“I’m going to be your seasonal help. I’m going to stay here, and work the Carrigan’s Festival, which, you’re right, I’ve never done. For free, because Carrigan’s can’t afford to pay me. I will get us through Black Friday weekend, and by the time I leave, I’ll have a plan to take to the bank. Literally. Then you can eat your words.”
Holy shit, what had she just committed herself to?
Staying here through Thanksgiving was absurd. She had no idea what would convince the bank that they were a good business risk. But she knew she had to do this.
“Why the hell would you do that?” Noelle demanded.
Miriam rose up to her face, or as close as she could considering their height difference. “If you’re right and I let Cass down, what better way could I make that up to her but to fulfill her dying wish? Should I just blow that off, too? What would that say about me?”
“You’d better clear this with Hannah,” Noelle growled, stepping back. “And call your fiancée.”
Fuck, Noelle was right. She was going to have to call Tara. Which was going to suck.
“Thank you for your input. And, just FYI, Cass knew exactly why I wasn’t coming home, and she understood.” Miriam headed toward the door.
“Did Hannah?” Noelle called after her.
Miriam flinched, but she didn’t answer. Instead she extended her middle finger up above her head as she pushed outside.
She stomped back to the inn, letting her adrenaline drain as she went. Inside, she found Hannah sitting stiffly on an antique chaise that would look better as a moose statue.Maybe Hannah would give this to me to rehab, Miriam thought idly. This was the first time she’d seen Hannah truly still all week.
She sat down next to her cousin and twisted her hands in her lap. “I’d like to stay until Thanksgiving, if you’ll have me. If there’s any possible way I can help with creating a plan to present the bank, I owe it to all of you to try. And I would love more time with you and the Matthewses.”
Hannah cocked her head, started to speak a couple of times, and stopped herself. Eventually she said, “I don’t know if I want you to stay long term, yet. I missed you so much, but it hurts to have you back. Still I can’t ask you to leave, not without trying to see if Cass was right.” She blew out a breath. “Maybe none of this matters. I’m going to call the cousins and see if they can help with the bank mortgage.”
“The Rosensteins? Why would they bail us out?” Miriam had never gotten any support from them, even when she’d badly needed it. They’d never even bothered to check on her when things were at their worst with her parents.
“Do we have other mutual cousins I don’t know about, who also own a large national business and might want to invest?” Hannah asked, lifting an eyebrow. “They would bail us out because we’re family and they love us.”
Miriam was skeptical of this, but Hannah’s parents were closer to the larger family. It was worth a shot.
Hannah paced the room while making the call. While Miriam waited, she checked the massive backlog of Bloomer messages from having her phone off for a week. She deleted dick pics and antisemitic tirades with resignation.
Ah, the internet. How she’d missed it.
Hannah’s shoulders drooped further and further as she listened.I was right, Miriam thought.
Hannah sank back down.
“They want to help. But they just sunk a bunch of money into the West Coast expansion,” she said, her eyes off in the distance, “so they don’t have the funds for a big cash infusion.”
“I’m sorry. I know you were hoping,” Miriam said, trying not to add,I told you so.
“They didn’t completely say no. They would be willing, and happy, to invest a smaller amount in whatever plan we present to the bank, if we can show them it’s viable.” Hannah twisted and untwisted her hair on top of her head anxiously, and Miriam wished she knew if her support would be welcome.
“So if we can get them on board, the bank will look much more favorably on our business plan,” Miriam said.
Hannah nodded.
“Now we really have to come up with a plan.” That was terrifying, but also a tiny bit…exciting?
“I guess you’re staying until Thanksgiving.” Hannah laid her head back, staring at the ceiling for a moment before looking over at Miriam. “As for you moving here to fulfill some sort of prophecy of Cass’s…let’s make sure there’s somewhere to move to, first.”
“Speaking of Cass’s prophecy, where’s Blue?” Miriam asked.
Miriam had done a better job keeping up with Levi Matthews than she had with anyone else from Carrigan’s. The three of them had grown up running together, an inseparable trio. Hannah and Miriam had started calling him Blue when they were little, since he shared a name with the world’s most famous blue jeans, and it had stuck. He was irascible, difficult, mischievous, and obsessed with cooking from the time he could walk. He’d gone to Le Cordon Bleu and had grand plans to transform the inn into a culinary destination. He was, in many ways, a hometown legend around Advent.
Then he’d run off on a cruise ship to be a chef.