Page 7 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

I opened the door to Katherine’s room at the end of the hall and my heart squeezed. Same floral wallpaper as the other rooms, the same heavy furniture, but this room had an adjoining alcove she used as her office, with a desk in front of a window overlooking the ocean. I walked over to the window and gazed out at the gorgeous view.

The morning’s events replayed in my head. I now owned this inn with Holden. I also had two hundred thousand dollars of debt waiting for me back in Toronto, no job, and a broken heart. My fiancé was on the run and I had legal bills to pay.

I needed money. I needed to get back to Toronto so I could fix my life.

I had no idea what to do next.

My phone buzzed with an incoming call and I read the screen.

It was the private investigator I had hired to find Grant so I could get my money back. My pulse picked up and my stomach squeezed up into my throat. I’d been waiting for news from him.

“Hello?”

4

Sadie

A weekafter I received my business loan, Grant went on a weekend trip to visit his parents in Vancouver. The morning after he left, he transferred the contents of our company’s account to a bank in Mexico City. The detectives with the police department suspected he had left the immediate area, and the investigation hit a dead end.

His name wasn’t even Grant Markham. It was Jason Fairfax, and he had done this to two other women in Europe.

That’s when I hired a private investigator to get my money back.

“I had to grease a few palms to get the bank security footage,” Rick said. “He left here with a duffel bag of cash, like the detective expected.”

I let a long breath out, chewing my lip. “Okay, so what now?”

Rick sighed. “Look, you’re a nice person, so I’m going to be straight with you. The detectives said this guy has done this before, right? The chances that he’s hanging around are slim. If I were him, I would take off down to South America and drink mojitos on a beach for the rest of my life. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. I don’t think we’re going to find this guy.”

A rock landed in my stomach and I swallowed.

“There’s nothing we can do?” I asked. “Anything, Rick?”

He sighed again. “You’re the client, and as long as you’re paying me, I’m happy to sit in bars and ask people if they’ve seen the guy, but it’s a waste of your money.”

I rubbed my temple, scrambling for a solution. I knew in my gut he was right.

Grant was perfect, too perfect, and it was all an act. He had practiced this, and I fell for it. Ialwaysfell for the wrong guy.

I nodded. “Okay.” My hand was shaking.

“I’m sorry, Sadie, but this guy is a professional. I’ll send you the invoice when I get home.”

We said goodbye and hung up, and I wished I could disappear into the floor.

It was so much money, and I wasn’t getting it back.

I walked downstairs in a daze and confused about the universe.

I was a good person. I paid my taxes. If I saw someone’s skirt tucked into their underwear or food in their teeth, I told them. When my friends had too many margaritas, I helped them get home safe. I had volunteered with Big Sisters in Toronto for five years. When I was done with my grocery shopping, I always put my cart back with the others.

What did I do to deserve this?

This debt was going to take years to pay off. The bank didn’t care that Grant stole the money. When I was building my business plan, the monthly payments seemed reasonable, but now?

No money, no company, no clients, no income.

The loan was in my name, because Grant had spent the last decade in New York before he transferred to Toronto, and was still building Canadian credit.

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