on the other side of the door.
Jack twisted in an exaggerated look toward the front of the building and then back to Jessica. “How’d you do that?” He laughed at his own joke. “I’ve been working on that very same trick.”
Jessica laughed politely and said, “We all wear a lot of hats around here.”
Jack spotted some carafes like we had up front and scooted over to fill his cup.
“I have to apologize for Jack. He’s enjoying your coffee a little too much.”
“Well, you’ll have to take some home for him.”
“Oh, absolutely. While he’s over there, though, can I ask you some more questions?”
“Sure, would you like to sit down?”
She led me over to a small table with four chairs around it. We sat down, and of course, Jack joined us.
“Kekoa mentioned that you had a buyer coming in from China this week,” I said. “That must be exciting. How did you get involved with China?”
“Coffee is becoming very popular in China,” Jessica replied. “They can’t seem to be able to buy enough. This company wants us to sell them all of our coffee.”
“Every bit of it?” Jack asked. “Isn’t that risky, having only one customer?”
“Yes, it is. That’s why I don’t want to do it. But Kekoa thinks that it’s a good deal.”
“Well I hope they’re paying you more money, if they expect you to give up your other customers.”
“It’s complicated. We’ll discuss it with the buyer on Wednesday.”
“That’s the day of the Ironman!” Jack said. “That’s why we came here this week.”
I laid my hand on Jack’s forearm and asked Jessica excitedly, “Is your buyer from China going to be here this week? I’d really like to meet him.”
Jessica gave me a cheerless look. She opened her mouth and closed it again.
“Is there a problem?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Kekoa has done all the talking with him.”
“Does Kekoa speak Chinese?” Jack asked.
“Jack, don’t you have to go to the restroom or something?” I asked. “You’ve drunk a lot of coffee.” I looked at Jessica with an expression that I hoped she understood as a plea for help.
“There’s a restroom out in the factory that you can use,” Jessica said to Jack. Just walk along the wall to the left, and you’ll see it.”
Jack left, and I apologized again to Jessica. She laughed and said, “There’s no need to apologize. I’m glad he likes our coffee.”
I had an excellent conversation with Jessica after that, filling three more pages with notes. This was going to be a great article. She seemed to be pretty comfortable with me, and I broached the business side of things. They had a nice operation, but it wasn’t very big.
Jessica nodded. “It’s been getting tougher lately. Shipping costs are going up a lot, along with everything else, but we can’t raise the price of our coffee enough to cover everything. That grinder you saw is brand new. Well, it’s used, but it’s new to us. That’s why Kekoa is talking to the Chinese. They’ve offered to handle all the shipping. We’re just looking for a way to get by.”
I looked at my watch and saw that it was after ten o’clock. “Oh my. I didn’t mean to take up so much of your time.”
“Oh, you’re fine. I really enjoyed talking with you. I do have to go out and help them pack, though.” She smiled. “Like I said, we all wear a lot of hats around here. Can I get you some coffee before you go?”
I bought a bag of medium roast from her. I would have bought more, but it was nineteen dollars a bag. If they can’t get by charging nineteen dollars for one bag of coffee, then it must be pretty tough.
I walked out into the factory with Jessica to look for Jack, who had never returned. We found him wrapping a big roll of Saran wrap around a stack of boxes.
“Jack! What are you doing?” I yelled.
“He’s doing my job for me,” Jessica said. “Thank you, Jack.”
“This is fun!” Jack said, running around the stack of boxes, unrolling the plastic as he went.
He finished wrapping the stack and set the roll of plastic onto a table. I took him by the elbow and gently guided him out the door.
END OF THE EXCERPT – To purchase Islands, Bylines & the Goddess of Fire CLICK HERE.
Also by David Berens
And don’t forget to check out all of the Troy Bodean Tropical Thriller Series on Amazon:
Back Roads - A Short Story Collection starring various characters from the Troy Bodean Series
Knuckle Bones - A Troy Bodean Prequel Short (available for download if you join my Reader Group HERE.)
Troy Bodean Tropical Thrillers
#1 Rogue Wave
#2 Deep Wave
#3 Blood Wave
#4 Dark Wave
#5 Skull Wave
#6 Shark Wave - Coming Soon
Jo Bennett Archaeological Mysteries
#1 Temple of the Snake - With Nick Thacker
#2 Tomb of the Queen - Nick Thacker & Kristi Belcamino
Jack & Alison Thrillers
#1 Diners, Dives & Dirty Deeds
#2 Goats, Boats & Killer Cutthroats
#3 Islands, Bylines & the Goddess of Fire
Goats, Boats, and Killer Cutthroats Page 14