Braden took the phone from my grip and set it aside, then pulled me into his chest. Every instinct screamed at me to handle this alone, to process and problem-solve in the tidy, controlled way I’d perfected. But then his arms tightened around me, and I let myself lean in. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat was an anchor.
“Okay.” His voice was quiet. “So the grant fell through. That’s disappointing as hell, but it doesn’t mean the Center is dead.” His touch was firm on my arms. “We’ll figure this out.”
The word caught in my throat. “We?”
“Yes, we.” There was no hesitation. “You’re not doing this alone anymore. You and me, we’re a team. That’s what partners do.”
The tight knot in my chest loosened. He wasn’tdismissing my fear or minimizing the setback. He was standing with me in it.
“But the numbers?—”
“Will work,” he interrupted. “Maybe not the way you originally planned, but we’ll make them work. You raised over twenty thousand dollars last night from a single event. The community is behind you.”
A shaky laugh escaped me. “Braden?—”
“How much did you need from the grant?”
“Seventy-five thousand for the first year.”
He nodded slowly. “That’s a lot, but it’s not insurmountable. You’ve already got a third of it. We can do another event, apply for other grants, talk to Harper about a resort partnership. There are options.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It’s not simple. It’s going to be work, and it’s going to take longer than you hoped. But Tessa, look what happened yesterday.” His hands cupped my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. “You think you can’t do that again? This rejection isn’t a failure. It’s just a detour.”
The conviction in his voice chipped away at the panic. He believed in me, in us, with a certainty I couldn’t quite muster. But maybe that was the point of partnership. When one of you faltered, the other held steady.
“This was supposed to be the easy part.”
“Nothing worth building is easy.” His thumb brushed across my cheekbone. “But we’re going to build it anyway. Together.”
The word settled into my chest, warm and grounding. Together.
I leaned my forehead against his shoulder. “Okay. We’ll figure it out.”
“Damn right we will.”
His arms tightened around me, and we stood there inmy tiny kitchen, two people bracing for the challenges ahead. The grant rejection in my inbox was a reminder that dreams didn’t always unfold according to plan. And next week my parents would be bringing a lifetime of expectations I wasn’t sure I could meet.
But Braden was here, solid and certain, usingwelike it was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe it was. Whatever came next—difficult conversations, revised financial projections, my parents’ judgment—at least we’d face it together.
Chapter Eighteen
BRADEN
I movedmy phone closer to my face, Tessa’s voice warm in my ear as I paced my cottage. Through the window, evening light painted the quiet residential street in amber and gold, but I barely registered it. My mind replayed the awkward encounter at her townhouse two hours earlier when her parents had first arrived.
“They were polite,” I said.
“Too polite.” Tessa sighed. “I’m sorry about that. I know my mother’s smile gets tighter when she’s uncomfortable.”
“And your father checks his watch when he’s looking for an exit.” I dropped onto the sofa and rubbed the back of my neck. Richard Donovan’s firm handshake and assessing gaze had left me feeling like I’d shown up to a job interview in a torn T-shirt.
“Braden, listen.” Her voice shifted, taking on that careful quality she used when she was trying to manage a difficult situation. “I’m rethinking a get-together. I canmeet you for coffee or lunch while they’re here, and you can avoid the whole parent dynamic. It might be easier for everyone.”
I sat forward, elbows on my knees. “Easier, maybe. But why should we hide?”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been second-guessing that conversation we had at the Driftwood Beach event too. But I know what they’re like. I know how they can be.”
