that’s not what’s happening.”
“It’s not true?”
Max reviewed the facts, his attention distracted by who might have told him such a thing, but there was no time to reason that out. “Who told you?”
“Is it true or not?”
“Well, yeah, I was talking to Lauren about our Yule Village, and we both agreed that the weather was changing, and was probably only going to get worse.”
“That’s just what I said to you. You stole my ideas and gave them to her.”
“No, it’s different.”
“How? Because you’d have owned it? You’d marry the girl and swipe the lodge right out from under me.”
“I was putting the idea out there. It’s not like she will do it.”
“You’re damn right she’s not! She might have been able to twist you around her little finger, but not me! Watch, she’ll dump you, build the water park herself, and we’ll both be screwed.”
“She already dumped me because of this—because of you.”
“Because of you,” Pops said. “She’s not fooling me, not again. I should have known better than to trust anybody in that family. Her father was a snake and a sneak, and so is she.”
“That’s not even close to being true. What happened years ago was your fault, but it’s over with now.”
“Got that right.” He chomped down on his cigar. “It’s over with now.”
Max walked out of his father’s office and down the stairs, but he didn’t make it to the door before Jane spoke his name. He turned to see her standing there, blood rushing hot in his veins. His brain flashed with angry words, but if he started with a single one, he was unlikely to control the others that followed.
He pulled the front door open and stomped toward his SUV, but Jane followed him outside. “Max, wait, listen to me.” He stopped and turned. “I’m sorry about what happened. I tried to get him to go along, I really did.”
“And all that talk about threatening my relationship with Lauren?”
“I’m sorry about that, I was desperate. I thought your father would dump me after your grandmother passes. He doesn’t need me and will toss me out because he’s been using me.”
The woman could get a walk-on job as an actress with her dramatic flair and fake tears.
“I think you’re both getting your money’s worth.”
“That’s not fair.”
“I’m afraid it is.” Max looked her over. “You told him about the water park? How did you hear about that?”
“I didn’t, I swear it. I was on your side. After I said those things to you, I felt terrible about it and went to your father to smooth things out. I figured it would put him in a loving mood, and maybe he’d see you and your girl, and he’d be inspired—become the way he used to be.”
Max shrugged and turned to his SUV. “Good luck with that. Don’t forget, a leopard never loses its spots.”
“Where are you going to go? This is your home, and you’re still the future of Hunter Properties. You’re still the life’s blood of this family.”
“Not anymore,”—Max said, shaking his head,—“never again.”
“Don’t say that,” Jane said with increasing urgency.
Max turned, using what was left of his strength to hold back a terrific tirade, but any appeal to her conscience would be a waste of time.
The best thing to say was nothing at all. The best course of action was to walk away. He was in his SUV, tires squealing, as he drove away from his childhood home before he realized he didn’t have anywhere to go.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lauren
Lauren was beyond consoling. Her blood ran cold in her veins, her body cramping and clenching with her gut-wrenching sobs. She’d run upstairs to the privacy of her bedroom, slamming the door before collapsing on her bed.
Multiple emotions came in waves: repulsion, and shame, and then anger and embarrassment. She was feeling everything wrong, and all of it at once.
How could I have been so stupid? They told me, they tried to warm me; Sam, even Ruthie. But no, I had to think I knew everything; I had to believe in love.
The sorrow came in hot sobs that pushed through her body and out of her eyes, her mouth and her nose, filling her ears with the twisted cries of her tortured soul.
Now she’d lost it all—her family—her home. It would crush Mom and Dad to know she let all their work slip away. She didn’t even make it six months before she let it fall apart.
Her brain started pounding along with her heartbeat, sad certainties replaced by