Home > The Heartbreaker of Echo Pass(2)

The Heartbreaker of Echo Pass(2)
Author: Maisey Yates

   And sure, there were hard things about that, but she’d never seen the point of arguing with the way things were.

   She’d tried. But she’d lost her parents at fourteen. She’d exhausted her lungs arguing with the universe back then. And it hadn’t changed a thing.

   And yes, it burned a little more at the realization she was the only one left alone. And maybe she was irritated by the fact that a few months ago her pride had suffered a mortal wounding at the hands of her sister.

   Unintentional of course.

   But when Rose had tried to set her up with Elliott, who had ultimately been after Rose and not Iris, it had driven a splinter deep beneath Iris’s skin.

   She should be grateful, she supposed.

   With everyone so decidedly moved on, that left her in the house with Ryder, Sammy and baby Astrid, feeling like a third wheel.

   Her poor eldest brother had his maiden spinster sister living in his house with him while he was trying to adjust to being a husband, and a new father.

   Of course, being in the same house as her niece was wonderful. And she knew that Sammy appreciated having help with the baby.

   But it just served as yet another reminder of what Iris didn’t have for herself.

   She was always enjoying things through other people.

   Their milestones. Their triumphs. All of them falling in love. Having children.

   It made her ache, and it was inspiring her to act. And this bakery was supposed to be her way out of that.

   And now it just felt like she had been shaken out of an impossible dream.

   “We decided to have a date morning.” Rose frowned. “You look upset.”

   Iris hesitated. She knew that if she told Rose about what was going on, Rose would immediately go into scheming mode. And when Rose schemed, things tended to go... Well, they went. Awry or well, that was never a guarantee, but something always happened.

   She might as well see where Rose’s momentum could take her. She was currently stagnant. And sure, sometimes Rose had terrible ideas. Like trying to set Iris up with Elliott.

   But Rose also had a sort of mischievous magic that Iris herself didn’t possess.

   “I called about the bakery.”

   “Yay!”

   “Not yay. It’s being managed by a different company now, which means I think it got bought by someone else. And the rent is higher than it was when I looked into it a couple months ago. I just don’t think there’s any way I could ever afford it.”

   “You know Ryder would help you.”

   She nodded slowly. She did know that. But she didn’t want to put strain on her brother when he had just started a new family. Plus...

   “But that’s not what you want, is it?” Rose asked.

   Iris nodded. “I want to be independent. And maybe I’m jumping into it a little bit too fast. Maybe I’m being too ambitious.”

   “I don’t think so,” Rose said. “I don’t see why you can’t have everything.”

   She had a feeling her sister was being overly supportive in part because of what had happened between them a few months back. But she appreciated the support either way.

   “Well,” Rose said brightly. “We just have to figure out another way to problem solve this. Is there a way to figure out who bought it?”

   “It might be... Somewhere. I mean, I don’t know what difference that would make.”

   “You don’t want to deal with the management company. Whoever has this all set up probably has a management company because they don’t have a business brain. They probably don’t have the resolve to handle all this kind of stuff. Which means if you talk to them directly, maybe they won’t hold firm on the rent. You can’t go through the rental company, because they’re set up to be a barrier. You need to remove the barrier.”

   “I don’t... That’s not how it’s supposed to work, though.”

   And even as she heard the words come out of her own mouth, she realized what she was doing.

   She was wimping out. She was taking this first hurdle, and allowing it to be insurmountable. Well, she couldn’t do that. She was going to have to make it... Surmountable.

   “Okay. Where do you suppose I might find the information?”

   Rose sat down, and Logan pulled a chair up to the table, while Rose helped Iris scour the document.

   If Logan was irritated by Iris co-opting his date, he didn’t show it.

   Logan had grown up with them on their ranch. His mother had died along with Iris’s parents and aunt and uncle in a plane crash on their way to a joint family vacation.

   The kids had all been staying together while their parents had gone on the trip, and they had remained together thereafter.

   They had created a tight family unit, which had been a blessing growing up, but was now part of what Iris suspected was holding her back.

   “What is it you’re looking for?” Logan asked.

   “We’re trying to figure out who owns this place,” Rose said.

   “Which place?”

   “The one that used to be Sugarplum Fairy. Iris wants to rent it to make her own business.”

   “Oh,” Logan said. “Well, I know who owns that.”

   “You do?” they both asked in unison.

   “Yes. West was looking into it because the guy who used to own Redemption Ranch also owned those buildings, and he decided to sell. But then, some out-of-state guy made an offer that the guy couldn’t refuse. So, West decided to back out. He didn’t want rental properties that bad.”

   “And you remember the buyer’s name?” Iris pressed.

   “Yeah. I think so. Griffin... Griffin Chance. Very California. You don’t forget a name like that.”

   “I don’t suppose you do,” Iris said.

   “Well, do you know where to find him?”

   “I bet it would be easy enough to find out.” Rose had a wicked gleam in her eye.

   “You can’t ask Pansy,” Iris said. “I’m sure that she’s not allowed to get that kind of information.”

   “Maybe she just knows it. Because he’s a new person in town, and he bought a sizable amount of property, so honestly, she might...”

   “I’m not one hundred percent sure he’s in town,” Logan said.

   “Oh, right,” Iris said, feeling deflated.

   “Well, all we can do is ask,” Rose said.

   She was in full Rose mode, and this was when Iris had to be thankful for her sister.

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