Page 5 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

Every fall, Katherine visited me in Toronto, and last year, Elizabeth had joined. We spent the weekend wandering the city, visiting street festivals, shopping, touring art galleries, and eating and drinking at all my favorite restaurants. The summer I stayed here, Elizabeth had me over for weekly dinners with her family.

“You, too,” I told her, and it was the truth. Elizabeth was one of those people who glowed with energy and love.

Unlike Holden.

“How’s wedding planning going?”

My stomach froze into a block of ice.

I still felt sick every time I thought about what happened. I hadn’t told Katherine because I didn’t want her to worry.

“Well,” I started, unsure of how to break the news.

I should have practiced this on the drive out. My throat worked and I sucked a breath in before shooting Elizabeth a bright smile that saidI am totally fine.

“Things didn’t really work out with Grant.”

The understatement nearly made me laugh, and I played with the end of my ponytail, a nervous habit of mine. Shame knotted through my stomach.

Her face fell. “Oh, no. Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“We weren’t a good fit.”

Because he stole two hundred thousand dollars from me.

Because he gave me a fake name, swept me off my feet, and encouraged me to follow my dreams of starting my own interior design firm.

Because he asked me to marry him before he took everything from me.

Because I trusted him and I was so, so wrong.

My throat worked again and I crossed my arms. “We wanted different things.”

She tilted her head, studying me. “Was it for the best?”

A sharp laugh scraped out of my throat. I had learned my lesson. My judgement in men was flawed.

“Yes. How’s your family?” Anything to get off this topic.

A huge smile lifted onto her face. “They’re wonderful. My family gets bigger every year, with both Emmett and Wyatt getting married recently.”

I smiled at the memory of the oldest brother, arrogant but charming Emmett. He and Holden started a construction company in their twenties, but he stepped back two years ago to become mayor of Queen’s Cove. Holden’s younger brother, Wyatt, all laid-back confidence, was a professional surfer. The youngest Rhodes boy, Finn, was mischievous and daring, and spent most of the summer I visited with his best friend and next-door neighbor, Olivia. And then there was Holden, the dickhead brother.

An unfairlyhotdickhead, but still an asshole to his core.

I thought back to his unreadable expression in the conference room when we learned of our inheritance. He was miserable at the news.

Of course he was. He couldn’t stand me. He couldn’t be in the same room with me for ten minutes before he practically kicked the door down to get out.

“Are you staying in town for long?” Elizabeth asked as we walked to my car.

“I wasn’t planning on it.” I frowned. “But now I’m not sure.”

She smiled. “You know you have a place to stay if you need it.”

My heart twisted. Elizabeth was so freaking nice. “I know. Thanks. I’m going to look around the inn, if that’s okay.”

She laughed. “It’s your inn, honey.”

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