“Cami, what’s going on?” He scooted his chair around to sit next to her.
Cami gave him a side glance and tried to smile. Stop hemming and hawing, Jackson.
She put on her seven years of experience as a buyer like armor and did her job. “I can’t buy the inn.”
He raised an eyebrow, and his lips thinned. “Come again?”
“Since you signed the contract in good faith, Akron will pay the earnest fee. I’m terribly sorry.”
He sat back with an exhale, regarding her, reading her. His eyebrows drew together as he studied her. “Is this about your dad?”
“He asked me to let this go.”
Ben stood and paced around the desk, then back to his chair. “I should have known.” His shoulders drooped, and disappointment bled into his words. “You may have had good intentions, but your dad calls the shots. I assume I can put it on the market tomorrow.”
She made a face. “Not yet. The property got loaded into our system, and it’s been locked by the admin for processing. I promise as soon as he gets back in town Monday I’ll have it cleared. So if you could wait a few days… Maybe until late next week.”
“Cami, that eats into my time. How am I going to sell this place in less than a month?”
“I’m going to call in every favor I have to get you a good buyer, Ben. One who will love this place for the next generation.”
“But no one will love it like you. Or me.”
“Maybe not, but there are plenty of people who love towns and establishments like Hearts Bend and the inn. There’s a couple in Georgia who restore old buildings and open up shops or bed and breakfasts. They’d love the inn.”
“Thank you, but it’s not the same, is it? When I come home, if I come home, strangers will be running the place. At least with you, I felt like the inn was still in the family.” He propped against the edge of the desk. “It made me feel close to you. I feel like I keep losing the things I love, but yet, I was the one who hightailed it out of town and joined the VJR team.”
“Annalise helped me to see maybe Mama wanted me to return to my faith more than an old building. No offense.”
“None taken. My dad said something similar. Said I should seek God for my future.”
“Mama used to say God wasn’t a genie in a bottle, but we should still take everything to Him in prayer. But He didn’t seem to hear my prayers, so I stopped asking for things. I never got my wish.”
“Dad says faith is hoping in the unseen. Maybe we’re trying too hard to see everything when we should just trust.”
“Maybe.”
Maybe she needed to have faith in something, someone, bigger than herself. Like acknowledging she needed to trust God?
Cami slid her hand into his. “Then we’ll have faith. Faith that everything is going to work out. And I’m still here. I’m heading to Indy in a few weeks, but for now, I’m here.”
“Sure would be nice to jump into your mom’s painting about now.” Ben’s gaze captured hers. Searching. She hoped he could see all that she couldn’t say. How sorry she was for this.
“Sure would.”
“Are you hungry?” Ben squeezed her hand. “Angelo’s?”
Yes, a thousand times yes. But going to Angelo’s would only tug on her heart, and she needed to let him, let Ben and the inn, go.
“Actually, I need to get back. I’ll get to work on this. Let you know when you can list it as soon as I can.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
Their footsteps echoed in unison as they crossed the lobby. Cami slowed as they passed Mama’s painting.
“I suppose you’ll want to take that with you,” Ben said.
“I’ll come back for it.”
