Page 119 of When We Were Young

What I’m going to ask her to do will go beyond anything she would normally be comfortable with. This is going to stretch her in ways she may never have been before.

“I could go with⁠—”

“No. I don’t want you to do that.” Her response doesn’t surprise me, but I wish she wanted me with her.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I want to do this alone. I have to.”

I peer at her for several seconds and remind myself that I need to keep showing up for her until she realizes she doesn’t have to do everything alone.

“Okay. Then if I don’t go with you, I have a few ideas. First, I don’t want you to cancel the bachelorette event.”

“I have no choice.” Her voice is firm.

“Yes, you do. Can I tell you my thoughts?”

“I guess.” She leans back and stares at me, waiting.

“We can get everything prepped before you leave, and I know how to hold the event. You taught me when you were practicing. I can do it, and I’ll have Hayden and either Tillie or Delaney assist me. I promise I can do it.”

“That’s very sweet, but⁠—”

“It’s not me being sweet. Let me do this for you. For your business.”

Her eyes look pensive as I imagine there’s a war of emotions and conflicting thoughts on her mind right now.

“And while we’re at it, I want to talk to you about keeping the bakery open.”

“Holden...”

“Between my mom and me...” I shake my head. “Actually, my mom can do the baking. We can do a limited menu, but keep it open for your regulars.”

“I don’t know. This makes me nervous.”

“If something doesn’t work, then we’re no worse off than if you have to cancel the event at the last minute or shut down your bakery when it’s so new and building customers.”

The look that passes over her face gives me a sliver of hope that she’ll let me, and everyone here who cares about her, help out.

“Can I just take a minute? I need to think through this.”

“Sure.” I force myself to give her the time.

She sits up straighter. When she nods, I assume she’s ready for me to continue.

“There’s one more thing we should talk about, and this might be the biggest ask of them all.”

“I can’t skip the funeral, if that’s what you’re about to say. I… I need the closure.” Her words are so hushed that she’s almost whispering. She looks at the floor.

“It’s okay. I’m not proposing that.” I suck in a deep breath, then exhale. “What I’m suggesting is that Simon stays here, and I take care of him.”

Her eyes fly to mine.

“I’ll get him to school. Go to his field day. I’ll pick him up and I’ll make sure he eats and takes baths. All the things that you would normally do.”

“I can’t. I can’t pawn my child off on you.”

I scoot my chair closer to her and take her hand in mine.