Page 92 of The Bourbon Bet
I tug roughly on my ponytail. “Evelyn was devastated to tell me. Their lenders have put restrictions on any new investments as part of their refinancing. The timing couldn’t be worse.”
“God, that’s awful,” Paige whispers, her eyes filled with concern.
My voice breaks. “Both Abigail and Evelyn offered their personal money, but I can’t take it. Evelyn is expecting her first child, and she works for her family’s business, so she’s caught in that retail apocalypse. And Abigail is opening her second flower shop and planning her wedding.”
I refuse to drag them down with me when they’ve got their own families and dreams to protect. I’d rather lose everything than be the reason my pregnant friend has to cut corners or Abigail has to abandon her expansion.
Swiping away my tears, I look at Paige. “I even humiliated myself at the bank this morning. Went in person to the loan officer who helped me with my initial startup loan, since he wouldn’t return any of my calls. I brought five years of projections, customer testimonials, everything. But he wouldn’t even look me in the eye.” I laugh bitterly. “Just slid a business card across the desk for a company that specializes in ‘retail liquidation services’ and suggested I call them before my inventory depreciates further.”
The silence stretches between us as the reality sinks in. Each denial strips away another layer of possibility until the brutal truth becomes clear: all my scrambling for loans and new locations is just delaying the inevitable choice. Keep my store bybetraying Sebastian, or lose everything to protect him. The comfortable middle path I’ve been desperately searching for is vanishing with every rejection.
“Everything I’m losing keeps flashing through my mind like a cruel slideshow,” I sob. “Not merely books and shelves, but everything they represent. The weekly storytime where that shy little girl finally found her voice. The teen book club that gave those awkward high schoolers somewhere to belong on Friday nights.”
“Rosalia…” Paige opens her arms and I fall into them, crying harder.
“All these lives touched, all these connections made, will vanish because I couldn’t find a way to keep the lights on. And all my plans for expanding our community outreach, like the adult literacy program I’ve been developing and the author series for local writers, will never even get off the ground.”
Thorne’s bargain hangs over me like a guillotine blade: betray Sebastian or lose everything. The savage calculation of it claws at my insides. I found the one person who has made me feel like myself again for the first time in years, and his brother has turned him into either my destruction or my salvation. What kind of choice is that?
I suck in deep breaths through my mouth and let them out through my nose. I count to twenty, then leash in most of my wild emotions. I step away from Paige, wiping my knuckles along my eyelids, I ask, “Do I have raccoon tracks and boogers?”
Paige reaches behind her, sets a box of tissues on her lap, and removes one. “When did you get those?” I choke-laugh.
“Noah handed them to me from under your counter before we headed back here.” She wipes my cheeks and under my bottom lashes. “Your eyes are a little red, but no sad snot.”
I steady myself. “Thanks for letting me get that out. I feel better.”
“What are you going to do?”
Everything within me droops. I grip the railing and force myself to stand straight. “I’m going inside to see if my customers need any help. Then, after closing, I’m going to have another good cry while I decide my last option—Thorne’s deal.” I push open the back door and step inside the storage room.
Paige follows, her footsteps quick behind me.
“Hey,” she says, catching my arm gently before we reach the main floor. Her voice drops lower, more serious than I’ve heard it in weeks. “I could take out a loan to help—”
“No,” I shake my head violently.
Before she can argue, Noah appears around a bookshelf and nearly runs us over in his hurry. His eyes are wide, his skin paler than usual. “Is everything okay?” Paige asks.
He looks at me. “So, after the balloon race, when I asked you out to dinner—”
“Oh, did you now?” Paige’s tone is full of amusement.
Ignoring her, Noah continues, “And you told me you’d just started seeing someone…”
I nod.
“Is it, by chance, Sebastian Blackstone?”
My heart skips. “Yes. Why are you asking?”
His eyes manage to widen further. “He’sthe man you’re dating.” He swivels to Paige. “And why didn’t you mention it?”
She shrugs and laughs. “Why would I? It’s not like you told me your plans to ask out my bestie.”
“Well, it wasn’t my plan when I drove here for a visit. But, look at her.” He points in my direction. “She’s hot. And fun to talk with. And—”
“And lives in Kentucky,” Paige retorts.
