Jack wandered over to the nearest table and picked up a book.
I took a deep breath. “Gene’s buddies told stories about how he loved fishing, fighting, and, ah, fuc—... fornicating.”
Jack looked up from the book and met my gaze. “They didn’t use the word fornicating, though.”
I fanned my face with my hand.
Vera smirked. “Classy.”
“How’s it going here? You OK?”
Her bottom lip quivered, and that’s all it took for my sister to burst into tears. “I’ve messed this all up. I’m so sorry.”
I folded her into a hug and led her over to the sofa. Jack followed and stood by while we sat.
“Tell me what Tyler said,” I demanded.
She shuddered in a breath. “He’s going to be out of work for a while and needs the money he loaned me. He was super nice and apologetic about it.”
I scowled at her. “Now is not the time to defend that prick.”
“I know,” she wailed.
“Did you sign any formal loan paperwork with him?” Jack asked while pacing.
She shook her head. “It was only supposed to be until our father’s estate was settled in court. It’s not that we don’t have the money, it’s that Dad died and his estate’s been tied up in court.”
“Okay, well, why don’t you just give Tyler his cash back and everything will be okay,” Jack suggested.
“That’s the problem. I spent most of it already. I have a little left and it was supposed to tide us over until we opened and started making sales.”
Ack. Worst-case scenario. I rubbed my temples. Beyond my ire at Tyler, there was the matter of our real-life finances. We needed to eat and pay bills, and trapping reptiles wasn’t going to cut it. There simply weren’t that many nuisance gators in the area.
“Let me think. We could take out a second mortgage on the house.”
She shook her head. “There’s no equity. I checked.”
I’d used most of my savings to help open the store and move home. “I do have a small retirement account. It won’t cover the full twenty thousand, though.”
Vera buried her face in her hands. “I don’t want you to have to do that. We could try a couple more banks and take out another loan.”
We’d already taken out one big loan, which was why I was so shocked when Vera said she’d borrowed money from Tyler. What a mess. “The other option is that you tell him you can’t come up with the cash until we open.”
But both Vera and I knew that making twenty grand in profit for a new bookstore was unlikely in the first six months, let alone the first few weeks.
“Let’s call the attorney and ask him when Dad’s estate will be settled. In the meantime, stall. Tell him you’re working on getting him the money. Tell him you spent it.”
Jack nodded. I nodded. Vera wiped her cheeks. “OK.”
She sounded so miserable that my heart broke. I’d told Dad I’d look after Vera when he was gone, and I sure wasn’t making good on that promise.
Chapter Nineteen
Jack left, and Vera and I spent the rest of the day at the store, trying to pretend everything was normal and happening on schedule. And on the surface, it was.
The store’s decor was coming together, and with Vera’s signature style, it looked like a pink, white, and silver book heaven. I was especially proud that we’d gotten in a wide selection of books in all romance subgenres, and my sister had even lined up three well-known Florida authors for signing in the next two months.
We kept the conversation light as we shelved the books along one wall. We continued to make small talk in the car at the end of the day.
