by T. L. Haddix
For a long, long minute, Haley stared at him, certain she’d misheard. “Excuse me?” She even leaned forward, cocking her head toward him. “What did you say?”
He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her. “The house is mine. That’s a copy of the deed. Damon’s getting married next month, and he’s going to need a place to bring his wife. So I need you to get out. And uh, you can’t take any of the stuff that isn’t yours. None of the furniture or things, I mean. It’s all included in the deed.”
Her hands shaking, Haley tore open the envelope, trying to make sense of what he was saying. But she couldn’t get her brain to cooperate, and the words were a confusing blur on the paper.
“You can’t do this, Dudley. I don’t… Where will I go?”
He gave a hapless shrug. “I reckon you’ll figure it out. I can give you until next Friday or so, but I’d like to have you out before then.”
She literally couldn’t speak for the rage that was building in her throat. She’d always heard people say that, that they’d gotten so mad they couldn’t talk, but she’d never experienced it herself.
Today, she did.
Dudley saw her anger, and a flicker of unease crossed his face. “I’m going to head back down to the church. I’ll see you there.” He was out the door before she could say another word.
When the door opened some time later and Eli stepped inside, she was sitting on the couch, staring blankly across the room.
“Haley?”
In answer, she handed him the deed, then got to her feet and rushed past him to the bathroom, where she threw up.
A stony-faced Eli met her when she opened the door. “What is this?”
“My eviction notice,” she said, her gaze flickering up to meet his eyes, then away. “I need to sit down.”
Once she was seated on the couch again, a pillow clutched to her middle, he got her some cold water. Sitting beside her, he flipped through the papers.
“What happened?”
“Gramps gave him the house a year ago. He wants me out. Damon needs the house for his new bride. I have about ten days.”
Eli watched her closely for a moment, then started cursing low as he pulled his phone off his belt. “He can’t do this.”
Haley knew he could. She sipped on the water numbly as Eli placed a call.
“Dad? Can you and Mom come up here to the house? No, things aren’t okay… Thanks. They’ll be here in a minute,” he told Haley as he put the phone back in its holster. “And we’ll figure this out.”
She didn’t see how. It was too much, knowing Fred had given her home away. “What was he thinking?” she whispered. “How could he do this to me?”
The loss and grief she’d been feeling for days, it was nothing compared to this sharper, deeper cut. The betrayal had the power to undermine every good memory she had of her grandfather. It was going to be hard enough for her to recover from losing Fred to begin with. She didn’t know how in the world she was supposed to survive this, too.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Eli wanted to kill Dudley. Flat out, no denying it, no ifs, ands, or buts. If there hadn’t been Haley to consider, at the very least he would have hunted the man down and hit him.
But there was Haley to consider. Haley, who looked so devastated he didn’t even really know where to begin to help. Hoping to God that his parents would, he’d called them.
When John and Zanny arrived a couple of minutes later, worry was written on both their faces. He handed his father the deed.
“The house is Dudley’s. He gave her a little over a week to get out.”
The fury on John’s face matched the fury Eli was feeling. “Son of a… that little shithead,” John, who was a CPA, said as he read quickly through the deed.
“How bad is it?” Zanny asked from her seat on the other side of Haley.
“It’s worth having a lawyer look at, but this has a notary’s seal and the deed book and page number listed on it. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s solid.” His father’s jaw was tight, and he exchanged a pained look with Zanny before picking up a footstool and sitting in front of Haley. “What do you want to do? Tell me, and we’ll do our best to help.”
She shook her head slowly, tears forming in her eyes. “I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry.”
Zanny put her arm around Haley’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “Do you have any place to go?”
Haley’s laugh was bitter. “No.”
John rubbed his forehead, staring down at the papers in his hand. “There’s a special place in hell for people like your uncle. I shouldn’t say that.”
“It’s the truth,” Eli said in a low voice. He got up to pace. If he didn’t move, he was going to give in to temptation and go wring Dudley’s neck. Mo’s, too, for good measure.
“Hey, at least I guess this means I don’t have to finish paying for all the repairs and upgrades, right? The new septic system, the wiring… all those things were in Gramps’s name. He’s the one who signed the contracts. I just funded them.”
John chuckled, though there wasn’t any humor in the sound. “I’d say that’s exactly what that means. Now, let’s figure out your housing issue.”
“The trailer’s empty,” Zanny said.
He blew out a breath and smiled. “I was thinking that. Haley, we have a little trailer up in Firefly Hollow. It’s nothing fancy, and we usually rent it out. It’s older, but it’s in decent shape.”
She swiped at her cheeks, and Eli could see her swallow as she studied his father. “How much is the rent?” When John started to protest, she held her hand up. “No. How much?”
“Two-fifty a month.”
“Really?” she asked Zanny, who nodded. “Because you people tend to softball it. Which I appreciate, but I’m starting to feel like you’re letting me take advantage of you.”
John shook his head. “Haley, you remind me straight up and down of my baby sister, Amelia. You’re as stubborn and independent as she was once upon a time. The rent’s two-fifty a month. I can show you a rental contract if you want proof.”
“I’d want one if we did this. If I did move in there, I mean. I’d insist.” She played with the tissues Zanny’d given her. “I don’t want to impose on you all. And isn’t Firefly Hollow close to where you live?” she asked Eli.
“It is. It’s right down the hill from me and Noah, as a matter of fact. We’d sort of be your neighbors.”
“You could keep an eye on them for us,” Zanny said softly, brushing a lock of Haley’s hair back.
A ghost of a smile crossed Haley’s face. “They’re such troublemakers.”
“Yes, they are,” his mother agreed with a smile of her own. “You don’t have to answer us right this minute. We’ve not even started the process of renting it out again. We’re in no rush.”
“How come it’s empty right now?” Eli asked, stripping his tie off.
“The lady who was living there got married in August. She kept some of her things inside until late last month. All we’ve done to it since she left at the end of September was go in and clean, do an inspection to make sure things were all in working order,” John said. “There’s a washer and dryer in there, and a small fridge and stove. There’s no furniture, though.”
“Dudley said the deed even covers the furniture here,” Haley said, looking at John. “Does it?”
He nodded, and Eli saw regret flash across his face. “Everything except your grandmother’s sewing machine, which is called out specifically as yours.”
“Oh, thank God,” she said, sagging back into the couch. “If he’d tried to take that, too, I’d have stolen it. I shouldn’t say that.” Her hand came up to cover her mouth, her eyes widening. “You’ll think I’m awful.”
But Jo
hn was smiling, albeit somewhat fiercely. “No. I think that means you know what’s important. And if it came to that, we’d help you take it. I’m so sorry you’re facing this, Haley. You tell us how we can help, and we’ll do it. That’s an offer we mean, and one that’s freely given.”
This time, her smile lingered for a moment. “Eli comes by it honestly, doesn’t he? His goodness.”
They all chuckled. Eli shook his head, touched by the comparison. “It’s been a long time since someone called me good,” he teased softly. His humor faded. “I’m glad Grandma and Grandpa have already left. They’re going to be very upset when they hear this.”
“They will be,” Zanny agreed, glancing at him, then back to Haley. “But they live just a teeny bit in the opposite direction as the boys, barely a quarter mile along the ridge at the top of the mountain, and they’d be your neighbors, too. Not that I’m trying to sway you in any direction.”
Haley clasped her hand. “When can I see the trailer?”
Zanny shrugged. “As soon as you feel up to it.”
“Could we go now?”
Eli scowled. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I can have Pat keep an eye on everyone at the wake, and then have her come here after it’s over. She has a key. Otherwise, I don’t… I don’t trust my family not to come in here and take inventory, so to speak.”
John nodded decisively. “Then that’s what we’ll do. What about food? You two need to get some fuel,” he said, looking at Eli. “We had time to eat.”
“We can hit a drive-thru on the way if that’s okay with you?” Eli asked Haley.
“That’s fine. I’d like to change out of these clothes first, though.”
After she’d excused herself, Eli exchanged a look with his parents and jerked his head toward the porch. He didn’t say anything until they were safely outside.
“Thanks for doing this. For the last few days, for being here.”
John laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “We really are glad to be able to do it. Are you planning to stay here until we can get her moved?”
Eli nodded. “I don’t trust her family as far as I can throw them. If she’s up to it, I’d like to get her out of here by the weekend. Think we can have the trailer ready by then?”
“I think so,” Zanny said. “If she gives us the go-ahead, I’ll put the word out across the family, and we’ll get her set up.” She slipped her arm around Eli’s waist and patted his chest. “I’m so glad she has you. What in the hell was her grandfather thinking?”
He realized then that she was probably remembering her own father, who’d thrown her out when he’d discovered she was pregnant with Noah. If she hadn’t had Owen and Sarah to go to, she’d have been homeless. Eli tightened the arm he had around her shoulders, and placed a soft kiss on the crown of her head.
“Love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too, sweetie.”
Once they were in his SUV, following John and Zanny, Haley made a call to Pat. In very short order, she’d explained the situation. Eli got angry all over again as he heard the confusion in her voice. His mother’s question about what Fred had been thinking, it was a very valid query.
But as he thought about the transfer of the safe-deposit box, he recalled what the man had said about not being able to set things exactly right the way he’d wanted.
After Haley had hung up, he started to tell her about the box, but she sighed, speaking first.
“I know you all swear I’m not inconveniencing you, but I can’t help but think I am. But I’m so damned grateful to have you, I almost don’t care anymore. Almost.”
The smile she sent him was rueful, world-weary, and older than her years.
Eli extended his hand over the console, tightening his fingers around hers when she took it. “Is this place okay for food?” he asked as they reached the turn off to a popular fast-food joint.
“It’s fine. I don’t know if I can eat anything, though.”
“We’ll get it in case you get hungry, then.” He pulled into the parking lot and joined the short queue to order.
“As far as feeling like you’re a burden, let me tell you a story. When Mom and Dad started dating, she was nineteen. He was in school at EKU finishing up his degree, and Mom had spent most of her life taking care of her grandmother, who was frail. She’d died earlier in the year, and Mom started working at the little store at the mouth of the holler. She couldn’t even drive. Her dad was an absolute asshole—abusive, cruel. His only real saving grace was that he was an over-the-road trucker, so he wasn’t home a lot.
“Well, as the Campbells are wont to do according to my grandfather, Mom ended up pregnant. Dad had gone back to school, and she didn’t know what to do. Her dad found out, and he slapped her around a bit. Then he threw her out. He literally put her in his pickup, drove her to Grandma and Grandpa’s, and threw her out in the driveway.”
Just thinking about how Zanny had been treated sickened him, and he rolled his window down to take in some fresh air as he rubbed his mouth.
“Oh, my God. Oh, Eli, your poor mother.”
“I know. Dad gave Noah and me a talk when we were young teenagers, getting to be men. He told us about the bruises she had. Her arm was black and blue where that bastard had hurt her, and her cheek… Anyhow, Mom found herself homeless at nineteen, pregnant, and if my grandparents hadn’t stepped in… They called Dad home, and they got married. He’d been intending to propose to her at Christmas anyhow, but Noah caused things to get moved up a few months.” He smiled, thinking about how his parents liked to tease his brother about that. “They ended up doing a vow renewal a few years later and had a summer wedding, so they have two anniversaries to celebrate.
“Point is, I think Mom—and Dad, too—have been waiting for a long time to be able to pay that debt forward, what my grandparents did for her. And I think if this trailer works out for you, if you want it, you don’t need to feel guilty about that because what that would mean for Mom would be as significant in a way as what it would mean for you.”
A low sigh shuddered out of Haley, and she looked away. “Okay.”
Eli ordered their food. Once they were back out on the road, he was gratified to see Haley show an interest in the bag. He started to relax a little when she pulled out an order of fries and offered them to him, then took some for herself.
“So I have something I need to tell you. It probably could wait another day or so, but I don’t want you to think I’m trying to hide anything from you. Now that I can tell you about it, I mean, without breaking a promise.”
She frowned at him. “I don’t know if I can take many more surprises right now.”
“I know. Hopefully, this won’t be a big one. Your grandfather had me take him to town last week, to the bank. He visited the safe-deposit box you two share, and he put something in it. I don’t know what. But then he had the box transferred out of his name and into mine. He didn’t want anyone else to know about it, especially your uncles.”
She stared at him. “You took him to town?”
“Yes. He swore me to secrecy.”
“Oh.”
Eli gave her a minute, but when she didn’t say anything else, he started feeling uneasy. “Haley?”
“It’s just surprising, that’s all. But I’m also relieved, to be honest. If it’s out of his name… hopefully, that means it won’t have to be included in his estate.” She took a long pull on her soda. “How did he manage to do that without me being there?”
“Called in a favor to the manager. Are you upset?”
She shook her head. “No. Like I said, I’m a bit relieved. I’ll probably need to go tomorrow or Friday to see what’s what with that.”
“Okay.”
They fell silent after that, and by the time they’d made it to the
trailer, some of the color was coming back into her cheeks. She’d also managed to eat one of the orders of fries.
Eli pulled up into the driveway behind his parents. “This is it.”
“It’s cute,” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt. “I like the porch.”
The trailer had a large covered deck on the front that overlooked the bank leading down to the road and the creek on the other side.
Eli stayed in the living room at the bar with his father as Zanny showed Haley the trailer and tucked into his food.
“We made some calls on the way over,” John said in a low voice as he stole a French fry. “Emma has some furniture at the old house she’d be willing to bring over, and so do we. We can at least get her some chairs, an old couch, bedroom furniture. Maybe a table, too.”
The generosity didn’t surprise Eli, but it did touch him deeply. “Thank you.”
John took another fry, shaking his head grimly. “It’s a shitty thing to do to someone you care about. I hate that she’s going through this.”
“So do I.”
“I think you staying with her at night is a good idea,” John said, his gaze assessing. “Do you have a gun?”
Eli nodded. “Of course. I keep it with me. I don’t think I’ll need it, but it I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”
“Pray to God you don’t need it.” John sighed. “She’s a good person, Eli. As glad as I am that we can help her, I’m more grateful that you’ve got her in your life.”
“Why, because she’s a good influence on me?” he asked, half-joking.
“No, because I think she could make you happy,” his father surprised him by saying. “And I would love dearly to see you as happy with someone as I am with your mother. Especially after what you went through the last time.”
Eli couldn’t speak. He just clasped his father’s hand and gave him a quick nod.