“I think you’re wrong,” Char said with a knowing smile. “I’ve got a feeling that for you he’ll do anything, even if it affronts his precious alpha manhood.”

Lily thought about the things he’d already done for her: rescuing her keys from the convenience store, loading wood, saving her from a flat tire. And then there were all those times he’d watched out for her on the mountain years ago.

Small things, but they all added up to one big thing—he’d been there for her when she needed him, whether she’d known she needed him or not.

“Oh, and once you get him in here held captive in your chair,” Char said, “be sure to tell him I’ve decided to go into an old folks home and that he and the others can stop worrying about me. Tell him it’s in … Greece,” she said. “Yeah, that’ll mess with him. I love Greek men and their food. Be vague on when, though, cuz when is never. You know what I’m saying?”

Lily paused to take it all in. “You want me to tell your son that you’re moving to Greece,” she said in disbelief.

“Yep.”

“Char, I really don’t feel comfortable lying to him—”

“Now see, that’s the beauty of it—it’s not really lying because it could happen.” Char lifted a shoulder. “Someday. Maybe. You see?”

No, Lily did not see.

Char pushed Lily’s phone across her worktable. “Now make it good, okay? You know how to make it good, right? So that he can’t refuse coming over and seeing you?”

Lily hadn’t the foggiest but she nodded.

Char waited expectantly.

“Oh, you mean right now?” Lily asked, looking to the empty waiting area. Where was a hair emergency when she needed one?

“Yes, now,” Char said. “Better than yesterday, don’t you think?”

And now she knew where Aidan had gotten all of his sarcasm. She picked up her phone and stared at it for a minute, like maybe it could somehow get her out of this.

It didn’t.

Seriously, not even a dead battery?

“Do you have any brownies?” Char asked. “Because brownies would get him here really fast.”

She’d had cookies, but she’d eaten them all. “No.”

“Too bad,” Char said. “It’s just that he’s working so hard, and on top of that he’s also trying to help save the resort.”

“Save the resort?”

“Yes. He Who Shall Not Be Named left them debts.”

Lily remembered what Lenny had said. “How come I feel like I’m the only person in town who doesn’t know what’s going on with the resort?”