Page 97 of Meet Me at the Fudge Shop

Mom held up her hands. “Hold on. Let’s just think this through. There’s no proof that if the pipe hadn’t broken, Lily would have won.”

“Do you even hear yourself?” Declan pointed to Isaac. “Hecheated. Cheated—sabotaged the competition. And the ironic thing was, Lily was going to give Grandma her house, so it’s all for nothing.”

“Well,” his mother said, “thatisthe right thing to do, of course.”

“And it’s also really generous, Mom. It’s totally within her rights to keep it.”

“Not anymore,” Dad said. “Because the shop belongs to the Kelleys.”

“It shouldn’t, though.”

“Declan, be reasonable.” Mom placed a hand on his shoulder. “This is our family legacy we’re talking about.”

“I thought it was all aboutGrandma’s house.”

Mom shrugged. “It was. But the legacy, that’s important too. Remember, family comes first.”

“Yeah, that’s what you’ve been saying my whole life.” Huffing, Declan shoved past Dad and pivoted in the doorway. “But I’m starting to wonder if that’s really the motto I want to live by if my family is nothing but a bunch of cheats.”

Because by association, it made him one too. And whatever Lily thought about him, Declan wanted to be more than a Kelley.

Starting right now.

He headed out the door.

ChapterFifteen

The moonlight gave him no answers.

Declan’s feet crunched along the rocky marina shore. The water caught the reflection of the moonlight, a line from here to the mainland.

He’d gone by Lily’s house. Knocked on her door.

She’d refused to see him, of course. And maybe he didn’t need to be a jerk and barge past her father.

So, hands in pockets, he’d walked the shoreline between the yacht club and Fort Jonathon. The wind had kicked up off the lake—maybe he should have grabbed his leather jacket. But that’s what impulse did—put you in a place you didn’t expect.

Like falling back in love with the one woman he’d never forgotten.

Leaning over, Declan picked up a large stone and skipped it across the waves. It disappeared after a few plinks.

“Now Iknowyou can do better than that.”

Declan turned at the familiar voice to find Pastor Arnie. He wore a flannel jacket, walked with his hands in his pockets.

“What are you doing here?”

“Thinking about tomorrow’s sermon. I like to get alone, hear it in my head. Great show today. Tara told me about the dilemma. Said you got the shop and your grandma’s house.” He clamped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t feel like a win.”

“This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with your second chance with one Lily Hart, now would it?”

Declan coughed. Small-town living had its downfalls sometimes. “More like feeling under my family’s thumb.”

“How so?”

“Let’s just say they have a certain vision for my life, and it involves forsaking everything to support the family legacy.”

---