Page 71 of (Un)Expected

“Don’t,” I snapped, sitting up suddenly. “I know this isn’t the same thing.”

“There’s a strong chance he’s why you refuse to let Cole in.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You should tell him.”

I pondered her words momentarily before shaking my head. “No. He doesn’t need to know. I don’t want to let all that shit taint the good thing we have going. Besides, everything is already toocomplicated; it feels like this would set us up for failure even quicker.”

“Who says it's going to fail?”

“What are the alternatives?” I sighed, hating that this was where my thoughts had gone. “He doesn’t even live here, Calla. He literally lives on the other side of the country. Even if this goes well, there’s an end date.”

“People move all the time.”

“It’s not that simple,” I answered quietly, brushing a tear from the corner of my eye. “He’s got a whole life out there. Adam is out there. I can’t ask him to give that up for me. Once the movie wraps, he’ll be on a plane, and I’ll be here, picking up the pieces. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do that again.” I dryly chuckled. “Then again, I’m also not strong enough to stop seeing him. That sounds even worse than the pain of losing him.”

Calla turned, shifting to stare at me. “First of all, don’t you dare question my best friend’s strength. She’s the toughest person I know.”

“C’mon, Calla, be serious.”

“I am,” she chuckled, whacking me with a pillow. “You came here with the clothes on your back. You started over from nothing and now, you’re a huge part of this community. You’re about to buy a fucking lodge, for fuck’s sake. Don’t sit there and tell me a man has the power to break you. If he leaves, it will hurt, but at least you’re opening yourself up again. After everything that happened, you let someone into your heart, even if it might end badly. That alone shows you have a strength that no one will ever be able to break.”

Touched by her words, I pulled her into a tight hug. No matter what drove me here, I couldn’t regret any of it, because it led me to this moment with friends who are more like family, and a home I truly loved.

“Just promise me one thing,” Calla said.

“Why do I feel like I don’t have a choice?”

“Because you don’t,” she grinned. “Cole did something really hard and told you the truth. All I’m asking is that you think aboutdoing the same. Promise me that you’ll consider telling him what happened in New York.”

I sat up, chewing on my lower lip. “And what if it changes everything?”

“Then you know he isn’t the one,” she said. “For what it’s worth, I have a good feeling that he’s not going anywhere.”

I mulled over her words, not able to say anything back. The optimist in me wanted nothing more than for Cole to accept all of me, but that girl had been burned too many times before. She’d begged too many people to believe her, only to have their doors shut in her face.

Just as I was about to admit as much to Calla, my phone rang in my pocket, and when I saw my bank’s number on the screen, my heart instantly kicked up a thousand notches. They said they’d call once they had made their final decision. They couldn’t be done yet, right? It hadn’t even been a week. Shit, that probably meant they were saying no, rejecting me for some archaic reason.

Calla glanced at the screen and then back at me. “What the hell are you doing? Answer it!”

With one last breath, I hit the screen, trying to keep my voice calm and even. “Hello, Mr. Abbott. How are you today?”

My heart thumped so loudly in my chest, I almost couldn’t make out his words. All I could do was nod along, trying to keep myself from screaming.

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Abbott,” I said at the end of the call. “Yes, we will speak soon.”

“And?” Calla asked slowly, closing her eyes as if to brace for disappointment.

“I…I got it,” I said, still not believing the words. “The bank…they, uh…they approved my loan. I can make an offer for the Fox Creek property.”

When I walkedinto the resort, the air didn’t feel as oppressive as it used to. Instead, there was a lightness surrounding me, as if my days behind this desk were numbered. I was replaying the conversation with the bank in my head, waiting for someone to pop out and say it was all an elaborate prank.

As soon as I finished freaking out with Calla, I hopped on the phone with Paula, hoping she could get the ball rolling on my offer. Once I had the finalized loan documents, we could send everything over to the owner’s agent. Hopefully, we would know if the seller accepted my offer in the next month or so.

I was still in complete disbelief that things were unfolding so quickly. Perhaps jumping into my own business was impulsive. Usually, I would have taken months, even years, to evaluate all my choices before deciding to move forward. Maybe it was because I had been stagnant for so long that I wasn’t willing to wait on this. I knew the risks, knew the business. All I had to do was jump. Even if I failed, at least I could say I tried.

When I settled behind my desk, I started to tick off my checklist, but it was almost impossible to focus. Even more so when the smell of cedar and leather filled my senses. Without even looking up, I knew it was Cole, used to the weight his gaze left on my skin.

When I finally glanced up at him, I smiled wide, and he arched a brow. “Do I even want to know why you’re looking at me like that?”

“Can’t I just be happy to see you?”

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