Love Next Door (Lakeside #1) by Helena Hunting

As if Teagan has some kind of sixth sense—which I would never say to her, for fear she would take me seriously and believe she can predict the future—she calls me.

“Did Bradley come see you today?” is the first thing out of her mouth.

I hate that in my current frame of mind, I even call into question whether I can reasonably trust my sister anymore either. “Uh, no. He did not.”

“Really? Are you sure, because I have him on my Life app, and his phone was in Pearl Lake today—not in the actual lake, but in the area.”

“That’s because he went to see Dillion.”

“Why in the world would Bradley go see Dillion?”

“Because he’s contesting the will, and he wants Dillion’s help to get it reversed.” Just that statement alone is enough to make my head pound.

“You’re kidding me. Well, that was stupid of him,” she says, sighing. “There’s zero chance of Dillion ever doing something like that.”

I rub my temple. “And if Bradley was threatening her family’s business?”

“Please tell me this is your idea of a bad joke.” Her disbelief is slightly reassuring.

“I wish I could.”

“He is such an ass. What in the world was he thinking?”

“That he could use Dillion to help him cash in on Grammy Bee’s cottage.”

“Well, there’s no way Dillion would give in to him. It doesn’t matter what he offered her. I might not know her very well, but she doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would bend to blackmail.”

“Yeah. I wish I’d had this conversation with you before she came over for dinner.”

“Why? What happened?”

“I might have accused her of going behind my back and conspiring with Bradley to have the cottage taken away from me.”

“Oh no. Why would you do that?”

“I was paranoid, which I think I have a right to be, all things considered. I saw her with him. At her place. And then she came over and pretended like everything was okay and that he hadn’t even been there, so I called her out on it, but not in a nice way.” I explain how things went down, and Teagan sighs.

“Well, you f’ed up royally, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” I knead the back of my neck. “I don’t know how I’m going to fix this. And now I have to deal with Bradley contesting the will. The guy does the bare minimum at all times; since when does he engage in blackmail tactics?”

“I don’t know, but I had a feeling he was up to something. I just didn’t know what. If he’s contesting the will, he’s probably already spoken to a lawyer. Do you think he’s done any research on what it’s going to take to get the town to allow him to subdivide the lot and put up a bunch of houses?”

“That’s debatable, but possibly?”

“It’s going to cost a lot of money to fund a project like that, and he spends his paychecks faster than he earns them.”

“Like father, like son,” I mutter. “So how is he going to fund something like that unless—fuck.” I drop down in the chair and bang my head against the back of it. “I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to figure it out.”

“Figure what out?”

“I know what happened to the foundation money. Or at least I think I do. Bradley has to be the one who took it.”

“But how?”

“I don’t know, but I’m guessing he got ahold of the bank information and moved the money little by little without any of us knowing. Maybe he forged my signature, maybe he posed as me, but it had to be him. Who else would it have been? What’s his mantra? ‘Work smarter, not harder’? It’s all about the money. That asshole. I can’t believe he’s this big of a dick.”

“What’re we going to do? How are we going prove it was him?”

“I don’t know. Get him to admit it? Find out what he’s done with the money and out him? But let’s not tell Dad. Not until we’re sure. Or at least until we have the proof we need. Damn that asshole. This is such a mess.”

“We’re probably going to need some serious therapy after this, aren’t we?” Teagan muses.

“It’s possible.” Probable even. Being blackmailed and defrauded by your own sibling seems like grounds for some serious therapy. “I need to apologize to Dillion. Again.”

“Yeah, you do, and I need to go because Bradley just got home. I’m going to make him a special cocktail and see if I can’t do some recon on my end.”

“Okay. Be safe. I love you, Teag.”

“Love you too, Donny.”

She ends the call, and I stare at the ceiling, trying to absorb it all. I can and can’t believe my brother has done this. It’s shocking, because he expends the most energy on shopping and perfecting his hair. He’s always been a pompous jerk, but this is way beyond anything I can comprehend. And honestly, it’s not something I ever would have thought him capable of. Not to mention I’ve screwed up with Dillion, and now she’s ignoring my messages. Which is completely understandable.

I push up off the couch and head for the front door. I’m considering doing something I normally wouldn’t: groveling. I’m not sure what else I can do other than serenade her, or skywrite a message, but neither option seems like something she’d find all that romantic. Also, skywriting is expensive and seems like a waste of financial resources.