Chapter 22
Twenty-two
Ginny
After Gran nearly declared war on the Paradises, dessert is served like nothing happened. The clink of silverware and quiet hum of conversation almost makes us seem like a normal family.
But I know better. The air here turns cold fast.
“—and you wouldn’t believe the nerve of this guy,” Mike’s saying, his voice loud enough to cut through three side conversations. “Shows up at Ryker Paradise’s front door like it’s the damn Four Seasons.”
I glance up, confused. Mike’s grinning, proud of himself, the way he always is when he knows he’s holding something toxic.
“Who?” Josie asks, brows pinched.
Mike winks. “Ginny’s new ride. Dropping her off at Ryker’s place at one in the morning. And not just once, either. Regularly.”
My head jerks up. My brain scrambles to process it—how he knows, how long he’s been watching.
Eyes swing to me. Accusing. Eager. Hungry.
And I realize too late, this wasn’t a slip. It was an ambush.
The table stills. Even the fire seems to crackle more quietly.
“What are you talking about?” Evelyn asks, her voice sharp.
I feel myself go cold.
Mike shrugs, all innocent. “Just saying what I saw. A black Beemer. Late night drop-offs at Ryder Paradise’s home. I was out night-fishing last week, so I saw it happen. Same car the week before. Figured we were all pretending not to notice, but I guess I broke the spell.”
My heart collapses on itself.
“Have you been seeing Ryker Paradise?” Gran’s voice is no longer just sharp. It’s lethal.
“I—” My mouth opens, but no sound comes.
She pounds the table. “Tell me he’s lying.”
“I’m not,” Mike chimes in again. “I’ve got the timestamped security-cam footage from the shop to prove it.”
Josie groans. “Mike, what the hell—?”
Sera steps in. “Can we just take a second before we start tearing into each other?”
But the look on Gran’s face says the moment for second chances is long gone. “Is it true?” she asks again.
My throat tightens. I don’t answer. I can’t. I don’t need to. She already knows.
“You’ve been sneaking around with Ryker Paradise.” Evelyn rises slowly, her chair scraping across the tile like a warning shot. “After everything this family has done for you. After everything they’ve done to us. You choose him?”
My heart beats double time. Heat floods my cheeks. I feel like I’ve been dragged to the center of the table and put on trial.
I push back my chair and stand too. “This feud? It’s ancient. It’s a waste of everyone’s time. You don’t even know if the Paradise family is behind the problem with the vines, yet you want to go to war with them.”
“You think this is about ghosts?” Evelyn’s voice rises.
“You think this is something we all just decided to keep going out of boredom?” Her eyes flash, fixed on mine like a vise.
“They stole our land. The northern ridge? It belonged to us. Your great-grandfather had the deed. But Chip Paradise—he forged a claim. And don’t even get me started on what they did when your grandfather passed.
Trying to tell me they had a deal about the land.
No. They’ve made sure we’re still deep in this feud. And you are playing with the enemy.”
I blink, stunned.
“He strong-armed it from the county registrar when I was a girl,” Gran continues. “Your great-grandfather died trying to fight it in court.”
I shake my head, barely recognizing the woman in front of me. “That was before I was even born.”
She slams her palm against the table. “And then they killed my sweet Mabel, your grandfather’s sister.”
That knocks the air out of me.
Josie gasps softly.
The room tilts. My fingers go numb. I’ve heard about drunken arguments, whispered accusations but never anything like this.
“They ran her off the road,” Evelyn says, her voice cracking now. “It was one of those damn boys, Max and his brother, showing off. Racing the ridge road like it was a game. She never stood a chance. They got off with nothing. Called it a tragic accident.” She spits the words like poison.
My breath catches. No wonder she’s so angry. “I’m sorry that happened. I truly am. But Ryker wasn’t alive then either.”
Evelyn’s voice turns bitter. “And yet every single time we rise, every time we get ahead, they find a way to knock us down. The well. The vines. The deals that suddenly fall through. You don’t think they’re behind it? You think they’re just lucky?”
Tears sting my eyes. “I think Ryker is a good man.”
Her eyes blaze. “Then you’re a fool.”
Silence.
Just the crackle of the fire and my racing heart.
“You want to love him?” she sneers. “Fine. But not under this roof. You don’t get to have both. You can be a Paradise or a Dempsey. You don’t get to straddle the line.”
My throat closes. “You’re making me choose?”
“I’m not,” she says, jaw tight. “You already did.”
I want to scream that I didn’t. That I don’t understand how I feel or what I want yet.
But deep down, I know she’s right. I’ve made my decision. And I think it’s the one I’ve been trying to make my whole life—not them, not him, but me. I choose myself, what I want, and a future that actually has something to offer besides pain and old grudges.