by Linda Warren
“Elias, I never thought I’d hear from you. You do know I’m married now.”
He gritted his teeth. “I’m looking for a house in Horseshoe. Do you have anything to show me?”
“A house? Don’t you live on the ranch?”
He sighed inwardly. “I want to buy a house, Gaynell. Do you want to sell me one? I’m not getting into a long conversation about where I live. I just want to make a deal.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t get in a snit.”
“Do you have anything?”
“Yes. There are a few houses for sale.”
“I’ll meet you at the courthouse in an hour.”
“What? This is Sunday, Elias, and I do have a family.”
“Okay, I’ll find another real estate agent because I’m buying a house.”
“You’re just as ornery as you ever were.”
“So what’s it going to be?”
“I’ll meet you at the courthouse in an hour and a half. I have to take my daughter to a party first.”
“I’ll see you then.” He laid his phone on the bed. He might be jumping the gun, but he hadn’t paid child support in seventeen years so he felt he owed Maribel and Chase something. They needed a home and he could give them one.
Meeting Gaynell again was like picking up Jell-O with your fingers, messy and frustrating. She was a younger version of her mother with the dyed big blond hair and the jewelry. She’d gained about twenty pounds since high school and the tight pants and four-inch heels showed it all.
“Aren’t you going to say how great I look?” she asked.
“Why would I do that?”
She slid her purse over her shoulder in an angry gesture. “You know, in high school I just wanted to smack you most of the time because you were so insensitive. Still are.”
“Now, I don’t think your husband would appreciate me giving you compliments, and I’d rather keep this on a business level.”
“Yeah.” She pulled out her laptop from her purse and laid it on the hood of his truck. “Here’s what I have in Horseshoe.” She flipped through several houses and he didn’t like any of them.
“I was hoping for something bigger with a yard.”
She flipped through some more.
“Wait. You just passed an Austin stone house.”
“You don’t want that one. It’s run-down and needs a lot of work. It’s been on the market eight years and each year it gets worse and the owners do nothing to keep it up.”
“I want to look at it.”
“Elias...”
“Let’s go.” He jumped into his truck and with a sigh she got into her car and he followed her to the end of Mulberry Lane.
The house was just as she’d said—run-down. The grass was about three feet high and growing into the window screens. Trash littered the yard and it looked unkempt. Gaynell had a key and opened the front door. The stench almost knocked him backward. The roof leaked and the carpet was wet and mildewed. One of the bedrooms had a hole in the ceiling where it had rotted through and animals could go in and out. Overlooking the stench and the overall condition of the house, he could see it had once been a beautiful home. The kitchen, living room and dining room were open concept and featured a huge stone fireplace. There were three bedrooms, three baths, a study and a huge patio. The house sat on ten acres and there was a small barn out back. It would take some work but he felt he could turn this house into a home. He had the time.
“Who’s the owner?”
Gaynell held her nose. “Can we talk outside? The smell is killing me.”
They walked outside. “Todd Spencer and his sister own the house after their parents died. They live in Maryland and they haven’t been here since the funeral. They’re asking two hundred thousand, which is insane.”
“Did you send photos?”
“No.”
Elias went back into the house and took pictures of everything, even the barn with the tree caved in on the roof. Then he went back outside to Gaynell. “Call the owner. I want to talk to him.”
“You can’t be serious. This place is a mess.”
“Call him.”
“Are you going to make him an offer?”
“I might.”
“You’re as crazy as you always were.”
“Call.”
As soon as Gaynell had the owner on the phone, Elias took the phone from her. She tried to take it back, but he held on. “Mr. Spencer, Elias Rebel here. I would like to talk to you about your house in Horseshoe, Texas.”
“Sure. We’ve been trying to sell it for a long time and we’d be happy to make a deal with you.”
“Before I make you an offer, I want you to see the condition of the house. I’m going to send you photos of everything from my phone. It’s in pretty bad shape. There’s even a hole in the roof in one of the bedrooms and a tree fell on the barn. It’s going to take a lot of work and money to fix it up. Once you look at the pictures, call me back.”
Elias quickly attached all the photos and sent them to Mr. Spencer and then they waited. Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Spencer called.
“I had no idea the house was in such a mess.”
“I’m going to make you an offer. You can take it or leave it. It’s up to you, but I can have cash in your bank account as soon as you sign papers. Think about it.” He told him the price and clicked off.
Gaynell laughed. “Are you serious? He’s never going to take that amount. It’s way too low. Besides, he received an offer about eight months ago of one hundred and fifty thousand, but it fell through because the buyer couldn’t get the money.”
“We’ll see.”
Gaynell glanced at her gold watch. “I don’t really have the time to stand around waiting. I have to pick up my daughter in an hour.”
“Let’s give him fifteen minutes. In the meantime, I’m going to look around a little more.” The house had a lot of potential and he hoped the Spencers agreed to the deal, but he would look elsewhere if they didn’t. Ten minutes later, he walked back to Gaynell.
She was sitting in her car, smoking a cigarette. He’d forgotten she had that filthy habit. “Still lighting up, huh?”
Getting out of the car, she threw the cigarette on the paved driveway and then she crushed it with the tip of her high heel. “I guess you’re buying this house for Maribel.”
He didn’t respond because he felt it was none of her business.
“Who would’ve ever thought that you and Maribel got together back in high school? Since the Rebels and McCrays didn’t associate with each other, I wonder how that happened.”
Luckily, his phone buzzed, preventing him from saying something he would have regretted. It was Mr. Spencer. He took the deal.
“Thank you, Mr. Spencer. Before I hand you over to the agent, I’d like your permission to start work on the house tomorrow.”
“Sure thing. If the deal falls through, at least maybe the house will be cleaned up.”
“It’s not going to fall through.” He handed the phone to a stunned Gaynell.
She talked for a few minutes, setting up the deal and then she clicked off. “I can’t believe he took that deal.”
“He wants it done as soon as possible. How long will it take?”
“We’ve already done the title search when we had the other offer so it shouldn’t take long.”
His cell buzzed again and he looked at it. It was Maribel with a text.
He’s awake.
At least she had gotten the message that he wasn’t going to cop out on his responsibility to Chase. “I’ve got to go. Call me when you have the papers ready to sign.”
“You might need this.” She tossed the keys to him.
“Thanks,” he muttered, walking away.
“Give Maribel my regards!” she shouted after him.
He wasn’t listening. He was bracing himself for another argument with Maribel.
Chapter Six
Maribel woke up at six in the afternoon. She hurriedly took a shower and changed clothes. She hadn’t meant to sleep this long, but she had been exhausted from being up all last night. She’d gotten an hour or so of sleep in the morning and then she’d fixed lunch for Rosie and Jake. Their cousin Remi, who was married to Paxton Rebel, then came over with her daughter, Annie. That gave Maribel time to take a long nap.
Jake and Annie were playing in the living room and Rosie and Remi were sitting on the sofa, talking. “I have to check on Chase,” she said over her shoulder as she walked toward Phoenix’s office. Chase slept on the sofa in there, which occasionally caused a problem because Phoenix once in a while liked to do some work before going to the ranch. He and Paxton were going into the rodeo contracting business.
“He’s up,” Rosie said. “He just came into the kitchen for a glass of milk and a sandwich.”
Chase pulled a T-shirt over his head as she walked in.
“We need to talk.”
“Ah, Mom. I’ve already said I’m sorry. Do we have to talk about it again?”
She folded the sheet and the blanket on the sofa and placed them neatly on the end. “Yes, we do.” She took a seat. “Before I start, I want you to remember that you’re the one who caused all this trouble. And we can’t go back and change anything.”
Chase sat beside her. “So what happens?”
“Elias will be here soon and you have to go with him.”
Chase jumped to his feet. “No. I’m not going with him.”
She’d never forced Chase to do anything he didn’t want to do, except maybe move to Horseshoe. But now she would have to pull out all her motherly instincts to get him to do the right thing. “If you don’t, you’ll have to go back to jail and Elias will not help us at the hearing. That means you’re probably looking at jail time. So it’s your choice. Elias knows a lot of people in this town and they respect him and we need him on our side to get out of this. Otherwise, it’s looking very dim.”
Chase stood there, defiance in every bone of his body. The older he got the more he looked like Elias. Chase had the same stubborn lines on his face, as if they were chiseled by the hand of the devil, which he’d inherited from his father. Elias certainly had a lot of devil in him. He had been the bad boy in school and girls were attracted to him. Sadly, she was no different.
“Where’s he going to take me?”
“Probably to the ranch. There are a lot of people there you’re related to and you might enjoy meeting them.”
“No, I don’t want to. I’m not a Rebel and I don’t care about any of them.”
With a mother’s wisdom, she said, “Someday you will.” She stood. “Pack your things and please be on your best behavior. I expect that from you. Okay?”
“Okay,” he replied in a sullen tone. “But I don’t have to like it.”
As she went back into the living room, she heard a knock at the door. “It’s probably Elias. I’ll get it.”
Elias stood there with the same brooding expression as Chase’s. “Can I talk to you for a minute...in private?”
“Now what?” she asked as she stepped outside.
“I did something today I need to tell you about.” He seemed nervous and that surprised Maribel. Very little upset Elias.
“What?”
“Well, the way I figure it, I owe you back child support.”
She shook her head. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Oh, but I do.”
“Elias...”
“I bought a house for you and Chase.”
“What! How dare you think that you can buy a house for me and Chase. I’ve taken care of him for seventeen years and I can continue to do so without your input.”
“You’re living in my brother’s house and Chase is having a hard time adjusting. Rosie needs peace and quiet and I would think you’d be willing to give her that.”
Oh, he was good. He was working her. “I’m not accepting a house from you.”
“Sorry, I’ve already bought it and I’d like to show it to you.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “You have some nerve.”
He looked her straight in the eye. “And so do you. But before you get your feathers ruffled, I want to show you something.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and handed it to her. “I called Gabe. He’s a lawyer. You should remember him.”
“Yes.” She remembered Gabe. He was Miss Kate’s younger brother. When Miss Kate’s mother had died, Gabe had lived with the Rebels until he’d graduated high school and went off to college.
“I asked him about child support. He said it’s calculated according to what I make. So we did some figures.” He pointed to the paper in her hand. “The first number is the amount of child support I owe you. The second number is the amount I paid for the house. And the last number is what’s left and I will use it to fix up the house. It’s in bad shape, but I can make it like new. I have the time.”
She frowned. “Isn’t it hay season? And you work around the clock almost.”
That nervous expression flirted with his face again and she knew something was wrong.
“I talked with my mother and it didn’t go well.”
“She doesn’t believe Chase is your son, does she?” She had that feeling deep in her gut.
“No. She admits that you came to the house that day long ago and so does Grandpa, but...”
“She thinks I’m after you for money?”
“She’s having a hard time with it and that’s all I’m going to say.”
There was so much more and she could see it in his eyes and she wasn’t going to let it go. “Why won’t you be working on the ranch?”
“Okay, Maribel, you want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth.” His words were sharp and edgy. “She said Chase wasn’t my son and I told her he was. After going over that several times, she stood strong in her belief that Chase is not a Rebel. I told her I was out of there. And she said if I left she would disinherit me. I left.”
Maribel was stunned. Elias had walked away from everything he’d worked for all his life because of his son...and her. She felt bad that he’d had to make that choice. She’d never wanted that to happen.
“I’m sorry, Elias.” She meant every word and all the hard feelings she’d had against Elias were coming undone inside her like a ball of yarn. She looked down at the paper in her hand. He’d gone through a lot of trouble to find a place for them in a short amount of time. And she needed a place to call home. Her pride was holding out, though. It was hard to accept his gift. But, as Miss Vennie had once told her, sometimes in life you have to deal with the hand you’ve been dealt.
“I know you mean well...”
“I rented a room down at the new motel for me and Chase and you can continue to live here and help Rosie while I’m working on the house. Two months, tops and I’ll have it ready.”
It sounded perfect but she was old enough to know that there was no such thing as perfect. She also knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Okay. I’ll look at the house, but first I have to prepare Chase.”
Ten minutes later, they were in Elias’s truck and heading for Mulberry Lane. Maribel vaguely remembered the area. It had nicer homes with well-kept yards. Elias drove into the driveway of a white Austin stone. It was worse than she’d expected.
“This is a dump,” Chase said from the back seat.
She was thinking the same thing with the weeds growing into the windowsills and the trash in the yard. The unkempt appearance had her thinking this house wasn’t for them.
“I told you i
t needs work so wait until you look through the whole house before you make a decision. It smells like mildew inside and once I get all the old wet carpet out and the wet Sheetrock it will smell differently. It needs a new roof. It needs a lot of new things. Just keep that in mind.” Elias was trying to sell her on the house before she’d even walked into it.
They got out and walked through the grass to the front door. The stench had them taking a couple of steps backward.
“Ye gads.” Chase held a hand over his mouth and nose. “This is awful. We can’t live here.”
“Open the windows,” she told her son.
Chase tried, but the window wouldn’t move. Elias went over and yanked it up with one hand. “Use some muscles, son.”
“Don’t call me son.”
Maribel tensed and she knew this would probably set the tone for their relationship. They were always going to be at odds.
The huge fireplace caught her attention. The mantle was beautifully carved and gorgeous and she liked the open concept with the kitchen, the breakfast room and the living room.
“Look up,” Elias said.
The ceiling was a pop-up dome with more beautiful woodwork. She’d never seen anything like it and it didn’t seem to have any water damage. A beautiful chandelier hung from it.
“There’s one in the master bedroom, too.”
She walked through the house trying to see it as it would be when it was finished. It had a lot of potential. It was a split plan with the master bedroom on one end and the other two bedrooms on the other end. The master bath took her breath away. It was very large with his and her vanities. And the closets were enormous. She would never be able to fill them up. As the thought crossed her mind, she knew she wanted the house. It could be home for her and Chase. The yard was big. Everything about the house was big.
“Hey.” Chase came running in. “There’s a barn out back and a tree has fallen on it and caved it in. We can’t live here, Mom. It’s a mess.”
“Close your eyes,” she said to her son. “Try to see the house with the smell gone, new floors, a new roof, new paint, and the barn without a tree on it. Try to see it as it used to be and as it will be again.”