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Lilac rolls her eyes. “Save the money from your profits.”
“Sounds boring.”
“Such is life,” I say as I herd the women out of the bar.
If I thought I was off the hook with the gossip gals gone, I was wrong. I whirl around to find Elizabeth, Gabrielle, and Beckett standing in a line facing me down.
“Can I sign the contracts first so Daniel can get on with his day?”
“Don’t mind me. I’m in no rush.”
I frown at the town’s legal counsel. He winks at me. Great. Another gossip. Is being a gossip a requirement to live in this town? As long as it’s not about me, I’m all for it. In fact, I’ll be happy to join in. Unfortunately, all the gossip seems to be about me and Cedar at the moment.
“It’s time,” Beckett growls.
Uh oh. When big brother – aka Mr. Overprotective – says ‘it’s time’, it means he’s not going to put up with any more ‘pink bullshit’, which is how he refers to our delaying tactics.
I’m tempted to kick his crutches out from under him. That’d show him. But I won’t. I’m the crazy girl. Not the mean girl.
“I wanted to buy the bar on my own. I didn’t want to use Mom and Dad’s money.”
Elizabeth crosses her arms over her chest. “Not wanting to use your trust fund is no excuse to keep buying the bar a secret from us. Your family.”
I know we’re a family. She doesn’t need to remind me every other second. My memory’s working perfectly fine.
“Really? Big brother wouldn’t have charged in and seized control of the negotiations when he found out?”
“Beep! Wrong. He didn’t seize control when I began my spa.”
Damnit! I didn’t know. “I assumed he barreled in and wrestled the reins from your control.”
“Nope. Next bullshit excuse.”
Crap. I don’t have any more excuses. Time to dig in.
“I already told you. I wanted to do this all on my own.”
“In other words, you didn’t need us.” Gabrielle’s voice is almost too soft to hear.
Damn it. I didn’t mean to hurt my sisters and brother. But I can’t tell them it’s my fault Mom and Dad aren’t around. They’d never forgive me and despite how much I bicker with Elizabeth and how much I push against Beckett’s rules and how much I tease Gabrielle, I need them. They’re my family.
My eyes itch and I inhale a deep breath. I will not cry in front of them. I prefer not to cry at all. I try again.
“It’s not as if I don’t need you. But, in this instance, I wanted to prove I could do it on my own.”
Apparently, I’ve managed to say the magical words as Gabrielle smiles and Elizabeth drops her arms.
“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Elizabeth demands. “We understand wanting to prove things to the world.”
“I don’t get it,” Beckett grumbles. “You could prove you could do it on your own and still have told us.”
Lilac pats his arm. “I’ll explain when we get home.”
He waggles his eyebrows. “Naked?”
“Ew. Gross. I don’t want to know about my brother’s weird sexual kinks.”
“There’s nothing wrong or weird about having sexual kinks,” Lilac says.
