Page 21 of Meet Me at the Fudge Shop

He looked at Uncle Patrick, who wore the past in his eyes—the feud, the hurt, the years of fracture on the island.

Not to mention that this was their only hope of saving Grandma’s house.

Besides, Lily would probably give up and go back to Florida after a month when business turned out to be harder than she thought. Because that’s what she did—ran away when things got hard. And he wasn’t going to let her steal the only chance he had at saving Grandma’s house.

“Does Mia Franklin know about this?” Lily said, her hands on her hips. “She’s the one who originally told me to come back and reopen the shop. Why would she do that if it wasn’t available to us?”

“She must not have known the lease expired.” Patrick shrugged as if to saytoo bad, so sad.

“But I called her last week to confirm. She set this up.”

“While Ms. Franklin was tasked over the last few months with vetting and selecting candidates, she presented them all to the council—which she is not on—and we ultimately decided who would be a good fit for the Jonathon Island culture. She isn’t necessarily privy to all the other lease agreements her father has with current tenants,” Patrick said. “And until this morning, this shop was empty.”

“You’re splitting hairs here. It seems to me that you’re taking advantage of a situation to get the thing you’ve always wanted—my family’s fudge shop. We always beat you out because of our Main Street location, and now you’re making a grab for it. It was bad enough your father tried to steal my grandpa’s recipes?—”

“Lily—” Declan started.

Too late. Uncle Patrick had ignited. “Those were lies, and the Hart family knows it!”

This whole thing was going off the rails, and fast. Once upon a time, Lily had respected Declan. Maybe he could reason with her. “Lil?—”

Her eyes flashed at him. “Save it, Slick.”

“I’m just trying to get us talking, so we can hear each other’s sides without all of the emotion?—”

“That’s pointless. We all know whose side you’re on.”

Oh.

She stared at him, her eyes glossy, her jaw tight.

He sighed. Yes. Yes they did. Still, “Lily, let’s not?—”

“What’s going on in here?” Tara Chamberlain, the pastor’s wife and another member of the town council, stepped inside. Though most women on the island dressed in casual jeans and T-shirts, Tara looked professional and put together in her slacks, red blouse, and heels, her silver-blonde hair twisted back in a clip. “I could hear the screaming from Martha’s across the way.”

Then her gaze landed on Lily. “Lily!” Her face brightened. “I didn’t know you were back visiting. When…” Tara’s voice trailed off and her eyebrows drew together before her gaze swung to Patrick’s. “Patrick, what’s going on here?”

“Just a simple misunderstanding, I assure you.”

“There’s nothing simple about it.” Lily rounded the counter and approached Tara. For a moment, her angry mask melted, and she smiled softly at the pastor’s wife. “It’s good to see you, though. I was sad you were away last month when I came for a visit.”

“It’s always great to see you.” Tara embraced her, then pulled back, hands on Lily’s shoulders. “But what’s going on? Why are you inside your family’s old shop?”

“That’s the thing. It’s not our ‘old shop,’ Tara. My mom didn’t know the lease lapsed, or if so, she’s in the process of renewing it. She brought me here this morning, excited that I’ve decided to reopen the shop.”

“You have? That’s amazing!”

Patrick cleared his throat. “It would be amazing, indeed, if this shop had not already been leased toanother fudge companyjust this morning.”

“Oh dear. Hmm.” Tara pinched her lips together. She’d lived on the island long enough to know the long-standing feud between the two families that had started fifty-five years ago when Declan’s Grandpa Barry had decided to open Kelley’s Classic Fudge in direct competition with his best friend William Hart’s shop.

Boom.

Declan had always found the feud immature. He understood the hurt on both sides, and he and Lily had tried once upon a time to forget that it existed.

And look how well that had turned out.

But maybe he should concede now. Be the bigger man. Walk away. Figure out another way to save Grandma’s house.

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