Page 101 of With This Ring
And then the hypocrisy of it all smacked her in the face—herstubbornness had driven away not only the love of her life but also her niece and her business.
And now it was time to fix it. But first she had to swallow her pride and ask for help.
She’d picked herself up and driven to her parents’ house. And now, as she stared at her parents’ front door, she sucked in a breath. It was time for her to tell them everything.
She knocked on the door, rocking back on her heels as she tried to mentally rehearse her speech.
Mom opened the door and hugged her. “Dakota. What a nice surprise.” Then her expression flickered with worry. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to talk to you and Dad.”
Her mother held the door open wider. “Of course, sweetheart. Come on in.”
***
“Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?” Dad asked after Dakota had shared everything with her parents—the money she’d lost on her stock, her loss of sales, her higher mortgage payment, the new leaks in the pipes, and her argument with Skye. The only thing she left out was her argument with Hud.
She rubbed her forehead. Sitting at the kitchen table with her parents made her feel like a little kid again—vulnerable, immature, lost, and confused. But at the same time, a tremendous weight had been lifted off her chest and shoulders. She wasn’t alone in this debacle anymore.
Mom touched her hand. “Dakota, you should already know we’re always here for you. You, your brother, Eileen, and our grandchildren are the most important people in our lives, and we’d do anything to help when you need us.”
“I know.” Shame squeezed Dakota’s throat, making her words come out in a squeak. “I guess I was afraid of hearing ‘I told you so.’”
Dad’s brow puckered. “Why?”
“Because you said I bit off more than I could chew when I bought the house right after I opened the store. And in the end, you were right. I did take on too much, and now I’m dealing with the repercussions.”
Dad’s expression turned contrite. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry I made you feel that way. You shouldn’t ever be afraid to tell us if you need help.”
“Yeah, I’m learning that.” Dakota drew invisible circles on the table. “The truth is that I’m in over my head. My dream was to work as a seamstress, but I don’t have the business sense to run a store. The twenty-three-page lease makes no sense to me, and I had no idea I’d made a terrible mistake when I lowered my insurance coverage. My true love is creating and altering clothes, not worrying about financials, but I was too stubborn and too proud to admit that I had taken on too much.” She sank back in the chair. “The worst part is that I feel like I let you both down.”
Mom shook her head. “Honey, you could never let us down.”
“She’s right,” Dad agreed. “Now tell me, Dakota, how can we help?”
She clasped her hands together and sighed. “I think it’s too late to save my store and my house. I’m going to have to break the lease on the store and then try to find a job.” Her lips puckered. She couldn’t imagine going back to working for someone else, but what option did she have?
“Nope, that’s not what you’re going to do.”
Dakota’s head popped up. “Huh?”
“You’re giving up too easily,” Dad said, and Mom nodded.
“What do you mean?”
“First off, are you sure the lease says you’re responsible for the damage in the store? The landlord is truly off the hook for everything?”
She nodded. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Okay. That means we’re going to get the plumbers to fix their mistake. You need to call them and demand they make it right. Also, you need to insist that the plumbers give you a refund for the work they’ve done to this point.”
“You think they’ll do that?”
“Makethem do it, Dakota,” Dad told her.
“Okay.” She sat up straighter as renewed confidence filled her.
“To save your store, how much money would you need?” Dad asked.