He Was Barefoot and Poor. She Was Rich and Broken. What He Said Next Changed Everything. 3095

Grant called Rosa on a Monday.

"I want to talk to you about a job."

"I already have a job."

"I know. I'm not trying to take it away." He was standing in his office with the door closed, looking out at the parking lot. "The Hollis Foundation has a community kitchen program. We fund it, we don't run it. Which is a problem, because the people running it don't know what they're doing."

"And you think I do."

"I think you've been working in commercial kitchens for fifteen years and you know more about food service than anyone on my payroll."

There was a long pause.

"What are you actually offering?"

"Program director. Full-time. Benefits. It pays—"

"Don't tell me what it pays yet."

"Okay."

"Tell me what it is first."

Grant sat down. He had been prepared for her to say no. He had not been prepared for this.

"It's a kitchen on Colfax," he said. "We feed about two hundred people a day. Mostly families. It's been running for six years and it's been underperforming for three. The current director is a nice man who has never managed a kitchen in his life. He's a fundraiser. He's good at raising money. He's bad at running the operation."

"And you want me to run it."

"I want you to tell me if it can be run."

Rosa was quiet.

"Why me?"

"Because you don't let me buy things."

She laughed. It was the first time he had ever heard her really laugh.

"Okay," she said. "I'll come look at it. On one condition."

"What?"

"You don't come with me. I go by myself. I talk to the staff. I look at the books. And then I tell you what I think, and if I say it's broken, you don't argue with me."

"Deal."

"And Grant?"

"Yeah."

"Ask me again in a month. Not now. If you're still serious in a month, I'll take it."

"Why a month?"

"Because rich people change their minds."