Page 16 of Love is a Game

“Updates?” Andrew sputtered. “No, see, I’m trying to preserve the hotel, not change it. I just have to get my historic-landmark application turned in.”

“And then what?” she asked. “You’ll still need someone to run it.”

“Since it’s so close to Olympic National Park, we should have no trouble finding a local buyer interested in taking over the place. That’s what the hotel needs, not some corporate logo out front.”

“Oh, look what you’ve done, Bob,” Camille complained. “You’ve got them all riled up.”

Sadie’s dad was chuckling as he watched their back-and-forth. “Listen, kids,” he said. “I think it’s great you both feel so strongly about this. Works out either way for us; we just don’t want to see the place torn down.”

“That’s true,” Camille agreed. “Can’t we all agree that’s the most important thing?”

Sadie and Andrew said nothing, just eyed each other from across the table.

“Can you pass the salt, Bob?” Tyson asked, then turned to Andrew. “Have you been watching the playoffs?”

“Uh, some of it, yeah.” He turned away from her and cleared his throat. Sadie dropped her gaze to her plate. She should have stuck to her original plan of keeping quiet.

Ever the peacemaker, Tyson kept the conversation focused on sports for the rest of the meal. Sadie kept her thoughts to herself. When he approached her at the grocery store, she’d actually taken pity on him. He seemed so desperate, and she foolishly thought he might be ready to turn over a new leaf. Clearly, he was the same arrogant boy who had always done his best to humiliate her. She wouldn’t have ever expected he could use her own family against her though.

Before long, the nightmare was almost over. Everyone was standing and bringing dishes into the kitchen, and Sadie was trying to figure out how soon she could make her escape.

“Can I help clean up?” Andrew offered.

“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” Camille said, taking his plate from his hands. “Would anyone like some tea?”

Sadie’s jaw clenched. She couldn’t take one more minute of this. Surely she wouldn’t be expected to sit and visit any longer. If he stayed, she would excuse herself. She would make up some reason for needing to go to bed early.

“I’d better get going,” he said, to her relief. “Thank you so much for having me.”

“Glad you could come,” Bob said, clapping him on the back.

“Yes, you’re welcome anytime,” Camille added.

Anytime.

“Sadie, why don’t you walk him out?” Camille suggested, putting a hand on her shoulder and pushing her toward the door.

She gritted her teeth but nodded. There were a few things she wouldn’t mind saying without her family around. They walked out to the porch in silence, but once the door was closed, he turned on her.

“There’s absolutely no way I will ever let a corporation like Maddox take over the Cypress Hotel,” he told her. His cold tone matched the intensity of his icy gaze. “Whatever information you were looking for, you’re not going to get it from me.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What say do you have in this exactly?” she asked. “Because I don’t really see how it’s up to you. Robby Gregson owns the place. I’m going to take it up with him.”

That seemed to strike a nerve. He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up even more than it already was. Good, let him be flustered. She’d never let him push her around back in high school, and she certainly wasn’t going to start now.

“I live here, Sadie. I have a vested interest,” he finally said. “If you want to do what’s best for Briar Cove, you will leave Maddox out of this.”

She shook her head. “The only reason I was interested in helping you was because I thought it would benefit my company. If it doesn’t, then you’re on your own.”

He set his jaw and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“And one other thing,” she added. “While I’m here, I want you to stay away from my house.”

He chuckled darkly. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll keep my distance. Like you said, you can just pretend I don’t exist.”

“Good,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Good.”