“Look,” he began, “I know you were trying to help, but—”
She lifted her hand. “Just stop right there, Cade. You were right. I have gotten too involved in your life and your family, and I was wrong.” Her chest lifted and fell with a deep breath. “I’ve realized we’re not friends and never will be,” she said, her voice breaking. “I-I can accept that. In fact, it’s better that I do accept that.”
Her words pierced his heart. “Everleigh, wait. I didn’t mean—”
“From now on, let’s just go back to being business partners, okay?” Her dark eyes glittered in the porch lights. “You stay out of my life, and I’ll stay out of yours. Deal?”
He nodded despite his disappointment. “Deal.”
“Good night,” she whispered as she hurried past him into the house.
He stood on the porch alone and wiped his hands down his face. He couldn’t imagine not having her in his life, but she was right. They were better off on their own—and the sooner he got used to not having her in his life, the better.
And that truth left him gutted.
***
“So, Everleigh, you and I haven’t spoken in a while,” Quinn said Thursday morning, sitting across from Everleigh at the Roast Shack. “What’s new with you?”
Everleigh took a sip of her vanilla latte and debated how much to share. It wasn’t her place to tell Cade’s business about his long-lost brother, but she didn’t know how else to explain why she and Cade weren’t talking.
Quinn set her forearms on the table. “I can tell when you’re holding back, and I have to be back in the library in thirty minutes. Just go ahead and tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Fine.” Everleigh dropped back against her seat. “Cade’s been busy all week. We haven’t spoken since Saturday.”
Quinn nodded. “Roger told me Cade’s been helping him fix his little sister’s car. Melanie doesn’t have the money to take it to a shop, and since Roger’s sunroom company is slow right now, Cade’s been over there every day helping them rebuild whatever broke in the engine. It’s really nice of him.”
“Yeah. It is.” Everleigh began folding a napkin. “Our last guests left Saturday morning, and since we don’t have anyone booked for a couple of weeks, I haven’t seen Cade.” She tried to act as if not talking to him for five days wasn’t slowly breaking her apart. Then she smiled. “But that’s how it is with friendships and partnerships sometimes. Right?”
Quinn leaned forward again. “Everleigh, what’s going on?”
“It’s... complicated.” She continued folding the napkin over and over until it was a tiny square. Then she unfolded it and started over. “We sort of had an argument on Saturday, and we haven’t spoken since.”
“You and Cade?”
Everleigh nodded.
“What happened?”
Everleigh’s lips turned down. “I can’t tell you the details, except to say it was totally my fault.”
“Your fault?” Quinn asked. “I doubt that.”
“I interfered in a family issue he’s been dealing with. I was trying to help fix it, but I only made it worse.” She shook her head. “He got upset, and I told him it’s obvious we can’t be friends. And now that we don’t have anything going on with the inn, we have no reason to talk. But Ihavebeen staying busy focusing on trying to sell the place,” she chirped. “I renewed our ads on all of the websites and even updated the text a bit.”
Quinn seemed impressed. “That’s exciting. Have you gotten any bites?”
“Only developers. Even that first Realtor with the Porsche SUV called me again yesterday.” Everleigh rolled her eyes. “And she sent us a fruit basket! As if that would convince us to sell.”
“A fruit basket?”
“Yeah. You know, the ones that come with the chocolate-covered bananas?”
“Mmm.” Quinn grinned. “Those are delicious.”
“They are, but they aren’t going to do the trick. We’re not selling to someone who plans to knock down the inn.” She rested her elbow on the table and her chin on her palm. “And recruiters keep calling me too. I considered taking down the ads yesterday, going back to Texas to work, and letting Cade take over running the inn without me. But I still believe Alana was invested in our nonprofit, and I can’t give up that dream just yet. Not before Thanksgiving, and that’s a month away.”
Quinn was silent but took a loud sip of her Americano.