Page 106 of The Sugar Maple Inn

“Just that I should never ever trust billionaires.”

Reese groaned and put his head in his hands.

“So,” Zach said, “you want to tell me what happened or should I guess?”

He peered up at Zach. “You’re too young to have an old man like me spilling his life story.”

“Dude, I got to the end of Elden Ring,” he said, referring to a notoriously difficult video game. “I’m as wise as they come.”

Reese laughed, then told him. The family history with the inn. The excavation possibilities. Erika’s email. Victoria’s revelation. Grace running.

When he finished, Zach was quiet for a long moment, sipping his coffee like an old man and watching the sun climb higher.

“Yeah,” he said finally, “you’ve lost any chance with my mom.”

Reese’s chest felt tight. “I know, kid.”

“Even if you just thought about demolishing that place, even if it was, like, just one option in a bunch, that’s enough for my mom. For any of the old crones around here.” Zach shook his head, laughing. “You don’t know Solace Springs, man. The dude who runs the boat tours here, Luke Rhodes, he said to me once how the place gets itself right in your fibers and roots. That inn isn’t just a building to these people. It’s real history.”

“Damn, you are wise.”

Zach shrugged. “Told you.”

“So what do I do to win your mom back?”

Zach drained his coffee, crushed the cup and kicked it with excellent skill into a nearby trash can. “Dude, it’s over. You basically nuked that whole thing. Just walk away before it gets sad.”

“I can’t do that.”

Zach examined his face for a minute, serious. Then he snorted. “Why? Because you’re not used to losing?” He shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket, glancing out at the lake. “Look…I’m not saying you’re a bad guy. You treated her decent. Better than most. But my mom—” He broke off, huffed out a breath. “She’s been through it, okay? She finally starts looking happy again, and now you’re sitting here doing the whole tortured-billionaire routine?”

Reese looked at him, but Zach kept his eyes on the water, his foot tapping restlessly against the dock.

“Thing is,” Zach went on, “I could tell she liked you. Like, really liked you. And sounds like you’re really into her too.” Zach shrugged, pretending to be casual, but his jaw was tight. “But sometimes that’s not enough. Sometimes the gap’s too wide, you know? And my mom’s too good for you, so there’s that, too.”

He gave Reese a single, awkward pat on the shoulder then jammed his hands back into his pockets and started walking.

Reese sat there for a long time, watching light dance on the water, feeling the kid’s words settle into his bones.

Sometimes the gap’s too wide.

Reese stood up, took one last look at the café where Grace was presumably still hiding from him, and called his driver.

He’d lost her.

And maybe that was exactly what he deserved.

Forty

Grace

A week later, Grace wiped down the counter for the third time. It was already clean. She wiped it anyway. Zach had told her he’d talked to Reese. Told her Reese seemed like a “decent guy.” Told her Reese seemed to accept it was over, which was just as well because it was.

The last few days had passed in a blur of forced normalcy. Grace showed up to work. Smiled at customers. Made lattes with perfect foam art. Went home. Helped Zach with homework. Avoided looking at the island across the water.

She was fine. Totally fine.

Except she kept catching glimpses of the tower through the café windows. Kept remembering how the moonlight had looked on Reese’s skin. How he’d laughed when they played Monopoly. Then moaned when she’d had her way with him on Monopoly…the way he’d said her name when he came. She remembered the way he’d held her after. The gentleness in his hands when he’d tended to the eagle’s wing. The vulnerability in his voice when he’d talked about his dad. His ex.