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“I have a deal for you.”
“This should be good.”
“I’ll keep quiet about your relationship with Bastien, and I won’t tell Bastien your last name. In return, before you put the property on the market—no pressure—if you do, please contact me first?”
“That sounds a little like blackmail,” she said. Mikelina wouldn’t underestimate Jace again. He was just as much of a businessman as her father had been. Maybe a little more honest. Maybe.
“You know how to make blackmail powerless, don’t you? Just tell the truth.”
She nodded. That wasn’t so easy either. “I accept your terms. But I’m still not sure I want to sell this place.”
“I get it. It’s great.”
“There are a lot of happy memories here,” she said, surprising herself that she was opening up to him. “I don’t have a lot of those to fall back on and it’s hard to let go.”
“It’s just a house. You still have those memories.”
“They’re being replaced with new ones. Not necessarily better ones. Sometimes, I think this house is the only proof I have that at one point, my life wasn’t a total shitshow.”
She heard the shower click on from the bedroom. “I should go before he comes out and it gets even more awkward. Have fun water-skiing today. I’ll deliver the photo albums before dinner tonight.”
“You’re welcome to join us for dinner,” he said.
“No, I don’t want to intrude.”
“Thanks for everything you’ve done,” Jace said. “But especially for getting Bastien to lighten up.”
While the bachelor party was water-skiing, Mikelina decided to contact Kitty Ainsworth. Even though she knew Kitty loved the jewelry and that Jace was back where he belonged, she felt that she had to explain to Kitty why her brother went a few rounds with the middleweight champ. She sent her the picture of Bastien goofing off from last night with the caption, Got time to talk?
Her phone immediately started ringing.
“Hi,” Mikelina said. “I just wanted to apologize for getting Bastien involved in the altercation last night.”
“Please.” Kitty snorted. “If I know my brother, he instigated that whole fight.”
“Well, to be honest, yes,” Mikelina said. “But he had reasons.”
“Jace told me. It sounds like you guys are having so much fun. I’m obscenely jealous. I’m here in Colorado and I should be having a great time. Except I’m not. I miss Jace. My mother won’t leave me alone about crudités platters and I’m just so done with this wedding-of-the-century bullshit.”
Mikelina wasn’t sure what to say to that. “I wish I could help.”
“You know,” Kitty said, her voice calculating, “I’m so glad you said that. Can you keep a secret? Even from my brother?”
Uh-oh. Considering Mikelina was already keeping a really big one from him, what was one more?
“Sure.”
