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“Okay,” he’ll say. “Fine. This cupcake is a ten out of ten, but the one yesterday was a twelve out of ten.”
And then he’ll pull me onto his lap and distract me in the best of ways.
By the end of the week, I feel ready for the next big step in my business plan. Feeling nervous but excited, I call my bank to make an appointment with a loan officer. She says they’re able to see me that same day, and I send a text to Mason as I’m headed over to the bank.
Good luck, babe,he texts back.You’ve got this.
A fresh wave of nerves flutters in my stomach as I walk into the bank. An employee greets me and shows me over to the loan officer’s desk.
“Hello, Haley. Please take a seat.” The loan officer smiles warmly at me. “My name is Gretchen. I understand you’re interested in a small business loan?”
I present myself as professionally as I can as I tell her about my dream of opening a bakery. It feels like I’m talking so much—maybe too much—as I show her the business plan I’ve typed up, but she just keeps nodding and smiling, so I take that as a good sign.
“All of this looks good,” she says when I’m finished. “Let’s take a closer look at the numbers and see what we can do for you, all right?”
I’m feeling hopeful as she types on her computer and does whatever kind of calculations she needs to do. For the first time in my life, it feels like my dream is finally going to come true.
“Okay, Haley,” she finally says. “So…”
And when I see the look on her face, I know it isn’t good news.
* * *
Afterward, when I walk out of the bank, I find Mason waiting for me on the front steps. He looks ridiculously handsome in his wool coat and thick scarf, especially with the beauty of our small-town Christmas decorations all around him, but my heart is too heavy to fully appreciate it.
“Well?” he asks, giddy. “How’d it go?”
I feel like bursting into tears. I take a breath and shake my head. “Not how I was hoping.”
Mason’s face drops. “Fuck. Baby, what happened?”
“Because I don’t have any history running a business, and my credit isn’t as strong as it could be, they’re only willing to loan me a small amount of funds. My loan officer said that after my bakery is up and running for a while, I can always come back and apply for a larger loan…but I don’t see how I’m supposed to get the bakery up and running in the first place. I really needed that bigger loan.”
“I’m sorry, Hales.”
“Yeah. Thanks. This sucks. I mean, I get it, it’s a risk for them to loan me a large amount of money. But it’s still really frustrating.” I look down at my shoes and shake my head. “I don’t know what to do now.”
“I’ll give you the money.”
I look up at him. “What?”
“I’ll give you the money,” he says again. “I’ve got a bunch invested. It’s something I’ve been doing in my spare time for a while now.”
“Mason, I…” I look at him in disbelief. “I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You aren’t. I’m offering.”
“No. It’s better off keeping that money invested. I’ll figure out another way.”
“Haley, this iswhyI invested in the first place. I knew that someday I would either need or want to have the financial resources for something important. And this is that.”
“The bakery could fail. A lot of businesses do.”
“And what? You think I’ll feel like I wasted my money?”
“Well…yeah.”
“I promise you, if that happens, I won’t feel that way.” He takes my hand. “Anyway, the bakery isn’t going to fail. It’s going to be amazing. Because you’re amazing. And we’re going to do this together.”
