Love Arranged (Lakefront Billionaires, #3)(12)

When he still doesn’t reply after twenty minutes, I follow up with another message.


ME

I was in the middle of filing a stolen car report when they found it.

I hit Send and instantly regret not adding more, so I type up another text.


ME

The sheriff, his deputies, and Julian and Dahlia know what you did, so if people start assuming you like me or something, it’s all your fault.

Despite him not showing any signs of answering me, I end up falling asleep to thoughts of him.




When I wake up the next morning, my phone is bombarded with new photos Rafa shared of him, Nico, and Ellie enjoying a sunset in Hawaii. My mom and Josefina, who raised Rafa like her own son, Julian, are losing their minds in the Lopez-Mu?oz group chat over how cute Nico and Rafa look in their matching swim trunks, so I add a comment of my own.

ME

You’re practically unrecognizable with a smile on your face.

Rafa answers with an eye-roll emoji.

JULIAN

Wait. That’s Rafa?

DAHLIA

I forgot what he looked like without the beard.

Rafa sends a single middle-finger emoji to our Kids’ Table group chat, most likely because my mom would pass out at the vulgar gesture.

I exit our chat and check my thread with Lorenzo, wondering if he answered, only to be disappointed when I find out he never replied.

Are you really surprised after he ghosted you?

No, but it still sucks.

I carry on with my morning routine, only for it to be derailed when my mom asks me about my car, which she saw outside. I’m shocked to find it parked in our driveway with a note tucked under the brand-new windshield wiper.

Keys are hidden by your favorite place.

PS: Like your car, it’s in need of some repairs.

With how much he ignores me and our shared past, I’m surprised he referenced a conversation we had on the Eros app where I told him about my three favorite places in Lake Wisteria—one of which is in my own backyard. At the time, I thought I was so unbelievably clever, dropping a clue about my house in hopes of Lorenzo searching for me like some Dreamland prince.

Once upon a time, I wished our story would end with a happily-ever-after, only to realize Lorenzo is the villain in mine.

The handwritten note crumples underneath my fingers, and I toss it into the trash before walking over to the small fountain my dad installed. My mom has had it fixed a few times over the years, but she gave up on it a while back, so I took over the responsibility.

The fountain located in a corner of our yard was my dad’s labor of love because it broke down more often than it worked. So much so, it became a running joke between our parents, with my mom threatening to get rid of it and my dad convincing her not to.

It was his happy place, and when he passed, it became mine—up until last fall when I ran out of the gold coins he gave me when I was little.

After spending years preserving the fountain and the garden surrounding it, I started neglecting the area. Spring came and went, and the rose bushes my father loved withered away until they stopped blooming altogether.

A chill spreads across my arms as I head down the winding path leading to my dad’s garden. Dried leaves and pebbles crunch underneath my shoes as I walk below the trellis that once was covered with blooming bougainvillea. While the flowers are long gone, the hedge surrounding the entire garden has the opposite issue, growing wilder by the week.

I follow the winding path toward the fountain. The mostly dry basin is full of stagnant rainwater, disgusting muck, and an endless number of leaves. A few quarters sit at the bottom of the bowl too, but it’s the gold coins that catch my attention.

“Make a wish.” My dad offered me a golden coin from his satin drawstring bag after tossing his into the fountain.

I crossed my arms and raised my brows. “Those never come true.”

He cracked a smile. “I used to think that way too.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes.” He nodded. “Then one day, I made a wish and then I met your mom, and I never stopped wishing ever since.”

“Like what?”

“I can tell you now, but only because they came true.” He knelt down so we could be eye level. “I wished for you.” He bopped my nose. “I wished for Dahlia. I’ve wished for so many different things in my life because to wish is to hope, and that’s the one thing no one can take away from you.”

My eyes sting, and I turn away from the fountain until I’m no longer at risk of crying. Maybe my mom was right about getting rid of it, because its decrepit state is more depressing than comforting.

The fountain or you?

Desperate to leave this place, I search for my keys until I find them on the pedestal.

I go inside the house and get dressed. Once I’m done with my makeup, I head into the kitchen in search of coffee. My mom is leaning against the counter, watching her favorite morning talk show on her tablet while sipping coffee from a mug.

I’m surprised to see her already dressed for work when she isn’t on the schedule today. She only comes in a couple of times a week now that I’m a co-owner of Rose & Thorn, although she’s always happy to help me with large orders or rush deliveries.

It was hard to convince her to take a step back, but after the doctor noted their concern about her heart and some unideal test results earlier this year, she finally listened to Dahlia and me.