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I wipe my tears away. “That pen thing from Men in Black that can erase my memory.”

Shay’s eyes widen, and Wren breaks out in a fit of laughter.

“This isn’t a time to laugh, Wren,” Brooke says, but I can see her fighting her own smile.

“I know, but she made a joke, and if we are going to laugh at one, it’s this one.”

“Oh my god,” I say and push her off the couch. “You’re pity-laughing at me.”

“Yes.”

At least she’s honest, but still, now I’m smiling, and I know that was her goal the entire time.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Brooke asks, keeping them on the topic of why they are here in the first place.

“What’s there to talk about?” I ask. “The articles are right. It was all fake.”

“All of it?” Shay asks.

“All of it.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Wren says.

“I agree with her,” Brooke says. “Not after St. Lucia, anyway.”

I nod. “Yeah, but the lies were stacking up, and it was hard to keep up, and I can’t do that anymore.”

“Have you spoken to him?” Brooke asks.

I shake my head. “He had to go back to LA, which makes sense. I’m not the only one involved in this, and I’m sure the board is furious with him.”

I start to cry again.

We ruined everything for both of us. Don’t even get me started on the email I received about the partnership with the bridal store. They want to delay things, and I can’t blame them.

“I think you should just call him,” Wren says, as if it’s that simple. “Just make a plan together to fix this.”

I mean, it could be, but she doesn’t know what it’s like to fall in love and then to be in a spot where you’re questioning everything about it.

“She’s not wrong,” Shay says. “A lot of great loves are lost because of a lack of communication.”

“Every great romance novel has taught us that,” Wren adds.

They’ve also taught us that distraction is key to moving on faster, so I stand and start to run my fingers through my hair.

“The lodge is my priority,” I tell them. “I lost my way before and thought I could … I don’t know. What I know now is that tricking people is not the way to go. I’m smart, and I know what I’m doing. I’ve been doing this for years. It might take me longer to fix things, but I need to do it the right way.”

“Grace, you don’t have to fix everything on your own, though. Sure, do it differently, but not alone.”

I hear my sister, I do, but I tried that already.

“I think I’ll finish my day at work.”

“Oh, Gracie, it’s okay to take time off.”

I shake my head.

“Putting the lodge first is what I should have done months ago. It’s the least I can do now.”