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“Stop working so we can get you dressed and put some makeup on your face.”
I pouted. “I’m going to forget my idea.”
“You’re going to forget to brush your hair if you don’t stop already,” Kylie said, frustrated with me. She didn’t understand why I worked so hard. She was born into money; she could take months off to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. I didn’t have the same luxury. I needed to support myself in this business. Because if it didn’t work out, I had nothing. My entire savings had gone into this building. I needed it to generate money.
I stood while Kylie drew the first dress over my head.
“We understand how important the B&B is to you, but you need to take care of yourself and Delaney.”
“I am.”
“You’re not. The dress is loose. Did you lose weight?”
I looked down at myself. “Probably. I don’t always remember to eat.”
Alice exchanged a concerned look with Kylie.
I held up my hands. “Okay, okay. I get it. I need to slow down. And I will, after today.” Just as soon as I got into a good routine.
“You hired house cleaners, right?” Kylie said as she rejected the black dress and drew a red one over my head.
My face flushed. “I figured I could do it myself.”
“How will you have time to do the front desk and answer the phone—” Kylie broke off, clearly shocked.
“And do the million other administrative tasks around here?” Alice added.
I shrugged. “Why would I hire someone when I can easily do the work myself?”
“Because it’s time-consuming,” Alice said.
“But I won’t have to do every room every day.” I’d thought about it, but it saved me money by not hiring someone else.
“I think that’s a bad idea,” Alice said, clearly worried about me.
“I’ll be fine. Besides, once the money’s there, I can hire someone.”
“You’re doing too much,” Alice murmured as she shook her head at the red dress. “Let’s do the blue one. It matches her eyes.”
I felt like a doll, but I was too exhausted to be much help. I didn’t really care what I wore or how I looked. I just needed to get through this day, then I could sleep tonight.
I tried not to think about how my first guest would be checking in tomorrow. I wasn’t ready for that, and panic streaked through my body.
I lifted my hands as they pulled off the red dress and then dropped the blue one over my head. “This is it,” Alice said triumphantly.
“It’s pretty,” I acknowledged, looking at myself in the mirror.
“Now sit. I need to do your hair and makeup,” Alice ordered.
“I don’t think this is necessary.” I had a million little things to do before the first person walked through the doors.
Alice leaned over to curl my lashes. “So, you would have shown up in sweats and a tee?”
“That’s a definite possibility.” I probably would have done a last-minute wipe-down of the kitchen counters and dusted the mantle. I still felt this niggling in the back of my brain that I’d forgotten to do something.
“Remember why you’re doing this,” Kylie said, pulling up a chair to sit next to me.
My face screwed up in the mirror. “To earn a living.”
