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I cut a bite and slowly chewed. “What if no one shows up?”
“We’ll be there,” Amelia sweetly pointed out.
“What if no one else shows up?”
“Didn’t Marjorie say they sold ten tickets?”
“What if they change their mind?” I twisted the ring on my finger.
“They won’t. Besides, I invited Kelsey and Piper. They’ll be there,” said Elle.
“You did?” Kelsey married Gray’s best friend, Henry, who owned the Mountain Haven Lodge and Rigby’s Adventure Tours, and Piper was Elle’s friend. She married a baseball player, Colin, after she had gotten pregnant early in their relationship, and traveled with him and their three-year-old daughter, Nora, during the season.
“Piper’s in town. Colin’s team lost in the playoffs, so he’s off for the break.”
“That’s nice of them to come.”
“They want to support you too. I think you underestimate how cool your mosaics are. Once they saw a picture, they were on board. It was all you.”
They were more Elle’s friends, so it made sense they came because they had an interest beyond just friendship.
“After today, you’ll want to start thinking about renting a space to host your own workshops,” Gray said, adding more pancakes to the platter in the middle of the table.
“Don’t you think that’s a little premature? We don’t know how it will go over.” I needed to share a portion of the workshop cost with the shop owner as rent for using her space. It wasn’t ideal, but I had to start somewhere. And the workshops brought in more money than selling the mosaics themselves.
“When you start a business, you should always be thinking about expanding,” Gray said as he sat, putting a few pancakes on his plate and smothering them with maple syrup.
“What if I fail?” I dropped my head into my hands.
“There’s no such thing as failing in business unless you quit,” Elle said.
“Most businesses fail in the first few years.” I felt the need to point out.
“If you have a good idea, and you work hard at perfecting your product, marketing, and keeping costs reasonable, you’ll succeed,” Gray said reasonably.
“It’s your passion that comes through on those online videos. That’s what people are responding to, and they’ll love these in-person events,” Elle said as she cut pancakes for Amelia.
Maybe they were right. This was what I was meant to do, and if I let my passion for art show through, people would respond to that.
“You know you can monetize your online channel.” Gray cut his pancake and popped a piece into his mouth.
I bit my lip. “I’ve never looked into it.”
“You have enough followers. You should apply,” Gray said.
“I can’t believe I’m thinking about any of this.” A few months ago, I thought my only options were to nanny or take college courses. Now I was coming up with a business plan.
Thinking about Jace and the pressure to be perfect on TV, I didn’t want to leave my career in the hands of anyone else. I wanted to be in charge, not subject to the will of the store owners who wanted to dictate what I created.
I had the online following and made the connection with Savannah in Annapolis. It was a start. And I was excited for the possibilities.
I managed to eat half a pancake and drink some coffee to give me energy since I hadn’t slept well last night. Between worrying about Sam and the workshop, I was a mess.
I drove to the shop ahead of Elle and Gray to set up. They weren’t sure how long Amelia would last during the class.
I greeted Marjorie and took my supplies to the back room. I’d brought several finished pieces to display in the room, and I was prepared with a credit card device to sell them.
When I was satisfied with the placement, I set up stations so that it was easy to choose shapes and colors. By the time I was finished, Elle and Gray had arrived. Amelia bounced around the room, touching everything.
