Page 79 of The Candlemaker

“But I know you already knew that,” I added at the end. So why was she asking me? Because I was here for dinner? Because their grandmother kept looking at me as though she knew something I didn’t?

“And what will you do when that arrangement ends and you decide who gets the inn?”

“What do you mean?” I treaded cautiously.

“Will you leave? Go back to Boston?” she pressed insistently.

My jaw went slack. I hadn’t gotten that far yet. Of course, that had been my plan—should still be my plan. But last night…Frankie…

“Don’t do what I did, Chandler. Don’t be too vulnerable.”

“Yes.” I cleared my throat and sank my chin into a firm nod. “Of course.”

Mom’s words earlier still gripped me—they hung over me like a kind of phantom I couldn’t fully make out. The only thing I could think was she meant she was too vulnerable when she’d fallen for my father, and now she was warning me not to do the same.

Frankie and I had an agreement: to treat pleasure like business, and like any other arrangement, we’d walk away when the terms were done. Her, back to her business and her family. And me, back to Boston and the deal that would finally destroy all that remained of my father’s legacy.

“Are you trying to pay me off? Get me to leave sooner?”

Tomorrow was the last day of the dare anyway, though I’d be lying if I hadn’t spent a good portion of the day thinking about how to extend my time here. But I couldn’t. I had to finish acquiring GC Holdings. I worked too long…too hard. I needed to be free of my father, and I couldn’t let anything get in the way.

Lou gave a weak smile and then let her eyes wander in her sister’s direction.“The thing about my sister, Mr. Collins, is that she puts on a good show.All my life, she’s protected me. Stood up for me. Fought for me.” She cleared the emotion from her voice. “Did you know we’ve never traded places? In twenty-seven years, we’ve never pretended to be each other. Until you.” Her gaze returned to mine. “My sister risked everything, including her identity, to help convince you to sell the inn.”

“So, you want to offer me more money instead?”

“I was going to rescind my offer altogether, but after everything Frankie has done…I can’t do that,” she surprised me by admitting. “I was always the vulnerable one, so Frankie decided to always be strong. Tough. But staying with you at the inn…it’s made her vulnerable in a way I’m not willing to risk,” she declared, her chin notched high, and for a second, I wondered if she did know.But how?“So, I’m offering you more money, Mr. Collins, because I’m not willing to jeopardize her heart.”

“You think her heart is at risk?” My own thudded unsteadily in my chest.

“I think I’m unwilling to find out.”Her expression turned guarded. “My sister deserves something more than business in her life, so if you aren’t going to stay, then I want you to go.”

I stiffened, the invisible gauntlet glittering on the ground between us. Damn, these Kinkade women knew how to get you right where they wanted you.

“Does she know?—”

“No.” Lou shook her head. “She’d kill me if she did.”

I grunted in agreement.

“I’ll consider your offer and let you know in the morning.” I tipped my head just as I felt her approach.

“What am I missing over here?” Frankie joined ourconversation with an easy smile—one she wouldn’t have if she knew what she was walking into.

And then I watched something incredible happen.

Countless times, I’d listened to Frankie paint a picture of her twin sister. Of her personality. Of her honest personality and generous spirit. All throughout dinner, I heard tales of when the two of them were younger, Frankie finding trouble and dragging Lou into it with her.

If there was one thing I knew for certain about Elouise Kinkade, it was that she wasn’t a liar.

Until now.

“Oh, nothing. I was just asking Chandler how he feels about the ghosts at the inn.” Lou lied like her life depended on it—like her sister’s heart depended on it.

And I realized everything I’d done, every time I’d let the magnetic draw to Frankie pull me closer, it was all a dangerous mistake. A dangerous vulnerability for the both of us.

I couldn’t offer more, and Lou was right; her sister deserved everything.

I smiled and blended into the lie like it was nothing, but the whole time, Frankie’s eyes were on me. She sensed the change. Like a flame flickering from an invisible breeze.

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