Page 13 of So Close

He sighed. “Yeah. I knew you’d say that. Here’s the thing, Auburn. I’m going to do it whether or not you condone it and with or without your help. It’s just a question of whether I have to make all the lawyer phone calls and have all the ugly conversations myself, or whether you’re in it with me. None of this would be happening if I hadn’t fucked up—”

“Don’t,” Auburn said quickly. “Carl, please don’t. We all make mistakes.”

He exhaled heavily. “I made a mistake with the rest of your life, Auburn.”

“I will figure out the rest of my life, Carl. You don’t have to do penance. And you don’t owe me anything. You’ve given me so much already.”

“It’s not just you, boss. I can’t hand Beachcrest over to be torn down. It’smyhome. And I can’t just let some butt-ugly condos get built there. It’ll be a blight on the whole beach.”

She sucked in a breath.

“See, you agree. If you won’t do it for me, Auburn, do it for Tierney Bay.”

She smiled at that. “Carl. You know I would doanythingfor you.”

“Then I’m telling him I refuse to sell Beachcrest to a developer. I’m selling it to you.”

She looked around her room—the popcorn walls, the distressed white furniture that had been so fashionable when Carl had last redone the rooms, the drapes that Sarah kept clean and ironed but that were starting to show wear.Thiswas where she belonged. Beachcrest was home.

And it was where Carl belonged, too, in his retirement. If Trey prevailed, Carl would lose not only his legacy but also hishome. If she fought for him, with him, the room he occupied now could be his as long as he wanted it.

She took a deep breath. “Carl—are you sure? This isn’t going to be an easy fight, and you’re supposed to be getting your strength back.”

“Sure as I’ve ever been of anything.”

“You know I don’t have the money. Yet.”

“Auburn Campbell, I’ve known you your whole life. You’ll find a way to get it.”

She wished she were as sure as he was, but his faith warmed her.

“He’s supposed to show up around two tomorrow. Why don’t you plan to come at two fifteen? That way I can have a few minutes to talk to him alone, but you can swoop in as my backup.”

She hesitated again. But he’d been more than clear. She’d given him every out. And—well, he wanted what she wanted.

“You got it, boss.”

“You’re the boss.”

She closed her eyes to hold back tears, ended the call, and turned back to Chiara.

“Ready to roll up your sleeves?” she asked her sister, who was watching her intently.

Chiara grinned. “Hell yes. Trey Xavier isn’t the only stubborn ass in Tierney Bay.”

6

“Seriously? You would do this to me? Your own grandson?” Trey had to work hard to hold his voice to a hospital room-appropriate volume.

Carl sat up straighter in the bed. “I’m notdoinganything to you. You and I are just two co-owners who disagree about next steps.”

“Bullshit. You’re keeping me from doing the smart thing with a piece of property that you forfeited your right to care about. When you threw good money after bad, Beachcrest became my responsibility.”

Carl took a deep breath. “I know when you had to come bail me out, you were very disappointed in me—”

Trey didn’t have time to listen to his grandfather’s pop psych crap. “No, I was just irritated to have to take time off work to solve your problems.”

His grandfather flinched. Trey knew he was a dick to fight with a seventy-one-year-old man consigned to a hospital bed. But this conversation had been a long time coming, and he couldn’t let Carl be snowed by a pretty girl who believed in magic.

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