“You doing all right?” Jack drops into the chair next to me.

I take a small sip of my latte, knowing the appearance of being okay is more important right now than the coffee. “I’m fine.”

“Tell me what I can do to help, Sade. Put me to work.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got it all under control.” My grip on the mug tightens, my knuckles bearing the brunt of my tension.

Jack leans forward. “It’s okay if you don’t, you know.”

“It’s not, actually. I don’t have time to not have everything under control because my store opens in a matter of days, and I somehow roped one of my best friends into investing a huge chunk of money into a business that hasn’t been around nearly long enough to justify such a ridiculous amount of money and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be out of business in a year, and then Bridge and Blooms will be a total bust and I’ll have to try to find a job in finance so I can be miserable for the rest of my life, and I knew I wasn’t ready for this.” I set my mug on the table and lean forward, letting my head fall between my knees and forcing myself to take deep breaths. “I was stupid to think I’d end up anywhere other than failure.”

He doesn’t say anything, but his warm palm lands on my back, rubbing slow, calming circles.

Eventually, I sit up and Jack’s hand drifts down to take mine in his. “Can I actually do this, Jack?”

He scoots his chair closer to mine, squeezing my hand. “I can’t answer that for you, sweet pea. Self-doubt is normal when you’re taking on something new.” He places a soft kiss on my lips. “I believe you can do this, but you have to believe too.”

I nod. “I think I just need to sit out here by myself for a little bit.”

“Okay.” He stands and drops a kiss on the top of my head. “You know where to find me.”

Once he’s back inside, I wrap my hands around my mug, letting the warmth soothe me from the outside in.

It’s tempting to throw in the towel now. Quit before I really have the chance to fail. Nick would lose all his money, but it’s not like he doesn’t have enough to fall back on.

I stare into my latte for a long time, looking for answers in the swirls of milk.

After several minutes, I look over at the garden beds. It’s midwinter, so everything is dead at the moment, but even without the blooms of the flowers, I’m proud of the space I created back here, taking an overgrown monstrosity and turning it into something beautiful.