Need You for Keeps (Heroes of St. Helena, #1)(62)

Shay bit her lip to keep it from curling up and nodded.

“Have you checked Facebook lately?” Emerson asked.

“No, why?” But Shay was already reaching for her phone. From Emerson’s tone, she suspected it was a much bigger deal than it being her turn in Words With Friends.

Shay went to the St. Helena page and felt everything inside of her catch and tighten. That terrifying sense of change, one she’d felt too many times to count, pressed in until it was hard to breathe. Because the top post, with over two hundred comments and likes, was a link to an article Shay had hoped never to see again.

GROOMER TO THE ELITE CHARGED WITH THEFT. FORCED TO PAY BACK THOUSANDS IN STOLEN MONEY TO CLIENT.

Beside the headline was a photo of Shay from two years ago. A photo that brought back every awful memory she had worked so hard to overcome. Every fear and insecurity that Lance had drilled into her, that her childhood had confirmed, and that she’d refused to ever give in to again.

Shay pushed past the lump in her chest that was threatening to crush her whole and looked up, sure to hold her head high.

“It’s not what it looks like,” she said to Emerson, needing desperately for her friend to believe her. Because if not Emerson, then Shay had no hope of convincing anyone.

“I went to chichi culinary school in Paris and now live in one of the foodie meccas of the world. Yet I peddle a food cart around town and am forced to humiliate myself daily for tips. Nothing is ever what it seems.”

“You believe me?”

Emerson shrugged. “Sure. Animals love you and so does Harper. That means you’re good people.”

“Thank you.”

That small offering of faith was huge.

When the whole ordeal had gone down, not a single friend had remained by Shay’s side. None had even been willing to hear her out, Lance had made sure of it. She hadn’t only lost the man she’d thought of as her family, she’d had to let go of every dream that came along with making Monterey hers.

She wasn’t about to let that happen here. Not when she was so close to finding home.



It was nearly five. The St. Helena Sentinel was about to go to press any minute, and Shay found herself staring up at Estella’s front door. It looked just like all of the other doors Shay had faced down in her childhood—a big, unbreachable barrier that stood between her and what she wanted so desperately.

Acceptance.

“You’ve got this,” she whispered, lifting her hand to ring the bell.

She stopped before making contact because she so didn’t have this. She was nowhere close to having this. And Estella would take one look at her and know.

Shay drew in a deep breath, threw her shoulders back, and adopted her best come out swinging stance. But it didn’t help.

All of that take-charge attitude she’d channeled on her way over here evaporated the second she saw that door. Two minutes ago, she had been ready to be the bigger person and extend that olive branch. She’d been ready to take the leap. One look at the door and every memory of just how small she was, how what she had to offer might not be enough came rushing back and she started looking for the net.

And just like when she’d been a scared kid, there wasn’t one.

Shay wasn’t naive enough to think that leasing a shop meant the town would suddenly embrace her wholeheartedly. She finally understood that if she wanted a home, a real place where she belonged, here in St. Helena, she had to stop waiting for someone to invite her in and just go for it.

Conviction harnessed, she rang the bell. Twice to be sure she was heard.

Nails skidding across a hard surface sounded, followed by snarling, yapping, and Foxy Cleopatra throwing herself against the door—which only made Shay smile. No matter how big the bark, there was only so much a five-pound Pomeranian could do.

Shay decided to take that to heart.

Estella opened the door, but not the screen. She was dressed for dinner with the queen, with designer shoes on her feet and Foxy in her arms. Both dog and owner shared the same bitter expression. “If you’re here to ask about Bark in the Park, the answer is still no.”

“Actually, I came here as a fellow dog lover to ask you to pull the article in the Sentinel,” Shay stated.

If the woman was surprised Shay knew, she didn’t show it. “I have no control over what the paper prints, as you well know.”

Shay resisted rolling her eyes, barely. “No, but you are one of the most powerful women in town and I know you are the one pressuring them to print the article.”

“The people have a right to know what kind of person they are entrusting their money to.”

It wasn’t an admission but it was enough. “That article you found only tells part of the story.” A very one-sided part.

“Did you steal that man’s money?”

“According to the law, yes.” Shay wasn’t going to apologize or make excuses for it either. It had been her money to take. Just because Lance had put it in his account didn’t change that. “But I’m not a bad person. It was just a bad situation.”

“Huh,” the older woman said, crossing her arms and not making this any easier.

“This charity walk is going to help a lot of dogs find homes,” Shay said softly. “It will also allow me to move the pets I do have to a location where their barking won’t bother you. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want that to happen. This is a win for everyone.”