Please, please let that happen.
Just imagining that scenario made Sloane’s aching shoulders loosen the slightest bit. Which only made her more aware of the broken, aching state of her heart. Sure, Emmitt’s siblings knew a lot about him. They’d seen his response to old hurts in his past, which might give them a good idea of what he’d do in this circumstance.
But what they had not witnessed was the intense connection between her and Emmitt. The late night, vulnerable conversations where they’d bled it all out. The good, the bad, and the broken.
And to think he had been in hiding this whole time. Sloane had nearly forgotten that detail among the rest. It’d been hard to focus after Emmitt stomped out like he had, but Richard got her attention with the story of what brought them to The Homestead earlier that spring, and oh, what a story it was. One that made Sloane even more sorry she had made such a mess of things.
“You doing alright?” Ty asked, sliding into the barstool beside her at the kitchen counter.
Sloane did not feel worthy of the sweet woman’s concern. “I don’t know how I will ever forgive myself if we have to move to Plan B. To think about disrupting you guys, forcing you to evacuate this incredible place…”
“It would only be temporary,” Andie said, proving she was listening as well. She came up to sit on the other side of Sloane while Ava took a seat next to Ty. A little group of sisterhood. Sloane only wished she belonged.
In the adjacent dining area, the men were hovered over a long map of the inn, plotting protection points for their backup course of action.
“Richard’s usually pretty quick to blow up,” Ava said under her breath. “Originally, I was surprised that he was taking all of this so well. But you know what he told me?”
Sloane shook her head, curious to know what sort of comfort he could take from their circumstance. “What?”
“He believes that the situation with Wren was never going to end. He feels this was, in a sense, inevitable, and that he’d rather have it behind us than before us.”
Sloane mused on that for a bit. Perhaps the guy had a sixth sense.
“The good thing is,” Ava continued, “if we can get Wren to believe that The Homestead Inn is, in fact, a dead end, then we most likely won’t wind up back on his radar.”
That was true, but Sloane didn’t know how to take comfort in that. Not yet. A fresh ache tore deep into her heart as she held Ava’s gaze. She reached her hands out, cupped them over Ava’s where they rested on the bar, and sighed. “I truly am sorry.”
“I know,” Ava said. “But I agree with the Durans. You were hired to do a job. I’m just glad it was you and not someone else.” She sighed, nodding a bit as her gaze turned wistful. “Something tells me that it’s all going to work out for the best.”
Just then Sloane’s phone buzzed.
Sloane pushed her stool from the bar, shot to her feet, and put the call on speaker.
“It’s Gabe,” he said. “You guys ready? I’ve got JB on the line, and it’s our moment of truth…”
“We are ready,” she breathed, heart thumping like an unhinged spin cycle.
“Does somebody have a bottle of champagne?” JB asked in a triumphant tone.
A rush of relief soaked into her limbs, making them warm and weak. “It worked?”
“Oh, it worked, alright,” Gabe cheered. “Like a charm! Those first images will come through like scrambled eggs. As long as no one suspects foul play—and why should they—you already re-sent the images and left all else as it was, you’ll be getting a very irritated reply saying that the faces don’t match at all.”
“Thank you,” she breathed. “Both of you. Thank you, so so much.”
“My pleasure, baby,” JB chimed in smoothly. “I’m happy to help. Of course, I wouldn’t turn down a date night with you for services rendered.”
“She’s recently spoken for,” Gabe said. “But you can takemeout.”
Sloane glanced up to see that Ava and Richard were already embracing in celebration from the news. Trenton and Andie were doing the same as Memphis moved in and gave Ty a hug from behind.
“Hey,” Maverick said, tossing his hands in the air. “What about me?” But he seemed to already have an answer for that as he shuffled toward Sloane. Once close enough, Maverick gave her a warm, much-needed embrace.
He stepped back with a sigh, but stayed close as Sloane addressed those on the line once again.
“If there’s ever a way I can make this up to either of you,” she said, holding the phone closer to her mouth, “say the word and I’ll do it.”
“Like I said,” JB assured, “the pleasure was all mine.”
