Two, and even worse, he’d lied to her, or at least omitted the part about him knowing things about her family that she hadn’t. Important, life-altering things.

Which led to a third, extremely hard-to-process realization. The people in her life rarely put importance on her needs. Her parents. Her siblings . . . Now Cam as well, reminding her that once again, she was not important enough to come first, and never had been.

“Piper?” Winnie asked tearfully. “Are you mad at me?”

“No.” Okay, maybe a little. “But I’m hurt about the lack of trust and faith in me. But . . .” She rose to her feet, grabbed a tissue box off the counter, and handed it to her sister. “Your baby, your decisions.”

“It wasn’t about trusting you or having faith in you. It was more about my inability to actually believe I’d ever find my way in life.” Winnie blew her nose. “I’m getting there, but . . . there’s more.”

Piper closed her eyes for a beat. “Twins?”

“No.” Winnie looked horrified at that. “God, I hope not. But . . .” She bit her lower lip. “Well, the insurance payout was unexpected, but I’ve decided to put the whole thing into a trust for the baby’s education. And in a separate decision, Gavin and I want to buy you out of your third of the property. You can go to school, and we’ll stay and start up the B and B.”

Piper stared at her. And then Gavin. “What?”

“You wanted to sell so you could go to school, right? After all, you’ve sacrificed for us to do that very thing, including putting off your schooling for years. So it’s important to us that we give you the same chance. We got a property appraisal and a loan.” He pulled something from his pocket.

A bank statement of the family account, with a balance bigger than she’d ever seen or dreamed of, thanks to a large deposit dated the day before.

“I know you really wanted to sell,” Gavin said while she stared at it. “That this place is too much for you. But you’re not alone in it anymore. The three of us are a team now. You made this happen, turned us into functioning adults, and we’ll never forget all you’ve done for us. But this time, we’ve got you.”

“But a loan,” she heard herself say. “The costs, the interest—”

“Manageable,” he said. “And worth every penny. The money’s yours, Piper.”

She stared down at the statement, at her golden ticket to go. “But what are the terms and conditions? Are you sure you got a good deal?”

“Yes,” Winnie said. “Because Cam gave us the loan.”

Piper felt herself freeze for a single heartbeat, then only her head moved, like she was in the movie Carrie, turning to look at Cam. “What?”