Page 127 of Hometown Girl

“Of course I do, Beth. Look around.”

Beth could feel the slack in her own jaw. What had happened to Molly’s insistence that this was their second chance? Didn’t her sister understand how much Beth had grown to love this farm?

The realization wove through the back of Beth’s mind.

She loved this place. And she’d fight for it—even if her sister wouldn’t.

“No. Fairwind is not for sale.” Beth squared her shoulders.

“The way I see it,” Molly said, “we didn’t have enough money before the storm, but now? All the work we’ve already done is ruined.”

“We can fix it,” Beth said.

“Not for free.” Molly shook her head. “I think maybe you were right from the beginning. It might be time to admit that we’re in over our heads.”

“So, what? We’re just supposed to pack it all up? Sell the farm to a man who’ll turn it into God only knows what?”

“What do you suggest, Beth?” Ben asked coolly. “We’ve sunk about as much as we want to into this place.”

He was right. She had nothing more to give. She’d practically drained her trust on repairs for Fairwind Farm. But this couldn’t be the end. She couldn’t give up on her “why” just because she didn’t see a way out of this right at that moment.

Sunlight streamed in through the gaping hole in the roof.

“Just let me think for a minute,” she said.

“There’s nothing to think about.” Molly crossed her arms.

“Then what am I supposed to do now?” She was horrified when her eyes filled with tears. Behind her, Drew stopped moving, gaze fixed on her.

“Beth, you can go back to your job at Whitaker Mowers, and it’ll be like none of this ever happened,” Molly said.

“I can’t.” The words slipped out before she could catch them.

“Of course you can. They’ve probably been bugging you for taking so much time off.”

Beth’s eyes fell to the ground at Molly’s feet. “No, they haven’t. They asked me to resign.”

“They what?” Ben asked.

She looked up. Found their eyes, full of confusion. Drew took a step toward her—for moral support?

“I made a mistake. A big one. It cost the company a lot of money.” A knot caught in her throat. “Dad found out about it, and he covered for me, but after he died, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone else connected the dots.”

“Beth,” Molly practically whispered.

“How bad was it?” Ben asked.

“Bad.” Shame wound its way through her belly. “It was really bad. And Dad told me it was bad before I did it, but I thought I knew better.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Molly asked.

A tear streamed down Beth’s cheek. “Are you kidding? And admit that I was wrong?” She wiped the tear away. “What would you have thought of your big sister then?”

“Um, that she was human?” Molly reached over and tugged on Beth’s hand. “It’s okay, Beth. We all mess up.”

“I know that now. And I know that keeping it to myself only made it worse, but I was afraid of letting you all down. Especially Dad. I thought if I could make a go of this—make it work somehow—I could prove that I wasn’t a total disaster.”

She glanced at Drew, who watched her, his strength and support the only thing enabling her to continue.

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