“That explains a lot.” Lainie swallowed down a lump in her throat.
“I thought it might,” Harrison said hesitantly. She pushed herself off his lap and looked at him. He grimaced, and explained: “Tessa Sweets came around earlier and told me what happened with your family. She says her grandmother and the rest of the town council made your grandparents send you away after it became clear you were never going to shift.”
Lainie let out a slow breath. “They forced them to? I thought…”
“That they rejected you?” Harrison dropped his head to rest on hers. “I don’t know the full story, and I can’t tell you what your grandparents were thinking. But I do know that the Sweets were behind the decision.”
“I thought they hated me,” Lainie whispered. “All this time…”
She stopped. She’d never told anyone about this, not even her closest friends.
But Harrison was different. He’d saved her life. And he’d just trusted her with his secret.
“I was eleven,” she said at last. “Mom and Dad used to take me to visit my grandparents every other weekend, when I was younger, but that last trip… something was different. I guess I was older, so I was starting to want to do more on my holidays than just hang around at the house. I wanted to explore more of the town. But they never let me go down by myself. Even just going to get ice cream was always a huge mission.” She sighed. “Which makes more sense, now. I guess they had to warn everyone down in the town that a human was coming.”
Harrison nodded. “We don’t have many human visitors. Everyone has to be careful when one does visit.”
“Like me, now?” Lainie grimaced. “I wondered why everyone seemed so on edge last night. I guess it would have been easier on you all if I just had dinner in my room at the B&B.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Harrison reached out and took her hand. He turned it over, stroking her palm with his callused thumb, and she was suddenly very aware that he wasn’t wearing so much as a strip of clothing. A tingle went up her arm.
“I—um—oh,” she mumbled. I’m glad I didn’t, too, she thought. I can’t imagine going through this all without someone on my side, at least. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Harrison smiled sadly. “Because you deserve to know.”
“I wish you weren’t the only person to think that.” She sighed. “Things would have been so much easier if I’d known years ago…well, there’s nothing I can do about it now.”
She looked across at Harrison from under lowered eyes. He was still holding her hand. His touch warmed more than just her skin; just being with him made her feel calmer, more in control of herself.
She usually coped with unhappiness by distancing herself from people, pushing them away, but with Harrison, she felt…safe. That was it. Safe to show her emotions. To be herself.
She reached out and spread her fingers across his chest, feeling his heartbeat thud under his warm skin. Harrison had revealed the town’s secret to her. He’d shown her a level of trust no one else in her life had done.
There was something she needed to explain, too.
“You’ve been amazing through all of this,” she began, her voice wavering. “Knowing why I had to leave Hideaway Cove when I was a kid…well, I’m glad I know the story beh
ind it, now. But it doesn’t solve everything.” She nodded at the kitchen table. “Can we sit up there while I explain? It’s complicated.”
Harrison picked up his towel as he stood up. Lainie smiled. He’d seemed comfortable enough being naked before—and, hell, even earlier, when they were making their way through the tunnel—but complicated required some coverage, apparently.
Lainie picked briefly at the remains of the grilled cheese, then rested her elbows on the table. “Okay,” she said, then grimaced. You’re already stalling. Stop it.
Lainie groaned. “I’d better just say it…” She rubbed her face. “When I was eighteen, my grandmother went into care. My grandfather had died a few years earlier, I think. Well, the assisted living place she went to needed someone to co-sign for the fees. She needed specialist care—because of her being a shifter, I guess.” She shrugged tightly, staring at the table. “I hadn’t seen her for six or seven years at that stage. The care place addressed the papers to my dad, but he was long gone. So I signed them under my own name.”
Harrison made a small noise of understanding. “And now that your grandmother is dead…”
“…Her debts have come home to roost with me.” Lainie frowned and rubbed her forehead. “Mom seemed to think that Dad’s family were really wealthy, but there’s no sign of it. My grandmother didn’t have anything but the house, and everything in it, which to be honest wasn’t a lot. Just old furniture and kitchen stuff. No bank accounts straining under the weight of her hidden millions.”
“Hell,” Harrison murmured. “That’s why you need to sell up.”
Lainie nodded miserably. “Mr. Sweets said they’d raised seventy-five thousand dollars to buy the house. Well, that’s not going to cover it. Subdividing the section will cost, but the returns from selling off the separate bits of land… it might work. It’s my only option at this stage.” She looked at her hands. “No, that’s a lie. My other option is to eat the debt, on top of my student loans.”
“No one could ask you to do that.” Harrison sounded certain.
“Are you sure about that? What about this afternoon? I can’t see Mrs. Sweets valuing my future over keeping Hideaway Cove safe from newcomers.”
“Dorothy Sweets isn’t in charge of what happens in this town.”