Page 31 of What Remains of Grace

That night, the two of them sat at the kitchen table with Cole’s estimate spread between them.

“This one,” Emmie said, pointing to the line item for painting the bakery walls, “new paint? Can we keep the same color? Mom picked it with Grandma Hart. It’s supposed to be cheerful.”

Jenna smiled. “New paint, same color. Got it.”

Emmie slid her finger down the page. “But the ceiling fans are ugly.”

Jenna laughed softly. “Completely agree.”

They worked through each section together, what to restore, what to refresh, and finally, what to let go. It was slow, deliberate, but it felt good. It felt like progress.

When they finished, Jenna typed the revisions into an email and hit send. Her phone buzzed a few minutes later.

COLE: Got it. You weren’t kidding about the details. I’ll adjust and send a start date tomorrow.

Jenna smiled, setting her phone aside.

Emmie sat next to her, scrolling through photos of her new car. “Is that the guy?” she asked without looking up from her phone.

Jenna blinked. “What guy?”

“The contractor guy. The only guy who has been texting you all night,” Emmie said, grinning. “You’re smiling at your phone like you just got asked to prom.”

Jenna snorted, trying for casual. “He’s sending estimates, not poetry.”

“Uh-huh.”

Jenna shook her head, pretending to focus on her planner. “He’s professional. I’m professional. It’s professional.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince Emmie or herself.

Emmie laughed. “If you say so.”

But when the laughter faded, Jenna’s cheeks still felt warm. Even a sixteen-year-old had picked up on it, that small, charged something she wasn’t ready to name. She could only pray Cole hadn’t. She must have looked ridiculous, smiling at her phone like that.

She exhaled, closing the planner with a soft thud. She had too much to do for this kind of nonsense.

* * *

The call with Hannah and Mark lasted less than half an hour.

Jenna sat at the kitchen table while their faces filled her laptop screen.

Neither of them looked particularly happy.

Hannah sat in the conference room while Mark appeared to be taking the call from his truck.

“You’re serious?” Mark asked.

Jenna nodded. “I’m serious.”

Hannah frowned. “I thought you were coming back.”

“So did I.”

That seemed to surprise them more than anything.

Jenna walked them through the dissolution plan, the sale of the company’s assets, and the severance packages she’d arranged for both of them. By the end, neither seemed worried about the money.

They seemed worried about her.