When dinner finally ended, the relief in the air was palpable.
“I suppose I should get going,” Carly announced. “Dex, walk me out, would you?”
Out of politeness, and the need to see Carly leave, I walked her to the door. Snow was falling soft sheets outside. She turned toward me. “We’ll talk tomorrow about the lodge. Bring your laptop. The investor packet is in your inbox. Don't say no.”
From behind me came Lucy’s voice, calm and even. “Carly, thank you for visiting. Drive safe.”
Carly looked past me, smiling with sugar and steel. “Of course. You have done wonders here, Lucy. It must be gratifying to achieve so much with so little.”
Lucy’s tone was pure composure. “It is. We are proud of our endeavor.”
“Adorable." She kissed my cheek again. “Goodnight, Dex.”
I watched her drive off, the taillights glowing red through the snow until they vanished around the bend.
Lucy was still at the door. “Old friend?”
“Business acquaintance. And Braxton’s sister.”
Her brows rose. “That explains the confidence.”
“She means well,” I said automatically, knowing how false it sounded.
“Does she?”
“She can be… direct." It was the best polite word I could come up with at the moment.
“She offered you a job.”
I nodded.
“Congratulations,” Lucy murmured.
“It isn't that simple.”
“It never is. Goodnight, Dex." She turned back toward the kitchen, shoulders straight.
I wanted to stop her, to say something that would soften the distance between us, but the words didn’t come. The door tothe kitchen closed quietly, and I was left in the faint echo of her apricot scent.
Later, I sat at the small desk in my room and opened my laptop. Carly’s email waited, subject line crisp: Project Elevation Proposal Materials. I clicked it open. Renderings of glass and steel filled the screen. They were beautiful, perfect, and soulless. The kind of project that paid too well to refuse and meant nothing once it was done.
Downstairs, muffled voices floated up through the floorboards. Helen and Jane cleaning up, Kitty laughing at something Braxton said, Lucy’s voice steady among them. The inn breathed around me, alive in its imperfections. I could still picture Lucy standing in the doorway, chin lifted, refusing to let Carly’s words land. She had looked so composed, so stubbornly human.
I closed the laptop slowly. The glow from the screen faded, leaving only the reflection of the window and the steady fall of snow outside. The world Carly offered was success measured in awards and signatures.
I leaned back and listened to the quiet heartbeat of the house, and the sound of wind against the eaves.. For the first time in a long time, ambition felt heavy.
Chapter Eleven: Aftershocks
Lucy
The morning after Carly’s visit arrived with the faint hiss of the coffee maker sputtering to life. I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, replaying that perfect little kiss she had pressed to Dex’s cheek as though she were branding him. The whole thing had been a performance, perfectly timed and flawlessly staged. I could almost admire her precision if it hadn't been so grating. The entire house had gone too quiet after she left, the kind of hush that meant everyone was pretending nothing had happened. Pretending wasn't something I had ever been good at.
When I came downstairs, the kitchen smelled of toast, furniture polish, and breakfast. Mom stood at the counter in her robe humming a Christmas carol while buttering an unreasonable number of slices of toast. Lydia was perched on a stool with her laptop and coffee, editing one of her videos, mouthing along to her own voice-over. Meri sat at the table with a stack of to do notes, highlighter poised like a weapon. Thankfully Jane was at the stove, scooping a spoonful of hashbrowns onto a plate.
Mom turned with a bright smile that could have powered the town. “Good morning, darling. Sleep well?”
“Just fine,” I said, not really wanting to talk about my nearly sleepless night that I spent over analysing every word that Carly had uttered.
