Page 46 of Sunrise

I send off that stuff to Brynn before I get to the speakeasy. This one will be a bit harder. Downstairs is a boutique owned by Holly, one of the town gossips. I give her the same spiel as the others, and she laughs.

"I'd do anything to stick it to the mayor. This building has so much history I don't know how they can do anything with it. You know it used to be a speakeasy?"

I play dumb, and she shows me a trapdoor in the storage room on the main floor that leads down to a small stone storage area. She says she can't store anything there because it floods and is too damp, but it's where they stored the alcohol back then.

She takes me upstairs and shows me a few hidden doors in her apartment, along with some hospital elements. As I take photos, she starts talking about different people in town, and I tune her out until I hear my ex's name.

"The juiciest gossip is one I'm sure you don't want to hear. You know Travis is back in town, right?" Holly says.

"Yes, I ran into him. Actually, I have to thank him. He was what pushed Kade to ask me out," I say, remembering our story.

Holly pauses for a moment, tucking that bit of info into her memory before continuing.

"Well, apparently, he isn't just home visiting his folks. He was fired! I guess he's being investigated by the SEC and everything. Can you believe it? His parents are good folks. How can such a bad seed come from them, I will never know. He's brave to show his face all over town. You know when the news broke of you and Kade, he started asking about you? I bet he's trying to see if he can get another chance." Holly nods.

I take the last of the photos I need, and we make our way downstairs.

"Thank you, Holly, for this. I had no idea it was a speakeasy. That is such cool history. You are very lucky to have snapped up this building," I tell her, stroking her ego.

"Don't I know it! I won't be letting it go to that rascally mayor, no matter how much he tries to offer. He lowballed me, you know, with his first bid. His second one wasn't much better. I haven't heard back since then, so maybe he's dropped it by now." Holly is thinking out loud as I make my way to the door and say my goodbyes.

I get in my car and close my eyes. Deep breath in and out. Don't think about Travis. Think of the town and how we need to get this information to the state. The town has to be more important right now.

I simply can't waste any more time on Travis right now.

Chapter 21

Kade

I've been tossing and turning all night. Something was off with Lin last night after she got back from town, but she pasted on a big smile and acted like everything was okay.

We got the paperwork filed, so now we just have to hope it's enough for the state to halt the mayor's attempts as they look into it all. Who knows what their historians will discover? I'm sure they are better at their jobs than we are.

Just before dawn, I decide to stop fighting it and head downstairs to make some coffee and take in the sunrise, but I don't expect to find Lin curled up under a blanket on the back porch with the same idea.

I sit down next to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders. She comes to me easily and rests her head on my shoulder with a sigh. I kiss the top of her head because it just feels natural, and I start slowly running my hand through her hair in a way that calmed me when my mom used to do it.

"What's on your mind, Goldie?" I say, barely above a whisper.

“One of the shops I had to stop at yesterday was Holly's. She makes gossiping a sport, and knows everything and is happy to tell anyone. So of course, the whole time I'm there, she is talking about this or that. I tuned most of it out, but then she starts talking about Travis. She tells me he's home not just to visit his parents but because he got fired and he's being investigated by the SEC," she says.

Shit, that means he's done something bad. A guy I went to school with got busted by the SEC for insider trading, and he's still in jail. I won't tell Lin that, though. I don't think that will help her right now.

"I didn't think much about it until last night. He wanted to talk on the beach. Did he want to tell me before I heard it in town? A part of me wonders if he's in big trouble and was looking for help. I don't know, but one thing I couldn't get over was that I just wasn't surprised. If a guy can break up with a girl at her parents' funeral, he's capable of many other things. I couldn't get a read on how the town feels about it all, and I'm torn whether I want them to support him or not."

"Maybe that's what Holly was trying to figure out. They’re on your side. You know that they have shown it. I think maybe she was wanting to see how you want them to react without flat out asking you."

"I feel horrible because I don't want to show him any support of any kind. I mean, I'm over him and our relationship. I'm just pissed at how he ended it. What kind of man does that? And how did I see any good in him those years we dated?"

"How long did you date?" I ask.

"Just over two years. We started dating our senior year of high school, and he was my date to the senior prom. He was that guy you didn't think would stick around after you slept with him at prom, but he did, and he treated me like gold. But when the plans were changed, then it was like a switch flipped. When he left town, I didn't even know he was into investing. I thought he was running a small hotel in Wilmington."

She tucks some hair behind her ear and rests her head on my chest. I don't think she even realizes she did it.

"Let's change the subject. Tell me about your childhood," she says.

"Well, here's something not many people know. I was adopted." I don't know why I admit it, but it feels right telling her.

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