Page 2 of The Lighthouse Inn (Shattered Cove 4)

She smiled with pride. “Yes, I do.”

He nodded and grabbed the papers before walking towards the stairs. She waited until the click of his door closing sounded to let out the breath she’d been holding.

“Holy fucking shit.” She placed a shaky hand over her racing heart as if it would help to calm the panic.

She whipped out her phone and stepped into the large kitchen, dialing her big brother Bently’s number.

He picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Jas. You on your way?”

She swallowed hard before answering. Jasmine didn’t need her brother freaking out and showing up here to make things worse. Even she didn’t know what the hell was going on yet. “Uh, no. Actually, I need you to keep Zoey overnight.”

“Is everything okay?” The concern in his voice brought a rush of guilt crashing over her.

Not even close to okay.Of all the people in her life, Bently had been the one constant—the only person she could count on. She hated to lie, but she’d brought enough trouble to their family. No. She’d handle this on her own.

“I have everything under control, Bent. I just need you to do this and not ask me any questions. Okay? I’ll owe you one.” More like a million, but who was counting?

“Okay. Fine. Anything you need,” Bently said.

“Thank you. I’ll call before bed to say goodnight to her.”

“Sounds good.” Bently ended the call.

Jasmine opened her contacts. She needed to talk to someone about this. But her best friend, Remy, was married to Mikel, and she was shit at keeping secrets from him. The last thing Jasmine wanted was her two overprotective brothers jumping in to save her. Again. She’d caused them all enough pain. This was her doing and she would fix this. Somehow.

She scrolled through her contacts until Emma’s name popped up and hit call before she could back out. It rang and rang until her friend picked up.

“Jazzy! Hey, mama. I got a quick break from the studio. How are you?” Emma asked as background music filtered through the phone.

Jasmine covered her mouth with her hand, trying to quiet the sob that surprised even her.

“Jas? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Emma asked. The noise grew quieter, as if she’d moved away.

“He’s here,” she managed.

“Who’s there?”

“Zoey’s father. He’s staying at my inn.”

Emma was silent for a few beats. “Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

She couldn’t blame her friend for not knowing. There were several things Jasmine kept locked away in a vault of topics she wouldn’t talk about. Zoey’s biological father was one of them. She was too ashamed.

“I don’t know, honestly.” Jasmine wiped the tears from her eyes and walked out to the back deck. Salty sea air blew gently over her skin as waves crashed in the distance.

“Okay. Does he know about Zoey?”

“I don’t even think he remembers me.”

“Oh, sweetie.”

“I—I don’t know what to do.” Jasmine shook her head.

“I wish I could offer advice, but you have never said anything about this guy.”

Jasmine sighed. “I know. It’s a part of my past that I’d like to omit. I did a lot of fucked-up things, and I’d just rather forget the girl I used to be.”

“I get it . . . So, can you explain how you made a baby with him, but he somehow can’t recognize you?” Emma asked carefully.

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