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“Sarah, wait.”
She hid a grin as she turned back and waited. The first person to speak in a negotiation lost.
His chest heaved as he sighed. “I’ll get you a new estimate by tomorrow. But I’m warning you, you’re not going to like how much this is going to cost.”
She walked back toward him and handed him the list. “It will be worth it.” Once she made her improvements to the B&B, the place was going to look amazing and be even more functional than before. Someone would definitely want to buy it.
Her gut twisted slightly at the thought, which was ridiculous. She did not want to keep the place. Letting it go would be easy. It would not be hard to leave her hometown the longer she stayed.
Or the hot-as-hell man scowling at her.
…
Upgrades. What the hell? Sarah was suddenly going all in, and part of him was annoyed that she was making these changes to the inn, but damn, if she wasn’t uber-appealing when she was getting her own way. The smug look on her face when she’d called his bluff had made him want to kiss it right off. The gleam of challenge in her eye and the pretty pursed lips… He had no idea what was going on there with this unexpected attraction to her.
He’d hoped the physical labor would help set him right again, but he couldn’t help catching a glimpse of her as she directed the delivery guys. She was definitely more confident and self-assured than the girl he remembered. And despite his personal feelings about these changes to the inn, her new take-charge attitude was sexy.
“Dad, are you listening?” Marissa asked from below on the wraparound deck.
Unfortunately. No amount of hammering could deter Marissa from continuing to tell him all about the different course offerings from Camp STEM. And it was the latter that was making his brain hurt.
When he’d brought her to work with him that day, he’d hoped she’d ride her bike around the property or head down to the beach and build a sandcastle… Instead, she’d brought along her backpack full of books and the brochure for Camp STEM that she’d read cover to cover a million times and was now reading to him.
“It says advanced students can skip the beginner courses and take the more advanced ones…we just need to take an online submission test once we register,” she was saying from her cross-legged position on the deck below him. She twirled a piece of strawberry-blond hair around one finger absentmindedly as she talked. “Do you think I’m good enough to pass that test?”
Wes hit the next nail harder than he intended, sending it straight through the wood. “I’m sure you are,” he mumbled, Carmen’s warning echoing in his mind.
“So do you think we can do that soon? Register, I mean. Spaces are starting to fill up,” she said, looking hopeful.
He had to be honest with her. He couldn’t put it off any longer. He set the hammer on the roof and climbed down the ladder. “Hey, Rissa, can we talk for a second?”
“Sure. What’s up?” She didn’t look up from the brochure, and he bent in a crouched position and gently took it from her. “What’s wrong?” she asked, seeing his expression.
“Camp STEM isn’t happening this year,” he said. Like pulling off a Band-Aid. It was going to hurt, but better to do it quickly.
She frowned. “Dad, I promise you, just let me go for the two weeks, and then I’ll do whatever activity you want me to for the rest of summer vacation. And I’ll still go to Girl Guides camp.”
Of course she thought he wasn’t on board with it because it wasn’t something physical. “No, it’s—”
“Fine, I’ll join the fall soccer league, too, and I won’t complain about going to the games. Anything. Dad, please!” She folded her tiny hands in front of her body, and Wes’s heart shattered into a million pieces.
Saying no to her sucked the life out of him, but he wasn’t comfortable with letting her go. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Rissa.” He had to tell her the real reason—otherwise she’d think he was punishing her for something. “The camp is just a little too far away.”
Her face fell, but she hid her disappointment quickly, seeing his. “Oh. Okay. That’s totally fine.”
It wasn’t fine. But he’d promised Kelly that he’d take care of their daughter, and she was only nine. She hadn’t been away from home like that before. Two weeks was a really long time. What if she was homesick or scared? What if she got sick? And the age group of the camp went all the way to eighteen. He didn’t like the idea of her at a sleepaway camp with older kids. Older boys in particular.
“There’s always next year.” She took the brochure from him, folded it, and put it into her backpack. Then she stood. “I’ll get out of your hair.”
Damn. “Hey, I’ll break for lunch soon, and we can have a picnic on the beach. The ice cream cart should be setting up down there soon.” Ice cream hardly made up for disappointing her, but there was nothing else he could do. He had to think about her well-being and safety…that didn’t always include the things she wanted.
“Sounds great,” she said with a smile that was definitely forced.
Wes sighed as he watched her head off toward the backyard of the B&B. Was he doing the right thing? How on earth was he supposed to know? It was major decisions like this that always had him feeling at a disadvantage being a single parent. At least when Kelly was alive, they made decisions together; he had someone to discuss things with, bounce ideas off. Somedays he felt completely alone navigating this whole parenting thing.
“She okay?” Sarah asked, joining him at the side of the house. She nodded toward Marissa as his daughter sat on the swing inside the gazebo.
Wes nodded. Sarah had no doubt heard their conversation, with all the windows being open. “She’s just disappointed that she can’t go to STEM camp this summer.” He started to reclimb the ladder, needing to put some distance between himself and the two women causing him varying degrees of conflict. “She’ll be okay,” he said, hoping it was true.
