Reese shook her head. “Nothing that’s giving me heart palpitations or making me wonder what I’ve gotten myself into.”
For the most part, that was true. While there were a few more projects and areas of upkeep that had been left to languish than she’d expected, the inn turned a modest profit every year after its operating budget, which stayed relatively close to accurate, was spent. There were a few bigger projects that she’d want to handle over time—improving the pool area, updating the guest rooms, and installing some more permanent outdoor event spaces—but overall, things could be a lot worse.
“Coastal erosion is a serious issue,” Hallie deadpanned. “In another two hundred or so years, this place could fall off the side of the cliff.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Reese shuffled her papers together, looking for something to keep her fidgeting fingers occupied.
“Knowledge is power.” Hallie lingered in the doorway.
“Did you want to chat about something?” Reese was starting to feel a little claustrophobic in the small office, even though Hallie’s diminutive frame only took up about half of the entrance.
She’d never been great with confrontation, unless it was with Grant. Megan had always been the person who dealt with employee issues.
Hallie cleared her throat, growing serious as she stretched to her full, albeit short, height. “I want to know what your intentions are with my best friend.”
Reese’s heart beat uncomfortably in her chest before she found words to drown out the blood rushing through her ears. “My intentions are to help Sydney get closure.”
It’s what Sydney, herself, had professed to want, so she figured it was a safe answer.
“And what’s in it for you?” Hallie asked, crossing one leg overthe other and leaning against the doorframe, signaling a move into a more casual chat.
Reese remained on high alert.
“To torture my baby brother, for a multitude of reasons,” she answered honestly, thumbing across the stack of papers.
Hallie’s shoulders slumped, and she ran a hand through her hair. “Sydney would kill me if she knew I was talking to you about this, but I feel like I have some responsibility here.”
Reese lifted a quizzical brow. “Why are you responsible?”
As far as Reese had seen, Hallie was about the best friend a person could ask for.
“I let her come back to Stoneport, knowing that you’d bought the inn and that Grant was getting married. I put her directly in the Devereux family path because I missed my best friend and wanted to spend time with her.”
“I don’t think that makes you culpable in what, colloquially, I think many people would refer to as ‘a harebrained scheme.’” Reese made air quotes around the phrase, which earned a grin from Hallie. “That was all me and Sydney, and I don’t think anyone on the planet would put that on you.”
“Yeah, what’s that even about? You two were literally alone for five minutes,” Hallie said, more puzzled than anything. “Sydney is not what I’d call an impetuous person.”
Reese shrugged, her face scrunching up. “My brother brings out the worst in both of us?”
Hallie laughed. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“You’re a good friend, Hallie. I’m grateful that Sydney is willing to go to these events with me and provide a buffer from my family. I hope that in return, like I already said, I can help her get some sort of closure.”
“What, she needs confirmation that Grant’s a complete asshole? I could have told her that.”
Reese held up her hands and didn’t allow her smile to become a laugh. Hallie really hit the nail on the head with that one.
“No argument here. But someone telling you something andyou learning and accepting something for yourself are different. I think Sydney just wants to make it make sense.”
Hallie scowled. “I always thought she was too good for him.”
“Again, no argument,” Reese said, her interest piqued.
“Sydney didn’t go to high school with Grant and me the last two years. She was already training full-time. I’ve never liked him. And when I found out they were dating toward the end of her junior year of college, right when he was graduating, I about fell off my beanbag chair.”
Reese could see it clearly, Hallie sitting on a beanbag chair that took up the majority of her dorm room floor, sprawled out within its massiveness as she tried to hold on to her flip phone in her surprise.
“I was a little surprised myself,” she admitted, “but Sydney wasn’t successful or famous in the way she is now. I mostly just couldn’t figure out why someone like Grant, who seemed to be the epitome of a young bachelor, would enter into a serious relationship right after college.”
