Page 82 of The Grumpy Side of Paradise

“Thegift?”

My eyes dart up at the sarcasm in his tone. “Yes, the gift. The gift of life. Your restaurant will have customers, you’ll have houses to frame, Seb and Bear will have houses to wire and plumb. Paradise won’t die.” Words rush out of my mouth, but not fast enough to stop the coming storm. I try one more reason. “And I get to stay longer than a few months.”

It works. Adam breathes deeply, making a sound like heavy wind, but the threatening storm quiets. The air between us is still heavy and cold, and I stay motionless, wondering if the danger is over of if I’m about to be pummeled by a blizzard.

“I’m guessing Zach already knows. He’s been part of it from the beginning?” Adam’s voice is resigned, which might be worse than angry.

All I can do is nod.

“I still don’t understand how the pictures of me helped make this—” he shakes his head and lets out a long breath. “—thing, happen. Or why you think I would want to help you. I’ve got a petition ready to go that will keep Georgia and Zach and every other developer from doing whatever they want to Paradise.”

Something cold settles at the bottom of my stomach. I should have taken Seb more seriously when he told me about the petition, but I’m not going to take any blame for what I posted. “You told me I could put them on Instagram. You said I could use them. My posts convinced the production company to go forward with Georgia’s idea.”

“Why would they care about pictures of me on your Instagram? Why do they care what a few hundred people think about me? Or even a thousand?” There’s no anger in his words, just confusion.

I blink, realizing the huge mistake I’ve made. If I could run, I would, but there’s no escaping what I’ve done. I have to tell him. “Because it’s not a couple hundred people. I have twenty thousand followers. More since Georgia reposted the first reel I made with you in it.”

“Twenty thousand?” Adam’s face travels from white to red in a matter of seconds. “I never said you could do that.”

“Yes, you did.” I enunciate each word carefully.

His shoulders rise and fall with his breath. His fists open and close. “Fine, but you didn’t tell me it was more than a personal account.”

“I tried to show you.” I desperately dodge his accusations. “Youtold me you didn’t care. You didn’t want to see photos of yourself.” He can be mad, but he’s not going to gaslight me.

His jaw twists like he’s looking for a way to put the blame back on me instead of taking it himself. He lands on something and shoots me an angry look. “I never said Georgia could post them. I wouldn’t have let her. Maybe I didn’t know about your following, but I know how big she is, and she knows I wouldn’t want that kind of publicity.”

The pain is back. He’s not just angry, he’s hurt all over again. Betrayed by the people who’ve already done it once, but now I’m to blame too.

“I’m sorry, Adam. I should have told you.” I reach for the hand he still has on the table, but he pulls it away. I push back the lump in my throat and lower my hand to my lap. “If it makes any difference, I told her not to repost any more of mine with you in them until I asked you first.”

“Did she listen to you?”

I nod.

“You never asked me. You knew I’d say no, didn’t you?” The question is sharp, bristling with thorns. There’s no way to grab it without drawing blood.

I take a deep breath and answer as honestly as I can. “I don’t know. Maybe. But you’d already said yes to me. In hindsight, I should have realized you didn’t know what you were saying yes to, but I never set out to trick you. I never meant to hurt you.”

“But you did.”

Before he can say more, a server comes to our table to take our order. Adam glances from her to the still stacked menus, untouched since we sat down. He pushes them across the table and stands. “We’ve got to get through the canyon before the snow gets any worse. Sorry.”

“Oh. Okay.” The server tucks away her order pad and hurriedly scoops up the menus. “Drive safe.”

Seconds pass before I’ve fully processed what’s happened and can stand. I follow Adam out of the restaurant to his truck. A light dusting of white covers the windshield, but the snow is coming down heavier now. It would be easy to tell myself that’s the real reason we were leaving.

But when Adam holds the truck door open and doesn’t help me up to my seat, I can’t fool myself. There’s one thing that’s brought our growing relationship to an abrupt halt.

Me. That’s it. This is my fault, and no amount of smiling can undo the hurt I’ve caused.

Chapter 38

Adam

Hours of silence stretch into a lifetime when you think you might be falling in love with someone. The increasing snowfall makes our journey back to Paradise long and slow, but that’s the easy part of our drive. The hardest part is knowing Evie betrayed me and still wanting her.

The last time I felt this uncomfortable was when I was standing at the altar waiting for Dakota. The chapel doors opened, the music started, but instead of Dakota marching slowly down the aisle, Georgia appeared.

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