Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
KRISTA
Saturday, Day Two of the Summer Swap
Krista didn’t look back as she kept walking toward the car, which they’d parked near the Cinnamon Spice Inn.
The plan was to split up at the Hideaway, with Joe starting work as Krista headed back to the campground to go through the photos and maybe work on a bit of copy to accompany them, just as Joe would do.
She planned to share her experience of capturing Maple Falls, and what she was learning along the way.
For now, she was savoring every minute spent with Joe. She’d forgotten how carefree and playful flirting could be—how easy it was to toss a line over her shoulder and feel a man trip over it.
Joe fell into step beside her, close enough that his arm brushed hers every few strides. Close enough that she could smell her citrusy shampoo that he must have used back at her place. She fought hard not to picture him in her shower and failed…miserably.
Up ahead, on the porch side of the Cinnamon Spice Inn, Madison and Zach were mid-project, surrounded by bags of mulch and a messy scatter of potted flowers.
Zach had a wheelbarrow angled toward the steps.
Madison was crouched near a flowerbed, hair pulled up, gardening gloves on, the kind of focused determination that Krista recognized all too well.
Krista lifted a hand when they got closer and called out a hello.
Madison looked up and her face lit. “Krista!”
Zach straightened, wiping his hands on his shorts. “Hey. Swap people.”
“Swap people,” Krista echoed, laughing as she and Joe stepped closer.
Madison popped up from her crouch, a streak of dirt on her shorts. “How’s downtown photography bootcamp going? Please tell me Joe hasn’t made you lie in the street for the perfect angle.”
“Not yet,” Krista said.
Joe held up a hand. “I’d like to clarify that I only make people lie in the street if it’s for art or a particularly compelling insurance claim.”
Madison’s eyes bounced between them, catching on the camera bag, the way Joe kept angling his body toward Krista. Then her expression softened.
“So,” she said, like she couldn’t help herself. “I heard about the Hideaway listing.”
Krista tried to keep smiling, but the comment caught her off guard. She felt herself cracking, piece by piece.
Madison rushed on, palms up. “I’m not trying to ambush you. It’s just…I can’t wrap my head around it. That place is you.”
“It’s also a building with insurance, utilities, repairs, payroll,” Krista said lightly, voice too cheerful.
Zach shot Madison a look that said, Easy , but Madison had always been the kind of woman who stepped toward fires.
“I get it,” Madison said, softer. “I do. I know what it feels like to have something everyone thinks is this dreamy little town landmark, but it’s so much more, and it takes so much more to keep it going.”
Krista knew Madison was talking about how she’d come back home and saved the Cinnamon Spice Inn for her family.
She let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “Not everyone gets a fairy-tale rescue.”
“I don’t know. Maybe they do. This is Maple Falls after all.” Zach spoke up.
Madison stepped closer, lowering her voice. “If you don’t want to sell it, don’t. Tell me what you need. We’ll figure something out. A fundraiser. A summer event. Hell, we’ll make Mayor Bloomfield dress up like a bee and dance on the dock if that’s what it takes.”
Despite herself, Krista’s eyes flickered with amusement. “He’d do it too.”
“He would,” Madison agreed, dead serious. “He’d choreograph it.”
“I appreciate it,” Krista said. “I do. It’s just…complicated.”
“Maybe, but I’m sure we could figure something out,” Madison replied, unwilling to drop it.
Krista’s smile turned brittle. “Okay,” she said, voice careful. “I should— We should go…”
Madison nodded, but her eyes stayed on Krista. “Just…don’t make the decision alone, okay? Not in that spiral headspace where everything feels like the only option.”
Krista lifted a hand, a half wave that was also a quiet boundary. “I won’t. Bye.”
Zach raised two fingers. “See you guys later.”
Krista didn’t speak until they were inside the SUV, doors shut, the world muted.
Joe glanced at her as he started the engine. Her hands were in her lap, fingers laced tight.
“You okay?” he asked.
Krista let out a short laugh. “With which part? The part where Madison ambushed me? Or the part where no one seems to listen?”
Joe pulled away from the curb, keeping his voice even. “They just care about you.”
Krista exhaled hard, staring out the windshield as Maple Falls rolled by in postcard perfection. Hanging baskets. A couple of tourists licking ice cream cones. A kid chasing a dog that clearly had no interest in being caught.
“Everybody has an opinion,” she said, voice tighter now. “Everybody thinks they know what I should do. Like selling the Hideaway is some whimsical little choice I’m making because I got bored.”
“Madison wasn’t judging you.”
“I know,” she snapped, then sighed. “I know she wasn’t. She meant well.”
He kept his eyes on the road. Krista was utterly still. She could feel the heat radiating off of her, a storm about to break.
“She’s right, though,” he said quietly. “You shouldn’t have to sell it––”
She turned toward him fast. “Don’t.”
“Krista—”
“Don’t you start,” she said, voice rising. “Not you too. You’ve been here five minutes. You don’t get to act like you know everything, or what’s best for me.”
His jaw tightened. He took a breath. “I’m not saying I do. I’m saying?—”
“You’re saying what everyone says,” she cut in. “That I should fight. That the town will rally. That it’ll work out.”
Joe’s hands flexed on the wheel. “It might.”
Krista laughed, bitter this time. “Oh my God. You’re agreeing with Madison. The reality is my grandparents are getting older. The reality is that I can’t run two businesses. There isn’t enough time, money, or resources to do it all. Something has to give.”
“I know you’re tired,” he said, softer.
Krista’s laugh cracked at the edges. “Tired? Joe, I could sleep for three days and still be tired.”
He exhaled; it was a measured breath. “Why are you doing this to yourself? It’s not like you don’t have options.”
“Options like what?”
Joe hesitated. “Ask your parents.”
The car went silent so quickly it felt like the air got sucked out.
Krista blinked at him. “No.”
“Krista—”
“No,” she said again, colder. “Absolutely not.”
Joe’s tone was careful. “You told me they have money.”
“Yeah, money that they hold over your head. Money that always has strings attached. ‘We’ll help you as long as you do what we want’ money.”
“I’m not saying you have to let them run your life,” Joe said, frustration creeping into his voice. “I’m saying if the Hideaway is at stake?—”
“I’m not selling my soul to save a building,” Krista bit back.
“It’s not just a building,” Joe shot back. “You said it. It’s yours. You built it. You’re proud of it. And you’re about to throw it away because you’re too stubborn to take help.”
Krista’s head jerked like he’d slapped her.
“Stubborn,” she repeated, voice deadly quiet.
Joe exhaled. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, it is,” Krista said, voice shaking now. “It’s exactly what you meant. That I’m being dramatic. That I’m making it harder than it needs to be.”
“That’s not?—”
“You know what,” Krista said, cutting him off, feeling her cheeks flush. “Of course you think it’s simple. You’ ve never had anyone with their hands in your pockets, tugging strings. You’ve never had love used as a leash.”
Joe’s grip on the wheel became white-knuckled. “You think my life is simple?”
“You can go wherever you want, Joe. You can leave whenever you want. You don’t have grandparents depending on you.
You don’t have employees asking if they’ll still have jobs next month.
You don’t have a town that looks at you like you’re supposed to fix everything with a smile and a cocktail shaker. ”
Joe winced, like he felt pain hitting low and immediate.
“And don’t act like you get it.” Krista kept going, voice breaking with anger and exhaustion. “You’re not trapped here. You’re not trapped anywhere. You get to chase stories and sunrises and whatever shiny new thing calls your name, and if it gets hard, you can just…go.”
“You think that’s why I go? Because things get hard? Christ. Maybe you should stop talking about things that you know nothing about. Maybe you should stop and think about how lucky you are to have a family who cares about you.”
Her phone buzzed. She almost ignored it. Now was definitely not the time.
But the vibration didn’t stop. Gramps flashed on the screen.
Stomach dropping, she answered.
“Krista? Where are you?”
“Dropping Joe off at the Hideaway, then headed toward the campground to do some writing for the swap. What’s wrong?” she asked.
Joe’s attention snapped to her.
“It’s your grandma,” Walt said. “She fell at the camp store, hit her hip on the step. Ambulance’s taking her.”
The car went silent except for the rush of her own pulse.
“Is she—” Her throat closed. She forced it open. “Is she okay?”
“I think she broke her hip,” he said. “She was awake, complaining about the paramedics tracking dirt in, so that’s something. But they want X-rays and all that. I’m gonna follow in the truck.”
“I’m coming,” Krista said. “I’ll call Robyn and meet you at the hospital.”
“Drive safe,” Walt said before the call ended.
Krista looked down at her phone, trying to process what had just happened.
“Gram fell,” she said, a tremble in her voice. “They’re taking her to the hospital to check her hip.”
“Just tell me where to go,” Joe said.