Page 80 of Forsaken Trail (Runaway 4)

Stephanie simply smiled, her eyes wandering around the room. “You’ve made a lot of changes.”

“We have.” I held my breath, hoping they wouldn’t take offense. “I truly love this space.”

Ned turned to Brody and extended a hand. “Mr. Carmichael. Nice to see you again.”

“A pleasure.” The easy posture from lunch was gone. Brody stood stiff, his face drawn tight.

“What brings you to town?” Marty asked, leaning against one of the display tables. “Judging by your Instagram photos, I figured we’d never get you back from Hawaii.”

Stephanie laughed. “We love living there. It’s so green and wonderfully humid. My skin has never felt better.”

“We’re back for John Miller’s sixtieth birthday,” Ned said. “Then we’ll fly home.”

“It’s been lovely to see you.” Brody gestured for the door. “May I escort you out? We’ll let Aria and Marty get back to work.”

The smiles on Ned’s and Stephanie’s faces dropped.

I shot Brody a scowl. Why was he being rude? “No, please. Stay. We’re not that busy. And you should catch up with Marty.”

“Are you sure?” Stephanie asked me, giving Brody a cautious glance.

“Yes, it would be wonderful. Please.”

“Thanks.” She relaxed, taking another gander around the room. “We’ve missed this place. We ran this shop for twelve years. It was sort of like our third child.”

“A third child who actually made us money.” Ned barked a laugh. “I don’t see Suzie or MJ selling for four hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Not that we’d ever sell our kids.”

Stephanie laughed. Marty laughed.

Brody tensed.

And my jaw dropped.

Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars.

It was tacky as hell for Ned to announce that number.

And enlightening.

“You said one hundred and twenty-five,” I whispered, looking up at Brody.

His eyes were on the door, like he wanted Ned and Stephanie gone. Now I knew why he was so eager to shove them onto the sidewalk.

Except the damage was done. They’d spilled his secret.

“You said one hundred and twenty-five,” I repeated, crossing my arms over my chest.

He dropped his gaze to meet mine and there wasn’t an apology on his face. No, there was only guilt.

Tension settled like a black cloud in the room, thickening the air so much it was hard to breathe.

“Say something,” I demanded.

He blinked, then looked over my head at Marty. “Would you please excuse us?”

Brody didn’t wait for Marty’s reply. He gripped my elbow and led me back through the workroom and into the adjoining office, closing the door behind us. It was a small room, taken up mostly by the wooden desk and couch. But there was just enough floor space for me to put a good three feet between us.

“How could you?”