Almost Just Friends (Wildstone #4)(88)

Two, and even worse, he’d lied to her, or at least omitted the part about him knowing things about her family that she hadn’t. Important, life-altering things.

Which led to a third, extremely hard-to-process realization. The people in her life rarely put importance on her needs. Her parents. Her siblings . . . Now Cam as well, reminding her that once again, she was not important enough to come first, and never had been.

“Piper?” Winnie asked tearfully. “Are you mad at me?”

“No.” Okay, maybe a little. “But I’m hurt about the lack of trust and faith in me. But . . .” She rose to her feet, grabbed a tissue box off the counter, and handed it to her sister. “Your baby, your decisions.”

“It wasn’t about trusting you or having faith in you. It was more about my inability to actually believe I’d ever find my way in life.” Winnie blew her nose. “I’m getting there, but . . . there’s more.”

Piper closed her eyes for a beat. “Twins?”

“No.” Winnie looked horrified at that. “God, I hope not. But . . .” She bit her lower lip. “Well, the insurance payout was unexpected, but I’ve decided to put the whole thing into a trust for the baby’s education. And in a separate decision, Gavin and I want to buy you out of your third of the property. You can go to school, and we’ll stay and start up the B and B.”

Piper stared at her. And then Gavin. “What?”

“You wanted to sell so you could go to school, right? After all, you’ve sacrificed for us to do that very thing, including putting off your schooling for years. So it’s important to us that we give you the same chance. We got a property appraisal and a loan.” He pulled something from his pocket.

A bank statement of the family account, with a balance bigger than she’d ever seen or dreamed of, thanks to a large deposit dated the day before.

“I know you really wanted to sell,” Gavin said while she stared at it. “That this place is too much for you. But you’re not alone in it anymore. The three of us are a team now. You made this happen, turned us into functioning adults, and we’ll never forget all you’ve done for us. But this time, we’ve got you.”

“But a loan,” she heard herself say. “The costs, the interest—”

“Manageable,” he said. “And worth every penny. The money’s yours, Piper.”

She stared down at the statement, at her golden ticket to go. “But what are the terms and conditions? Are you sure you got a good deal?”

“Yes,” Winnie said. “Because Cam gave us the loan.”

Piper felt herself freeze for a single heartbeat, then only her head moved, like she was in the movie Carrie, turning to look at Cam. “What?”

“He got his attorney and accountant to look over our whole business plan,” Gavin said. “He said it looks solid. Plus, Cam wanted to invest in the B and B, for Rowan. He said Rowan would’ve wanted that.”

Piper hadn’t taken her gaze off Cam. He was watching her too, and giving nothing away while he was at it. Absolutely zero. And her heart died a little bit.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Rowan sooner,” Winnie said softly.

“Are you?” Piper asked. “Because I think that was a conscious choice, and now I have to live with knowing you didn’t trust me enough or want me to know.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Winnie said.

“What was it like?”

Gavin shifted uneasily. “Piper,” he said with censure, and she whirled on him.

“Don’t,” she said tightly. “Don’t you dare.” She turned back to Winnie. “I’d like an answer.”

Winnie looked well and pissed now. Guess they all were, as the room was humming with tension and the weight of so many things left unsaid.

“Honestly?” Winnie asked.

“Sure,” Piper said. “Let’s try honesty for once.”

Winnie winced, but answered. “I didn’t want to hear about my bad choices.”

Yet another hit. “You really think that I’d do that to you right now?”

“No,” Gavin said, showing his middle-child status by interfering and playing peacemaker. “She just means that sometimes you get a little . . . bossy.”

Piper pointed at him. “I said don’t.” She pointed at all of them. “Each of you kept things from me, purposely.”

Cam said her name softly and took a step toward her, and she glared at him. “Are you kidding me? You told me you had my back. You told me I could trust you. You made me feel like we were partners. And then you lied. You lied and you hid stuff. And you . . . lied! You all lied to me, and probably laughed about it behind my back!”

“No. Never,” Cam said quietly. “And I get and understand why you’re upset, but—”

“No buts.” She shook her head. “I’m over all of this.”

“You’re missing the bigger picture here.”

“Yeah, I missed that you’re an asshole. All of you are.”

“Well, that escalated quickly,” Winnie murmured to Gavin.

“It is our family motto.” Gavin looked at Piper. “Let us tell you everything, okay?”