“By omission,” he said, then threw up his hands. “I know. I know. Still a lie. You’re right. Trust is important in a relationship, and I betrayed that. I’m sorry, Tess. Really, really sorry.”
She blew out a breath. “There must be a lotta gold diggers in Houston?”
“It’s my fault,” he said. “I keep dating the same type of woman, and then I’m surprised when it turns out she’s more attracted to the zeros in my bank account than me.”
“I apologize on behalf of my gender. But I’m not those women.”
“I know. And again, I’m sorry.”
“Accepted.” She pointed the sundae spoon at him. “But no more ‘misunderstandings.’ Also, the interest rate on the two dollars you owe me just went way up.”
“That’s fair.” He chuckled.
“I suppose this was more of a surprise than anything,” she said. “And at least you weren’t hiding thousands of dollars of gambling debt.”
Relief at her forgiveness flooded through him. He knew this was his cue to tell her about his company’s offer on The Outpost, but they’djustcleared this hurdle. Was it wise to throw up another right away? So early in their relationship?
Tess’s low tolerance for lies wouldn’t bode well for him if he got caught again so soon. But if he could fix the issue before he told her? He’d call Cooper, have him agree to the buyer’srequest, andthentell Tess. The admission would land softer if he had no intention of buying her store. Yes, that was a solid plan.
“So, fair’s fair. What’s your net worth?” he asked, sensing an opportunity to lighten the mood.
She chuckled. “Technically, you haven’t disclosed your worth. We’ve only established you’re not broke, but I’m doing all right. I’m actually trying to buy The Outpost.”
He did a double-take and picked his jaw off the table. “What?”
“The owner put it into a portfolio with some other businesses. He has an offer, but he’s in talks to have it removed from the deal so I can buy it. I just hope it’s not too late.”
Holy Crap.Thiswas why the seller wanted it out. Not because he was hiding its value. Oh, man. So much for his plan to wait. This changed everything. He had to come clean. Now.
“There’s something else I have to tell you,” he started.
She looked over his shoulder. “Hold that thought,” she said, holding up a finger and standing. He followed her gaze to the front door. Faith had jerked it open, eyes searching for Tess.
“What’s wrong?” Tess had already jumped to her feet as Faith approached, face tight with worry.
“It’s your mom,” Faith said. “She collapsed and was taken by ambulance to GVF General.”
Tess barely waved goodbye before jogging to the parking lot, where Nick waited in an SUV. She and Faith climbed in, and were gone within seconds.
He thought about following them, but figured if she’d wanted him to come, she’d have invited him. He’d wait, give her a chance to find out what had happened, and reach out later.
In the meantime, there was one thing he could take care of. On his way back to the inn, he called Cooper.
“Take The Outpost out of the deal,” he said.
“Well, hello to you too,” Cooper said, and Logan grunted. “I assume you found out why the guy wants to keep it. What’s the scoop?”
“He doesn’t want to keep it,” Logan said. “He wants to sell it to Tess.”
“Oh, crap.” Coop moaned.
A long pause made Logan nervous. “What?”
“It’s too late, man. I signed the papers like an hour ago. You and I had already talked about it. We decided if we didn’t find any reason to take it out, we’d stipulate that it stayed.”
“But we had until COB today to decide.” Close of Business meant five o’clock. It was barely after one.
“I know,” Coop said. “But the seller got married over the weekend and is leaving tonight for a monthlong honeymoon. He didn’t want it hanging over his head while he was gone and pushed to finalize it sooner. I didn’t think a few hours would make a difference.”
