We hadn’t had enough years of all of us together. I desperately wished we’d had more. Even just a few, so Mom could’ve seen who we’d become and Dad could’ve faced this with her by his side.
Instead, time was slipping through my fingers, even the years I’d thought I had left with Dad now about to be tainted by this disease. I felt my heart starting to splinter and crack, but instead of leaning into it, I lifted my chin and wiped my eyes.
This wasn’t the time to fall apart. I had to stay focused. The shop was our life and our legacy, and crying wasn’t going to save it.
While I knew it wasn’t much by most people’s standards, it was ours, and I wasn’t giving up on it. Not yet and definitely not without a fight.
CHAPTER 27
THEO
Avery’s truck pulled into the motel parking lot while I was replacing a section of warped trim on the laundry-room door. I grinned and started setting down my tools to greet him, but it was like he didn’t even see me.
It took me all of five seconds to realize something was wrong. He emerged from the truck like a raging bull, not pausing to look around before he stalked to the front office. Avery always stopped to wave or to complain about the weather. He never stormed and he’d definitely never ignored me before.
Not even back before he’d first met me.
Quickly laying down my drill, I jogged after him, finding him alone in the reception area with both hands braced on the counter and his head hanging. Frieda wasn’t there or on the porch, which meant she was probably either arguing with a guest or out in town somewhere, terrorizing a council member or negotiating with the clerk at the grocery store.
Avery looked up when I shut the door behind me, and the moment his gaze met mine, I knew it was bad. While I might not have known the guy for years, I knew him pretty well at this point and he wasnothaving a good day.
“Hey,” I said cautiously. “Are you okay?”
“No,” he replied, his voice rough. He finally dropped his hands away from the counter and turned to face me. “Do you know where Frieda is?”
“I don’t, but what’s up? Maybe I can help.”
“You can’t.” He shook his head, but now that he was looking at me, I was shocked by what I saw. His features were drawn, his skin slightly gray, and his eyes weirdly wide and bright. “She might be able to, but not you.”
I lowered myself onto the arm of the chair beside the door and kicked my legs out ahead of me. “Yeah, you’re probably right. There’s not much she can’t do, especially in this town, but I can listen while you’re waiting for her.”
“Dad fucked up, Theo,” he said after blowing out a heavy breath and leaning back against the counter. “Badly.”
He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and shook his head. “He put all the money we had in the business into some scheme and now it’s gone. Fifty grand. Just… poof. Lost. Like black fucking magic.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, but it gets worse. If I can’t get it back, we’ll lose the shop.”
The more he talked, the colder I felt, and by the time he was done explaining their current situation, I’d already mentally moved onto solutions. This was bad, but it was fixable, and he’d been wrong. I actuallycouldhelp.
“I’m sorry, bro,” I said once he finally fell silent. “That’s rough. Really.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his head before squeezing the nape of his neck. “He’s never done anything like this before. I don’t even know how some scammer would’ve found him to talk to him aboutinvestingin something like this.”
“Those people are scum. They’ll sniff out the most vulnerable and pressure them into signing over everything they’ve got. It’sa fucking game to them, easy cash, but if you want, I can put you in touch with a lawyer who could work with the bank to find out where the money went. We’ve also got forensic accountants over at W&S who can help trace it and you can look at emergency financing to tide you over in the meantime.”
It said something about the state of the world that all of this felt normal to me. The other me, obviously, but it was far from the first time I’d heard about something like this happening.
“What are you even saying?” Avery asked, both looking and sounding exhausted. “I can’t afford any of that.”
I waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. I know people. What’s the good of having connections if you can’t use them?”
His expression hardened immediately, the look in his eyes turning stone cold. “No.”
“No?” I squinted at him. “Why not? I mean it. I can make a few calls and?—”
“No.” He looked right at me. “I don’t want your charity, Theo.”
