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When she gave me the total, my heart dropped into my shoes. There was no way I could raise that kind of money in sixty days. “I’ll have it.” I didn’t have a choice.
I thanked her, and tried to summon a smile again, as I rejoined my friends.
“What’s wrong?” Gage asked the moment he saw me.
So much for hiding this. I pushed harder on the smile. “Nothing to worry about.”
The band started up, cutting me off, and making conversation impossible.
But I couldn’t enjoy the music. What was I supposed to do now?
Epilogue 2
One Year Later
Alys
I stood in the mostly empty front of one of the abandoned buildings on Main Street.
This building wouldn’t be empty much longer, though. Maddox was turning the front of the place, the sweeping store front with the picture windows, into a sort of local art gallery, and right now he and Onyx were with Aunt Rosie, loading things up to populate the place.
I was waiting for them to get back rather than going with them, because they were packing every available space in two vehicles with little knickknacks.
In the meantime, I was talking business with Xander. Or trying to. Every few seconds, I wandered to the giant panes of glass, and peered down the street for a familiar blue SUV.
“You’re not listening, are you?” Xander didn’t sound surprised.
“No, I am. Most recent project has potential. You’re putting out feelers.” I hadn’t had a huge win since the first apps I produced, but those sales were enough to set me up for life, even if I weren’t in love with a man who had a giant trust fund he never touched.
Xander sighed. “That’s not even…”
“It’s the essential information.” It was frustrating at first, to hear that most of my ideas just weren’t massively marketable, but I’d gotten better at accepting when Xander told me something did or didn’t have sweeping potential. I couldn’t write all winners all the time—there wasn’t enough time in the world.
Maddox’s Toyota pulled up in front of the building, and I grinned. “I have to go, they’re here.”
“Send me pictures when it’s all set up,” Xander said. “Maddox certainly isn’t going to.” Xander had kept the building, but he and Maddox had actually worked closely to make this happen.
It was exciting to see it all coming together. “You could watch it online like everyone else,” I teased. The back room looked very different from the lobby. It was set up with sound proofing, sleek tables, and high-end recording equipment, because Maddox and Adam were going to make it the new home of their podcast.
Their surprise hit, massively successful podcast.
The room was also modular so when one of them decided it was time for a change, mixing things up wouldn’t be difficult.
“I want the inside pass,” Xander said. “I earned that.”
He had a point, and I was happy to oblige. “I’ll send pics, I promise. Gotta go.” I hung up without waiting for a response.
Xander would understand.
Maddox parked out front, and he and Onyx hopped out. Aunt Rosie parked her restored Chevy pickup behind him. Claire was with her.
I liked Claire. She was just a few years younger than me, and she’d escaped a marriage to an asshole who had way too much in common with Don for my liking. Rosie was helping her get back on her feet.
The five of us started unloading, and it was like our shop neighbors materialized out of the woodwork. Friends from up and down the street showed up to help us haul things inside, so the entire thing didn’t take much time at all.
And when both vehicles were emptied, most everyone faded into their stores again.
The shelves and display tables were already set up around the room, though I suspected once Maddox got things out, he would rearrange more than once.
