Page 12 of Story Of My Heart

“You’re kidding.” I choke out a small laugh, waiting for the seriousness to fall away from his expression. It does not. In fact, he doubles down, refusing to show even a hint of amusement at the idea. He’s starting to look a little wounded. “You aren’t kidding. God, you’re miserable. I thought that was shtick.”

“Not shtick.” Crossing his arms, he flops back against the arm of the couch, wiggling in against a throw pillow. “A fact. Because I can get behind the truth, not some pie in the sky romantic fantasy concocted by capitalists.”

“Not fantasy according to the success of your app.” Shaking my head, I pull my own laptop out of my bag, preparing myself for all of the research I’m going to need to do about the town and the resort to field any of Tate’s requests as he begins his plans to overhaul the place. I don’t believe that anyone can not believe in love. Especially not someone as seemingly sensitive as Tate. “And the article that had you running for Sunset Lake.”

As I set up my workspace, preparing for a weekend of both personal and professional navigation, a sudden knock at the door makes us both start. Before Tate can get up, the door swings open and an unhappy looking man stands there, his expression a mixture of curiosity and irritation.

“Didn’t think I’d hear about Tate Story bringing a special guest to the resort through the family grapevine,” he grumbles, stepping into the room with a skeptical look. He eyes me, then Tate, his gaze sharp and probing. “This must be Piper, huh? The mysterious girlfriend who’s suddenly popped up.”

Tate rises awkwardly, the color draining from his face as he manages a strained, “Hey, Ledger. Yeah, this is Piper. Piper, this is Ledger, my brother—”

“Older brother,” Ledger corrects him flatly, without breaking eye contact with me. He crosses his arms, leaning against the door frame. “A grown woman, huh? You look surprisingly normal to be with the likes of him. Here I was thinking you’d be some tech wizard or an overzealous intern.”

I extend a hand, trying to cut through the tension. “Nice to meet you, Ledger.”

He ignores my hand, his brows knitting together as he surveys the cabin. “Hope you know what you’re signing up for with this one. His version of romance is probably debugging your laptop.”

Tate clears his throat, attempting to salvage the introduction. “Ledger’s got his own unique way of welcoming people.”

“Just keeping it real,” Ledger says, finally accepting my hand with a firm shake that feels more like a challenge than a greeting. He turns back to Tate, his tone slightly less gruff. “You gonna help me at the front desk while you’re here, or is that too much for you?”

Tate nods, a resigned sigh escaping him. “I’ll make it work.”

With one last appraising look at me, Ledger nods and steps back, the grumpiness never quite leaving his eyes. “Good to meet you, Piper. Don’t let him bore you too much with his algorithms.”

As the door closes behind him, I turn to Tate, finding him rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. “Well, that was Ledger. Always a joy.”

I laugh, easing some of the tension. “He’s certainly... direct.”

Tate flops back down onto the couch, a wry smile tugging at his lips. “You have no idea.”

As I set up my workspace, the weight of his earlier confession hangs in the air, thick and oppressive. How can someone so brilliantly intricate, capable of weaving such complexities into his work, dismiss the simplest truth of human connection? It’s tragic, really—Tate, with all his wealth and intelligence, barricading his heart behind walls of cynicism. Does he truly sleep better, cloaked in denial, or does he, too, yearn for the indefinable magic he’s so quick to discredit?

Maybe he just doesn’t know how to recognize love when he sees it.

Closing my laptop gently, I steal a glance at him. He looks away, a guarded veil slipping over his features. Maybe this weekend, amidst the ghosts of his past and the echoes of laughter that once filled his childhood, he might glimpse what he’s been missing. Perhaps, under the soft light of Sunset Lake, the idea of falling in love won’t seem so far-fetched.

But for now, I’ll keep my musings to myself. Because sometimes, the most profound revelations come not from loud proclamations but from quiet moments of reflection. And as the day deepens, I make a silent vow to show Tate, whether he admits it or not, that love, in all its messy glory, is the most real thing there is.

Chapter Seven

Tate

“You packed refills, right?” I turn to Piper, shaking my now empty pen.

It’s the first time either of us have spoken in at least two hours, and the first time I’ve moved my neck, if the way all of my muscles are protesting is any indication. Ever since the girlfriend gambit was introduced, things have been off. I don’t think Piper understood how big of a deal me bringing a girlfriend to the resort would be when she made the suggestion. Literally no idea what she was getting us both into.

I don’t know what Piper’s family is like outside of her being an only child—we’re not having existential conversations on the regular—but mine doesn’t really have boundaries. There are just too many of us. It doesn’t help that I’ve never brought a girl around before, so the whole situation looks like catnip to the naughtiest feline. I’ve been distracting myself from the impending awkwardness of the weekend by throwing myself into my work, coming up with a budget for the necessary renovations and repairs for the resort, as well as combing through all of the numbers that Oscar can get his hands on and making estimates based on what I’ve seen with my own two eyes this afternoon. Piper has spent the entire time researching what she can about Sunset Lake.

Rolling her eyes at my request, Piper reaches into her bag and opens my pen case with surgical precision, retrieving a tube of Mystery Black ink, the only color I will deign to write in. “Do I ever not remember the refills? Just because I’m pretending to be your girlfriend, doesn’t mean you can treat me like a girlfriend behind closed doors.”

Before I can ask her what she means by that, there’s another knock at the cabin door. Still in assistant mode, Piper starts to rise from the bed, but I cut my hand through the air, motioning for her to sit down. I need to look like a boyfriend, not a boss, and that means answering the door.

“Hello?” I ask, tentatively opening the door, feeling like I’m playing a game of roulette with my past. Who knows what ghost of childhood stands behind door number one?

Luckily, it’s just Fallon.

“Hi, Tate! Hi, Piper! On behalf of the staff here at Go Jump in the Lake, aka your family, you’re officially invited to our ‘Couples Cruise!’” Fallon stares, waiting for a response from either of us. I look to Piper, who is just as confused as I am, and then back to my excitable baby sister, who visibly deflates at my own lack of enthusiasm. “Not that you would know because you’re never here, but it’s a thing the resort does every Friday night. We take couples who want to go out on the lake on the pontoon that is also lovingly known as the party barge.”

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