Page 69 of Falling For You

Whatever was going on, I was about to find out. But I had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t be good.

With one last glance at the lake, I turned around and walked across the street to my car. I said I wanted answers, and I was about to get them, but my heart washeavy with dread.

Chapter Eighteen

Violet

I stood at our lodge’s entrance. My fingers clenched tightly around the porch railing as I waited for Owen.

The evening sky was streaked with orange and pink, casting warm shadows over Buttercup Lake, but I couldn’t feel its usual calm.

My heart was a drum in my chest, beating a frantic rhythm of anticipation and dread.

My stomach twisted into knots.

I was a wreck.

I felt a flicker of hope when Owen asked to meet me here, but then reality set in.

Perhaps he had some explanation for why he had been so distant lately.

Maybe there was a reasonable answer for everything I’d heard around town.

But as I stood there, I couldn’t shake the growing unease in my chest.

I knew better.

Too many things stacked up today about Vern’s property. And obviously, he’d been scouting it a lot since he’d been here.

But the idea of it being developed into something that could change the entire landscape of our small town made me anxious.

And why wouldn’t Vern come to my parents first? I wanted to believe that whatever he was involved in would only bringgood to the town.

Between Jessie’s offhand comment at the hotel and Ellen and Carol’s quiet murmurs at the bakery, I knew Owen held the answers.

A truck rumbled up with the slow crunch of gravel under its tires.

I straightened and crossed my arms tightly over my chest as he parked.

All I knew was that I was desperate for the truth, no matter how painful it might be.

Owen stepped out of his truck, his face tense. His usual, easygoing demeanor wasnowhere to be found.

He looked like he had the first time I’d met him, where even getting him to crack a smile had been a challenge. Tension weaved through every feature on his face.

He approached me slowly.

For a brief moment, I saw a flicker of something in his eyes—guilt, maybe, or regret.

Regardless, it didn’t ease the tightness in my chest.

“Hey,” he said softly, stopping a few feet away.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but his silence hung in the air.

I stared at him.

“Owen, what’s going on? Why haven’t you answered any of my texts? And what is all this about the property next door?” My heart hammered.

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