And what hadthatgotten me?
Not a whole lot.
I slumped back against the cushions. "Until this morning, I wasn'tallalone. I mean, I had Trevor." I took a little sip. "He was smart, dependable, and terrific with the bikes. When I caught up on bills, I was going to hire another part-timer and then a full-timer, too. It was all planned." I paused. "Well… loosely planned. More like scribbled on a napkin and powered by delusion."
Tessa reached over and gave my arm a tender squeeze. "Hey. You're not delusional."
The squeeze hit home, and I choked out a laugh. "Alittledelusional. I mean, who looks at an aging bike shop on an island with only seasonal tourist traffic and thinks,'You know what would be smart? Throwing your entire future into this money pit.'"
Of course, the shop hadn'talwaysbeen a money pit. I loved my dad so much it hurt, but numbers weren't his strong suit. My mom had said as much just before leaving him seven years ago. At the time, I hadn't quite believed her. But now, I had plenty of proof in the piles of debt I'd inherited after his fatal heart attack.
Apparently Mom was right.Go figure.
Maybe I'd tell her.Or not.
After all, she'd not only left my dad. She'd left me, too. And years later, I still felt the sting.
With a gentle smile, Tessa said, "You love it, though."
"I do," I said, softer now. "Which is probably why it's gonna kill me. And now I'm my only employee – which wouldn't be so bad if I didn't need like four people to keep the shop running smoothly."
She was staring now. "Wait, you've been doing the work of four people?"
"I wish."
She hesitated. "Sorry, I'm not following."
"I can't do the work of four," I explained. "But Icando the work of two. With Trevor there, it was like having three, which still left me one short to keep the shop humming."
I leaned back and tipped the bottle of mystery peach to my lips only to find it empty.Damn it.I snuck a quick glance at Baby Blue. "And don't get me started on the house."
"The house?" Tessa looked around. "What about it?"
I gestured with the now-empty bottle. "The payments are insane."
Her brow furrowed. "But I thought you owned it outright." Her voice softened. "I mean, your dad left it to you, right?"
At the mention of my dad, I felt tears prick at my eyes. Six months – that's how long he'd been gone. I hadn't even been here when he'd died.
I'd been off in Florida, making some extra cash – and if I were being totally honest, soaking up a few months of sun while the winter turned my island home into a frozen ghost town.
But Ishouldhave been here – no matter what Dad had said.
To Tessa, I replied, "Yeah, but…I mean, the house didn't come to me free and clear." This was a massive understatement. Both the house and the bike shop were saddled with so much debt that it would take a miracle to survive my first season on my own, much less pay anything off.
Tessa frowned. "So there's a mortgage?"
I snuck another glance at Baby Blue. "You could say that." I couldn't see Blue's label, but it looked kind of tropical.Tropical was good, right?
Screw it.I snatched up the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a good, long swig.Holy crap.I almost coughed it right back up again. As I caught my breath, I finally looked at the label.Whiskey.
Definitely not tropical.
Damn it.That's what I got for living on the edge.
Tessa eyed me with concern. "You okay?"
"Just peachy," I said on a cough, wishing I had gone for the pink one instead.
