He looked away, waited a beat. “I told you before. I owe someone some money.”

How she kept herself from pressing her lips together, sharpening her gaze, she didn’t know. “Okay. How much?”

That expression—she’d seen it so many times. Sheepish, bordering on agitated. “You’ll kill me if I tell you.”

She held one hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun. “How much money, Micah?”

That wasn’t just chagrin on his face now. It was pure panic. “It wasn’t so much at first but then with interest and stuff . . . twenty-five thousand.”

She sputtered. “What?”

He paced several feet away, about-faced, and returned. “I thought I was doing something good for once. A friend told me about this investment opportunity—more of a pyramid scheme, I realize now—but I really thought it could turn into something, you know? But I needed some capital to get started and obviously I couldn’t ask you for that kind of cash and like a bank is going to loan me anything, so I—”

“Not a loan shark. Please say you didn’t.”

“Fine. I won’t say it.”

Her full stomach twisted and churned. Twenty-five thousand dollars. In a daze, she wrapped her arms around her torso, not even Neil’s coat enough to keep a chill from shivering through her now. “I don’t have that kind of money, Micah.”

“I know. I know. I didn’t come here expecting you to hand over a check or anything. It’s just . . . I don’t know what to do and these guys aren’t exactly patient.”

“How’d you even have money to get here if you’re in such a tight spot?”

He looked away again. Of course. That, too—borrowed.

She turned away just to keep from letting loose a lecture that wouldn’t help either one of them, her gaze drawn to the house. She supposed there were people out there in the world who wouldn’t blink at an amount like twenty-five thousand dollars. When she’d first Googled Muir Farm and saw all those old photos, before the years had taken their toll on the house, she’d thought the Muirs were some of them.

Oh no . . . Micah hadn’t come here because . . . he didn’t think . . .

Dread welled inside her and she spun back to him. “I don’t know if I can help you this time, Micah. And they can’t, either. If that’s why you’re here—”

“How can you blame me? Isn’t that why you came here? I know how much you regret dropping out of college. I know how much I’ve cost you over the years. I know Mezzani’s was never your dream job. You came here looking for a new life. Maybe it’s not money you want, but you’re looking for something to make all your troubles go away just as much as I am. That’s probably why you were kissing the guy. They figured out you’re not the long-lost daughter or granddaughter or whoever, so you did the next best thing.”