“Becca, open up! I know you’re in there!”
My stomach drops. “How the hell does he know I’m here? I turned off location sharing.”
Mack checks her phone, grimacing. “Jared must’ve seen something on the Ring cam. I didn’t tell him to keep quiet, my bad.”
I take a long breath in, letting it out slowly. “It’s fine. This was coming.”
“Go out front. Take your time,” Mack says gently.
“And don’t hold back,” Nessa encourages. “If we can hear it from here, you won’t have to repeat a thing.”
I open the door. Sam stands there, jaw tight, eyes stormy.
“What the hell, Becca? One minute we’re at the party having a great time, the next you’re justgone? You didn’t even tell me you’d left?” he sputters.
Seriously?That’s his opening line?
“You’re worried abouthow it lookedto your family? Your business associates? Yourfavorite girls?” My voice is steady. Cold. “Not what actually happened?”
His expression flickers. He shifts, uneasy. “I’m sorry if you felt like I was ignoring you. You know how these parties go. I didn’t think it’d bother you.”
“That’s what you think this is about?” I step closer. “Try again.”
“Becca, come on …”
“No, Sam.Think.Is there anything you want to tell me?”
A pause. Too long.
“No,” he says.
“Alright then,” I snap. “Let’s check the cabin fund for fun. A random balance check to make sure nothing is amiss.”
His face drains of color. “Becca, I was going to talk to you this weekend?—”
“Let me guess, after the check cleared and it was too late to stop it?”
“I just needed more time to?—”
“To what? Lie to me? Secretly transfer over more money?”
His mouth opens, then shuts. Finally: “It’s not like that. Holly came to me a few weeks ago. She had this opportunity?—”
“Oh, I heard all about it. While you were laughing aboutwhat’s hers is mineand how I’d have ‘nowhere to go.’”
His face hardens. “That’s not what I meant?—”
“Then tell me what youdidmean, Sam. You emptied our savings behind my back. You used money we sacrificed for,bled for, and handed it over for your sister’s dream.”
“She deserves a chance.”
“She deserves a business plan.”
He flinches.
“Oh, she doesn’t have one?” I laugh, bitter. “Just a dream, a cute location, and Mandy. What could go wrong?”
“She’s been through so much, Becca. She needs support,” he insists.
