“All right, that’s good. I’ll go and tell her,” Jesse commented.

When he disappeared farther into the kitchen, Thomas looked back at Ivan and grinned.

“That’s a good idea you came up with, Ivan. Perfect timing, too. I was just telling Carol we need to do something for her over here. All I was doing was telling people about the place. But if you promote a big party…now, that’s something different.”

Thomas was moving full steam ahead with things, but Ivan still needed to calculate it all. How could he make any money off of it?

Will she let me charge people to get in? I wonder how much she makes on a regular Thursday night. He surely didn’t want to compete on a weekend. Thursday night was a safer bet.

Before he could finish thinking it over, Carol Henderson, an attractive reddish brown woman in her sixties, with dark eyes and long salt-and-pepper hair, moved out of the kitchen office to meet the young man who wanted to throw a party to promote her new establishment. Thomas told her all about him.

“Hey, Carol, this is Ivan David, a young accountant out of Los Angeles, who went to school down here at San Diego State. He works with the big accounting firm of Hutch and Mitchell. But now he, ah, wants to start promoting parties to spotlight black businesses in the San Diego area, to help bring us all together.”

Carol set eyes on him and was pleased already. Ivan had a colorful look that stood out in a crowd.

Carol nodded to him and gave him some of her own history. She said, “It took a long time for my children to convince me to open up this restaurant. But I just told myself that I would do it now before I’m no longer here. And that way I can give my children something that they can continue going with.”

Her easygoing talk and position as the family matriarch made Ivan rethink his business ideas. He immediately wanted to help her out and make her proud of her decision to open a restaurant. He had just made the same decision to reach for higher goals himself, only he was less than half her age. She even reminded him a little of his mother.

Yeah, I got plenty of time to make money, he told himself. So let me just go ahead and put on a good event to start pushing my name.

He took Carol’s soft hand in his and made his pitch. “Well, at I.D. Promotions, what we want to do is identify community people and businesses who deserve attention. And I’ve always liked Old Town. So I’m glad we have a business like yours in this community.”

Carol was speechless, just staring at the young man. His sincerity and colorful eyes were mesmerizing.