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So much. Though none of it mattered anymore. I set the bat down and threw my arms around Aly’s neck. I hadn’t realized how much I needed her there until that moment.
“Hey,” Aly whispered against me. “It’s okay. What’s going on?”
“I just really need a hug,” I said, still holding on for dear life.
Aly tapped a hand against my back and turned over her shoulder to Zach. “Why don’t you go get the things out of the car, and I’ll catch up with Lyndsey?”
Zach nodded and left us alone. Aly moved me toward the sofa.
“Things?” I asked.
“Yes. Well, we had some time between assignments, and Marianne and Derek said they could handle everything for a while,” Aly explained. “So, we thought we would come here and help you with rebuilding the house.”
I almost burst out into tears. What was wrong with me? I’d been holding it all together so well. I shouldn’t be crumbling at the first sign of kindness to glance my way. Or was it just because this generosity came from Aly? The one person who I could still rely on in this whole messed up world. She’d come to my aid in my hour of need, much like my grandmother, selflessly offering a hand even when she didn’t have to.
“Now, what’s going on?” she asked.
It took about an hour to catch her up on everything—one hour, two outbursts of tears, a plateful of cookies, and a jug of sweet tea.
“That’s awful,” Aly said. “Your family sounds insane. Sorry to say it. I always thought they supported you more.”
I shrugged. “Financially, maybe. But they’ve gone over their quota of kindness for a lifetime. It’s up to me at this point to make things right.”
“But…” Aly stopped. “You like this Hunter guy, don’t you?”
How did I answer that? I didn’t want to admit it—not out loud. I hadn’t even wanted to admit it to myself.
Reluctantly, I nodded. “I don’t want him to marry someone else.”
“Then, you should fight for him,” Aly said. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. But maybe if you tell him the truth, tell him about your situation, he’ll understand and play along.”
“He’s supposed to play along for three months?” That wouldn’t happen. Was I supposed to continue seeing him on the sly, all the while sending him out on bogus dates just to throw his sister off our trail? That didn’t seem reasonable either. It just sounded more painful for all parties involved.
“No. But at least until you come up with some sort of solution. I mean…” Aly sighed, facing Zach. They shared a knowing smile, one that shone as brightly in their eyes as it did in their faces.
I wanted that. That unspoken, jaw-dropping love without bounds. But that kind of love had come at a great cost. One that ended with Zach losing his job and Aly nearly being thrown out of school. Not to mention the media scandal that ensued once the press found out about Zachary Hawthorne, playboy billionaire turned psychology professor having an affair with one of his students.
“It wasn’t easy,” Aly said, seeing the course of my thoughts already. “But it was worth every minute.”
I shrugged. “Well, I have no idea what to do at this point. Things will progress quickly from here on out. That’s kind of the nature of the business. He’s taking his new girlfriend to meet all his friends at the fire hall on Saturday.”
Again, Aly and Zach shared a passing glance with one another, though this time more mischievous than loving.
“Is it a charity event?” Aly asked. “For victims who lost their homes to fires?”
“It might be.” My gaze shifted from Aly to Zach then back to my best friend. “Why?”
“I’ve been wanting to invest in a new charity down here,” Zach said. “Something similar to what Derek and Marianne do with the housing development projects.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, though a niggling feeling in the pit of my chest spread like wildfire. It kindled a renewed sense of hope within me. Were they saying what I thought they were?
“It means we would be spending much more time down here,” Aly explained. “We might even need someone to help with overseeing things while we’re gone.”
“You would move things here?”
“More like expanding,” Aly said. “My mother has been so caught up with her new boyfriend, she doesn’t need my help as much as she used to, and I wouldn’t mind a change of scenery every now and then.”
“Of course, that means we would need to speak with someone at the charity event about potentially setting up something down here,” Zach explained. “We already have tickets. But we could use someone who knows the people and the town enough to navigate us through negotiations.”
