“Are you afraid he’ll hurt you?” Cal stiffensand moves closer to me, like he’s ready to create some kind of force field to protect me.
“Not physically. Just emotionally. Nothing I can’t handle, but avoidance is my preferred method when it comes to conflict.” I break into a smile, and he relaxes.
“I’d pretend I haven’t noticed, but you’re the only one here who’s any good at acting.” Cal returns my smile, then slides his hand down my forearm to squeeze my fingers. “You want to tell me your side?” He tips his head toward the house. He’s not asking about Brandon anymore. He’s asking about BIG.
My impulse is to say no, to protect myself, to protect him. But he squeezes my hand again. I look from his long fingers to his eyes and the tiny scar there.
Brandon was the last person I told my story to, and he used it to his own advantage. I shouldn’t trust Cal, but right now, I don’t have anyone else to trust. And he deserves to hear how I’ve hurt his family. I can’t keep that from him and expect him to trust me in return.
“Everything Cassidy said is fair. I don’t blame her for being angry. I’ve paid a high price for what I did, but I deserve everything I got.” I draw my gaze from his to the last bit of sun dipping behind the mountains.
“Or you might be too hard on yourself and didn’t deserve any of it.” Cal’s voice is gruff and impatient, and I wonder if he thinks he’s got to protect me from myself as well as everybody else.
That’s all the more reason to tell him the truth. He needs to know who I really am. I take a breath and slip my hand from his.
“I fell in love with Serenity Cove the first time I surfed here—back in mySurf City Highdays. Not just because of the great wave. I loved the town, too. I dreamt of buying the old inn and turning it into something small and environmentally friendly.A place where people could surf and enjoy what I’d fallen in love with. It seemed selfish not to share it.”
I pause and laugh softly at a sudden realization. “That’s how in my own head I was. I thought Serenity Cove was mine to share.”
“The same could be said of everyone who lives around here,” Cal says gently. “We all think it’s ours. The truth is it doesn’t belong to anybody.”
I laugh again—a short, scoffing thing. “Because of me, the whole town almost belonged to my dad. I told him about the inn. I only wanted the money he’d put in a trust for me. My idea was to buy the inn and fix it up. I wanted to keep everything small.”
I look at Cal, waiting for him to see the fatal flaw in my plan. The blaring warning I should have seen all along. Cal looks back at me, waiting. As oblivious as I was.
So, I lay the proof of my naivete all out for him. “Malcolm had bigger ideas, and I bought into them.”
“The eco resort?” Cal asks.
I nod. “Malcolm always said I was too much of a dreamer to do anything practical with my life. He proved his point when I believed he could—orwould—build anything that wasn’t entirely profit-driven.”
Cal lets out a softhmm,like he did when he was examining Jasmine. My problems will be a lot harder to fix than Jasmine’s. I’m a proper mess. If my therapist couldn’t sort me out, I doubt a vet can either.
“All that happened right around the time Kayla died. I wasn’t here,” he says finally. “Seems like you get painted as the villain, when it’s your dad who should be.”
I snort. “That was the genius of his plan. Make me the face of all the greenwashing he was orchestrating from the sidelines. When the truth came out, including that the resort would takewater away from local ranchers and families—like yours—who, in reality, were trying to do the least amount of harm, I was the one who took the heat.Iwas the chief investor in Burleigh Investment Group. Not Malcolm. At least on paper.”
Calhmm’sagain, and I brace myself for his diagnosis. But I’ve done enough self-examination to understand what’s wrong with me. Too trusting. Too naïve. Too eager to please.
When he looks at me, his eyes are too narrow slits of concern. “So, your dad kinda sucks is what you’re telling me.”
I let out a loud, improper laugh. “That’s usually my line when I’m talking about my dad—Malcolm. With my brother, anyway. I don’t talk about him with anyone else.”
I leave unsaid,not since Brandon…
“He’s definitely the villain in this story.” Cal’s lip tugs in a potential grin that threatens to let me off for ruining everything in Serenity Cove.
I’m not turning my guilt loose that easy. “He’s a bigger one than me, without a doubt. Problem is, that’s not how things were painted in the news stories he put out. And they weren’t wrong. I bought into his lie and his greenwashing and turned around and tried to sell it to everyone here. I have to take responsibility for that.”
“You’re not responsible for his lies.”
“But I should have recognized them for what they were. I should have known before I went to him for the money that he wouldn’t give it to me. I should have known he’d want a piece for himself. More than a piece…”
“So, you think you should’ve been able to predict the future?” Cal asks. “That’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself, Frankie. Your life’s not a TV script. You can’t go into every situation knowing what part you’re going to play. Not even with your own family.Especiallywith someone like your dad who’d use his own daughter the way he did you.”
I stare at Cal. I’ve never thought about what’s happened like that. Have I been expecting my life to be scripted? To turn out the wayIwant it to be written?
I let out a long breath. “I reckon I would rather have my life scripted—I’d prefer to be the one writing it, to be honest. I’d make it a romcom with a happy ending instead of the family drama it is.”
