“That’s good.”
“How are things at the restaurant so far? It’s almost time for the opening.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing. I hope we open on time.” Jack sighed.
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean? What’s going on?”
Jiya had not mentioned anything whenever she came to see me with Lucas.
“Well, we had a couple of issues. One of the workers accidentally hit a water pipe, and the entire restaurant flooded,” Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck. “When that was taken care of, some of the chairs that needed to be upholstered broke because of the water damage.”
I went quiet.
Had letting Jiya co-run the restaurant been a mistake?The old instinct to expect disaster rose immediately. Hope still felt like something I did not quite know how to hold without bracing for it to collapse.
“That girl is truly working her butt off. Twenty-eight weeks pregnant, and she doesn’t seem to slow down. She’s been in every day, and she takes care of Lucas. I don’t know how she has the energy.” He sighed again. “She’s taking care of everything and ensuring that we open on time. Trust me when I say this, she won’t let you down.”
I let out a long breath, smiled slowly, and bowed my head.
Hearing Jack say that Jiya would not let me down made something in me relax. For reasons I could not explain, I believed him. It made me feel that Eva’s dream might truly live again. And for the first time, the thought of that no longer filled me with fear alone.
It carried something else.
Hope.
13
JIYA
The weeks kept me busy while the restaurant was under renovation.
Half of my time was consumed by the progress of the restaurant, and the other half by Lucas and the baby growing inside me. I visited the restaurant every day, trying to make sure everything was running smoothly. By the end of each day, exhaustion seeped deep into my bones, and the stress around the place felt almost tangible.
Problems piled up like dishes in a sink that never stayed empty. For a brief moment, I wondered if I had taken on too much. Small issues surfaced with the structure of the building, things none of us had anticipated. Every time one problem was fixed, another one seemed to rise in its place.
I had braced myself for problems because nothing in life ever went perfectly. Still, there were moments when it felt as if these problems were deliberately chasing me, determined to make my life more difficult.
As I looked around the restaurant, I wondered whether this whole venture would actually work out. This project was my lifeline. I was thrilled that I was a business owner.Well, fiftypercent of one.But would I really be able to pull this off? Would everything fall into place the way I hoped?
The staff were counting on me.
Jack and Will were counting on me.
And then there was my partner.
Someone I knew absolutely nothing about.
The fear of failure stayed with me constantly. Some nights, it followed me all the way home and sat beside me in bed, whispering all the possible ways this could collapse.
Still, watching the progress each day made me feel stronger somehow. I felt as if I were growing into this new role, standing a little taller with every challenge we overcame.
This was my project.
My pride.
My joy.
