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?