She would have to remember this feeling. When their six months were over and she went looking for a man to fall in love with, she wanted to feel just like this when she was with him. Safe and cared for. And she wanted to make him feel the same way.

“I think you should buy the business.”

That was a lot more blunt than she’d been expecting. “How can you say that? What do I know about running a business? What if I do everything wrong? What if everyone quits and no one ever buys another cookie from me again? I’ll die broke and alone and humiliated.”

“That’s the positive spirit we all admire.”

She glared at him. “Is this you being funny? This isn’t funny. This is very serious.”

Aidan didn’t look the least bit impressed by her outburst. He stretched out his legs in front of him and smiled. “Did I mention breathing? That’s rule number one. After that, everything else is easy.”

“What do you know about breathing? You have a successful business. It’s easy for you to say what I should and shouldn’t do. You’re not the one who’s going to fail.”

“Neither are you. You want this, Shelby. You’ve wanted it for a long time. You talk about being stuck. Well, you were stuck with Amber. You wanted to fly and she never wanted to get off the ground. I’m not saying you were right and she was wrong. We won’t know that for a while. But this is your chance. Run with that. Not that many people get the opportunity to go for their dream. This is your moment. Grab it with both hands.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. What was she supposed to say to that? If this was her dream, then she was a fool to let the chance get away from her.

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “Really scared.”

“All the more reason to go for it.”

Was he right? Or maybe that wasn’t the correct question. Maybe the real question was, how would she feel if she never even tried?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SHELBY HAD NEVER considered herself an overly emotional person. She’d been through a lot in her life and she’d had to deal with some horrible situations. Because of that, she’d spent time in therapy. She was pretty confident that she understood how her psyche worked. She watched people, tried to understand them and respond appropriately. She almost never sat in a business meeting fighting the urge to cry.

Yet here she was blinking rapidly, hoping she didn’t look as upset as she felt. No, not upset. Touched. Grateful. She’d come to Fool’s Gold with nothing. She’d been accepted, taken in and welcomed in every way possible. Even if she tried to forget, she was reminded over and over again.

“Business valuation is both simple and complicated,” Sam Ridge was saying. “There are the tangibles. The value of the equipment, the value of the inventory. As this is the bakery, I’m assuming most of your inventory is disposable.” The former NFL Super Bowl–winning kicker smiled. “I’m thinking brownies rather than cars.”

“You’re right,” Shelby said. “We don’t have very many cars to sell.”

“So no real inventory other than ingredients. There is an income stream—how much is made each week, each month. From that you subtract what you pay out. The cost of flour, sugar and butter. Employee wages. Insurance, rent. Now’s where it gets tricky. Everything has to be given a value. The mailing list for out-of-town customers. The recipes, the logo, the goodwill the bakery has established. The reputation is worth something. The question is how do you put a price on that?”

Patience Garrett wrinkled her nose. “No offense, Sam, but you’re scaring me and I already own Brew-haha. I can’t imagine what you’re doing to poor Shelby.”