She realized she was standing near the window with Trevor’s old college hoodie held to her chest and a faint musky smell that made her stomach dip.
It was the closest she was going to get to a hug from him.
“What about for his birthday?” Savannah folded a gray hoodie over her arm, her hand ducking into the box. “What do you think, Mom?”
Emily strode over to them and cleared her throat. “I think we can talk about it when we’re closer to the date. I’m going to go get some iced tea from downstairs. Anyone want anything?”
The two of them shook their heads as one.
On her way down the stairs, Emily paused to trace the picture of the four of them on the wall. Before she could retrace the features she knew by heart, her phone rang, the sound slicing through the air. She fished it out of her pocket and took the rest of the stairs quickly. By the time she reached the landing, she was being connected to the manager of the bank, Mr. Hershville himself.
“Mrs. Ricker, thank you for holding.”
Emily stepped into the kitchen and switched the phone from one ear to the other. “Thank you for getting back to me so quickly, Mr. Hershville. I understand that you’re a busy man.”
When she swung the refrigerator door open, she listened to the sound of papers being shuffled. Then, there was a steady rise and fall of conversation, followed by a quiet click.
Mr. Hershville cleared his throat. “Mrs. Ricker, I’m afraid your application to have the payment extended is going to be denied.”
Emily’s stomach dipped. “But it hasn’t been denied yet, right? That means I still have a chance to convince the bank to extend the loan—”
“Mrs. Ricker, I’m afraid you misunderstood me. I’m calling you as a favor to your grandparents. As you know, I’m very fond of your whole family.”
Emily tasted bile as she poured herself some iced tea. “Isn’t there anything else I can do? More references? What if I take out a mortgage on the house?”
“I’m afraid you don’t have enough of an income to get the bank to sign off on something like this.”
Emily set her glass down and gripped the counter. “Mr. Hershville, please. I put the bakery up as collateral. There’s got to be something I can do.”
Silence stretched between them.
Emily was nearing tears when he spoke again.
“Since you own a successful business, I’d suggest you look into getting a financial partner.”
Emily’s stomach tightened further. “Someone to buy the bakery?”
“They’d be part owner,” Mr. Hershville explained. “That’s the best thing to do in a situation like yours. You just need to find someone willing to invest.”
Emily ran a hand over her face. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone, would you?”
Mr. Hershville exhaled. “Unfortunately, I don’t. I’ll be in touch if anything changes. Good luck to you, Mrs. Ricker.”
“Thank you,” Emily murmured in a whisper-soft voice.
As soon as the line went dead, she tossed her phone onto the counter and buried her face in her hands. Over and over, she kept repeating his words in her head and wondering what she was meant to do next. If she couldn’t pay the loan back, she was going to end up losing so much more than just her bakery.
For the first time since learning about the money Trevor owed, Emily was angry.
She was angry she’d put up the bakery as collateral and even angrier that Trevor hadn’t come clean when he had the chance.
Now, she was standing on the edge of an abyss with no one to pull her back.
She couldn’t bear the thought of putting this burden on anyone else’s shoulders.
With a few weeks left to pay the loan, she needed to come up with a solution, and she needed to come up with it soon.
Time was running out fast.
