Ben had been quiet during dinner, but now he wore a small smile. “I’m just glad to hear we’re not bulldozing the place and turning it into a water park,” he said, his voice lightening the mood.
“Hey!” I pointed my fork at him. “Leave the jokes to me, buddy.”
Ben just smirked and took a bite of roast, clearly pleased with himself for stealing my thunder. We settled back into the meal, the immediate hurdle cleared. Bigger questions remained, but maybe they felt less daunting now.
After dinner, Harper and I cleared the dishes. The knots in my shoulders eased, only for a new kind of restlessness to replace them. I kept replaying Mom’s words in my head,“You’ve always been against wholesale renovations.”
Had I? Or had I just coasted along, too lazy to imagine it any other way?
“Thanks for backing me up like that.” Harper handed me a plate to load in the dishwasher. “I know you’ve had mixed feelings about modernizing.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, well, even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
She shook her head and gave me a side-eye. “Is that all it is?”
I rinsed a bowl excessively, buying time. “I don’t know. What if Mom’s right? What if we make all these changes and it blows up in our faces?” Jules’s face flashed in my mind as much as I tried to prevent it.
Harper was quiet for a moment. “That’s a risk we have to take, Eli. Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but what if you’re not cut out for the fight? What if you’re better off not even trying?”
Harper’s hand on my arm made me turn. “Eli,” she said softly, “are we still talking about the resort?”
I forced a laugh. “Of course we are. What else would I be talking about?”
She didn’t push, but her eyes broadcast her concern. As I resumed rinsing, I wondered how long I could keep pretending that a single kiss hadn’t turned my entire world upside down.
As I walked home, the warm night air clung to my skin. The cement sidewalk was solid under my feet, but each step felt heavier than the last. Because our family was discussing the most important decision we’d had in decades, and my mind kept drifting back to Jules. The softness of her lips, that passion she’d shown that damn near undid me.
I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face. “This is insane. You don’t do relationships, remember? Especially not with someone you’re not supposed to be involved with.”
Yet something kept pulling me toward her, like a tide I couldn’t resist. As I reached my bungalow, I paused at thedoor. I was playing with fire here, no doubt about it. But I had to wonder if getting burned might be worth it this time.
