Page 44 of #Resort Love (Lakeview Harbor #1)

“Are you still going to go up to the resort?” Swati asked. “Because I don’t think you should go alone. I’ll gladly go with you.”

“Thank you. I…I don’t know what to do. This is probably why I haven’t heard much from him all week.”

“Yeah, he was too busy sneaking around behind your back making a deal for his precious glamping resort. The jerk,” Swati stated. “Seriously, I’ll go with you. I’ll gladly throat punch him for you.”

That made her chuckle. “Let’s call that plan B, okay?” She let out another long breath, shaking her head. “I need to talk to Walker. This could all be a misunderstanding.”

No one looked convinced.

But the more she thought about it, the more she knew she needed to get answers sooner rather than later.

Slowly, she got to her feet. “I’m gonna go. I’m not going to be able to relax or even process any of this until I hear it from Walker.”

“Harlow, you don’t have to go there and face him. You can call,” Charlene reasoned.

“No. I need to do this in person.”

“Okay, but know that we’re here for you. No matter what happens, you can call us, right, Swati?”

“Of course!”

They both hugged her and followed her around as she gathered her purse, phone, and keys. Before she left, though, she went into the bathroom to fix her makeup so she didn’t have mascara running down her face.

Staring at her reflection, Harlow tried not to cry again. Swallowing hard, she washed her face, applied some lip gloss—she didn’t have any other makeup with her—and decided this was as good as it was going to get.

Charlene and Swati hugged her again and walked her out to her car, and she promised to let them know how everything went as soon as she could.

The original plan was to bring dinner, but now the only thing she was bringing was herself. If things went the way she suspected they were going to, food was pointless.

She kept the radio off and tried not to play through any scenarios in her head.

It wasn’t easy because she desperately wanted to know why— why!

—Walker would go back on his promise. And really, she almost couldn’t fault him because she knew how much he wanted the land, but she did fault him for going behind her back like this.

She arrived at the resort sooner than she was prepared for, and when she parked her car, she didn’t have her usual sense of excitement and anticipation. Right now, all she felt was a deep sense of dread and like she wanted to throw up.

All of the construction crews were still here, and there were workers everywhere. It was virtually impossible for her to know where exactly Walker was, but she really didn’t want to text him to ask. She wanted the element of surprise.

Fortunately, Connor was jogging down the stairs from the lodge, and she forced herself to smile as she waved to him.

“Hey, Harlow!” he said with an easy grin. “How’s it going?”

“Fine!” she lied. “I was hoping to surprise Walker. Any idea where he’s at?”

Connor glanced around. “Um…last I saw him, he was heading down to his cabin to deal with some work from his day job.” He chuckled.

“I swear, I don’t know how he’s balancing that while doing all of this.

” Shaking his head, he added, “I’d start there if I were you.

And if he’s not in the cabin, then he’s probably down by the boathouse. He was doing some work there earlier.”

Another fake smile. “Thanks, Connor!” she said cheerfully before heading off toward the cabins, silently praying she wasn’t going to have to chase him all over the damn property.

Walking with purpose, she made her way down the short path to Walker’s cabin and walked up to the door and knocked.

She refused to acknowledge how much her hand shook or how nervous she was, but when he opened the door and looked at her with a combination of shock and annoyance, all her nerves turned to anger.

“Harlow, um…this is a surprise,” he said, his tone cool and detached.

“I’m sure it is,” she murmured. “May I come in?”

He stepped aside and motioned for her to enter, and she already knew it was pointless to attempt any small talk. Instead, she turned and faced him. “My grandparents came to see me today.”

All he did was arch one dark brow at her.

“I hear you’ve been harassing them about selling you the property.”

Nothing. He crossed his arms and just looked at her exactly like he had when she first showed up here at the resort. It was the worst form of déjà vu.

“I don’t understand why you would do this!” she accused. “You promised me, Walker! We talked about it and you promised not to reach out to them! And to keep calling and harassing them? I mean…why?”

“Are you seriously going to stand here and act annoyed that I called your grandparents repeatedly, looking for them to sell me a piece of land? Wasn’t that what you did to my grandparents for years?”

And yeah, the sarcasm was heavy.

“Seriously? That’s your excuse? I called and bothered your grandparents, so that makes it okay to do it to mine? How freaking immature are you?”

“Oh, I’m not immature, sweetheart. I was going after what I should have from the get-go.

” He took a menacing step toward her. “I have to admit, you almost had me fooled with your sob story about them being neglectful grandparents. Then I found out that you’re the rightful owner of the property and you were keeping it to yourself because you never got over the fact that I wanted to change this damn resort! ”

Her eyes went wide.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Her voice was shrill even to her own ears. She started to pace. “I had no idea until today that they bought that property for me! Not a clue! Apparently they bought it…”

“When you were a baby. Yeah, I know,” he interrupted.

“Not that it matters because I still didn’t know about it! And why would I keep that from you when I was helping you find property, Walker? It makes no sense! I wanted you to succeed!”

“Did you?” he snapped. “Because I kept conveniently getting outbid or someone beat me to it or…”

“You’re the one who had a very specific budget and property size need! You never could have afforded the larger lots! And yeah, you got outbid! Are you so freaking narcissistic that you believe you’re the only person looking for property and the only one people should sell to?”

“I’m saying that you were bad-mouthing me and this project since you found out about it and you drew attention to the area! No one gave a damn about this area until you made it your life’s ambition to ruin it for me!”

“Oh my God! We have been over this! Yes, I was pissed about what you were going to do, but then you changed gears! And honestly, I admitted to you—and apologized, mind you—because I knew it was wrong for me to be openly opposing what you were doing! And for you to stand here and still accuse me of this…”

“You lied about the property, Harlow,” he said flippantly, and that’s when she knew nothing she was going to say was going to change his mind.

“I didn’t lie to you,” she said flatly. “That property never was and never will be mine. I’m sure my grandparents have already called to accept your offer.

For what it’s worth, if I had known about it—the fact that it was mine—I would have offered it to you.

Hell, I probably would have donated it so I could be a part of the resort because this place means a lot to me.

That’s why I was so passionate about what you were doing. ”

Pausing, she willed herself not to cry. The last thing she wanted was to look weak in front of him.

“As for everything that went on before with your grandparents? I was trying to make a living. Sue me. I thought I would be helping them too. They were clearly in over their heads. This resort was a sinking ship and I was offering them a lifeline.” Her eyes stung with unshed tears.

“I was never mean or malicious about it. I was always respectful. What you did was just mean. You could have talked to me. You could have told me what you were doing, but you didn’t.

You wanted to punish me for some crime you think I committed, but you’re wrong.

” Another pause. “Not that you’ll ever believe me.

Not that it even matters anymore. I guess I got what I deserved.

You made me fall in love with you and then got even with me for whatever it is you perceived I did to you and your family. ”

“Facts are facts, Harlow,” he said with a careless shrug.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “Facts are facts. I’m sure you’ve never been wrong about anything in your whole privileged life.”

Another shrug.

“Goodbye, Walker. Good luck with the rest of your project.” And with her head held as high as she could, Harlow let herself out of the cabin. All around her were the sounds of construction—hammers hammering, drills drilling, a rebirth of a tired old resort.

Axel was walking across the parking lot and waved before jogging over. “Hey! Are you coming or…” He came to a halt when he saw her face. “Is everything okay?”

Shaking her head, she simply said, “No.”

“Harlow, listen. Whatever’s going on, I’m sure…”

“I need to go,” she interrupted. “Take care, Axel.”

When she reached her car, she stopped and looked around because this was the last time she’d ever step foot at the Lakeview Harbor Resort. There’s no way she’d ever come back.

And that hurt almost as much as knowing she’d never see Walker again.

Almost.