Page 43 of Rumor Has It

Whether good or bad, Gracyn’s perfect at whatever she does. It’s hard living in her shadow.

“Do you not understand how this will reflect on me if Isaiah sues us? I’m the innkeeper!” Her tone of voice is harsh.

“Hey, um, are you Gracyn?” Barefoot, Isaiah enters the suite, greeting Rhiannon, whom he’s already met, by name.

He’s wearing new jeans and a fresh tee that binds at his biceps. Those arms. Seriously, I don’t simply like the way Isaiah’s muscles bunch and flex when he moves, I know how adored I feel when he wraps them around me.

My first thought when I realized Isaiah entered the room was “Good flippin’ gravy. Can Gracyn causing a scene get more embarrassing?”

But now I sort of want to slather myself all over him like I’m the gravy and he’s chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes.

Rhiannon is eating up every inch of him, and the entire situation. She’s neither jealous of me for having caught Isaiah’s attention, nor Gracyn for being Kingsbrier’s princess and the de facto head of our generation. But Rhiannon is a go-getter the way our older sister is. They’ve got more of Rose Kingsbrier’s boldness inside of them and my personality is easy going like Ross Cavanaugh.

Isaiah holds his palm out to my older sister. “I wanted to say thanks for putting me up on short notice. My assistant will contact you soon to make sure my bill is covered.”

Gracyn doesn’t shake his hand. She’s got Gran’s business sense, and she won’t agree to anything unless it is in writing.

“I just spoke to her.” My sister’s expression blanks and she glances at the hole above us.

“So it’s settled then? And the fall. We have to get that covered too,” he remarks, sure of himself.

My heart stops beating. “You’re suing us?”

“I’m what?” Isaiah steps back.

“Your assistant Vespa? She called to say that you were suing us over the fall.” Gracyn sounds ominous.

My stomach clenches worrying what I did means we’ll lose the ranch, the vineyard, and everything else.

“It was an accident. It was my fault. I got spooked by something up there when I was helping Cassidy,” Isaiah tells Gracyn.

“By what?” I ask, but he’s more interested in smoothing things over with my sister than answering my question.

“I called Vespa to hook me up with a doctor.”

“Why do you need a doctor?” Gracyn’s head whips around. “What does he need a doctor for, Cass? Because he was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.” It’s as if Gracyn’s reprimanding her son and daughter instead of two grown adults. She lays into me. “Do you know what the trust will say about a guest in the attic? About Isaiah getting hurt when I accepted their stipulation that the inn is closed at the holidays? Do you have any idea how much the insurance on the mansion costs? I have to fix this, Cassidy. Not you, the live-in cook.Me.I have to call the agent. I have to get the contractors in here on a tight timetable. We have one less room available until it’s fixed.”

“Ohmigod, overreact much, Gracyn?” Rhiannon comes to my defense. “If I rolled my eyes any harder, I’d wind up in next Thursday. Both Uncle Eric’s and Cadence’s numbers are in your phone. You don’t have to search for a construction company. Your daddy runs one. So stop making a bigger deal out of this than it is.”

I cross my arms. I’m in a similar mental state as Rhiannon… About the repairs, anyway.

“Mind your own business, Rhiannon. He’s threatening to sue,” Gracyn grits out.

“Wait!” Isaiah tries to diffuse our sibling tension. “I have a bruise on my back. All I want is to make sure it’s nothing to worry about later on when I’m on tour. As for a guest not being where he’s supposed to be,” Isaiah makes air quotes. “This trip was successful for me professionally. I’ve also been having a great time getting to know your family. So, I asked Cassidy if I could stay for the holidays. She’s great company. It’s not often I have a normal experience, which was my only ulterior motive when I offered to help haul down boxes of Christmas ornaments. Stepping off the plank was a dumb move. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing, and I didn’t call my assistant to tell her to put the screws to you. I don’t know what Vespa is even thinking because the last message I received from her was when I got out of the shower. It had two doctor’s names on it. I came in here to find out if Temple Cavanaugh is related to you.”

Chapter Seventeen

ISAIAH

Come to find out Dr. Temple D’Amico Cavanaugh is Rhiannon’s mother.

Thanks to my meddling assistant, what could have been a perfect opportunity to get my back examined this evening has become a conflict of interest.

I dial Vespa in front of the Cavanaugh sisters.

“Nobody is suing anyone,” I clearly state.

Although I can’t say it in mixed company, I don’t appreciate Vespa conniving to get me back on a plane to Tennessee. And for as conflicted as I am over my role in Kylie’s death, and as much as I miss the woman who was a constant in my life for so many years, I’m goddamn tired of feeling manipulated.

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