dredged up a smile. “I’m sorry. We can talk about it as much as you want.”
Sabrina hugged the towel to her chest. “Dad always found a way to come up with money, so why can’t you? He never had problems dealing with the bank.”
Not true. He just hadn’t bothered to tell his daughters about them.
Morgan remembered their father telling them that hardworking people could usually get the banks to be flexible. Maybe that was true in the old days, but not so much anymore.
“Banks are happy to lend you money as long as they’re confident that you’ll be able to pay it back,” Morgan said. “Sadly, our bank doesn’t have that kind of confidence in the B&B anymore. They say it’s too risky to extend us more credit.”
Sabrina shook her head. “But we’ve always made our loan payments. Dad told me that, and so did you.”
That streak would be coming to an end next month unless a miracle happened and the remaining empty rooms suddenly got booked. “Yes, but the past doesn’t count for much. I had nothing to show the manager to convince him we’d be in a position to take on more debt. We’re barely half-booked for the rest of the summer, and we’re wide open after Labor Day.”
“But doing nothing is a guaranteed recipe for failure,” her sister said stubbornly. That was one of their dad’s favorite sayings, one Sabrina tended to fall back on whenever they got into this argument. “We’re having a hardtime getting bookings because the place is practically falling apart. But if we spend some money and make it look really nice, people will come back.”
Morgan held out her hands, palms up. “Sweetie, we have
no
money.”
“Well, Lily and Aiden must have plenty of money these days. He was a pro baseball player, and now they’re building that fancy resort. Lily would do anything for you, Morgan.” Sabrina’s blue gaze had turned almost desperate.
“Their money is tied up in the resort and renovating the old Flynn house. And even if they did have some available cash, how could I ask my best friend to invest in a place that might not survive past the summer season?”
Sabrina tossed the tea towel across the room and yanked off her apron, throwing it onto the counter. “So what’s the answer, then? Help from Ryan sure isn’t going to be enough.”
“Well, it’s certainly going to help.”
“Oh, stop it!” Sabrina snapped. “I’m not some child you have to shelter from reality. It’s going to take real money to get this place in shape, and you won’t even try to raise it.”
Morgan felt her mouth gape open. “Sabrina, that’s just not—”
“Don’t say it’s not true, Morgan. Sometimes I think you’d like nothing better than to sell this place and wash your hands of it.” Sabrina stopped abruptly as her voice caught, half turning away to look out the window into the yard.
Morgan beat back the sense of frustration that threatened to choke her, refusing to rise to her sister’s angry bait. That last jab had hit her in a very vulnerable spot.
“Look, you’ve got a great job on the mainland,” Sabrina said in a lower voice, “so I get why you want to get back to it. But all I have is the B&B, Morgan. And what about Dad? Don’t we owe it to him to do every last thing we can to keep his dream alive?”
Now was not the time for Morgan to talk to her sister about coming to live with her in Pickle River. That would just send the argument into the stratosphere. “Let’s just take it one day at a time, okay? I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
Sabrina huffed. “You don’t really care about what happens to Golden Sunset. If you truly cared about Dad and me, you’d have come back and helped when he asked you to. Instead, you picked your job over your family. How do you think that made us feel?”
Man, talk about a freaking guilt trip. “Honestly, I’ve never seen the two as mutually exclusive,” Morgan said, wishing she didn’t feel so defensive.
Sabrina hugged the towel to her chest. “Dad always found a way to come up with money, so why can’t you? He never had problems dealing with the bank.”
Not true. He just hadn’t bothered to tell his daughters about them.
Morgan remembered their father telling them that hardworking people could usually get the banks to be flexible. Maybe that was true in the old days, but not so much anymore.
“Banks are happy to lend you money as long as they’re confident that you’ll be able to pay it back,” Morgan said. “Sadly, our bank doesn’t have that kind of confidence in the B&B anymore. They say it’s too risky to extend us more credit.”
Sabrina shook her head. “But we’ve always made our loan payments. Dad told me that, and so did you.”
That streak would be coming to an end next month unless a miracle happened and the remaining empty rooms suddenly got booked. “Yes, but the past doesn’t count for much. I had nothing to show the manager to convince him we’d be in a position to take on more debt. We’re barely half-booked for the rest of the summer, and we’re wide open after Labor Day.”
“But doing nothing is a guaranteed recipe for failure,” her sister said stubbornly. That was one of their dad’s favorite sayings, one Sabrina tended to fall back on whenever they got into this argument. “We’re having a hardtime getting bookings because the place is practically falling apart. But if we spend some money and make it look really nice, people will come back.”
Morgan held out her hands, palms up. “Sweetie, we have
no
money.”
“Well, Lily and Aiden must have plenty of money these days. He was a pro baseball player, and now they’re building that fancy resort. Lily would do anything for you, Morgan.” Sabrina’s blue gaze had turned almost desperate.
“Their money is tied up in the resort and renovating the old Flynn house. And even if they did have some available cash, how could I ask my best friend to invest in a place that might not survive past the summer season?”
Sabrina tossed the tea towel across the room and yanked off her apron, throwing it onto the counter. “So what’s the answer, then? Help from Ryan sure isn’t going to be enough.”
“Well, it’s certainly going to help.”
“Oh, stop it!” Sabrina snapped. “I’m not some child you have to shelter from reality. It’s going to take real money to get this place in shape, and you won’t even try to raise it.”
Morgan felt her mouth gape open. “Sabrina, that’s just not—”
“Don’t say it’s not true, Morgan. Sometimes I think you’d like nothing better than to sell this place and wash your hands of it.” Sabrina stopped abruptly as her voice caught, half turning away to look out the window into the yard.
Morgan beat back the sense of frustration that threatened to choke her, refusing to rise to her sister’s angry bait. That last jab had hit her in a very vulnerable spot.
“Look, you’ve got a great job on the mainland,” Sabrina said in a lower voice, “so I get why you want to get back to it. But all I have is the B&B, Morgan. And what about Dad? Don’t we owe it to him to do every last thing we can to keep his dream alive?”
Now was not the time for Morgan to talk to her sister about coming to live with her in Pickle River. That would just send the argument into the stratosphere. “Let’s just take it one day at a time, okay? I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
Sabrina huffed. “You don’t really care about what happens to Golden Sunset. If you truly cared about Dad and me, you’d have come back and helped when he asked you to. Instead, you picked your job over your family. How do you think that made us feel?”
Man, talk about a freaking guilt trip. “Honestly, I’ve never seen the two as mutually exclusive,” Morgan said, wishing she didn’t feel so defensive.
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