Sophie sighed. “This. The cooking and caring for a lot of people. Adjusting to changing tastes is challenging, too, and I love surprising you all with new recipes. But I don’t want just this. I take care of the finances for the kennels because I like the change of pace. If I could find a job that combined all my hobbies, I’d be incredibly happy. I just don’t think there is one out there. I thought I could do the most sensible thing as my career and just have the rest in my free time as hobbies, but…it wasn’t right. I don’t know what is.”
Lyn chewed slowly and swallowed. “That’s an unusual set of things to look for in a job working for someone else. Small businesses or companies generally have the opportunity to fill multiple roles, but your interests are an unusual combination.”
“Yeah.” Sophie sighed. “And it’s not like I could take it all and turn it into my own business.”
But she’d dreamed of it.
“But you have a concept in mind.” Lyn sounded like she was about to spring a trap.
Sophie eyed her warily. “Maybe. I love bed-and-breakfasts. Everything about them. Running one would hit all those things and a lot of things I bet I haven’t even thought of yet.”
There. It was out in the open. She’d been reluctant to say it out loud because it was a wild idea. Not practical at all.
“It’s not something I should do.” She set Boom’s plate up on the breakfast counter next to Elisa.
“Why not?” Elisa asked, stabbing the air in front of Sophie with a fork.
Sophie blinked.
“Lyn runs her own consulting business. Why can’t you run your own B&B?” Elisa continued with inexorable logic. “You know the business. You’ve definitely visited enough of them. And this is a good area for them.”
“You cook. You make amazing things.” Lyn waved her fork over the remaining half of her fried egg and avocado on toast. Then she jumped on the idea and apparently decided to take it for a run. “You could incorporate your hobbies, like you said. No one has a better eye than you do for decorating a place to make it feel like a sanctuary. Maybe make it something of a yoga retreat and get certified to teach yoga classes, too. That’d differentiate it from the other bed-and-breakfasts in the area. You also feel passionate about mentoring the local high school kids. They’d be cheap labor to help you with cleaning and housekeeping if you’re willing to mentor them. Some of those kids you tutor for next to nothing would do anything for you, and they’re eager to make some extra pocket change.”
“Having them do simple mail sorting or answering phones is great experience for a first-time job. It’s something to get a résumé started,” Elisa added. “I wouldn’t mind helping set up a bookkeeping system for you.”
Wow.
Sophie stared at her two friends, people who’d walked into her life in just the past year. They understood her, supported her, in ways she’d never experienced in anyone except Brandon. And she’d met them through him.
“I’ve been saving, hoping I could open a B-and-B of my own someday.” Admitting her hope was harder than she’d thought it’d be. The words came out soft, barely more than a whisper. She was cringing, expecting some sharp, practical commentary on how she could better invest that seed money.
Instead, both Elisa and Lyn sat up with excitement.
“We could…”
“When…”
Sophie held up her hands to halt the enthusiastic start of a crazy discussion she wasn’t ready to let happen. “It’s not enough. I need the perfect property with a decent fixer-upper building or two. I need to budget for the renovation costs and startup costs. There’s a whole lot of administrative and business expenses, plus whatever it’ll take to set it up as a business. It’s not enough for all that. I need a job to keep saving, keep planning.”
She’d thought about all of it over a lot longer time than she planned to admit. And she’d fiddled around with the numbers while she’d been stuck on her couch over the past couple of days.
This just wasn’t the right time.
Lynn studied her. After a long minute, she opened her mouth. “I…”
Sophie shook her head with a gentle smile to take the edge off the denial. “I won’t take money from friends. Not as a gift, not even as a loan. It’s not the way to keep a friendship. And your friendships mean so much to me.”
She reached out and took each of their hands.
“I’ll make this happen. I will. I just don’t know how or when.” She swallowed hard because for a second there, she’d been excited right there with them. “It’s not going to be now.”
They all shared one of those moments where words weren’t needed. Then Sophie became aware of Boom standing in the entryway.
“What’s up, Boom?” Sophie watched the young girl fidget for a bit before coming into the kitchen. “Breakfast here. Don’t you need to get to school soon?”
The girl was a tween now, and sometimes she was the cute kid who’d arrived with Alex a little more than a year ago and sometimes she was a teenager. All of them were scrambling to keep up with the split-second changes.
Right now, Boom was a tween. And she was peering over her shoulder to make sure none of the men were in the room.
“You’re all here. I thought I’d have to wait until Sunday. I’m really glad you’re okay, Sophie. But I have something I need to talk to all of you about.” Boom took a deep breath. “My birthday is coming up.”