Page 214 of At First Catch

“Pretend you’re okay.”

The silence grows between us. Only the faint sound of waves against the shoreline beyond the cottage windows echoes in the room.

Nolan closes his eyes briefly. “I had another meeting today.”

Fear flickers low in my stomach. “The investors?”

“I’ve been talking to banks,” he admits. “Commercial lenders. Looking into grant programs. Anything that doesn’t end with somebody else owning this place.”

My heart catches.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

His gaze drops.

“Because I didn’t want to get your hopes up if none of it worked.”

“That wasn’t the only reason.”

I wait.

He drags a hand across the back of his neck before finally meeting my eyes.

“Every conversation I had with another bank...” His laugh is quiet. Hollow. “Every rejection...” He swallows. “I kept hearing Celeste’s voice telling me I’d never been good enough to build something on my own.”

My heart twists when he mentions Lark’s vicious mother, Celeste, who single-handedly took away Lark’s business and ran Nolan’s into the ground.

“I know she’s gone,” he says. “I know she doesn’t get to decide my life anymore.” His eyes shine with exhaustion. “But every time someone told me no...” He looks away. “It felt like she was right all over again.”

He nods once, and my chest tightens harder.

I know before he even says it that something has changed.

Nolan scrubs one hand roughly across his jaw before finally speaking. “They want an answer by next week.”

Everything inside me stills.

Next week.

Not months.

Not exploratory conversations.

“What kind of answer?”

His hesitation says everything first.

“They’re willing to fully fund the marina stabilization project.”

Emotion surges sharply through my chest. “Okay…”

Nolan laughs once under his breath. Humorless. “That’s not all they want.”

The cottage suddenly feels too small. Too warm. I set the spoon down carefully before I accidentally break it in my grip.

“What else?”

Nolan looks at me then. Really looks at me. It doesn’t take much to see the fear, guilt, and exhaustion. Like he already knows this conversation changes something between us permanently.