Page 101 of Sand in My Boots

Needing time to process it all, I plop down into an empty armchair. I blow out a deep breath, my brain screaming at me to figure out what to do with this information. Yet, I can’t.

I have no way of understanding this.

When Preston first offered me the opportunity and the initial investment cost, I turned him down immediately, knowing there was no way in hell I could come up with that kind of capital. I had little to my name.

A stream of emotions floods me—confusion, pity, anger. Though the last one is a mystery to me. Maybe it’s because she didn’t tell me. All this time we’ve spent together lately, getting to know each other more intimately, and she left a huge piece out.

A new thought occurs—is this why she first invited me back to her room during the vacation? ‘Cause she knew she could eventually hold this over my head? Make me fall for her only to pull out the rug from under me somewhere down the line?

No, that’s not Juli. Not the girl I knew from our past, certainly not the woman I know today. Though my mind won’t completely dismiss the thought.

“I don’t know what to think,” I finally admit, my hands pulling at the strands of my hair.

“Do you have to understand it?”

Do I?

Yeah, I think I do, yet I don’t know why.

Does it matter where the money came from? I wouldn’t trade the opportunity I’ve been given, one Juli’s given me, but would I have taken it had I known?

No.

Which is why it was “anonymous.” Preston knew I wouldn’t take it. This way, we all got what we wanted—me working at Whispering Tide.

“It’s a lot of money.” Another thing I can’t fathom. It’s a shit-ton of money. Millions of dollars. And yes, had there been a stipulation I had to pay it back, I would have been able to make payments. The resort is profitable for all of us. It’s why I’ve been able to save money, buy my car, and make the hefty mortgage payments on my townhouse. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

Her eyes track onto the wall above my head, avoiding eye contact. “A month ago, the answer would have been no. I didn’t do it for recognition or for you to find out. It was a gift for a friend.”

“A substantial gift,” I interject. “For a friend you hadn’t seen or talked to in a decade. I don’t know if we could consider us friends.”

“That may be how you saw it, but there was always something between us. Before the vacation. Before that night. There was always something there. Friends don’t see each other naked. Deny it all you want, but it wasn’t one-sided on my part. Even if for so many years I believed it was. You said it yourself.”

She’s not wrong. She was always more than a friend. More than Preston’s little sister. More than one night. More than one week. Even when we lost touch, she’d cross my mind every once in a while, especially when I started working so closely with her brother. Still, if the situation were reversed, I’m not sure I would have offered to pay her way. It wouldn’t have been on my radar to do so.

“This is huge.”

“Are you mad?” she asks hesitantly.

“‘Mad’ isn’t quite the word. Though your keeping it from me the past few weeks doesn’t sit well.”

She pops out of her chair and kneels in front of me. “Would it have changed anything? Answer me honestly. If you knew—either before or during—would it have changed our relationship?”

“I can’t answer that. At least not right now.”

She nods. “That’s fair. Don’t be mad. You don’t get to be mad.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“That’s hardly a reason.”

She sinks down on her ass, folding her feet in front of her, and reaches her hand out. Without thinking, I put mine in hers. “Tell me I made a mistake. Tell me I shouldn’t have done it.”

“You shouldn’t have done it,” I whisper, no conviction in my voice. “I didn’t deserve it.”

“One day you’ll believe you did. You do,” she corrects. “If I didn’t know it from the beginning, I know it now. Watching you in your element at Whispering Tide. You’re where you’re supposed to be. I’m glad I got to witness your work, see how you’re thriving, rocking your role as co-owner. The small part I had in that makes me happy.”