“Taking care of the only guest this place might ever see.” Paige shook her head and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth when a small sob escaped.
“What are you talking about?”
“I called my mom this morning.” Her voice was miserable. “I told you the house is in her name, and I’ve been trying to save money to buy it from her. I’ve also been paying the mortgage, and maybe I missed a couple of months because of other expenses I’ve had to shell out to maintain this place. Maybe I told her I’d miss this month, as well.”
“Okay.”
“Not okay,” Paige countered. “At least that’s what I realized. My mom is under contract to sell The Bumblebee.”
“She can’t do that,” Sienna said immediately. “You’ve put so much time and effort into it. You’re almost ready to open.”
Paige gave a strained laugh and gestured to the mess of the living room floor. “Not quite almost, but I was getting there. I called to give her an update and talk about the construction expenses. She told me she was approached last week by a buyer out of California who wanted this property.”
“Why The Bumblebee?”
“It’s not just the house. The land borders the old ski resort. Apparently whoever bought the resort wants to make the inn part of that property. Grammy was always at odds with the former owner of the ski mountain, but I never thought it would be an issue for me.”
“Your mom didn’t bother to mention this to you?”
Paige sniffed and shook her head. “I made the mistake of calling her in a moment of weakness—when I was feeling overwhelmed. I might have cried and told her I wasn’t sure I could handle the inn.”
“Crying is okay and doubts are normal. It doesn’t mean—”
“I was sick as a kid,” Paige blurted. “Really sick.”
Sienna felt her mouth drop open. “Are you sick now?”
Paige shook her head. “I had leukemia. I was in and out of the hospital my last two years of high school doing chemo and radiation. I’ve been fine for almost ten years, but after that phone call, my mom decided that the stress of opening and running an inn would be too much for me.” She threw up her hands. “According to her, she’s doing me a favor.”
“We need to convince her to cancel the sale. When is the closing scheduled?”
“You have no idea what my mom is like when she sets her mind to something.”
“Maybe not,” Sienna agreed. “However, I’m familiar with overbearing mothers.”
Paige gave a soft laugh. “I suppose you are. But you’ve made a success of yourself in your own right. You have that important job—”
“Which I don’t miss.”
“You lived with your boyfriend—”
“Who cheated on me,” Sienna pointed out with a wince.
“There were some setbacks,” Paige admitted. “But you’ve proven you can be an adult. Before I came to Crimson, I still lived with my mom. She said the house was too big for her to be there alone after my dad died, and she wasn’t ready to sell it. The truth was she didn’t trust me on my own. Do you have any idea what it’s like when no one believes you can handle your own life? It’s embarrassing, and now this happens.”
Sienna could relate to Paige’s dilemma. Maybe her life wasn’t as sheltered, but she’d followed wherever her mom and stepdad had led her. Yes, she had a great job, but she’d gotten hired with the ad agency because her stepdad had been fraternity brothers with one of the senior partners. Her mom had basically set up her first date with Kevin through someone she’d met at a charity dinner.
Everything in Sienna’s life had been arranged to follow the path that Dana deemed appropriate. As if Sienna couldn’t be trusted to make her own decisions.
It wasn’t until she’d arrived in Crimson that she’d tasted real freedom. Cole had been the first person to act like he believed she was strong enough to handle whatever life threw at her. No wonder she’d fallen for him so fast and hard. Butterflies flitted around her insides at the thought of him, but right now she needed to focus on seeing her friend through this mini meltdown.
“Your mom lives in Denver, right?” she asked.
“On the south end of town.”
“Has she been up here to see what you’ve done with the place?”
“No. She hasn’t been here since my grandma’s funeral and the house was a mess at that point. When Grammy died, Mom wanted to sell the inn right away. I convinced her to let me try to make something of it.”
