43
The next morning, Saturday, I head up to the youth camp.
The air feels different up there. Cleaner. Like everything slows down just enough for you to think.
The moment I step into the cafeteria, I spot him.
Caleb.
He’s over by the bakery section, already working, already moving like his hands are on fire. He does a double take when I walk in.
Miss Margo is nearby, talking with a couple of the other bakers. And she looks… better. Stronger than the last time I saw her.
Caleb shoots me a glare, the same annoying one he always does.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to be here,” he says flatly. “Can’t you give us a break from seeing your face?”
My expression tightens immediately.
“I’m not here to see you,” I shoot back.
And I mean that.
I don’t give him another second of attention, just walk past him like he’s not even worth the energy and head straight toward Miss Margo.
She notices me right away.
“Zoe,” she says, her face softening. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“Hi,” I reply, stepping closer. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Of course,” she says without hesitation.
We move off to the side a bit, away from the noise, away from Caleb’s attitude.
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
She gives a small smile. “Better than before.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
There’s a brief pause… and then I get into it. Because I didn’t come up here just to check on her.
“I… I found a building,” I start. “An old shop. It used to be a cafe. And I really want it, Miss Margo. Like… I really want it.”
“Okay,” she says gently.
“So I talked to the real estate agent,” I continue. “It was listed at $50,000, but they came down to $40,000. Still as-is. And it needs work. A lot of work.”
I exhale.
“I called the bank. I’m trying to figure out loans and everything, but I don’t know what I’m doing. And it’s… a lot. It’s a lot of money. A lot of responsibility. On top of that, King told me how much it's going to cost on top of what I'm going to have to pay for the place.”
She doesn’t interrupt me once. She just stares somewhere into space nodding pensively.
“I just don’t know if this is the right move,” I finish quietly. “Or if I’m about to make a really bad decision.”
Miss Margo nods slowly, taking it all in.
Then she says, “Look… only you can decide if you’re ready for that kind of risk and responsibility.”
Her eyes hold mine.
“But if you want this bad enough,” she continues, “and you believe it can work… and you know you’re willing to put the work in… then it will start working for you.”
“Okay,” I say softly. “But… how? Like… what do I actually do? Because I don’t know anything about this.”
That’s when she shifts a little closer, her voice lowering.
“You start by not putting yourself in a position where one mistake takes everything from you,” she says.
I frown slightly, trying to follow.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” she replies, “don’t borrow more than you can realistically handle. When you talk to that bank, they’re going to tell you the maximum you can get approved for. That doesn’t mean that’s what you should take.”
That… makes sense.
“You need to figure out what your monthly payment would be,” she continues. “Then ask yourself, if business is slow for a few months, can you still pay that? If the answer is no, then you’re already stretching too far.”
I nod slowly. “Okay…”
“Second,” she adds, “you don’t spend all your money just getting the building.”
I blink. “What do you mean?”
“You’re going to need money after you get it,” she explains. “Repairs. Equipment. Ingredients. Utilities. Licenses. Things you haven’t even thought about yet. If you pour everything into just buying it, you’ll open your doors already struggling.”
Yeah… I didn’t fully think that through.
“You need a cushion,” she says. “Even a small one. Something that lets you breathe while you’re building.”
I press my lips together, absorbing that.
“Okay… so don’t max out what I can get… and don’t spend everything just to buy it.”
“Exactly.”
She studies me for a second.
“Third,” she says, “make the money work for you, not the other way around.”
I tilt my head slightly. “How do I do that?”
“You start small,” she says. “You don’t need to fix everything at once. A lot of people when they start out they're way too ambitious. Focus on what actually brings money in. If that means opening with a limited menu at first, then that’s what you do.”
I hadn’t even considered that.
“You build as you earn,” she continues. “Let the business help pay for its own growth. That way, you’re not carrying all the weight alone. And one more thing,” she adds.
I look at her.
“Don’t go into this hoping it works,” she says. “Go into it planning for it to work.”
There’s a difference.
“A plan means you’ve thought through your pricing, your costs, your hours, your audience.
You're going to be running a business. But with how responsible I know you are, and with how much I know you love what you do, I know you'll do fine.
Don't forget word of mouth and advertising.
And another thing I thought… understand the population for the area.
Business might not be booming right away.
Brackenridge isn't a huge city. Things will be slow by default, but your shop will be small. The key is to keep it simple.”
I let out a slow breath.
“Okay…” I murmur. “That actually helps a lot.”
She smiles softly.
“I know it feels big,” she says. “Because it is. But big doesn’t mean impossible. Many people, including your father came before you, and achieved this. You just need to make sure you move smart.”
The one thing that would make this easier is having someone with experience by my side. I know Margo has her own things to handle here, but she does have some experience with this.
We small-talked for a little while afterward, and, half-jokingly but half-serious, I asked her if she would be willing to come work for me.
She told me her old bones were done with that life.
Smaller jobs like the one here at the cafe, where she has more flexibility, freedom, and benefits, are what she enjoys now that she’s kind of retired.
What if King worked there with me? Or what if I could get him on board to do the building, just like the old times with the extension?
King is very smart and knows how to maneuver around situations, but more importantly, I also want a way for us to get closer.
After losing my dad, I realized that my mom isn’t going to be around forever, and I don’t want to spend my whole life just working for someone else, barely making it while living at a friend’s house.
But I also know that if I undertake this, my social life will go out the door. There will barely be time for a husband and kids, and after I’m done with the construction, King will go about his business.
One of my father’s wishes for me was his last words on his deathbed.
“I… I don’t care about the café… or the business. What matters most to me… is that my daughter finds a good man. A God-fearing man… who will treat her right… and that... and that she builds a family and lives a happy life. That… that is my last wish.”
Do I really want this?
This little shop… do I really want to accrue all that debt and heartache and spend all my time and energy doing that rather than building a family? But I would not know the first place to start with a God-fearing man.
The only one that I have found… and the only… one that I want is King.
But do I just give up my life’s dream for a man? That does not seem wise either.
The only person I have been avoiding when it comes to this decision is Erica, because honestly, I do not feel as though she would be the best influence when it comes to responsible decisions like this.
She seems to go where the wind takes her, and that is something I truly admire about her, but this is not her strength.
However, I also believe it is not so bad to get different perspectives on certain things.
Erica, if there is one thing I can admit, is that maybe she has more in common with my father than even I do, because she is a risk-taker. She goes after what she wants and then thinks about the consequences later.
She has lived through a lot and gone through far more than I ever have. For goodness’ sake, she survived a miracle. So did King.
Knowing her, she will probably tell me to go ahead and buy the building and see where it goes, and then she will probably give me a bunch of bad advice. Or maybe not. I don’t know.
I decide to call her.
???