Page 41 of XOXO, Summer
She lifts her head and says, “It’s all I wanted. I put my entire future on the line, believing she would give me a chance. One shot, like you said.”
“You’ve taken it, though. Not every shot scores a goal. But there will be others. Those will be your winners.”
“You don’t understand, Daniel. This cottage is all I have to keep me here. I was willing to sink what little of my inheritance I had left into this property. It was a way to help my family pay the bills one day. But worst of all, when this property sells, they all will. No one will be left in this small town except for us. And then we’ll have to go.” Rust covers her tone, making it rougher, as tears slip through the words. “High-rise hotels will be built on top of my parents.” A sob breaks through as she falls into my arms this time, her cheek to my chest, while fisting my shirt.
Roman walks out with his bag, so I hold up a finger and signal for him to wait inside. He goes but looks back. I don’t want to worry him, but this is life. It’s okay to show emotion.
I’m trying to understand the full story through the glimpses she’s giving me. “Mrs. Dover is not letting you put in a competing offer, or it’s a no-bid situation, and she’s already sold it?”
“I could put in an offer, but it would have to be higher than what’s on the table.”
“What’s on the table?”
Wiping under her eyes, she sits up and straddles the bench to face me. “Two hundred thousand more than I could ever dream of having.”
I rest my hands on her legs and gently rub, wanting to both comfort her and selfishly keep her close. “Can you borrow from the bank?”
Annoyance conveys in her eyes as she turns her gaze somewhere other than on me. Her tongue toys with the corner of her mouth before I’m hit with a hard stare. “I’m not risking our home as collateral, and I’d never be approved for the amount I need to bridge the gap. Withoutit . . .” A thickened throat has her clearing it unsuccessfully before she adds, “I know it’s hard for someone like you to understand money problems?—”
“I grew up with nothing but hockey gear. Everything and anything was sold to keep me playing in hopes of hitting the jackpot one day.”
“And you hit it.” Her patience is worn and threading through her words. I don’t blame the urgency she feels to fix the problem. It’s her fallback from what I’ve already learned. “Problem solved.”
“I would have rather had a family.”
“Me too.”
Shit.I shouldn’t have gone there, not with her. She had the perfect life. I had an angry father who took out his failures on his only son. Yeah, not the same thing. “I’m sorry.”
A beat doesn’t pass before she’s reaching forward to hug me. Slipping onto my lap, she needs this maybe as much as I do. To be close to someone without an expectation of more than comfort feels foreign to me, but I feel it with her. I hold her, knowing this might be the only time, and relish this amazing woman in my arms by kissing her shoulder.
I may not know everything I want about Summer, but I know I can trust her. She’s good inside and out. “Summer?”
From against my chest, she whispers, “What?”
I remember my father begging for his cut of my pay. Every two weeks, like clockwork, he showed up. Two years straight. He always called it a loan and would turn around to call me a sucker for falling for it again.
She’s not him. She’s what’s good with the world. What better investment is there than that? I do what everyone always told me not to, and ask, “What if I loaned you the money?”
CHAPTER 13
SUMMER
“You can’t do that.”
I stand, needing room to roam and think through this ludicrous idea with plenty of space to lay out my thoughts to examine them better. Surely, he’s drunk, though I know darn well one beer wouldn’t have clouded his judgment enough to make such a wild offer.
“Why not?”
“You barely know me, that’s why not.” I start pacing, seeking a stride that feels right for a situation like this.There’s not one.So I walk without purpose to get the shock of Daniel’s offer out of my system. “These things don’t happen to me. It’s like winning the lottery and losing your best friend.”
“What does that mean?”
“Good always comes with bad, and I’m not prepared for what the opposite of this luck will be.”
“Okay. Okay.” He’s off the bench and blocking my path. Catching me before I dart around him, he holds me still and lowers to eye level. “I wasn’t trying to make things worse for you, but I can confidently say that I don’t regret the offer. Iknow enough about you and your intentions to save this town to want to help.”
My shoulders ease under the realization that I’ve been heard. My heart, my dreams, and my goals. A man with a million other reasons not to give the time of day to a small-town girl a world away from his own was listening. The reassurance in his tone lets me know he understands my concerns. “You still can’t offer a stranger hundreds of thousands of dollars without strings attached. This is not what most people do, Daniel.”
