I pushed through the lodge doors. I was barely keeping it together. Stacy was working behind the check-in counter. She looked up at my entrance and her expression immediately shifted from pleasant to concerned.
“Sylvie? Are you okay?”
I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak without completely falling apart. I just needed to get somewhere private. I needed somewhere I could break down without an audience of lodge guests witnessing my humiliation.
I rushed toward the back hallway that led to the private family areas. I heard Stacy calling after me. A moment later, she caught up with me in one of the storage rooms, closing the door behind her to give us privacy.
“What happened?” she asked. “Was it Kent? I saw you talking to him outside.”
That was all it took. The concern in her voice and being in the presence of someone who actually cared about me broke through whatever fragile control I’d been maintaining. Idissolved into tears, great heaving sobs that shook my entire body.
“You were right,” I choked out between sobs. “You and Emmy were both right about him. He’s been lying to me this entire time.”
Stacy pulled me into a fierce hug. I clung to her like a drowning person.
“The offer,” I managed to say. “It’s not an investment. It’s an acquisition. They want to buy all of our land so they can drill for oil. We’d have to relocate. Everything would be destroyed.”
“Oh, honey,” Stacy said softly, her hand rubbing soothing circles on my back. “I’m so sorry.”
“And he knew,” I continued, the words tumbling out now that I’d started. “From the very beginning, he knew what his family was planning. He came here specifically to trick us into selling. God, I was so stupid. I slept with him. I trusted him. I thought he was going to save us.”
The humiliation of it was almost worse than the heartbreak. I’d been so desperate for hope, so eager to believe in a miracle, that I’d ignored every red flag and walked right into this disaster.
“You’re not stupid,” Stacy said firmly. “You’re a good person who wanted to believe the best in someone. That’s not a character flaw, Sylvie. That’s who you are.”
Being a good person who believed the best in people felt like the worst kind of weakness. And the worst part? Some foolish part of me still couldn’t quite believe that everything between us had been a lie.
CHAPTER 42
KENT
Ididn’t know what to do with myself.
Did I leave?
Stay?
Would they run me off the property? Send the elves after me? Hit me with a Yule log?
Leaving felt like quitting, and I wasn’t ready to do that just yet. I wanted to stay for her, but I also needed to talk with Harold and Brom. I assumed they would be the ones to make the final decision. I just hoped I could come out of that meeting without getting the shit beat out of me.
I stared at the door for what felt like forever and ultimately decided to give her some space. But I wasn’t going to leave just yet. Not to mention, all my shit was in the room. I would wait and see how things unfolded before I did anything.
I turned around and went back down to the farm.
Ozzo was waiting down by the horses and wagons when I returned, looking confused about why I was alone. Guests had already started to arrive for the winter ride. I could see families climbing onto the decorated wagons while someone poured hot chocolate from the thermoses we’d prepared earlier.
The scene should have been charming, with the massive Clydesdales and the smell of hay and Christmas trees mixing with the less pleasant but honest scent of horse manure. Children were laughing as they settled into the blankets we’d laid out.
Instead, it all felt like a mockery of the morning I’d been enjoying just an hour ago.
“Hey, what was that all about?” Ozzo asked as I approached. “Where’s Sylvie?”
“Mind your own business,” I said with more venom than necessary.
“I thought you were covering for her while she had lunch with her old man,” he continued, oblivious to my tone. “Bill says we need someone to ride along on the first wagon to make sure everything goes smooth.”
I scoffed. “I’m not a fucking employee. Do your own damn job.”
