Page 159 of Ice Princess

Chance puts his phone away.

“What are we going to do about the expansion?” April groans and sinks into my sofa. “We’ve already paid for the preliminaries and gotten the bank loan approvals. This will ruin everything.”

“You know I’m always here to help, Tink,” Chance says. “I’m not hurting financially.”

“No way,” April says.

“I’ll take that deal.” I lift a hand.

April frowns at me.

“We’re in emergency mode. This is no time to be coy. Let’s call on the power of #Chapril and find a way to solve this.”

My best friend springs to her feet again, her eyes dark and wary. “This is all Stewart Kinsey’s fault. I should have kicked him in the shins when I had the chance.”

I chuckle.

Then I feel guilty for laughing when I think of how Gunner would have felt hearing that.

This is exactly why I didn’t want him around. The feud between me and his family is reaching a boiling point and I don’t want him caught in the middle of it.

“Is it possible to rent another garage until we sort this all out?” Chance asks, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Where would we find another garage in Lucky Falls?” I wonder.

“Maybe you could convert a factory or some other building? Then you can take the bank’s money and build a new garage somewhere else, can’t you?”

“That’s a great idea.” I look to April.

She shakes her head. “The bank is issuing the money out in phases. We have to prove we did phase one to get phase two’s cash. We can’t reroute it or we’ll be in even bigger trouble.”

My shoulders droop as what Ithoughtwas a great idea goes swirling down the toilet.

April reclaims her seat beside Chance and buries her face in her hands. “It was difficult enough to get the approval for this loan. I can’t imagine going back to the loan officers. And what are we going to do about Delia? She uprooted her entire life and came to Lucky Falls because of us. Are we going to kick her out on her own after less than a month?”

“My money is still on the table.”

“Chance McLanely, put your wallet away. I’m venting.”

April’s boyfriend pins his lips together and reduces his role to that of a silent back-rubber.

I dig a toe into my fuzzy pink rug. “Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

“Yeah, it feels pretty dang awful,” April grumbles.

“I don’t understand why Stewart’s trying so hard to shut us down.”

“It’s because he hates us,” April says tersely. “He has ever since I turned down his proposal to merge our two garages.”

I scrunch my lips. “Why do I get the feeling it’s more than that?”

“What do you mean?”

“When I went to confront him, Stewart said that he’d help us out if we stopped Chance’s investigation.”

Chance narrows his eyes. “Was he messing with you or was he serious?”

“He was serious. Gunner and I both heard him.”

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