“We barely know each other anymore, Mom. Our relationship is ancient history.” Her parents had never approved of her dating Mark. Everyone in town knew he’d gotten arrested at fifteen for stealing cigarettes from the mini-mart. The owner hadn’t pressed charges, but in such a small town, his reputation as a delinquent had been set. By high school, he’d cut so many classes he almost flunked out. He smoked a lot of weed. But he’d always been a perfect gentleman with Jessica while they were dating. “The bigger problem is that he and his business partners just outbid me on that land between our properties.”
“Oh no.” Her mom’s face fell. “So you didn’t get it? Oh, sweetie, I know how long you’ve been saving and planning for this.”
“Well, it’s not a done deal yet. I’m making a second offer, but this is as high as I can go so cross your fingers for me.” While she talked, she clicked through the documents the realtor had sent, adding her electronic signature where it was needed.
“Maybe your father and I could come up with something to help if you—”
“No. Thank you, Mom, but I know you guys are tapped out after Nicole’s wedding. It’s not worth any of us going outside our means to buy this land.”
“But you’re so close. Just let me know if there’s anything we could do…”
“Thanks, Mom.” But there was no way she was taking money from her parents. They’d finally managed to pay off their credit card debt last year, and she wasn’t going to let them jeopardize their hard-won financial stability for her. “So if my fever stays gone, how soon can I consider myself germ-free to go back to work?”
“Twenty-four hours without fever is the rule of thumb,” her mom said, “but I’d wait until at least Friday to be safe.”
“Okay.” Friday was doable. She’d been worried she wouldn’t be back in time to oversee the spa treatments for her friend Gabby and her bridal party before her wedding on Saturday so this was good news.
Her mom left shortly after to get to work. Jessica called the spa to check in with Dana, her assistant manager. Everything seemed to be running smoothly without her, but Jessica was relieved to put herself back on the appointment calendar for Friday. She was more than ready to get back to work.
Her energy depleted, she leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. Next thing she knew, her phone was ringing, dragging her from a deep, dreamless sleep. She opened her eyes to see that it was four o’clock, and she’d just slept away most of the day.
And Gordon McDermott was calling.
She cleared her throat and connected the call. “Hello.”
“Hi, Jessica. Gordon McDermott here. Calling to let you know Off-the-Grid Adventures has increased their offer by twenty thousand.”
Twenty thousand.Shit.“Oh.”
“If you need some time to think about a counteroffer, I don’t need your answer until end of day tomorrow.”
“I…um, I don’t need any time. I can’t compete with that.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said.
Not nearly as sorry as she was. She slumped on the couch, defeat sitting like a boulder on her chest.
“I’ll keep things open until tomorrow anyway, in case you have a change of heart.”
“I appreciate that, but unfortunately I’m out. Thanks again.” She ended the call before her voice cracked and gave her away. Because she’d been dreaming about this resort almost since she’d opened the spa, and once these guys bought it and put their mountain bike course on it, that land probably wouldn’t go back on the market again in her lifetime. Worse, she’d have to watch them out there on their bikes, living it up on the land that should have been hers. Tears pressed against the back of her eyes.
No way around it. Her dream was over.
