Mia sat at the breakfast bar, her laptop open. Paying bills always made her antsy. Would she have enough money this month to cover everything? It had been awfully close last month. The more she had to handle the entire business alone, the more she appreciated what her mother had been able to accomplish for all those years. She made it seem easy, and Mia was starting to feel like a bit of a failure.

Her biggest fear now was destroying everything her mother had built. She tried to keep positive, but it was hard, especially at night. Since breaking up with her last boyfriend, Evan, a year ago, she’d missed having a shoulder to cry on when times were hard. Evan wanted to travel, and she couldn’t. She wasn’t about to leave her mother behind when she was so sick, and Evan knew she’d take over the business after her mother died, so he broke it off saying he needed more.

Well, she needed more too. More time with her mother. More money to pay the bills. More support. Or any support really.

Even her friends had started to steer clear of her, probably getting tired of hearing her talk about missing her mother. But she couldn’t help it. Grief was the hardest thing she’d ever experienced, and it didn’t feel like it was getting any better.

Sure, she didn’t cry all day long now. It had been weeks since her mother passed away. But she cried at the oddest times, like when she smelled her mother’s bread cooking in the oven. Or when she accidentally broke one of her mother’s favorite coffee mugs. It was pink with a fluffy white kitten on it. She sat on the floor that morning with a tube of glue and tears running down her face.

It was hard doing life alone.

Her mother had been her best friend, although she’d never really realized that until it was too late. Kids, especially girls, tend to take their mothers for granted, and she’d been guilty of that. She often wondered if her mother really knew how much she loved her, how much she appreciated all of the things she’d done for her. The times she’d taken care of her when she was sick. The times she’d scraped to get by, trying to make ends meet, and still found a way to buy that special gift at Christmas. The times she’d let Mia cry on her shoulder over boys whose names she couldn’t even remember now.

“Ugh,” she said to herself as she stared at the screen. Thankfully, all of her guests were asleep for the night, so she had some time to herself. Running a B&B was exhausting work, but she loved it. It made her feel close to her mother.