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She’d used the quick-serve cups, but the noodles were burned on the bottom.
“I think I forgot the water.”
“You did.”
“I was hungry, and you weren’t here.” Her tone was accusatory, and I couldn’t blame her. This was my fault.
Tears pricked my eyes as a knock sounded on the door. Frustrated, I opened the door to find Mac standing there with a smile. “How is everything?”
“Not great,” I said, letting him in and returning to the kitchen so I could clean up the mess. Delaney was lucky the fire alarm hadn’t sounded. I opened the window and turned on the ceiling fan to dissipate the smell of burnt noodles.
“What happened?” Mac asked cautiously.
“I was hungry,” Delaney whined before she dissolved into tears.
The guilt was a band around my chest, tightening with each sob.
“Let’s get you some dinner,” Mac said practically as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Mommy’s never here anymore. She’s always over there cleaning and talking to customers.” Delaney pointed at the door to the B&B.
“It’s the first day we’ve been open. I wouldn’t say I’m never here,” I said defensively.
“Ever since we came here, you’ve been busy with the B&B, and it’s only going to get worse. You say it will get better, but it won’t.”
“You don’t know that,” I said, feeling defeated.
Delaney threw off Mac’s arm, ran down the hall, and slammed her door.
I couldn’t look at Mac while I cleaned the mess with jerky hands.
“Hey, it’s okay. It will get better.”
“Will it? You heard Delaney; it’s only going to get worse.” I threw a hand in the direction of Delaney’s bedroom.
Mac drew me into his arms. “It’s the first day.”
“I know.” I buried my head in his chest. Delaney was right. Things were only going to get busier. More guests meant the less time I had to give to Delaney. The more rooms I’d need to clean. “I wasn’t thinking about the mess the party would create, and the first guests arrived today.”
Mac drew back to see my face. “You didn’t hire a cleaning crew for the party?”
“I stupidly didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.”
He rubbed a hand on my back. “You’re not stupid.”
I stepped back from him, feeling like I was going to jump out of my skin. “You should probably go. We’re a bit of a mess.”
“I can get dinner. I bet you’re exhausted after last night. I thought we could celebrate.”
“Delaney’s mad. I’m exhausted. What is there to celebrate?” I knew I was being stubborn in the face of Mac’s kindness, but I couldn’t help it.
“You’re the owner of a B&B. Your dream came true. Money is coming in.” But his tone was flat.
“It is nice to swipe their credit cards. I like to think I’m getting paid, but really, I’ll be paying back the credit cards. I’m in this hole I’ll never dig my way out of.”
“You can’t look at it that way.”
I felt defeated. Like I’d come all this way and created something I couldn’t sustain. I sat at the kitchen table and dropped my head in my hands. “I think I screwed up. I thought I could handle this, but I can’t.”
