Page 51 of So Close

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Boys, you see the Starbucks over there? Take this money and get yourselves a snack, okay?” Brynn handed his nephews cash and turned back to him as soon as they took off. Her too-sharp eyes scraped over him, and there was nowhere to hide. “You like her!”

That, too, was spoken in the tone of an accusation, and there was no point in denying it. He didn’t even try.

She was obviously completely delighted with this turn of events. “Sothat’swhat the hot dog roast thing was all about. And you inviting me and the boys to watch the parade in front of Beachcrest.”

He shook his head. “No. This has nothing to do with that. Carl and I cut a deal—he’d let me sell Beachcrest if I spent a week letting her show me Beachcrest’s finer features—”

“And she turned out to be one of its finest!” Brynn burst out.

“You’re having way too much fun with this.”

“I just haven’t seen you enjoying yourself like you did last night since before Mom died,” she said.

That shut them both up for a minute—as any mention of their mother’s death did—but Brynn was irrepressible. “I couldn’t figure out why you were suddenly acting like a real human being. But it’s because you got roped into it. I knew there had to be money on the line somehow or other.”

That hurt—but since it was true enough—therewasmoney on the line—he didn’t dispute it.

“But that doesn’t explain why you seem to be genuinely having a good time.”

“No,” he said, fighting a smile. “It doesn’t.”

She stared at him for a long time. “Well,” she said. “Well, well, well.”

“Don’t get too excited. It can’t happen. Believe me. I spent most of last night trying to figure it out, and—she and I? It’s just not an option.”

“Because you’re going to tear down her inn.”

She said it matter of factly, but the voice that spoke up behind him was anything but matter of fact.

“He is, the ass! He’s—Trey, you’ve turned into someone I don’t even know.”

He turned to find Carl there, a little hunch-shouldered—the surgery scars were still bothering him—but otherwise more or less himself. For better or for worse…

“I didn’t teach you to do business the way you’re doing it now. Fighting dirty with the people you care about. Selling to the highest bidder even if there’s someone else who needs it more—”

“Grandpa, you just got out of the hospital,” Brynn said. “This isn’t the time or the place—”

“I do business exactly the way you taught me to,” Trey said stiffly.

“Trey, walk away,” Brynn said.

“Bullshit,” Carl said. “I taught you that when being a good human conflicted with being a good businessperson, you should always be a good human.”

“What you forgot,” Trey said coldly, “is that when other people are depending on you, being a good businessperson is the best way to be a good human.”

Carl pinned him with eyes that despite being bloodshot and a little rheumy, were still a piercing gray. His mother’s eyes, and his own. “You think I should have helped your parents out. You think if I hadn’t thrown good money after bad so many times, I could have kept your mother from working herself to—so hard.”

Trey acknowledged the truth of that with a tight nod.

“Regardless of what you said the other day in my hospital room, Trey, I know I disappointed you. And if I have one regret in life, it’s that. You didn’t deserve to see another role model screw up on your watch. But you’re wrong about one thing. I did try to give your parents money. Your father wouldn’t take it. He was too proud and stubborn.”

He heard the whoosh of air leaving Brynn’s lungs, but he couldn’t breathe inorout.

“That was his worst crime, Trey. Not being foolish. Being stubborn. And even though I may not have been the businessman you wanted me to be, I think I can say Iwasthe man I wanted to be. If you tear down Beachcrest, will you be able to say the same?”

The truth of it hit him, then. He was going to tear down Auburn’s inn. Hewas. Because through all of this, he’d never wavered in that conviction. He’d agreed to their deal because it was good business for him to do so. He’d kept his word and followed through on his half of the bargain because that was what he did. He’d heard her out and seen what she’d had to show him. But he’d never intended to change his mind.

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