Page 38 of Just One Summer with the Grumpy

He hesitated. “I didn’t mean for this entire conversation to center around my childhood.”

“You’re ready to talk, and I—I’m not. But I can listen. There’s nowhere else in the world I would rather be than with you, here, right now. Please continue.”

He paused before seeing my sincerity. Finally he heaved a big sigh. “There isn’t much more to tell. Standing right here, at this barrel, he said I was a disappointment and would never succeed on my own. When I told him my idea of success was different from his, he laughed. Eventually, though, I did fly back to New York with him. Took him to doctors’ appointments, and even the office when he felt well enough. Called for at-home care when he didn’t. I still wasn’t interested in his work, and I think he knew that. But Iwasinterested in serving him until the end. Not because I wanted his inheritance, but because it was the right thing to do. It’s what my mom would have wanted.” Chase scowled. “I didn’t realize he’d put me in his will after all until six days after his death. When his attorney told me, I only felt disappointment.”

I stared at him. “Why?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps because I wanted nothing to do with his line of work, yet here I was, suddenly a major shareholder. He bought struggling companies at rock-bottom prices, turned them around, and sold them at a huge profit. He also bought land and buildings in estate sales or bankruptcy deals and flipped them for top dollar. He took advantage of those most in need, or at least that was how I chose to see it. I immediately sold his shares and decided to put the rest where it was most needed, but couldn’t determine where that would be. I returned to this island to think it through in the one place I felt most at home, only to find a large real estate firm circling the smaller resort company like vultures. They wanted to seize the resort and build at least twelve more high-rise buildings. The new Cancun, they kept saying.”

“So you swooped in and saved the island in its natural state.”

He nodded. “I’ve been to Cancun. It’s beautiful, but some tourists seem so entitled. Those ones care little for those who already live there or the generations to come. That was the last thing I wanted for the island that helped me find myself.”

It all made sense. “But what about the events company?”

Chase sighed. “If it weren’t for the revenue for the islanders, I would sell it in a second. The whole operation has done worse and worse every year. Last summer we went from bleak to dire. The board gave me one last summer to show this can still work. I thought these two high-revenue weddings might do it, but with only one going through…it’ll be close. Very close.”

Gulp.“I see. And if you have to sell?”

His jaw clenched. “I’ve already donated the island to its own people and I won’t take it back. The events company can be sold, but I’ll owe a substantial amount of money on our contracts and the building. The accountants say I’ll never recover financially if that happens.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but I had to ask. “And the resort?”

Chase leveled his gaze at me. “The real estate firm bent on turning the entire island into New Cancun? They’ve staked their claim, and now they’re waiting me out. The owner, in particular, dislikes me and can’t wait to destroy everything I’ve built.” He exhaled deeply. “That man is Veronica’s dad.”

EIGHTEEN

We spentthe rest of the afternoon together, walking around town and discussing his favorite memories of the island. He didn’t want to discuss Veronica and her father, but at least I’d managed to pry from him the fact that Veronica’s father hadn’t approved of her dating Chase in the first place.

The whole thing sounded like one huge mess. And I’d thought my relationship with Ty was complicated.

All too soon, Chase dropped me off near my bungalow, and I closed the door behind me, leaning against it like a swooning TV heroine.

Wow.

It was the only word I could think of to describe the day. First the volleyball incident, which seemed like a blur, followed by the very real and poignant experience of Chase carrying me to the resort medical center. Then the trip to town, which I recalled in sharp detail, our taco lunch, and his uncle story. So intimate. So…just the two of us.

I’d been given a glimpse into Chase that nobody else got to see, and that kind of trust felt both incredible and awful at the same time. Why had I been so free with him today, as if we were friends? We werenotfriends. We couldn’t be friends, not when I planned to interfere with the wedding that had become his last hope.

I knew exactly how betrayal felt, yet I planned to betray Chase. Between my mom’s behavior the day of my dad’s surgery and the night Ty had dumped me, I understand that gut-wrenching, heart-slicing feeling of being hurt by someone I trusted. Could I do that to Chase when he’d entrusted me with everything that mattered to him? Especially when he had so few people in his life right now?

I tried to see the world from his perspective. Dead parents. Dead uncle who’d left him more money than he knew what to do with. Only one thing that meant anything to him and that would fail the moment I stole Ty away.

When I entered my room, I halted in my tracks. A box wrapped in brown paper and tied with a sophisticated black ribbon sat on my bed.

I jumped onto the mattress, folded my legs under me, and hefted the box into my lap with a grunt. Heavy. Beneath the bow sat an envelope. I tore it open and held my breath as I read the words in neat handwriting.

Daphne,

Here are some of my favorites. I don’t know if these communicate the depth of the human experience, but they did serve to fill some of the admittedly many holes in my soul. I look forward to discussing them with you.

Yours,

Chase

Not Mr. Everett. Not Ms. Porter.

Daphne and Chase.

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