“First of all, this is not your problem, okay? I didn’t tell you because I was handling it. And I didn’t want to worry you with your big test coming up and all that you had on your plate. You’re about to graduate from college! It should be a happy time for you. And thank God it can be.”

I shifted where I stood, putting a hand on my hip. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that it’s taken care of. I can’t give you details yet, but I will when you come up in June. But it’s handled. The ranch is just fine and even better, I’m starting to work on getting it ready to take in guests again. I’m hoping by July I can get a little summer business rustled up.”

I shook my head. “What—really? You aren’t lying so I won’t worry or some other bullshit like that?”

“Language, Mia. I hope you don’t talk like that around your boyfriend.”

I sighed. “Mom.”

“Okay, okay. He’s not your boyfriend. Maybe I’ll get to meet him at your graduation?”

I gritted my teeth. “Mom, we were talking about your mortgage.”

“Yes. And now the subject is closed. It’s taken care of and I’m telling you the God’s honest truth. Okay? So stop worrying and stop trying to take care of me. I’m not a wilting chemo patient anymore. I feel better than I have in a long time. For a lot of reasons.”

I took a deep breath and decided to believe her. “Okay. Thank God. I’m so glad.”

“You’ve been fretting over this since January?”

Fretting. That was an understatement I was willing to let her live with. “Yeah. Kinda.”

“Well, don’t. I can’t wait to see you in a few weeks, my little graduate! You are going to look amazing in that cap and gown.”

“Yeah. Until then I’m turning off my landline for the next week and hitting the studying hard. If you need me, send me an e-mail or text me, okay?” Okay, so Mom had just come clean to me and now I shamelessly lied to her—again! Or at least, I didn’t tell her the whole truth—that my phone was turned off because I’d be out of the country.

She sighed heavily. “Okay. But if you don’t get back to me in a timely manner, I’ll be forced to harass Heath and you know how much he loves that.”

“Love you, Mom. Talk to you soon.” And I clicked off, sitting back and feeling like a fifty-pound weight had just been removed from my chest.

Her mortgage was taken care of. She didn’t have to give up the ranch. She was even preparing to take on new guests! Had she gotten a loan? A grant? It all seemed so improbable but there was no mistaking that she was telling the truth. My mom wasn’t as good a liar as I apparently was becoming. My eyes wandered up to the ceiling and I couldn’t stop grinning. I wasn’t even annoyed at the thought of probably being enlisted as a free ranch hand over the summer.

Then, of course, my mind wandered to the auction. To the conundrum I found myself in. To the fact that Adam would never fulfill the terms of the auction. I thought about the almost four hundred thousand dollars sitting in my Cayman Islands bank account—money I’d never properly earn.

And I came to a decision. Minutes after I’d told Heath about the trip to St. Lucia, I dropped the second bomb on him. He was so blown away that I had to repeat myself.

“I said I want you to refuse the bank transfer.”

“What? Why are you sending money back to him? I thought terms had been fulfilled, so to speak?”

“No.”

“I don’t get it. Still?”

“It’s a really long story.”

“Maybe you need to fill me in.”

“I’m calling it off. I can’t do this.”

“Damn, that’s a fucking relief. Drake took it okay?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose with a thumb and forefinger and prepared to tell yet more lies. “Yeah, he thinks it’s a good idea, too.” And truthfully, that is what he could have meant last night. He’d hardly said two words to me this morning. Whether it was because of fatigue or regret for having revealed so much about himself to me, I couldn’t tell. I’d tried my best to pretend everything was the same between us, even though everything had been turned on a ninety-degree axis and we were in uncharted territories now.

“And what about your money issues? What about med school?”

Half of the money issues no longer existed. “I’ll find another way,” I sighed. Maybe I could learn to pole dance. I coughed. “Loans or something.”