Page 18 of The One I Stood Beside

“Sadie,” she says, smiling. “What can I help you with?”

Cora went to high school with us. She was on my debate team. I really hope she can help me with this, but I fear it will be Mrs. Doyle I have to deal with. She’s great, but I know for certain she’s the queen bee of the Willowbrook gossip chain.

“How’re Alvin and the boys?”

She nods. “They’re good. Thank you for asking. I’m sorry to hear about your dad.”

“Thank you… I wanted to talk to someone about a loan.”

Her smile drops for a second, but she quickly plasters it back in place. “Oh.” She looks past me, and my stomach drops. Mrs. Doyle it is. “You have to talk to Mrs. Doyle about it.” From her expression, she has the same thoughts about the woman that I do. “Let me check with her first.”

She rounds the desk and slips into an office behind me.

I smile politely at the other woman, who I’m not familiar with, but from her pitying expression, she knows my story. Seriously, this town.

“Sadie?” Cora pulls my attention from behind me, and I turn around. “She can see you now.”

“Thank you so much.”

As I pass, Cora touches my arm and squeezes it, giving me a soft smile. Cora is one of the good ones.

I peek my head into the office. “Mrs. Doyle?”

“Sadie Wilkins, come in.” She waves me in. Her red hair is pulled back into a bun, and her glasses sit on the tip of her nose. “How are you?”

There it is. It’s amazing how the cadence and sound of the words can change the meaning of a question so much.

“I’m good.”

“And your mom?”

I nod my head from side to side.

“Understandable. Grief is hard and hits you in unexpected ways.”

“Yes, I’m finding that to be true.”

Just the other night, I’d been fine, doing research on my idea to regenerate the land. The fact that I didn’t know how my dad would feel about it hit me, quickly spiraling into thoughts about how if I ever get married, he won’t walk me down the aisle, and my kids will never know him. That I wasted all these years, and now he’s gone.

“If you or your mom need anything, you’ll let me know?”

“We will. Thank you, Mrs. Doyle.”

She leans back in her chair, and she probably knows exactly what I want, why I’m here. “How can I help you? Cora said you were looking into a loan?”

“Yes.”

She nods, but I hear her heavy sigh. She stands and rounds her desk, shutting the door. Not the best sign. “I’m gonna be truthful with you, Sadie. Your dad has been in here numerous times to get a loan, and each time I told him…” She sits and takes off her glasses, clasping her hands on her desk. “The bank just won’t approve it.”

“But—”

“Sadie. I’m sorry.”

“But I have ideas, plans.” I open my bag and pull out the business plan I drew up and lay it on her desk.

She picks up her glasses and looks it over. That has to be good, right?

“I want to regenerate the land. Turn it into a chicken farm, pasture-raised.”

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