Page 79 of Eternal Hoptimist

“What happened? Parker hauled ass out of here looking like a kicked puppy. Bit of a one-eighty after finding you guys making out in the parking lot this morning.” Austin leaned against the desk next to me and rubbed slow circles between my shoulder blades.

Austin wouldn’t leave until he knew I was okay. I swallowed. “Rosie called. She’s selling the house and said Parker helped her with it.”

“With the sale?”

I nodded weakly, then shared the details Rosie had given me.

“Isn’t that what you asked him to do?”

That wasn’t what I’d expected him to say. I thought he would tell me it was shitty, and they should’ve told me what was going on weeks ago. “I asked him to save the house, not sell it!”

“You asked him tohelpRosie. If she wants to sell, isn’t supporting her wishes so she comes out on top the best way to help her? Or am I off base here?”

I puffed my cheeks and blew out a long breath. “You’re not wrong.”

“E, what are you upset about? Really?”

I flopped back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. “He’s known for who knows how long that she was planning to sell. Did he know before we went to Kansas? While I showered or talked to my sister, were they scheming? How many times did they talk on the phone when I was clueless back here in Dahlia Springs? Or did she change her mind after we visited and confided in him, not me? Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t he? Do they think I’m not strong enough to handle it?”

“Whoa, whoa.” He pulled me off the chair and into a hug. I let him comfort me. “It sounds like Rosie should be the one you’re upset with.”

I stiffened in his arms. “How can I? It’s her house to do with what she wants. I just don’t understand why she never said she was thinking about selling. I thought the house meant something to her.”

Austin pulled back and gripped my arms. “I don’t have much firsthand experience in this since my parents and I are in the tadpole stage of building our relationship, but I got a front seat to Caleb’s dad selling his childhood home.” He sat back against the desk. “Just because Caleb doesn’t have access to that house any longer doesn’t mean those memories are any less special. It doesn’t erase any of the wonderful things that happened in their home. Best of all, now his dad lives here, and he’s able to see his dad way more than he did before. It was hard at first because he didn’t understand why his dad no longer wanted to be in a space full of memories, but now he gets that it had become a museum of his dad’s old life. Trapped with memories and devoid of people since he lived there alone. Caleb isn’t upset any longer—he’s happier because his dad is here, and making new memories together is as important as the old ones.”

As I stared at him, a lump formed in my throat. I’d been so focused on my attachment to the place and my assumptions about what Rosie wanted that I’d never considered how difficult it must be to live in a house she no longer shared with her husband.

“I used to spend tons of time in their home. It was the only place I ever felt truly happy for years.” Away from my parents’ expectations and my grandfather’s judgment, Rosie and George always welcomed me.

“Are you really upset with Parker? Or is he your easiest target?”

I groaned. “I don’t know.”

“Yeah, you do, E.”

I groaned. “I know I’m overreacting, but he and Rosie intentionally kept this from me because they knew I would be upset. They didn’t trust that I could be a part of the team or the plan. It’s the same bullshit my parents and grandfather used to pull.”

“Did you give Rosie a reason to think you wanted to be a part of the team?”

I opened my mouth to insist that, obviously, I had, but the words didn’t come. Sympathy filled Austin’s eyes.Well, fuck.“Not really. As soon as she told me about that first letter she and all of her neighbors got, I immediately jumped to how we could stop the development.” I hung my head in shame. I didn’t give her the opportunity to tell me what she wanted because I hadn’t bothered to fuckingask. I’d done to her what I hated people doing to me.

“It sounds like you need to talk to Rosie.”

I nodded. “I need to apologize to her.”

“What about Parker?”

“What about him?” Confusion clouded my anger, diluting it.

“You made a deal with Parker. You pretended to be his boyfriend for a while to help him get a promotion, and he said he’d give you some ideas on how you could help Rosie, right?”

I nodded.

“Instead, Parker took time off work during a critically important time leading up to a major promotion to go to Kansas with you. He listened to what Rosie wanted and bent over backward to do what he could to make it happen. Parker did all that foryou,not Rosie. He’s not getting paid or getting anything out of it other than trying to help you and your family. I’d bet the brewery that his only stake in this is wanting to make you happy.”

My eyes burned with unshed tears. Thoughts were a jumbled mess in my head, but Austin’s words cut through all the bullshit.

“I mean, Jesus, he even figured out a way to save the land while getting her a shit-ton of money. He sounds like a fucking miracle worker.”

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