Page 65 of When You Got a Good Thing (Misfit Inn 1)

That sounded like the kind of statement you made when you weren’t impressed with the end results but needed to find something positive to say, and it put Kennedy’s back up. “I’m not finished with it.”

“If you did this much in just a week, I’d love to see what you could do with more time.”

Kennedy squinted at Maggie, trying to decide if she was being punked. Or maybe she’d really fallen asleep, and she was still curled up in a chair at the hospital. “You would?”

“The design layouts for each room, the costs and time projections for getting each one ready for guests, the expected costs per guest with the anticipated revenue generated—that’s all very well done. The phased rollout and expansion options based on success rate is brilliant. And the website mock up…Kennedy, this is really amazing work.”

Amazing? Maggie The Wunderkin thought she’d done something amazing? Kennedy glanced out the window, searching the sky for flying pigs.

“Where did you learn to do all this?”

“On the job.” Kennedy jerked a shoulder. “Over the years, I’ve worked in pretty much every segment of the hospitality industry, learning anything anybody would teach me.”

Pru smiled at that. “You always were more of a hands-on learner.”

“There’s totally a market for this kind of thing,” Athena agreed. “People who want to get the hell out of the city and have a more homey experience than a luxury hotel. Your sketches and business plan totally capture that. Good job, sis.”

Praise. From Athena. Oh yeah, the devil was strapping on ice skates right about now.

“I ran the numbers myself, based on your projections,” Maggie continued. “We could be open by Memorial Day.”

Yep, she was definitely dreaming. “I’m sorry, it sounds like you actually want to do this.”

“It’s a totally viable plan with relatively minimal outlay to get started. The concept can be dialed up or down, depending on how the tourist sector develops in Eden’s Ridge, and it would ultimately be self-sustaining, which is more than I can say for any of the ideas we came up with. Why wouldn’t we want to do it?” Maggie asked.

“Because it’s my idea. Because I’m the uneducated screw up, who’s been off playing Peter Pan for a decade. Because you utterly lost your shit last night over what I’d already done.”

“Did you really?” Athena asked, interested. “I’ve never seen you lose your shit.”

Maggie scrubbed a hand over her face. “I’m sorry. You had no way of knowing, and I shouldn’t have taken that out on you. Being back here stirs up all kinds of memories for me. But that’s not really the point. Is that really what you think we—I—think of you?”

r /> “You said, and I quote, that I’ve been ‘drifting for a decade’. I’ve got no ambition, no training, no career, and you were worried I’d be more of a hindrance than a help.”

“I—” Maggie closed her mouth. They all knew she couldn’t deny it.

“I’m not sure any of us should be held accountable for the things we said right after Mom died,” Pru put in.

“This is not new. It’s not because Mom died. That just stripped off whatever filters we walk around with all the time. You’ve all been waiting for me to grow up since I left, and not a single one of you realized that I did. I grew up the moment I walked out that door. I had to because I was completely on my own, whether I was ready to be or not.” Her hands fisted as all that remembered fear and absolute isolation came flooding back. The dam holding back all of it simply burst, the words coming in a torrent. “And I wasn’t. I wasn’t ready. I was so fucking scared, and I had no one.” She was horrified to realize she was crying, but she was too damned tired to fight it back.

Suddenly she was in the middle of a tangle of arms as they all closed ranks around her.

“We had no idea.” Pru’s voice was choked with tears, too.

“We didn’t know,” Maggie said.

“I couldn’t—” Kennedy choked on another sob.

“I know you couldn’t tell us. I know.” Maggie stroked her hair. “And it shouldn’t have mattered. It should never have stopped us from seeing what you were going through. From taking more of an interest. I’m so damned sorry that our hurt got in the way of that. That we got caught up in all of my crap and didn’t see any of yours. I never meant to make you feel like a screw up or an outsider. You’ve turned into an amazing, well-rounded woman, with a lot to offer, and I should never have made you feel like you couldn’t contribute to the family.”

“You’re our sister, and we love you, no matter what. We should’ve made that clearer,” Pru said.

“You’re awesome,” Ari put in. “Obviously.”

Kennedy gave a watery laugh at that and buried her face in the teenager’s hair.

“Hellooooooo. I’m still over here, and I have something to say.” Athena’s voice interrupted the group hug.

Kennedy sucked in a few breaths until she got herself under control. “I’m listening.”

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