Page 28 of Lose You to Find Me

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My feet dragas I walk along Main Street after a horrible night’s sleep from bad cramping and intrusive thoughts. I pointlessly waited for a text from Caleb only to be disappointed. It wasn’t until after midnight when I gave up and went to bed, only to toss and turn, hoping anytime I flipped my phone over there’d be a text waiting for me.

Pathetic, I chide myself. I’ve never lost sleep over whether a guy texted me before.

Especially not one who obviously has the right to move on with his life after I pushed him to do so.

I glance at my watch and wince when I realize I’m a few minutes late meeting my dad. He’s always been a stickler for punctuality, not that I blame him. Ever since he got his real estate license a few years ago, he’s built a name for himself and the agency he works through in the tricounty area. It’s kept him on the go more times than not, which means embracing whatever time I do get with him.

“Sorry,” I say as soon as I slide into our usual booth at the diner. It’s our favorite place to meet up, and our orders never change. Burgers, fries, and chocolate milkshakes with extra whipped cream. Dad always takes the cherry from mine because I didn’t like them as a kid. I haven’t told him that’s changed over the years because I like our routine.

“Are you all right?” he asks, one of his dark eyebrows arching up as I peel my cardigan off and put it over my purse beside me.

For a second, I wonder if he knows just how much pain I’m in. I was tempted to cancel on him today to take some Motrin and lie down with a heating pad on my stomach, but I knew Dad would be hurt if I didn’t come. “Yeah, why?”

“You’re five minutes late,” he says. “Just thought something might have popped up. You look a little…”

I groan internally, already knowing how rough I look. The medicine I took barely kicked in before I told Mom I was leaving. “No woman wants to hear that she looks anything other than lovely, Dad. I’m having an off day, that’s all. We’re allowed to have them once in a while.”

Thankfully, he doesn’t press or lecture me on timeliness and changes the topic. “Okay, princess. I meant no harm.”

I simply nod once, moving pieces of my frizzy burgundy hair behind my ear.

“Some good news,” my dad says. “I might have a buyer for that Lakeview home over in Decatur.”

I smile, knowing that property was causing him a lot of stress over the past few months. “That’s the million-dollar home that was renovated last year, right?”

Pride takes over his expression, brightening the greenish-blue eyes I wish I’d gotten from him instead of my brown ones from Mom. “It is. There were a few people interested but only one of them who wasn’t offering too far under the asking price or for ridiculous stipulations in the contract.”

“I’m glad,” I tell him, hoping that’ll ease some of his worries. He’s got enough going on trying to balance meetings with Mom and the lawyers; he doesn’t need other things weighing him down. “Do you think the deal will go through then? I know your boss wasn’t sure the price tag was going to work in the current market.”

He rolls his eyes, grabbing one of the full water glasses and pulling it toward him. “That’s because she didn’t see the vision like I did. It’s all about how you sell it.” There’s a pause before he scratches at his clean-shaven chin. “Speaking of selling, I wanted to run something by you.”

I lean back with caution. “Okay…”

“The summer cabin is in a great vacation area, and your mother has been debating putting it up for sale.”

Sitting up straighter with surprise, I shake my head. “You know that’s never going to happen, right? Even though it’s in Mom’s name, Tiffany would put up too much of a fight. There are a lot of memories in that cabin.”

Maybe that’s selfish of me to say, considering I’ve had my fair share of memories there too, but I couldn’t imagine my one place to escape going away.

He folds his hands together on the table and leans forward. “I know that. Your mom and I have spoken about how the money we could get for it could help you with college. You’re in debt because of the loans you took out, and neither she nor I want to see you drown in them. I can get the cabin on the market and get a great price for it. It doesn’t make sense to have it go to waste or get ruined by the people your aunt rents it out to during the offseason. And you’re going to be busy with graduate school and earning your certification, so it isn’t like you’ll be able to visit as much. Keeping it up, maintaining it, will be more money than it’s worth.”

Rubbing my hands down my thighs, I shake my head. “Mom and Tiffany love that cabin.Ilove that place. They swore it’d stay in the family after Grandma Maud died because she loved it too. I appreciate you guys wanting to help me, but you don’t need to. I can manage my loans. I’m responsible.”

“I know you are,” he replies. “This isn’t a question of whether you’re responsible.”

My shoulders drop. “Then what is this about? Why do you want to sell it now? Does this have to do with the divorce?”

He glances out the window for a moment before sighing once. “It’s not about the divorce. I’m not after the money. In fact, I won’t get a single cent of this sale. The whole point of this is to helpyou. I spoke to your mother last night, and—”

I stare at him. “You talked to Mom?”

She was on the phone for a while last night, but she told me it was Aunt Tiffany on the other end of the phone. I didn’t think much about it because she and her sister always gossip whenever they can.

He finally says, “Believe it or not, I still want to make her happy. And what would make her happy is showing you how much she loves you by doing this. She’s proud of you, Raine. You’ve been so smart with every choice you make in your life, so she wants to make sure you’re taken care of.”

Smart.My mother always calls me that, but she never means it academically. I do just fine, getting mostly As for years in school. Iamintelligent. But no. She keeps rubbing my breakup in my face by trying to make me think it was the best decision I’ve made. “I can take care of myself, you know. I’ve been doing it for a while. I’d rather not be the reason there’s a rift between Mom and her sister. They’re close, but this could make things complicated. And she needs somebody in her life right now, especially after—”

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