“So you do care about the community.” Luke’s smug look is entirely unwelcome right now.
“I’m not happy with everything Harry left me, but if I sell the coffee shop, I’ll make other people unhappy. And that’s worse.”
“You can just say her name.” Lucy’s got a similar grin going.
In fact, they’re all looking like I’ve made some big confession. All I did was say I don’t want to makepeopleunhappy. Doesn’t feel like something to brag about, but they’re eating it up.
“One thing I’ve learned from reading romances is that there’s always a solution that will keep everyone satisfied in the end.” Lucy’s smirk is gone, but the too-knowing way she’s staring up at me is even more unsettling. “First, you have to figure out what would make you happy in this scenario.”
“I just said?—”
“You’re focused on the wrong thing.” Graham narrows his eyes on me like I’m an experiment under one of his microscopes. “It’s not about the coffee shop. It’s about what you want for your life. Is that a job? Something more? If it’s something more, then what you actually do matters less.”
“Pretend you’re taking one of those quizzes they gave us in high school,” Nathan says. “What does your dream life look like?”
“This isn’t?—”
Lucy scowls up at me. “Just do it.”
“I…” I gust out an aggrieved sigh, turning away from them and splaying my hands out. I wanted advice, not for my family to make me dissect my own heart with tiny scalpels.
The river flows, gurgling as it passes. Tall pine trees on the opposite bank sway gently in the breeze. Overhead, cottony clouds drift through a cornflower blue sky, a red-tailed hawk gliding along, searching for a meal.
“My dream life isn’t in the coffee shop,” I finally say. “It’s outhere. It’s the same job I wanted from the beginning. Being a steward of the land. Conservation. Educating the public about the importance of protecting our forests. But…”
You can’t just walk into any park and become a ranger. I might have to go back to seasonal jobs first, and my options for full-time positions would be limited to what’s available in any given year. I most likely wouldn’t be anywhere near Sunshine. Maybe not even Oregon.
I turn to face them. “I don’t want to leave Rose.”
They’re watching me with a little too much twinkle in their eyes, but I guess that’s what I get for inviting them here.
“Hopefullywefactored somewhere in that decision,” Nathan says.
“You didn’t.”
They laugh because they know it’s all bluster. I wouldn’t have asked them for advice if they weren’t important to me. But I’ve never had anything like what I feel for Rose. Walking away from that—from her—isn’t an option.
“That doesn’t resolve anything. I still haven’t figured out what to do.”
“Should have invited Jovie,” Nathan says. “I bet she’d give you great advice.”
I exhale a laugh. “Yeah. She’d tell me to marry Rose, give her the coffee shop, and teach the wilderness camp she wants to do next year instead.”
She’d probably have specific ideas about what to do with all of the cash, too.
Hold on.
They exchange glances, then gaze back at me. An idea takes shape out of my tangled thoughts. Pieces click together one by one until a clear vision forms. I could help everyone with Harry’s money and pass his mysterious investment on to the woman who loves it most.
A chuckle rumbles out of me. “Did Jovie just solve all my problems?”
“You just solved all your problems,” Lucy says. “By finally admitting what you wanted all along.”
“And we meanallalong.” Nathan smirks even though he was one of the last to figure out my feelings for Rose.
“But Jovie will take credit if you give her a chance,” Luke adds.
“What are you going to do?” Graham, of course, wants a clear course of action. Just like I do.
