Page 44 of Evidence of Secrets

Sam ran a successful business. She wouldn’t understand about losing money or wondering whether you’d make the next payroll or be able to pay vendors. Why had she ever called Sam for advice?

“Laura.” Sam narrowed her eyes. Gave her the “Sam” look that scared half of her employees. “Tell me what’s going on. I know you’re having money problems. How can I help?”

“Everything was going great until the setback I had with cars being damaged in the lot, then problems with the health inspector. Remember?”

Sam nodded.

“I found out who was stealing and fired him, but not before many expensive items were stolen. I don’t have the cash to cover these expenses.”

Silence.

“I can lend you the money to tide you over,” said Sam.

“No. That isn’t why I asked to meet you. I’m okay for a month or so. Then I have to decide if I want to continue running the bistro or sell part of the business to an investor.”

Sam tapped her fingers on the table. “When I first established KnightGuard Security and bought the warehouse, I was in the same position you are.”

“No way.”

“Yes. Way.” Sam sighed. “You were still in D.C. apprenticing for that chef…” Sam cocked her head. “What’s his name?”

“Chef Joseph. Oh, that was an experience. I remember missing you and Grace so much when you both left.”

“We missed you, too. Anyhow, my credit was stretched to the limit. Joe and Pete were my only employees. I didn’t take a salary so I could pay them. My Aunt Marcia worked free until I could pay her. It was hit or miss for a while.”

“How did you make it work?”

“I took a loan from Otis Hood.”

“Otis?”

“I worked for Otis when I first started as a private investigator.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember him now.”

“He had offered me the money several times before, and I refused to take it. He called me stubborn and a few other choice words. Said everyone needed a hand up once in a while.” Sam glowered at Laura. “You, my friend, are as stubborn as I was. You have friends who want to help.”

“I…”

“No. Listen to me. I know you and your mom struggled. I know the two of you worked hard and never took a dime from anyone. I admire your work ethic, but you have friends. Friends you can trust to do right by you. Let us help.”

A tear dripped from Laura’s eye.

It was true that she and her mom struggled. Never applied for food stamps, never took charity. They worked harder. Had they been foolish not to accept help when it was offered? Laura knew she had trust issues. Why didn’t she trust her friends to help? She’d help them in a minute if she could.

“You know that one of the seven deadly sins is pride. Laura, you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished, but don’t be so proud that you destroy everything you worked for because you won’t accept help. Besides, your problems started because of me and my pride. If I had known it was Colin Woods who was hurting my friends, I could have stopped the destruction earlier.”

“Sam, you had no idea.”

“Shhh. Laura, I will always feel guilty about that. Please, let me help you.”

Laura bowed her head. The bistro was the result of the dream she and her mother had. The dream that her mother had made come true after her death with the life insurance policy.

She wouldn’t be honoring her mother’s memory if she let the bistro fail. Maybe Mom was wrong in not accepting help. She always called it charity, but what if it was just that? Help.

Laura was friends with the women in her group for years. They counted on each other. Helped each other. Why was she rejecting help? Friendship was a state of trust between people. Laura trusted her friends with her life.

Maybe she should give herself permission to lean on her friends. However, there were still a couple of things she could do before that. Laura was hopeful one of them would work. If not, what was the worst that could happen?

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