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Stand on your own two feet. It was the motto my dad had taught me from the time I was a little girl. I hadn’t learned it.
And that night, as we snuggled on the couch watching our favorite movie and laughing, behind my smile was regret. I’d let someone else have the power to dictate my dream. And that was a mistake. Still, I told myself it was fine. Brad could be trusted with my heart and with my business.
I should have listened to my intuition that night, though. I should have listened.
Chapter Forty
“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said, rushing into the New Brew Coffee Shop to meet Leo. Walking into the brand-new business, it felt like a bit of a kick, an in-your-face reminder of what wasn’t working for me. I inhaled, trying not to feel discouraged.
“How did it go?” he asked, sliding my seat out for me. A chocolate chip muffin and a latte sat in my spot; he’d ordered for me. I smiled at the fact he’d noted what I liked.
“Not good,” I said, trying not to let the disappointment wash completely over me. I’d had a meeting with a bank that morning. After a week of living and breathing business plans with my dad and the business group, I’d gone for it. And it had been a bust. “It’ll be okay. I still have some other options,” I said, taking a sip of my lukewarm latte. I wasn’t complaining, though.
“Hey, listen. I know you can figure it out. I do. But hear me out. What if there’s an investor you don’t have to convince?” He eyed me with a tilted head.
I immediately shook mine. “No way.”
“Tillie, come on. It’s a business loan, not a handout. I’ll expect full repayment with interest once your business is off the ground. And free coffee when I’m in town.”
I wanted to be appreciative of his offer. I wanted to be thankful he believed in me. But his casual insistence he would invest in the business coupled with the leaving town reminder, and it was finished.
All I could see was Brad, sitting there all smug as he tried to tell me what to do with Tillie’s Brews. As he poured money in and then up and left me. As he ripped my heart into pieces as my business fell apart. I’d been there and done that.
“No, Leo, I can’t. I won’t make the mistake of mixing business and love again.”
“But it wouldn’t be a mistake, Tillie. You can trust me,” he said. “You know I’m different.”
I looked down at the muffin. I didn’t respond.
“You know you can trust me, right?”
I looked back up at his imploring eyes. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to let go, to be vulnerable, to expunge the past hurts off my heart. But I’d lived that life and lie not very long ago.
“What about your parents? Have they been calling you to go back still?” I asked.
Now it was his turn to avert his eyes. “Yeah. They’re pretty insistent. I have a concert in three weeks.”
