Page 25 of Forty, Flirty & Fall Inn

"Someone had to?—"

"Or when I got dumped before prom," Harper adds."You orchestrated that whole revenge makeover and got me a better date."

"He was a jerk who?—"

"Or when I failed algebra," Claire continues."You tutored me every night for three months."

"You needed help!"

Linda chooses this moment to attack a particularly stubborn callus, and I yelp, jerking my foot and sending water cascading over the edge of the basin.

"Sorry, sorry!"Linda scrambles for towels while I try to still my foot."Very thick skin.Like armor."

"That's our Sage," Harper mutters."Armored against everything, including people who love her."

"That's not fair," I protest, accepting towels from Linda."I've just been busy.The inn is underwater, I can't afford repairs, the chef quit, and I'm trying to save Grandma Rose's legacy.Excuse me for not having time for Pictionary."

"It's not about Pictionary," Claire says."Dad sets up your game pieces every week.Mom makes extra food.We leave your chair empty."

The image twists in my gut.

My family gathered around the dining room table.My empty chair a weekly reminder of my absence.

"And I've been telling everyone you're too busy with your new boyfriend," Claire continues."Which, by the way, when were you going to mention that you hacked his dating profile to lure him to the inn?"

Linda's hands freeze on my foot."You hacked your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend.And it wasn't really hacking.More like...aggressive marketing."

"Sage."Harper's lawyer voice activates."You manipulated someone's personal data to create false matches.That's literally the definition of hacking."

"Allegedly."

"Did you or did you not alter Luke Sterling's SecureMatch algorithm?"

I squirm in the massage chair, which chooses that moment to target a particularly sensitive spot in my lower back."Maybe slightly."

"Sage!"

"Look, I was desperate!The inn needs publicity, he has a security platform for hotels, I thought if I could just get him there, maybe his team would write about it or something.It was a long shot."

"It was fraud," Harper says."What happens when he finds out?"

"He won't find out.He came, he saw the inn, he left.End of story."

"Right.Because tech billionaires who specialize in cybersecurity never investigate security breaches."

My stomach turns over."He seemed more annoyed than suspicious.Besides, what's he going to do?Sue me?I have nothing left to take."

"He could ruin your reputation."

"What reputation?I'm a failed marketing tech executive who inherited a failing inn."

"Stop that."Claire's voice goes sharp."You're not a failure."

"Tell that to my bank account."

"I'm telling it to you," Claire says."You left a toxic situation and started over.That's brave, not failure."