Page 18 of The Inn Dilemma

“Nova?!” Christian practically shouts.

I grimace and force myself to peel my eyes open. “Hey, Chris.”

He looks from me to Holt, then back to me. In my peripheral vision, I catch a look of confusion on Roxy’s face.

“When did you get home?” His tone is accusatory.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “A couple weeks ago.”

He stares at me and blinks. Minor chirps and rustles fill the otherwise silent pause.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’m Roxy,” the woman says, breaking the silence as she reaches her hand out to grip mine.

“Christian’s wife. Right?”

Roxy’s eyes sparkle when she looks up at my brother. “Yep.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say awkwardly.

Apparently, that small introduction was enough for my brother to start his interrogation. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home? How did you afford your flight? Where’s Beau?” He says my ex’s name like it leaves a nasty taste in his mouth. Same, brother, same.

“I broke up with him.” A shiver courses through me. If it’s from the cold or the empty memories with Beau, I can’t say.

“Let’s take this inside,” Holt suggests, walking over and unlocking his door.

We all follow him inside, and he closes the door behind us.

Before I realize what’s happening, two black blursbarrel toward me and I have a single breath to brace for impact. One furball places their paws on my chest and almost pushes me over, and as I barely hold on to my balance, the smaller of the two yips and jumps at my feet.

“Tootsie, down!” Holt says in a firm voice that has my spine stiffening.He sounds so demanding compared to his usual lightness.

At the command, the Doberman drops to all four paws and sits, staring up at me.

“Nova, meet Titan and Tootsie.” Holt motions to the Doberman and miniature pinscher respectively, and I can’t help but burst out laughing.

“Titan is the little one and Tootsie is the moose?”

“Tootsie was originally named Athena, but Aunt Birdie gave her that nickname when she started sucking on a Tootsie Roll toy,” Holt explains.

Christian and Roxy drop to their haunches, and both dogs rush over to them, their tiny clipped tails wagging at the speed of light. My brother and his new wife stand, and the dogs trot over to their bowls in the kitchen. Holt dumps in their food portions and freshens their water. The exchange is a momentary reprieve from the tension between me and my brother.

“I’m going to grab a few logs and get the fire going. It will give you three a few minutes to…catch up.” Holt looks between me, Chris, and Roxy.

Chris doesn’t wait for the door to close behind Holt before he lays into me. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home? Why didn’t you even respond to a single text or call? Why did you really leave?” Emotions flood his face at the last question.

I grit my jaw, swallow my pride, and answer honestly. “I wanted to do life on my own terms. Not Dad’s. So Iran off with Beau, who promised to give me a platform in Paris for my paintings.”

“Did you get what you were looking for?” Chris asks in a cautious tone, tucking his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels.

I release a humorless laugh. “Not even close. Beau was even more controlling than Dad.”

Roxy remains silent, shifting her attention between Chris and me. As much as I’d love to have this conversation in private, away from a girl who is my new sister-in-law but mostly a stranger, I decide to stick it out. She’ll find out one way or another. I rub my arm as a way to ground myself to this moment and bolster my courage to keep on the path of honesty.

Chris notices, and I can practically see the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “Did he hurt you?”

I shake my head. “No. Nothing like that.” I close my eyes, release the hold on my arm, and pinch the bridge of my nose. Dropping my hand, I say, “Look, I know I messed up, and I’m sorry. Really.” I choke on the last word and look into my brother’s face, willing every ounce of sincerity in my body to seep into my expression.

He remains silent, my heart cracks open at his expression. An expression that doesn’t hide the pain I inflicted. I take that as my cue to leave.

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