“I have another meeting this morning,” he said finally. “I didn’t want to go without having breakfast with you first.”
I paused, fork hovering midair. “But you’re not eating.”
He shrugged, and that’s when I noticed the bags under his eyes. The wrinkles carved into his forehead, and I suddenlywasn’t hungry either. “Are you meeting with your grandfather again?”
He nodded, then looked out the window. “Yes, among others.”
“The men you met at breakfast the other day?”
“Yes. We’re taking them on another tour of the grounds.”
My brows furrowed. “Why?”
He looked at me for a long moment before answering. “Because it’s not just the firm they’re interested in. The lodge is part of the deal as well.”
“What?” My chest constricted and I set down my plate.
“It’s everything. Every acre, every structure, everything my grandfather spent his life building. It’s all on the table.”
“How could he eventhinkof selling this place?”
His gaze dropped to the floor, then lifted slowly back to me. The words that came next were quiet, careful, the kind that hollowed me out just hearing them from his lips.
“Because he’s dying, and he wants to make sure we’re all taken care of after he’s gone.”
The fork slipped from my hand, thudding softly in my lap. I knew something was wrong yesterday, yet the confirmation made my heart stop.
Dean came closer and sat on the edge of the bed, making us eye level.
“But this place holds so many memories. It’s?—”
“Everything,” Dean finished my thought. “I know.”
I swallowed against the knot in my throat. “What are you going to do?”
He leaned back on his elbow, raking a hand through his hair. “Convince him I can handle it.” His eyes closed for a second before opening again, “Mason and I—we’ve been working on a proposal. We’re still working out details, but the idea is to show him that we can split responsibilities. Between us both, I thinkwe can actually make the firm stronger, not weaker. And neither of us will have to carry everything all alone the way he did.”
My brow furrowed. “That makes sense.”
“We’ve mapped it all out. Mason would run operations here at the lodge. We could make it equitable by opening it to the public. I’d mostly oversee operations back at the firm. We’d each carry half the weight, so it’s not all-consuming like it was for him.
He gave a short, almost self-conscious laugh. “It’s boring as hell on paper, but it works. It proves we can take what he built and not just keep it alive but make everyone’s lives even better because of it.”
“And you’re showing him this when?”
“Tomorrow––before the farewell dinner.
The cabin felt much tooquiet after Dean left, and I lay in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the weight he carried on his shoulders.
Eventually, I swung my legs over to the floor and forced myself through the motions—shower, clean clothes, tidying up the dishes we’d left in the sink from breakfast.
I had just dried my hands when a knock at the door startled me.
I froze, frowning, and looked over at George, whose ears had perked the second he heard it.
My chest tightened as I padded toward the door and peeked through the peephole. Nothing.
The knock came again, making me jump backward. I blew out a breath, rolling my shoulders back before turning the knob.
