trekking out to the inn to gawk at us like zoo animals. We don’t need the interruptions.”
Oh boy.
When Alex got it wrong, he got it the full one-eighty degrees wrong. Might as well break it to him now.
“You really think that’ll slow the flood of visits you’re about to get? That’s priceless. They want to meet all of you. They want to grab a behind-the-scenes peek at the renovations so they can lord the info over their friends. All you did was put a match to a bonfire.”
“Ah. Really? Damn.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, then shook it off. “I still have a lot to learn about small-town life. Maybe we could work out a barter system? A hint on small-town protocol in exchange for every public endearment or hug I toss your way?”
No. Nope. He wouldn’t distract her from her question. “That’s what I wanted to ask. We both know you didn’t move here for love of a made-up fiancée. And upending your life because you win an…unusual lottery is, well, unusual. So why’d you really go for it and come out here? What’s the real reason?”
“Hmm Well, I guess you could actually say love.”
Hands flying to her mouth in mock horror, Sydney wailed, “Oh no, are you cheating on me?”
“Let me clarify. Not of the marrying kind. My love for Amelia and Teague and Everleigh. They’re…my circle. My foundation. My family—all I’ve got.”
No extended family? No parents? Her heart stuttered. “That’s both sad and lovely, simultaneously.”
“I got over the sad a while ago. Now I’m just grateful for them. Every day. Especially with Teague deployed in danger zones for too long. He just got out. Special Forces.”
“Oh my.” That explained his confident stance. Like he was always ready for anything.
“You could say that all of our lives skidded onto a rough patch. Simultaneously. It’d be a comedy of errors if it wasn’t our actual damn lives.”
“I’m sorry.” It touched a more than sympathetic nerve in her. Seeing as how her boss had been crystal clear that he didn’t approve of her sabbatical and might not hold her job for the next three months. Let alone the promotion she’d been promised and then had yanked away right before coming here.
Sydney had skidded into one heck of a rough patch, career-wise. And she was still coming to terms with the fact that she’d almost lost her grandmother. While half a world away. It had almost broken her heart. And she had no idea how to deal with that going forward.
Alex tugged his comically long scarf away from his neck. Like it—or the words—were choking him a bit. “Long story short, for a variety of reasons, all four of us either suddenly didn’t have a job or were about to lose it. Same with our living situation. The lottery ticket was a fun, cheap fantasy on Christmas Eve when everything was crumbling around us. Amelia’s attempt to cheer me up.”
It really was a great story. Something that should be immortalized in a cable holiday movie. “So it truly was happenstance?”
“Yeah. We’d hit rock bottom. Together. This inn was a way out, a way up. Together.” His smile flashed in the moonlight. “What could be more perfect?”
Um…a lot of things? That weren’t so labor-intensive or money-sucking. But she did get the perfection of the timing and keeping four different people tied together in a single enterprise. Nevertheless, it seemed…risky?
“I don’t mean to come off as negative, but why do you think you can pull this off?”
“Because we have to. There’s no other option, no escape plan. No parents or trust funds to fall back on, or promised jobs hanging out there to be grabbed in six months. This is it.” Alex stopped to lean sideways against her car. “Since we’ve officially abandoned proper date protocol, can I tell you a secret?”
“Sure.”
“I cashed out my IRAs.” Alex tipped his head back and let out a half groan, half laugh. “Feels good to share that with someone. It’s been a lot to carry by myself.”
Holy crap. Talk about risky. Trying not to reveal the panic that was her instinctual response, Sydney asked, “Why?”
“Because we need cash flow. To live off of. The inn came with a small operating account, but it isn’t enough.”
“That’s…brave. Generous.” Ballsy. “Nobody else knows?”
“I can’t tell them. They’d worry. Want to do the same. Better to only have one of us assume the risk. I’m more of a business-oriented type, so they leave the books to me. Everyone’s