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“Of course, I want her to stay, but kissing Cassie doesn’t mean I want to marry her, and she definitely doesn’t want to marry me. She doesn’t even want to be friends.” I point to the outlet, gesturing for Georgia to plug in the vacuum again.
She shakes her head. “We need more deets.”
I stare her down, but when she only smiles bigger, I grab a towel and drop it to the floor.
“I’m not giving up on keeping the pond on the off-chance something may work out between Cassie and me.” While I talk, I shuffle the towel across the floor to soak up the water. It would be so much faster to suck up with the vacuum. I keep my eyes on the floor, not my cousin or sister-in-law.
“I guarantee she wants to kiss you again.” Georgia blocks my path and reaches up to squeeze my cheeks with one hand. “You’re so handsome,” she says in a mom voice. I pull back from her grip, and with a laugh, she drops her hand.
“Are you going to help or just stand there?” I ask her, then toss Seb a towel. “You too?”
Seb bats the towel away. It lands on the wet floor and water seeps into it. “Take it from me, if you like Cassie—if you think she’s someone you could fall in love with—do whatever you can to keep her here. You won’t regret it.”
My cousin doesn’t take anything too seriously, but he’s not joking right now. His fiancée, Hope, was only supposed to be here for a month. He almost let her get away because he was afraid he wouldn’t make a good father to her little girl, Charly.
“Exactly,” Georgia says. “Even if it means giving up the pond.”
I shake my head. “That would mean giving up on my team. I can’t choose someone Imightfall in love with over the girls I’ve committed to coaching.”
“Or raise the money to build a rink somewhere else and get the best of both worlds?” Seb sweeps the towel back and forth with his foot, moving water but not drying anything.
“The best of every world is keeping the pond where we all learned to skate.” I toss another towel on the floor and move away from Seb and Georgia. I don’t like the direction of this conversation.
“I get you love that pond, but if you’re really committed to your team, you’ve got to consider other options,” Georgia says. “And getting donors to build a rink may be your best choice, especially since…”
Her pause makes me turn around. “What?”
She pulls back her shoulders, and in one long breath says, “Lynette’s got two offers on her property—including the pond. She’ll counter-offer, but you should really consider other options for your team’s rink.”
I’m too shocked to do anything but stare at her.
“But I know someone who can help you get the money for an indoor rink,” she rushes to add.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I turn my back to her and go back to mopping.
Georgia splashes over to me in her red rain boots. “That’s fine, then just listen. I have a friend, Dexter, in California. He lived next door to Cassie and me. He’s a professional surfer, but he’s always looking for causes to donate to.”
I shake my head. “Not interested.”
“Just listen, Bear.” Georgia grabs my shoulder to make me face her. “I told him about my idea of turning the old community center in Little Copenhagen into something for everyone in Paradise. A community center that would include an indoor ice rink and a lot of other activities that would benefit all the kids around here.”
“Why would he do that? He has no connections here.”
I know Georgia is trying to help, but I don’t want her help. I don’t want an indoor rink. I’ve already told her that.
But Georgia’s just getting started. She talks with her hands when she gets excited, and she’s waving them all over the place. “Tax-write off? He’s a charitable guy? Maybe the center would be named after him. I don’t know. Dexter’s traveling to tournaments for the next few weeks, so we’ll hammer out the details when he gets back.”
“No,” I bark.
Seb sends me a worried look. He knows Georgia’s said the exact wrong thing.
“No?” she says.
“No. Still not interested.” I walk past her to plug in the wet vac again and turn it on.
The whirring almost blocks out her yelling my name. With my back to her, I can pretend I don’t hear her at all.
Then the vac goes off. I expect Georgia to be the source of the problem, but when I glance back, Seb is holding the unplugged cord.
