Page 47 of Mine For The Winter

It was the one thing they owned. The thing they could rely on.

She was going to be sick.

And then another thought came over her. One that curled around her brain until she could think of nothing else. Slowly, she removed her hand from her mouth.

“If you don’t own this place, then who does?”

Her dad shifted his feet and winced because he’d obviously forgotten his knee hated sudden movements.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said gruffly, not meeting her eyes.” Just leave it, Kel.”

She hated the way tears stung at her eyes. She rarely cried. She’d learned from experience that tears did nothing but made you look weak. And yet here she was, about to cry over a stupid building, because it was the one constant in her life.

She’d grown up here. Come here after school every day for years and sat in her dad’s office while he served the customers upfront.

Even worse than that, she’d fought to keep it open. Believing it was the one thing they had.

And it wasn’t. She’d worked so hard and given up so much and it wasn’t theirs.

“Who owns it?” she said again, her voice lower. Her stomach was twisting like two hands were holding it tight. Wringing it out until she had nothing left.

“I had no choice. Believe me, honey, I tried everything I could. The bank wouldn’t listen to my pleas. Back then Winterville was failing, you remember that, right? There was no money left anywhere.”

He still wasn’t telling her. Which meant it was bad. Lifting her chin she looked him in the eye, her brows raised because she wasn’t letting this one go. She was as stubborn as him. She always had been. He used to tease her about it.

He didn’t look like he was teasing any more.

Folding her arms across her chest she looked at him and he sighed loudly.

“You’re not going to like this,” he warned her.

“Of course I’m not.” That’s why he hadn’t told her. He avoided sharing bad news like the plague.

He took a deep breath, like he was about to plunge under water, and finally looked her in the eye. “Kris bought it,” he said, his voice low.

It felt like a cold gust of wind had washed over her. Her skin prickled, her stomach turned over again. “What?”

Her dad’s brows furrowed. “He must have heard through the grapevine. Maybe Dolores told him, I don’t know. North had tried to help but he had all his money invested in the farm, so that was no good.”

“Kris Winter owns this place?” Her ears were ringing.

“Until I pay the loan back, yes.”

“And when do you pay the loan back?” she asked, her voice tight.

Her dad paled. She’d never seen him look so old. So gaunt. And she had to remember his pain, too. She shouldn’t put him through an interrogation like this.

And yet she had to know it all. So many questions were rushing through her brain.

He shook his head, looking defeated. “I can’t pay it back. We never make enough money.”

“Have you paid back anything at all?” she asked, her voice low. She needed to know how bad it was. If she didn’t know that how could she solve the problem? And yeah, she might be kidding herself but she had to do something.

Kris Winter couldn’t own this tavern. Her tavern. He just couldn’t.

He slowly shook his head.

“How can that be? Loans have to be repaid. You agree to a repayment schedule, otherwise the interest kills you.”

---