by Alina Jacobs
Ida stood up. "I'm selling."
"I'm old," Marty said. "My son says the Svenssons give his company a lot of work—saved them really. I know my son wants me to sell."
"At the presentation a few weeks ago, they mentioned a data center," Ernest said. "Where will that go?"
"We'll find a spot outside of town for that," Adrian said. "Obviously a data center doesn't belong in the middle of town. But the rest of the uses will fit right in."
"Sounds fine by me!" said an older woman with blue tightly permed hair. "My kids don't seem to have any interest in the land. As long as the price is fair. Maybe they could throw in another little park somewhere? I love to take my grandbabies to the train park."
"We will absolutely include some green space," Adrian said. "We'll work with the city on the best location."
Bert smiled. "I'll sell as long as the meadow and the trees are saved. I'm all for it." Several people nodded in agreement. One older man looked pensive.
"Art," Ida warned.
"My distillery," he said. "I was going to build it in that old warehouse on my property."
"Platinum Provisions makes that type of equipment," I said, or I was sure they could. "How about they throw in a custom distillery set for you instead?"
"I guess so," he said. "Fine, I'll sell."
"Sis," Ida said.
Judge Edna had a look on her face that I'm sure had hardened criminals shaking before her. "For me it all hinges on the money. I think they need to pay more than whatever the market value is worth," she said.
"They aren't going to pay an exorbitant—"
The judge held up a hand to cut me off. "However, I don't want the money to just go into our pockets and to be frittered away on bird-watching equipment, trinkets, and alcohol." She looked to her sister, Ida. "I propose that for those who are interested, instead of paying us, the money could go into a trust for Harrogate. Some of us in this room who are responsible"—she glared at her sister—"would sit on the board to provide some oversight and to make sure the money's flowing back into the town in the form of job training, investments, aesthetic improvements, and such. Then we could ask the Svenssons to kick in a little bit more money, with the understanding that it goes to make Harrogate a more attractive place."
"That's a fine idea, Your Honor," Remy said. "I think we should go tell them right now. I know all my brothers would be happy to hear it."
66
Mace
My brothers and I met that evening at the PharmaTech offices. Most people had gone home for the day.
"We need to figure out this factory," Greg said. "We can't just spin our wheels."
Liam pulled up a satellite view on the large screen in my office. "I found a good spot in the next county over. It's on a train line, though it's a different company from the one that runs to PharmaTech."
"It just seems far away from our research facilities," I told him. "It's an hour and a half by car. It's difficult to collaborate."
"But it has a large amount of land," Liam said.
"The city will let us build it here eventually," Garrett said. "Especially if Hunter stays out of those meetings with Meg."
"It's been years," Greg stated. "And she hasn't let up on him. Just locking him in a closet doesn't mean she won't try and block the project at every turn. It would be simplest and quickest to buy this land and build it there."
We heard what sounded like gunfire coming from outside.
"What if that's Payslee?" I yelled and raced to the window. "She's still loose! She could have kidnapped one of our brothers, and there could be a hostage situation outside."
"You are literally the most useless person," Garrett said, pushing me aside and looking down into the parking lot. He sniffed. "It's just a school bus."
"Did you have a school group coming here?" Liam asked.
I stared at the bus. It was painted a familiar green. "It's Remy."
"And it looks like he brought half the town with him," Archer quipped as the doors jerked open and several senior citizens, including Judge Edna, filed out.
"Are they protesting?" Greg demanded as we hurried downstairs. "This is why I want to put the factory somewhere else. You can't have protests going on during business hours."
"This isn't a protest," Josie called out as she scooted around an older woman with a walker and came up to hug me around the waist. "These are all members of the new Harrogate Trust."
"Trust what?" Archer asked.
Josie laughed. "They want you to put the money you're going to pay them in a trust, so they will sell their land on the block with the five-story brick warehouse building by the old rail spur across from the park."
"Remember?" Adrian asked me. He was still a little gun-shy and looked at me slightly worriedly. "We had thought about buying land downtown for factories and facilities."
"It was too expensive," I countered.
"How does this number sound?" The judge handed me a slip of paper.
I handed it to Greg, and he and Garrett mumbled over it. Garrett nodded, and Greg extended his hand.
"Deal," he said, shaking Judge Edna's hand.
"Wonderful. I'm sure us lawyers can figure this all out." Edna looked between Meg and Hunter.
"And the city is okay with selling your parcels?" I asked Meg. She nodded.
"Why are you helping me, I mean us?" Hunter demanded.
"We can lock him back in a closet if you prefer," Garrett said, scooting between Meg and Hunter.
"Because the trust will be a nonprofit for the benefit of the city," Judge Edna said. "It would also be a nice gesture for your company to make up the difference in the tax write-off you get by paying the money to a nonprofit."
"I think that's perfectly reasonable," Greg said.
I was still a bit shocked that Josie had managed to organize all of this.
"The foundation will obviously be reviewing the design choices. We have a board member who is very particular about design," Edna continued.
"You?" I asked. The judge pointed at Josie.
"I'm not on the board," she exclaimed.
"There are three people with sense in this room," Edna stated. "You, me, and the lieutenant mayor, and no, Ida, I was absolutely not talking about you."
"I can't be the chairwoman," Josie protested.
"Meghan can't. She's the lieutenant mayor." Edna snorted. "I hear you're unemployed. You're the perfect choice."
"That means Josie will have to be in Harrogate for large amounts of time," I said, a grin spreading over my face. "We approve."
67
Josie
"I can't believe you managed to do that," Mace said. He had sent his brothers back home, and he and I had returned to his office.
"I felt like I owed you," I told him.
"Don't," he said. "Everything's fine. I overreacted."
"So do you want me to call them all back and say never mind?" I teased.
"No! No," he said in a rush. "This is good."
"I also have something else that I hope will make it up to you," I said.
"You already did more than enough," Mace answered.
I shook my head. "That was the public makeup. Now I have a private one." I flicked off the lights to the office. The only light was from the parking lot below. I undid my skirt, letting it fall to the floor. Then my panties followed.
"You don't have to…" Mace whispered, but he looked like he really wanted me to.
I walked slowly to his desk and perched on it, spreading my legs.
"Shit," Mace groaned.
I undid my blouse slowly and took it off.
"Did you have that on the whole day?" he asked as he gazed hungrily at my breasts, perky from the shelf bra.
"Nah," I told him. "Changed in the bathroom. I don't think the judge would have been impressed if I gave my whole spiel in a shelf bra."
Mace visibly swallowed and unzipped his pants. I touched my nipple, rolling it in my fingers. My other hand trailed up my thigh. I rubbe
d my hand in the slickness, playing in my opening then bringing it up to my clit.
"I know you wanted to watch me play in my candy jar," I purred, rubbing slow circles on my clit. My breath hitched. Mace looked on, gray eyes dark with lust.
"It feels so good when you stroke me with those big hands as you tease me with your cock," I whispered to him. "Sometimes I play in my candy jar, thinking about you sucking on my tits, my hard pink nipple in your mouth, then you bend me over, your big hard cock teasing me as my hot pussy gets so tight and wet thinking about you. I just stroke myself and tease my clit, wishing it was your cock."
I leaned my head back. The Adam's apple was prominent on Mace's throat, and his body was as tight as a spring as he watched me.
I closed my eyes and moaned. "My pussy gets so hot and wet thinking about you. I want you to bend me over the desk and—"
I shrieked as he grabbed me and kissed me, his mouth crushing mine. His cock rubbed against my clit.
I moaned. "Just like that."
He kissed me, sucking my breasts. I heard him roll on a condom, and he pushed into me. I wrapped my legs around him as he fucked me, his cock rubbing against my clit. Mace kissed my mouth, his tongue tracing my lips, then he moved back down to suck my breasts.
The smell of him enveloped me as his cock filled me. I threw my head back, and he kissed me again, swallowing my cry. His mouth stayed on mine as he fucked me.
"You're mine, Josie," Mace whispered against my mouth. "You’re mine to fuck, and you're mine to love."
"I love you, Mace," I told him, my arms around his neck. "I want to be yours forever."
We came together, wrapped in each other's arms.
We had a relaxed, easy rhythm together the next morning.
"How are you?" he asked, planting a kiss on my neck as I was halfway through cracking three dozen eggs for breakfast.
"Nothing like hot office sex," I quipped. "Too bad my tiny house is still impounded. I could go for some hot tiny house sex."
"I think I still have a crick in my neck from the last time," Mace said, rubbing his shoulder. "How about some hot high-end, historically accurate renovated mansion sex instead?"
"You don't have to twist my arm," I said, tilting my head back so he could kiss me. He cupped my face as I held my hand straight out. "Sorry you're doing all the work," I whispered. "My hands are covered in egg."
"I'll always do all the work," he joked.
The kids were antsy at breakfast. Mace wanted them to stay inside because Payslee was still at large. He didn't even want them to go out on the estate grounds.
"I want to go to the park," Henry whined.
"No," Hunter snapped at him over his newspaper. "You're at the table; make polite, civilized chitchat."
The doorbell rang, and ten of the youngest all sprinted to the door, chairs clattering to the floor.
"That is not appropriate behavior!" Hunter yelled as he stood up to go after them. "You all need to march back in there and—"
He stopped short, and we all looked to the doorway as Meghan walked in.
"Sorry to interrupt breakfast," she said.
"Not an interruption at all," Garrett replied, righting one of the chairs. "Have some omelet. There's a free seat next to Hunter."
A tendon jumped in Hunter's neck, but he sat down next to Meghan after making sure the kids fixed their chairs.
"I brought by some paperwork about the land deal and the trust," Meg said as Garrett set a plate of eggs in front of her. "But I also just received a message from Agent Donley. Payslee has been spotted in Pennsylvania. The state troopers there are telling him they have her in custody. He's going down there to take her in. You're home free!"
All through cleaning up after breakfast, Henry chanted, "Park! Park!"
"I'm going to take them out," I told Mace, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Henry and Otis cheered.
"Maybe we'll get some frozen yogurt," I told them. "Vegan frozen yogurt," I amended when Mace frowned. "Remember that vegan shop where we first met? They have a vegan frozen yogurt stand."
"That doesn't seem your style," Mace said.
I showed him my candy jars in my purse. "I have a little something to add onto it."
I was relaxed on the drive to the park. Everything was going well. As soon as Meg had given us the news, Mace seemed to completely relax.
"Are you excited to see the train?" I asked Henry and Otis.
"It's coming soon," Otis said. "We have to hurry." I parked the car, then we went to the best spot to watch, according to Otis.
"Here it comes!" Otis yelled as, in the distance, the train chugged down the street.
I was watching the train and not paying attention until a thin, haggard-looking woman jumped out at us. It was Payslee.
"That's my boy!" she yelled.
Henry screamed.
Momma-bear instincts I didn't even know I had reared up. "Stay away from him!" I shouted and swung my bag as hard as I could. It hit Payslee's head with a thunk. Payslee fell, and the train, the conductor seeing the commotion, screeched to a halt a few feet away from where Payslee lay knocked out cold on the tracks.
68
Mace
Henry was clinging to Josie when I arrived at the train park. The train engineer milled around as Otis peppered him with questions.
Susie was on-site loading Payslee into the back of the police car. "The FBI's coming to take her into custody," Susie said, her mouth pursed.
"Are you all right?" I asked my brothers.
"Josie knocked her out, bam," Otis said, miming what had happened.
"I don't know what you have in that bag, ma'am," the train engineer said. "But I sure wouldn't want to meet you in a dark alley."
"It's just candy jars," she said with a laugh. "They aren't even broken."
"We make good strong women out here in the rural areas," the engineer said. "You should count yourself lucky, Mr. Svensson." He shook my hand.
Susie gave him the go-ahead to continue on his route, and he climbed up into the cab, blowing the horn as Otis and Henry cheered.
The next few days were spent catching up on work, doing police reports, and trying to nail down the land deal.
"We have to move now," Greg said. "I don't want them to change their minds."
"That's part of why we're having this big Memorial Day cookout," Josie said as she loaded Greg up with boxes of ground beef, hot dogs, and condiments from the car.
"It will foster some goodwill," she said as she followed us into the house with several large boxes of buns.
"You're not going to cook all of this food by yourself, are you?" I asked Josie as I surveyed the boxes in the kitchen.
"Of course she's not!" someone sang out, coming into the kitchen.
"Oh, hey, Chloe," I said, greeting Jack's girlfriend.
"Hey, Chloe?" Josie looked at me, irate. "It's Chloe Barnard, my freaking idol, and you're just like, 'Hey, Chloe, what's up?'"
Chloe ran over to hug her, and Josie burst out crying. "Oh my God, I love you so much! You are an inspiration! I follow you religiously."
Jack walked into the kitchen after his girlfriend. "This is a regular occurrence," he said to me, putting down a huge box of what I assumed from the smell was desserts. "It'll calm down in a second."
"All right, big strong men, I have two carloads of food outside," Chloe said, clapping her hands. "And they're big vehicles, not those prancy little sportscars you boys like to drive. We drive trucks in the Midwest."
"Amen," Josie said.
The driver of the other car, Liam, was standing there, contemplating the packed trunk.
"We had to take out all the seats to fit everything in here," he said as I unwedged a box. It took us a few trips, but we brought everything inside.
"This seems like a lot of work for just two people," I said, surveying the towers of unloaded boxes in the kitchen.
"Wrong answer, dude," Jack said. "Wrong answer." He handed me an apron. "Best get to chop
ping. Knives are to the left."
"So is the land deal official?" Jack asked as he mixed onions, ground beef, and cheese for extra-special burger patties.
"The foundation is still being formed legally," Greg told him as he sliced onions with neat precision next to me.
"I'm still shocked Josie managed to convince them to sell. I wish I had been there to see your faces!" Jack said with a laugh.
"They were pretty surprised," Josie said, coming by with a large bowl of potato salad to put into one of the fridges.
"I think at this point," Greg said, "all is more than forgiven. And I'm sure we can fix your debt situation."
"Nope," Josie said, shutting the fridge door. "At the end of the day, it was my decision. I went to Morocco. I used the hotel. I bought the fancy clothes and the expensive drinks. I need to pay for it. I have a plan. I'll pay it off in three years and four months. Garrett made me a spreadsheet."
"I already forgave her," Liam said.
"Yes," Jack added, "we need you to spearhead the marketing effort for some of our new products."
"So you'll be spending a lot more time in Manhattan, then?" Greg asked. "Because we have some real estate deals that could use your eyes."
"What? Wait," I told my brothers. "She's not moving to Manhattan. She has to stay here."
They immediately started arguing with me.
"You fired her and kicked her out."
"You don't get to have any say on her time!" Liam yelled.
"I can go back and forth," Josie said.
"It's a quick train ride to Harrogate, and the drive wasn't that bad," Chloe added. The short blonde bounced on her heels, grinning.
We all looked at her.
"I also want your thoughts on some marketing. I'm thinking about a franchise in Harrogate!" Chloe said in a rush. The two women screamed, and Josie hugged her.
"And if Chloe's opening a franchise here, then hopefully Jack and Liam will be spending more time in Harrogate," Josie said. She had a slightly guilty look on her face.