Chapter 7

SEVEN

“Ready for dinner? I think we need to talk.” Mary gestured to Emily after she’d handed over front desk duties to Mariah that evening. Obviously, her grandmothers had noticed how upset she was and realized she’d learned about the sale.

Emily nodded. At this point, she was more hurt than angry, and behind that…she was scared. Somewhere over the course of the day, she’d started worrying that Gram’s breast cancer was back. They hadn’t mentioned selling the last time she was sick, but if the news was bad enough…

Emily’s heart was racing as she followed her grandma to the apartment at the back of the inn where she and Eva lived, the apartment where Emily had lived from ten to eighteen after her mom left her here.

“Wine’s open,” Gram called from the kitchen as they walked in. “We’re going to need it tonight.”

Emily couldn’t argue with that. They spent a few minutes pouring wine and fixing their plates, and once they were seated together at the table, Emily jumped right in, because her mind had been spiraling all day and she couldn’t wait another moment for answers. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re selling the inn? Is it because…Gram, your health?”

“Your gram is absolutely fine and cancer-free,” Mary said emphatically.

“But my cancer is what first put the idea in our heads,” Eva added. “We’re ready to retire. This inn is so important to us, and we’ve loved every moment we’ve spent here, but we’re getting older. We want to travel, relax, enjoy our golden years.”

Emily took a bite of chicken, her emotions rampaging in a dozen different directions. “How long has it been for sale?”

“Almost a year,” Gram told her as she speared a roasted carrot with her fork. “And now, it sounds like we were trying to keep a secret from you, but I promise, it wasn’t like that.”

“How was it, then?” She couldn’t quite keep the petulance out of her tone.

“We didn’t tell anyone when we listed it,” Grandma said. “We’re in no hurry to sell, and we were afraid…well, we didn’t want you to feel like you needed to save the inn.”

Emily stabbed another piece of chicken. “You don’t think I could do it?”

“I have no doubt you could, but at what cost to your own life, Em?” Gram asked. “You’re an artist. That’s what you’ve always wanted for your career. We know how much you love this inn, and how seriously you take family obligations. We figured, if we could find the perfect buyer—someone who would preserve our legacy the way we want—then we could tell you that we’re selling when the story already had a happy ending.”

“But what if I want to buy the inn? ”

Gram quirked an eyebrow. “Do you, though?”

Emily sighed. “No.” Her grandmas were right. She was an artist at heart. All she’d ever wanted was to stay home and paint for a living. “So you think Devlin Hotels is the answer?”

Grandma held up a finger. “We didn’t say that. They were the first potential buyer we’ve had, so we decided to hear them out. We haven’t made any decisions.”

“And I’m not at all sure we’re going to sell to them,” Gram added.

“We like Ms. Devlin a lot, but it doesn’t sound like she’d have much to do with the inn after the sale. Any ongoing decisions would be handled by other departments, which is a lot less personal than we’d hoped.”

“It sounds like getting swallowed by the corporate beast,” Gram said with a frown. “We’ll consider her offer when—and if—it comes, but I don’t think it’s likely we’ll be selling to Devlin Hotels.”

Emily’s emotions went for another spiral at the mention of Diana’s name. Certainly the night they’d shared was affecting Emily’s judgment here, but mostly…mostly she was hurt that her grandmas hadn’t kept her in the loop from the beginning.

“You look upset,” Gram observed.

“I feel blindsided,” Emily admitted. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were selling. I just…I don’t know how to get past that.”

“Put yourself in our shoes,” Grandma said. “We don’t want to get in the way of you living your own life. You have this…this guilt over the way your mom left, like you feel like it’s on you to keep the rest of the family together. We didn’t want you to feel responsible for the future of the inn. We’re going to find the right person to buy it. Your cottage wi ll still be yours. You can still work the desk if you want. But we want you to focus on your art.”

“That should have been my decision to make.” Emily was still hurt, but she also heard the truth in her grandma’s words. Emily knew she sometimes had a tendency to fall on her own sword. She’d have done anything to save the inn, even if she didn’t want to own it. She just wanted…she wanted things to stay like they were. She hated change. “But I want you guys to be happy. I didn’t know you wanted to retire.”

“Gram’s breast cancer was sort of a wake-up call for us,” Grandma said. “We aren’t getting any younger, and while this inn has meant the world to us, there’s so much we want to see and do with the years we have left. Please don’t be upset with us, Em. I realize in hindsight that it feels a little patronizing the way we handled it, but we were only trying to make this as easy as possible for you.”

Emily looked down at her plate. “I get it, even if I still feel kind of shitty about how I found out.”

“How did you find out?” Grandma asked, and Emily realized belatedly that she’d walked right into that one.

Luckily, the truth didn’t have to be the whole truth. “I met Diana yesterday. She’d gotten lost on a hike, and I helped her find her way out. She mentioned she was in town to buy a local inn for Devlin Hotels, but I had no idea she meant our inn until she walked into the lobby this morning.”

“I’m truly sorry you found out that way.” Grandma reached over and covered Emily’s hand with her own. “We thought it would be better to spare you the ‘what’s going to happen’ and tell you after we’d found the perfect buyer. But obviously, that backfired, and I apologize.”

Emily felt her hurt and anger deflating. “Thank you. This is still such a shock…I just, I can’t imagine the inn not being ours.”

“I know,” Gram said. “We feel the same way, but at the same time…we’re in our seventies now. It’s time.”

“Where will you go?” Emily asked. “Are you leaving Crescent Falls altogether?”

“No way,” Gram said with a laugh. “This town is our home. No, we’ll look for a small house of our own with the proceeds from the sale and use the rest to travel.”

Emily’s heart warmed as she pictured it. “I love that for you. I really do.”

“But you’re still sad, I know. These things take time to get used to, and change has always been hard for you.”

Emily moved a piece of chicken around on her plate. “But if you force change on me, I’ll learn to adapt.” And she realized that was exactly what they’d done by waiting to tell her until they had a buyer. They’d tried to take the stress of the change out of the equation for her.

When she got back to her cottage that evening, Emily sat on the back porch for hours, just staring at the distant mountains as Jack fluttered around, singing his happy tunes. Her grandmas had promised to keep things as much the same for her as possible, but Emily couldn’t help feeling like everything was going to change.

The following evening, Emily sat at an oversized table near the back of Maude’s Tavern, sipping a beer as she filled her friends in on the latest developments in her life. They met here every Thursday for trivia night, and it was always one of the highlights of Emily’s week .

“Damn,” Talia said with a frown. “I can’t believe your grandmas are selling the inn.”

Drew shrugged. “I can. I mean, they’re old. They want to retire. Good for them. My grandparents basically had to start over when they emigrated here from Vietnam, and they ended up working almost till the day they died. So I think it’s great if Em’s grandmas can quit while they’re still young enough to enjoy it.”

“When you put it that way…” Emily gulped from her beer. “I feel bad for being upset about this.”

“Just trying to put it in perspective,” Drew said with another shrug.

“You can feel sad about it while still wanting your grandmas to enjoy their retirement.” Alexis wrapped an arm around Emily and gave her a squeeze. “It’s a big change.”

“I haven’t even told you guys the craziest part yet,” Emily said. “You know the woman I hooked up with the night before last? It turns out she was here to buy the inn. She works for Devlin Hotels. She…she’s a Devlin. Diana Devlin.”

Tom whistled. “Hot damn, Em. When you decide to have a one-night stand, you go all out. You fucked the woman your grandmas are selling the inn to?”

“And a hotel heiress?” Tom’s wife, Maddie, asked. “Is she rich?”

“Well, she’s definitely not poor.” Diana certainly had money, but she also seemed hardworking and ambitious, not a woman content to live off her father’s success. No, Diana wanted to run the whole company. “I don’t think my grandmas are going to sell to her, though. They’re worried about getting lost in the shuffle as part of the Devlin brand. They’re probably going to keep looking for a better buyer. ”

“Makes sense,” Talia said. “Glad they’re being picky.”

“I’m glad too. Mary and Eva won’t let you down,” Tom said. “Now let’s get to the good stuff. You used three flame emojis yesterday. We want to know everything .”

Emily’s cheeks felt like a flame emoji right now. She didn’t generally kiss and tell, but for once, the person she’d slept with didn’t live in town. None of her friends would ever meet Diana, so why not share a little? Suddenly, she was bursting to share. “It was probably— definitely —the hottest night of my life.”

“Emily! Get it, girl!” Tom exclaimed. “I’m getting bossy vibes from what you’ve told us about this woman. Did you let her dominate you in the bedroom or what?”

“Actually, um…” Emily’s face had achieved three-flame-emoji status now. Her skin was burning . “While we were at the bar, getting to know each other, she said sometimes she wished she wasn’t in control for a little while, and I said I wanted to know what that kind of control felt like, so when we got to her room, we kind of…swapped roles.”

For a moment, they all stared at her, mouths hanging open.

Emily was so flushed, she was starting to sweat. She had on a sleeveless ribbed top with a high neck to hide the hickeys still visible there. Would her friends notice?

“So you dominated her in bed?” Tom exclaimed. “This is exciting new territory for you, Em, I mean…not that I’ve ever been in your bed.” He glanced at his wife, who elbowed him playfully. “But you’re always tentative when we’re out adventuring, and you seem that way in your career and relationships too.”

She exhaled, reaching for her beer. “ Tentative is a good word to describe me. Diana brought out this whole other side of me, and…I really liked it. ”

“Hottest night ever, huh?” Alexis gave her a high five. “Good for you.”

Emily ducked her head. “Thanks. It got me thinking, though. Like, I want to keep the momentum going, keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone, you know? And with my grandmas retiring, it feels like another push. Maybe it’s time to really focus on my art so I can quit working the front desk.”

“I am one-hundred-percent onboard with that,” Talia said. “I can’t tell you how many people have commented on the paintings in our nursery. I’ve given out at least five of your cards since Colette was born.”

Emily looked around the table, her cheeks still warm. “I really appreciate you guys…you know that, right?”

This group had seen her through some of the best—and worst—moments in her life. She couldn’t actually remember life before Alexis. They’d met in kindergarten, not that either of them remembered meeting. Emily and Alex had just always known each other. By middle school, they were best friends, and nothing had changed in the years since.

Emily had known Talia nearly as long, although since Talia was a few years younger, they hadn’t been in any of the same classes. Last year, Talia and her wife had welcomed a baby girl, and the whole group was loving their status as honorary aunts and uncles to the first Adventurers baby.

Tom was the oldest member of their group, and also the newest to Crescent Falls. He’d moved here in his early twenties, looking for a fresh start after he transitioned. When Emily first met him, Tom was a bit of a wild man, partying most nights and hooking up with an endless stream of random people. Then he fell in love with Maddie, and the rest was history. These days, he was a happily married man who spent most evenings at home with his wife.

Drew was the baby of the group at twenty-three. Emily had known him since he was a kid—she’d even babysat for him once or twice—so it still sometimes boggled her mind to sit at the pub and share a beer with him, but she loved how diverse their group was. It kept things interesting.

None of them had commented on her unusual shirt choice, though. It hadn’t occurred to them that she might be hiding hickeys. They didn’t think she had it in her, and somehow that made her even more determined to keep pushing herself, to be less predictable, more adventurous.

Alex looked at her phone and frowned. “Crap. Frankie’s home early. I might have to miss trivia.”

“Oh, come on,” Drew protested. “Team Gay All Day needs you.”

“Invite her to join us?” Emily suggested, already knowing it wouldn’t work. Alex’s girlfriend rarely joined them for trivia night, even though she was always invited. More often, she convinced Alex to leave early instead.

“She’s tired after a full day at the shop. I should probably go.” Alex polished off her beer, put down some money, and stood. “Kick ass on my behalf, okay?”

“Will do,” Emily said, but she doubted they’d win without Alex. Tom and Maddie’s team was hard to beat even when Emily’s team wasn’t outnumbered.

“Actually, I need to head out early too,” Talia said apologetically. “Colette’s teething, and she’s been miserable all week. Neither Chantal or I have gotten much sleep, so I promised her I wouldn’t be out late tonight.”

“Falling like flies,” Tom said. “No problem. Go give that teething baby a kiss from the Adventurers.”

“Will do. Look at this brand-new tooth, though. She’s looking like such a big girl all of a sudden.” Talia held up her phone, showing them a photo of a smiling baby with warm brown skin just a shade lighter than Talia’s and a curly mop of black hair. A tiny sliver of white tooth was visible on her bottom gum.

“Oh my God, she does look bigger,” Emily exclaimed. “Will you bring her on our hike this weekend? I need a baby fix.”

“Definitely. Chantal needs a break, and Coco loves being outside. See you guys then.” Talia left cash for her meal and followed Alex toward the front door.

“And then there were four,” Drew said, gesturing to the bartender for another beer.

“Let’s team up,” Tom suggested. “Adventurers versus everyone else tonight.”

Drew placed a hand dramatically over his heart. “That means Em and I actually have a chance of winning for once.”

“Hey,” Emily protested. “We won a few weeks ago.”

“And we’ve won three times since,” Tom teased. “Just for tonight, I’ll bring you under my wing…” He swept a hand dramatically across the table, almost knocking over Maddie’s beer.

“Can you believe this guy?” Drew asked Emily, eyebrows raised.

“Just for that, I think we should keep our teams separate,” Emily told him. She adored Tom, but he was insufferable about his winning trivia team.

Tom rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on.”

“Nope,” Drew said. “Emily and I will kick your ass all on our own.”

“Yeah,” she bluffed. “It’s bad luck to change up the teams at the last minute anyway. You’ve told us that before. ”

“She’s got you there,” Maddie said.

“Fine, fine,” Tom agreed. “Get ready to lose, then.”

He was probably right, but Emily didn’t care. Keeping their usual teams was the safe move, and Emily always played it safe. She was trying to change that—especially now—but change was hard.

Change could wait until tomorrow.