CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Tess
When Tess arrived at the hospital, the doctor informed her and her family that her mom had been taken into surgery for an emergency appendectomy. After a tense couple of hours, a green-scrubbed-clad surgeon entered the waiting room, pulling off his paper hat.
“Everything went fine,” he said. “Better than expected. We were able to go in laparoscopically and didn’t have to open her up. She’s been in recovery for about a half an hour. You can take turns seeing her now.”
The tension drained from the room as everyone heaved a grateful sigh.
“Thanks, doc,” Tess’s dad said, a single tear escaping. “I’ll go first.” He followed the doctor out.
Now that the imminent danger had passed, they all relaxed.
“So,” Tess said. “Guess what I found out today?”
“That it was my idea for Garrett to hole up at The Outpost?” Faith asked.
“That I cheated off your math homework all through junior high,” Alex confessed.
“That you really do need to moisturize?” Juliet said.
“That I was the one who broke that lamp and blamed you when we were kids,” Nick said.
Tess gaped. “What? No. It was a rhetorical question. But don’t think we aren’t revisiting all of those things. I knew it was you.” She pointed at Nick.
“You gonna tell us or what?” Alex said.
Tess rolled her eyes. “Remember when I said I thought Logan was hiding something? Well, I found out what.”
“Oooh.” “Do tell.” “Is it juicy?” Her friends leaned in, rubbing their hands.
“Yeah, not so sassy now, are ya?” Tess said.
“Since you’re still alive, I guess he’s not a serial killer,” Juliet said.
“No. It’s actually not anything bad .”
“Well?” Alex said.
“He’s not a broke, nomadic construction worker,” Tess said. “In fact, he owns some big business and is apparently loaded.”
“There are definitely worse secrets,” Nick said. “How’d you find out?”
“Max.” She recapped the conversation she’d had with Max at the inn. “Then Logan confirmed it later.”
“Did he have an excuse as to why he let you believe otherwise?” Faith asked.
“Sort of.” Tess shrugged. “Said it never came up when we first met, and then that it would’ve been weird just to bring it up out of the blue later. Which, I suppose, is true.”
Her friends nodded.
“Also, I guess Houston’s full of gold diggers, and he kind of liked the anonymity of no one knowing. Says people treat you differently when they know you’re rollin’ in it.”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Juliet said, and they all laughed in agreement.
“Well,” Faith said. “A secret millionaire is way better than a secret family.”
“Or the murderer thing,” Alex said.
“So, full steam ahead on falling for Logan then?” Faith wiggled her eyebrows.
Tess was mid-sip when the question blindsided her. “Geez,” she croaked, coughing to clear her throat. “You trying to kill me?”
“Of course not,” Faith said. “Just saying. If him hiding something was your only hang-up, now you can really go for it.”
“We have other issues,” Tess said. “Like he lives two thousand miles away and is going home soon.”
“Pfft.” Faith huffed. “Those things are easily overcome.”
“Not if I buy The Outpost.”
“Any news on that?” Alex asked.
“Not yet,” Tess said. “Moody got married on Saturday and is honeymooning now. The lawyers were supposed to get a response from the buyer today and let me know, but it’s four o’clock, and I haven’t heard anything.”
“It’s only three in Texas,” Nick said.
“Maybe you could find out who the buyer is and casually contact them yourself,” Juliet suggested.
Tess thought for a minute. “Normally, I would never butt into his deal. But he is gone for a month. And he did give me the attorney’s number. I could contact him, and Moody’d never know. Can’t hurt to ask.”
“No time like the present,” Juliet said.
“True,” Tess agreed. “I’ll call after I talk to my mom.”
Twenty minutes later, Tess and Nick stood on opposite sides of their mother’s bed, each holding one hand.
“Hey, Mom, it’s Tess. You awake?”
“Yes, honey. Thank you for being here.”
“Of course. I’m just glad you’re going to be okay.”
“They say you can probably leave tomorrow,” Nick said. “Isn’t that amazing?”
“Yes,” their dad piped up from the corner. “But she’ll have to take it easy for a while.”
“So, you feeling pretty good?” Tess asked. “’Cause there’s something important you need to know.”
Her mom nodded. “What is it?”
“Nick has a confession to make about the broken lamp incident of 2010.”
Her mom laughed, but her dad kicked them out. Guess she’d have to wait a little longer on her sweet redemption.
Tess walked outside to call Moody’s attorney.
“Hi, Mr. Ramsay,” she said. “You don’t know me, but I manage one of Don Moody’s stores—The Outdoor Outpost? He gave me your name as someone I could contact about an in-process deal involving the store.”
“Ah, yes. The Moody deal.” Tess heard clicking on a keyboard.
“I’m not actually hands-on with that one—farmed it off to a coworker—so I may not have the latest. But last I heard, we’re still waiting on the buyers to get back to us regarding the revised portfolio.
I do know Moody’s chompin’ at the bit to get the contract signed before he heads off on his honeymoon.
He already postponed his departure a few days just for this deal.
New bride was none too happy about that, let me tell you. ”
“What if I reach out to them?” Tess asked, desperate to keep him on track. “I don’t want to hold anything up or cause any problems, but I also really want The Outpost.”
“Unconventional,” Ramsay said. “But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. Let’s see if I can find the info.” He paused, and she heard more clicking. “It’s a multi-bajillion-dollar company down in Texas. Houston, if I remember right. Two brothers own it.”
Her stomach turned to stone. It couldn’t be.
“Hah. Found it. Logan and Cooper Fox. Think they plan to turn it into one of their franchises, a Wilderness World.”
Tess’s tongue wouldn’t move. Her legs felt weak. Her blood began to boil. And the litany of emotions made her dizzy. Thankfully, there was a wooden bench nearby, and she fell into it.
Logan was buying her store. That’s what he’d been hiding. Being rich had just been an appetizer lie, a teasing taste to whet her appetite for the main course lie.
“You still there?” Ramsay asked. “You ready for the number?”
“I’m here,” Tess choked out. She didn’t bother jotting down the number. She wouldn’t be calling it.
Many emotions ran through her, but betrayal topped them all. He’d probably come to town to research the business. That was the only logical explanation. How else did Richie Rich from Houston end up in tiny GVF?
So, he’d known from day one. When she met him in the coffee shop, the whole time on the campout, and all the hours they’d spent together since. He’d had a million opportunities to come clean.
The betrayal stung, but what caught her off guard was the depth to which she felt betrayed.
It rivaled the day she’d found out about Seth’s gambling debts.
And she’d loved Seth. Which begged the question…
Had her feelings for Logan tripped over attraction and stumbled into love? Is that why this hurt so much?
Faith came out and sat beside her, reading her mood effortlessly. Just as she’d been doing all their lives. “Bad news from Moody?”
“Somethin’ like that.” Tess huffed out a laugh. She could let Faith assume this was all about losing The Outpost deal, but sooner or later, she’d find out the real issue anyway. “It’s Logan’s company that’s buying the store.”
“What? And he didn’t tell you?”
Tess shook her head.
“Oh, honey.” Faith wrapped Tess in her arms. “I’m so sorry.”
Tess wasn’t a big crier, and even now, only a tear or two escaped. “Can you tell my dad I’ll come back tomorrow?”
“Of course. How you gonna get home?”
“I could use a walk.” She stood. “The triple C’s barely over a mile.”
“All right. Well, call if you need anything. You know we’re all here for you.”
Tess used the twenty-minute walk to think—and stew. She’d been irritated to find out Logan had misled her about his money sitch. That was nothing compared to this.
Sure, they were both lies of omission—that would probably be Logan’s defense—but while the first was more or less harmless and didn’t affect Tess, this lie would have an immense impact on her. And he would be well aware of that.
She obviously couldn’t stay employed at The Outpost. No way she was staying on as Logan’s employee! That meant she had at most a month to figure out her next move.
She picked up her car at the ice cream shop and stopped for a pizza on the way home. Even the comfort of warm, gooey cheese couldn’t ease her trepidation. She slammed the lid and shoved the whole thing into the refrigerator.
Losing her job would suck, but losing Logan—even though she’d only “had” him for a short time—hurt more than she would have thought possible.
Which was a foreign feeling for Tess. She prided herself on not getting all mushy when it came to relationships.
But Logan had snuck in undetected and penetrated her tough-gal exterior.
He’d sucked her in with his sweet, sincere guise. The way he’d stepped up to help Max. His thoughtful gifts on her birthday. The modesty about being wealthy. She kicked herself for being so naive. After what happened with Seth, she should have known better than to trust a man.
Logan, thinking she was still at the hospital, texted and offered to bring burgers, but she ignored him.
Unless he covertly slunk back to Texas in shame, she’d eventually have to talk to him. The town was too small to avoid anyone for very long. There would be a confrontation. She just prayed she’d be able to keep her cool for it.