Page 67 of Saving it with My Best Friend's Brother

“Someone in your mom’s family,” Taylor said, bouncing a fussy Chad whose small sounds echoed in the dusty space. “Working with Crystal Ridge?”

“Michael already admitted he was there that night,” Van pointed out, his arm protective around Taylor.

“But he was just a kid,” Amelia protested, though doubt crept into her voice. “He wouldn’t—”

Claire’s arrival cut her off, her boots leaving prints in the dust as she hurried in. “Sorry to interrupt, but Wheeler’s lawyer just filed an emergency injunction. They’re shutting down the resort. Today.”

“What?” Amelia straightened her mother’s strength showing in her spine. “They can’t—”

“They can.” Claire handed her the paperwork, its official seal gleaming dully. “They’re citing safety violations that were reported by... by your father.”

The silence was deafening, broken only by Chad’s soft whimpers.

“No,” Amelia shook her head, paper crinkling in her grip. “Dad wouldn’t...”

“Call Agent Blake,” I said to Claire. “Now.”

But before she could, all our phones chimed simultaneously. A group text from an unknown number cut through the mountain quiet:

Some betrayals run in the family. Arthur Horton made a deal fifteen years ago—his silence for his children’s safety. Ask him about the real estate commission. Ask him about Richard Miller’s brakes.

Time to decide, princess. Sign over Pine Haven, or learn how deep family loyalty really goes.

PS - Check your father’s hospital security footage from last night. Particularly his midnight visitor.

Attached was a single photo: Arthur Horton shaking hands with Crystal Ridge’s CEO, time-stamped four hours ago. The image was clear despite the hospital’s dim lighting, no denying the truth it revealed.

“Dad...” Amelia’s voice broke, the sound echoing off the wooden walls that had witnessed generations of joy and betrayal.

I pulled her close as Taylor gasped, feeling her tremble against me. The scent of her shampoo mixed with mountain air and old memories.

“Guys?” Van’s voice was urgent, Chad now fully awake and crying. “The resort’s power just went out.”

We watched through the lodge’s grimy windows as Pine Haven went dark, section by section, like hope being extinguished. The afternoon shadows seemed to deepen with each failing light.

The last text came as darkness crept across the valley, our phones’ screens casting an eerie glow in the dimness:

Some secrets are worth killing for. Just ask your mothers.

The message hung in the dusty air of the old lodge, where my father had once taught me about trust, where family bonds had once seemed unbreakable. Now, surrounded by those I loved most, I felt the weight of our mothers’ secrets and the price of truth settling around us like fresh snow—beautiful, dangerous, and impossible to ignore.

Chapter Seventeen

Amelia

Eerie shadows danced across Pine Haven’s lobby as I paced, each click of my heels against the marble floor echoing generations of footsteps before mine. Through century-old pine walls, lawyers’ voices from the conference room blurred with the distant hum of backup power, a white noise that set my teeth on edge.

“Sit.” Taylor’s voice carried the same gentle firmness she used with injured athletes. “Your neck is screaming tension.”

“I’m fine.” The lie tasted as bitter as the emergency supply coffee cooling on my desk.

“You’re not.” Her therapist’s hands found my arm, then the knots twisting my muscles. “Your trapezius feels like granite. When did you last sleep?”

Days blurred together since Dad’s midnight meeting with Crystal Ridge. Since security footage shattered everything I thought I knew about family loyalty. In the corner, the powerless grandfather clock stood silent, another witness to secrets too heavy to bear.

“That’s what I thought.” Taylor guided me to a chair, her fingers finding pressure points that made me wince. The lavender scent of her hand cream stirred memories of easier days when friendship came without the weight of family secrets. “Deep breath.”

“I don’t have time—”

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