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It was two hours later, after he’d turned on the no-vacancy sign to show they had no more rooms available that traffic slowed enough for him to ask how the other businesses and vendors seemed to be faring.

“Hard to tell. Everything was just getting started,” Kelsey said but she was acting odd, wouldn’t quite engage.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, but she spoke too quickly; he could tell otherwise.

He waited until she looked up. Then he drilled her with a “that’s BS” look, and she crumbled immediately. “I ran into Patience at the bakery.”

He felt his heart skip a beat. He’d expected Patience to stop by this evening, knew she’d be out and about. He’d texted her earlier to see where she was, but she hadn’t responded. When he didn’t get an answer and he didn’t see her, he’d figured she was equally busy. But now…

“Why would that be a bad thing?” he asked, but he was afraid he already knew the answer. She’d told Patience he was leaving. He should’ve warned her not to say anything, but he couldn’t bring himself to go that far. It would’ve felt too creepy, as if he was actively trying to deceive her. He wasn’t hiding anything; he’d just decided to wait until after the festival to tell her the truth.

“Kelsey?” he prompted when she didn’t respond.

“You didn’t tell her that you were leaving?”

His stomach sank. “No, but you did—right?”

She winced as she nodded. “I didn’t know that I shouldn’t! I assumed… I assumed she already knew!”

He couldn’t blame his stepsister. This was his own fault. He should’ve waited until after the festival to tell her, too, but she’d been trying to implement some of the plans they’d made for the future, and it’d felt too dishonest to keep his mouth shut, especially because she was talking about making improvements that would require significant capital outlay. “Shit. What’d she say?”

“Nothing. She just—” she gave him another pained look “—started to cry.”

Kanon felt sick inside. The last thing he’d wanted was to hurt the nicest person he’d ever met. “Can you take over here?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said glumly, and he grabbed his coat.

* * *

The house was dark. If Patience’s car hadn’t been in the garage, Kanon would’ve assumed she was still at the festival.

Once he approached the door, he could hear the TV—another sign she was home.

Drawing a deep breath, he knocked.

The TV went off.

“Patience?” he called when nothing else happened.

Still no response.

“I know you’re in there,” he said. “I’m sorry you were blindsided. That wasn’t my intention. I was going to tell you, okay? I just… I didn’t want to do it until after the festival.”

“It’s fine,” she called, a bit too insistent. “You’re good. No need to bother with an explanation. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Yes, I do,” he said. “We’re friends, remember?”

She didn’t answer. He waited to see if she was going to open the door, but she didn’t. “Does this mean I can’t come in?” he asked.

“Just saving you the time,” she yelled back. “You never made any promises. You were very careful not to. This is on me, and I know that.”

It made him feel even worse that she wasn’t exhibiting any anger, wasn’t blaming him for misleading her or disappointing her. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

Nothing.

“Can you please open the door?”