Page 47 of Sunkissed Colorado

TWELVE

Zandra

“I cannot believeyou just asked me that.” I pressed my back against the rough brick of Hearthstone’s exterior, my phone clutched to my ear. The parking lot behind the brewery was quiet, despite the police activity going on out front.

Of all the days for Ian to call with a guilt trip, why did it have to be today?

And why had I even picked up? It was like this man could sniff out my most vulnerable moments.

“Your parents are loaded, Zan,” Ian whined. “I just need a short-term loan to cover things until my next payout from my trust fund. You know I can’t touch the principal.”

“What about your new job? The one your fancy contacts got you, even though I couldn’t get a single employer in Chicago to take my calls?”

“It fell through.”

“Wow.” I gripped the bridge of my nose. How had I ever been so foolish as to believe any of this man’s lies?

“Don’t forget, I let you keep living at my place rent free. Even after you stopped sharing my bed.”

“That’s why I paid for the groceries and cleaned like I was your maid, all while still trying my damnedest to fix things withour investors.” Meanwhile, Ian had continued to spend money on things like his obscenely expensive car. I’d known he had some debt, like me, but I’d had no clue it was this bad.

“I put years into our relationship and our company, Zan. You still owe me.”

I rubbed my chest, feeling the familiar knot of anxiety tighten there. “You and I are over. I owe younothing.”

He changed tactics. “These people I borrowed money from… They don’t play around. Please. If you ever loved me?—”

“I have to go.” I hung up before he could finish, immediately switching my phone to silent.

My hands were trembling as I shoved it into my back pocket.

The sight of the spider-webbed hole in the window, the shards of tempered glass littering the concrete, appeared in my memory. Only becoming more vivid when I closed my eyes.

It was a coincidence. A random act of vandalism that had nothing to do with me.OrJessa.

But it was yet another reminder that I still wasn’t over the things that had happened years ago. I’d been back in Silver Ridge forweeks, and I still hadn’t worked up the courage to visit Jessa’s mother.

Why couldn’t I just put all the heartache behind me?

“Get it together,” I murmured to myself. “Someone’s going to see you like this.”

Of course, the universe had a sick sense of humor. Because, as I pulled the door open, I walked straight into a solid wall of muscle and woodsy cologne. The guy who’d already seen me sad and pathetic more times than I ever would’ve wanted.

Callum’s warm hands came up to steady me. “There you are. I just got here. Russ said you were upset.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted.

He seemed to get a better look at me. And it must’ve been obvious I was very muchnotfine. “Nope. Back outside.”

“Callum, I?—”

But he was already nudging me out the back door, shoving itclosed again with his foot. “What’s going on? Was it the broken window? Or the phone call you were just having?”

Embarrassment soured my stomach. “You heard.”

“A little. Didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it sounded unpleasant.”

“Just my ex being his usual self.”