“I brought you a pie,” she says, lifting the edge of foil on a covered dish.

“Wow, that’s great,” I say, standing to greet her. I swear she’s worn the same dark jeans and bright red bow in her hair since I was born. She probably dressed the exact same way since high school. “Thank you.” I’m not sure what I did to deserve a pie, but I’m not going to complain. Hers is the best in the state of Colorado, regardless of what Mike says.

“Well, I do make a good pie, if I do say so myself. And I heard the girl next door moved out.”

I chuckle. So the Star Falls grapevine is at it again. The pie is probably to soothe my broken heart.

“Can I get you a cup of tea? Or hot chocolate?”

“I’m not stopping,” she says, sliding the pie onto the bench. “I just came to drop this off.” She shrugs. “And check on you,” she says. “It’s been a while.”

I nod. “Yeah, I’ve been in New York.”

“Made something of yourself if you’re building things like that.” She nods up the mountain in the direction of the Colorado Club.

“I’ve been lucky.”

“You’ve been more than lucky. You always were a hard worker. Never looking for a fast buck. Not like your dad.”

The comparison presses against my chest. “I’d like to think I’m not much like my father at all.”

She nods. “He wasn’t all bad. Loved your mother and you. Loved this town. He just… had his demons. We all do. They take over some of us. And some of us conquer them.” She says it in such a matter-of-fact way—like my father didn’t ruin our family when his “demons” meant we lost the family farm.

“So we just chalk it up to demons and that’s it?” I ask. It comes out sharper than I wanted it to.

“What’s the alternative, Byron? Stay angry with him your entire life? Let that anger rule you? He’s dead. Let him stay dead.”

“I’m not angry,” I mumble. Even to me it doesn’t sound convincing.

“Is that what this Club is about? Proving to your father you’re better than him?” Her question hits me like a physical blow.

“No,” I reply, with the tone of a surly teenager.

“You could have built that billionaires’ playground anywhere in the world, but you chose the town where you were born.”

She sounds like Worth. Don’t they all know that I’m rich enough to pay for therapy? I don’t need it for free. “I don’t need to prove anything to my father. Like you said, he’s dead. Has been for a long time now.”