you don’t have to rush around to find a loan in thirty days, and the carnival will help pay the rest once you’ve secured the loan.”
“Kenzie, this is a lot of money. If the carnival doesn’t produce the amount we need, it will be years before I can pay you back. You can’t put yourself at risk like that. I won’t let you.”
She waved me off again. “I got millions in the divorce, so it won’t even register. Besides, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my twenty-nine years, it’s the James family always does what’s right. I know you’re good for it, Skylar, so I’m not worried. You’ll pay me when you can. If the carnival is a bust, we can work out a payment plan that fits with your budget, or we can become partners in Big Sky Saloon and split the profits. I’ve got a million ideas for this place I think would bring in even more money.”
Could it be this easy?
“Are you . . . are you sure?” I could barely get the words out, almost choking on the hope that this nightmare might finally come to an end.
“Am I sure helping you out is the right thing to do?”
I nodded, holding my breath for her answer. For all I knew she was lying about the millions and was offering out of some misguided idea she was to blame somehow, so I wanted her to think long and hard about what she was offering. “I appreciate the offer more than you know, but I won’t put you in a bind just to save my own hide. You aren’t to blame for any of this.”
Her eyes softened, making her look even younger. “Not a doubt in my mind, Skye. Sign the paperwork and put it behind you. I won’t let Chance take your home.”
My eyes dropped to the pen she was holding out, then back to her to make sure, but she only smiled bigger and shook the pen at me. With trembling hands, I took the pen and signed my name on both copies, then watched her sign her own. I stood when she took a copy for herself and handed me the file back, relief masking her expression, mirroring my own.
How do you say thank you to someone who just rescued you from a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean?
“Kenzie—”
“I’ll get a cashier’s check a few days before the loan is due so the old coots at the bar pitch in with the carnival,” she rushed out. “This will also have the added benefit of keeping Chance off-balance. He won’t know until he gets the money you’ve succeeded in time, which will be its own sort of fun watching him sweat.”
Just like that, the knot in my chest finally burst free. All of the worry, the anxiety about our future disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the relief was immense. So much I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her and cried for a very different reason than I had the past two days, whispering, “You saved us. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
Kenzie returned my hug with interest and began to shake with her own tears. I had no idea what she’d endured living in that house with Justice and Chance, but it clearly affected her if she felt drawn to help us the way she just had.
“We’ve been family for years, you know. I think it’s about time we acted like it, don’t you?”
I pulled back at her question and smiled. “We are family, aren’t we?”
She nodded and wiped her eyes dry. “I should have stepped in sooner, but I was afraid of Justice. Now that he’s gone, I don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
“What about Chance? Will he cause you trouble when he finds out?”
She bit her lip and looked around the bar. “I was hoping we could keep this to ourselves. If he doesn’t know where the money came from, then he can’t take it out on me more than he already has.”
A tingle of unease crept up my spine. “What’s he done?”
She shrugged. “Nothing that matters.”
I grabbed her wrist when she tried to turn away. “Kenzie, what did he do?”
She rolled her lips between her teeth for a moment then sighed heavily. “He showed up at my house last night with war paint on his face.”
I blinked, shocked. “War paint? As in Native American war paint?”