But Lil and Indi shouldn’t have to help him keep the farm afloat. They had their own careers, their own lives. And Maggie had given him so much through the years, imaginably more than most others would for the orphan grandson of a long-ago friend.

Things could’ve turned out so differently for him. He could still be there. Back in Edinburgh. Unwanted by his only remaining family. If not for Maggie, he might be . . .

Like Sydney. Alone.

“Earth to Neil.” Indi waved her hand in front of his face. “I should send you back to Lilian. For Sydney’s sake, if nothing else. She’s not used to our sister’s bossiness the way we are.”

From what he’d seen so far tonight, Sydney could handle Lilian’s demeanor just fine. He might’ve felt a tingle of pride at that, too.

“Before you go, though—” Indi reached into the lockbox, pulled out a stack of bills, fingered through them. Held them toward him. “My first payment. I owe you, Neil. I’ve owed for four years.”

He held up both palms. “Nope.”

“You can’t keep refusing to let me repay you.”

“Your second store isn’t even a year old. I know it hasn’t been easygoing since opening day. Use it toward that.”

She shook her head, curls bouncing around her face, exasperation written in her frown. “Neil—”

“It wasn’t a loan, sis. It was an investment.”

“Then you should have a cut of the store’s profits.”

He placed his palms on her shoulders the way he used to when she was eight and struggling with reading. When she’d get so frazzled trying to study at home that she’d jump up from the living room floor and declare she was giving up. And he’d stand in front of her, hands on her shoulders to still her, and talk her through word after word.

“It wasn’t an investment in the business, Indi. It was an investment in you. And the way I see it, it’s paid off a hundred times over.”

Gratitude filled her green eyes. Tears, too. And then, “Drat you, Neil.”

He dropped his hands. “Um, excuse me?”

“I’d completely convinced myself it was the right thing to do—not telling you. I just wanted to save you the extra stress and I figured the guilt of not saying anything was worth it. Then you go and say something so nice and all of a sudden, I feel like a heel.”

“What didn’t you tell me?”

She whirled away from him, stuffing her wad of cash back in the lockbox. “Tuesday night. When the goats got out.”

“Oh, that. You can save the confession. I kind of already assumed you were the one who—”