by Tia Siren
“What color should we paint your room?” I asked.
He thought about it for a second. “Brown.”
I cringed, but it was his room after all. Maybe I could do a light brown with some blue. I smiled, thinking about our future on the farm. Jasper would finally have room to run and dig to his heart’s content. It was a great, safe place to raise a child. I wouldn’t have to be looking over my shoulder constantly, making sure he wasn’t talking to strangers or in danger of getting hit by someone on a speeding bike. I felt at peace with my decision. My dad had protested a great deal, but I’d assured him it was what I wanted. He had finally agreed and admitted he was happy to hear it.
Now I had to tell the rest of the family. I knew Leslie would be thrilled, but Anna and Hank would not be quite so excited. It was really none of their business. They could pitch fits if they wanted. I didn’t care. They didn’t have to worry about Dad or the farm any longer. I was back, and I would make sure everything was taken care of, me and Jasper.
I pulled into the driveway and looked over the farm with a fresh set of eyes. It was mine. I had a place to call home. I couldn’t wait to get started on the improvements. First I needed to pack up the loft. That was not a chore I was looking forward to, but the sooner I got it done, the sooner I could get back here and start settling in.
“Look! There’s Grandpa!” Jasper shouted from the back seat.
“I see him. What’s he holding?” I asked, squinting my eyes.
“It’s a sign, Mom.”
When we got close enough to read it, I had to fight back tears. My dad had made a sign that read “Welcome Home.”
I knew he was happy. I hoped this was what he needed to get him through this illness and back on his feet.
Chapter 20
Brock
It seemed I was living in a nightmare. I had dreaded coming to the office today, but I couldn’t hide forever. Anna had called my cell to let me know the developer had been calling the office since eight. I was only a little surprised to know she was already at work. I had put off going in until I absolutely had to.
Now I was getting an earful from the developer.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated for what had to be the tenth time. “It was completely unexpected. I had no idea his family had that kind of money.”
I listened as the man berated me for wasting his time and money. He went on to make threats about my ability to find another developer to partner with in the future. I hoped he would calm down and not blackball me, but deep down, I knew it was a real possibility. The man could ruin my career if he wanted to.
I managed to get off the phone with him with the promise to call him later today. I still had a sliver of hope that the deal could move forward. Ashely could have been bluffing. She knew how much I wanted this, and it could all be a way for her to get back at me.
“Anna?” I hollered, feeling extremely agitated. “I need you to call Ashley, please.”
I heard the wheels of her chair rolling. Instead of getting up and coming to the door, she wheeled in front of it. “What?”
“I need to talk to Ashley. Can you please call her for me?” I repeated, not in the mood to deal with their family drama.
She rolled her eyes. “I’d rather not.”
“Anna, I am not asking you to call her and invite her out for coffee. This is business. Get her on the phone. Please,” I added.
“Fine,” she said. As she wheeled away, I heard her grumble under her breath, “I don’t know why you can’t just pick up the phone and call her.”
“Because you’re the secretary!” I shouted.
“Blah, blah, blah.”
I now understood why Anna couldn’t hold a job for longer than a couple months. She was good at what she did when she wanted to, but her attitude sucked.
“There!” she hollered.
I looked down at the phone and saw the light indicating someone was on the line.
“Ashley,” I greeted.
“What, Brock?”
“I need to know if you’re playing games or if you’re really serious about paying the farm’s mortgage.”
“Games? Of course not. Why would I make that up? I’m heading out to the bank shortly. I’m just waiting for the last of the money to clear and be deposited. Then I’ll be signing papers and taking care of that ridiculous second mortgage that nearly cost my dad his home,” she mumbled.
“How?”
“I already told you how.”
“I guess I didn’t realize photography paid so well,” I mused.
“It does, sometimes. I invested a lot of my money instead of spending it on fancy trucks and big homes,” she added.
The snide comment did not escape me. She thought I squandered my money.
“A house is an investment,” I pointed out.
“I guess. To some people it’s a home, a place to raise a family and make memories.”
“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” I quipped.
“Memories can be made anywhere. I wasn’t interested in flaunting my earnings. I chose to invest so I could retire early and put my son through college. I don’t need everyone to know how successful I am by buying fancy things,” she said, scorn in her voice.
“Oh good. You found your soapbox. That high horse that you favor is right there where it usually is, and look, you’re right on top like always.”
She sighed. “I don’t want to argue. You can’t be mad at me for wanting to save my family’s home. This is our home. It means something to me, and you had to know I would never let you take it without a fight.”
“I expected a fight. What I didn’t expect was for you to win.”
She laughed.
“Dammit, Ashley. Do you know how much money you are costing me? This isn’t a laughing matter!”
I couldn’t see her, but I knew she had a smile on her face—that shit-eating grin that said she had won.
“Brock, it isn’t about the money. This is about family. My family. It’s about your son getting to grow up in a stable home with both his parents nearby. He won’t have to fly back and forth. Just think of the money you’ll save on airfare,” she added with a giggle.
“This isn’t funny! You may have ruined my entire career. I put a lot of money into closing this deal. This could have put me on the map. I would have had developers lining up to work with me.”
“Boohoo,” she sarcastically muttered. “If your career is taking the homes of good people and turning them into parking lots, shame on you. If that’s the case, I’m glad I ruined your career. That’s not a career, Brock. That’s something only a villain does. Unless you have set your sights on being a super villain, relax; I just saved your soul,” she teased.
I wanted to scream. She thought this was all so hilarious. She had no idea. Or maybe she did and that was why she was taking such pleasure in ruining everything. I wouldn’t put it past her to celebrate my demise with a bottle of champagne.
“I can’t believe you,” I muttered.
“Believe it, baby. Anyway, did you want to set up a time to see Jasper? Maybe I can meet you at the park and leave you two alone for an hour or so.”
My head was spinning. She had ruined what would have been a huge success for me, and now she was playing nice and offering me time to spend with my child? She was deranged. She was pretending we weren’t in the middle of an argument about her ripping a fortune right out of my hand without blinking an eye.
“You can’t dangle Jasper in front of me and expect me to forget all about how you just cost me a shitload of money, Ashley,” I said. “It’s not like I can forget what you’ve done, especially since I have a very wealthy, angry developer calling me every five minutes!”
“I’m asking if you want to see your son. Nothing more. I don’t care if you are being harassed by a developer that wanted to bulldoze my house. Really, that is the last thing on my mind.”
“Of course you don’t care. You aren’t the one losing everythin
g,” I said. I instantly regretted showing her any weakness. She would capitalize on it.
Another deep sigh came through the phone. “I need to know now, Brock. I’ll be going back to New York tomorrow and will be gone a couple days.”
“Why?” I blurted out, holding on to the hope that she’d been joking about staying.
“I have to pack up my loft. I’m selling it, remember? I have to sell it to pay off this damn debt,” she grumbled.
I took some satisfaction in knowing I had thrown a wrench in her plans as well. My world wasn’t the only one getting shaken up.
“You don’t have to sell it. You could forget about the farm and keep your loft,” I offered.
“Whatever. Not gonna happen. I’m coming home, Brock, and I am buying my dad’s farm. That isn’t going to change. Deal with it.”
“Are you flying? Driving?”
“I’m driving. Jasper will be staying here, but I certainly don’t want you stopping by and upsetting my dad. He has enough on his plate without you adding your nasty attitude to the mix. You’ll have to wait until I get back if you want to see him. I’m serious. Do not go out to my house,” she warned.
“You’re going back to New York without Jasper?” I asked, a little surprised she would leave him behind with her sick father.
“Just for a couple days. It’s a long drive, and I can make better time if I don’t have to stop every hour to let Jasper pee.”
“Oh, I guess I assumed you would be keeping your place so you had somewhere to run to when you got tired of the small-town life—again.”
She ignored my dig at her past. “I told you, the place is up for sale. I don’t know why you can’t get over the past. It happened. I’m back. Deal with it. I need to get things packed and ready for the movers. Then I’ll be driving my car back.”
“Do you want some help?” I blurted out without thinking about what I was saying.
I slapped my palm against my forehead. What the hell? I had no idea what came over me or why I offered to help her move. It came out before I even had a chance to think about what I was saying.
“You want to help me move?”
I had a chance to say no. I could have said I was only joking, but once again, my mouth betrayed me. “Sure. Why not? It gets my son closer to me.”
There was a long pause. “I’ll let you know,” she said, her voice filled with suspicion. “I need to get going, though.” Then she giggled. “I have an appointment at the bank.”
I growled and bit back the foul words I wanted to spew at her. She was not going to let me forget how she was screwing me over. She had won, and she was a terrible winner. I knew that from the many years we had been together. We had made a rule early on in our relationship that Monopoly was not a game we could play. We were both far too competitive. In fact, we couldn’t play any games unless we were on the same team.
She hung up the phone, and I stared at the receiver in my hand. That had been very weird. I was losing my mind. I had to figure out a way to get her out of my head before she completely destroyed me. I also had to work fast to try to find another parcel of land to buy. There was a slim chance I could save my deal with the developer, but I had to find some land that would be close to what I had just let slip through my fingers.
I couldn’t blame Ashley for suspecting something nefarious about my offer to help her. I could admit it did seem odd. We had been fighting two seconds before I’d offered to help her. I blamed her. She messed up my brain and made it impossible for me to think straight. As much as I wanted to hate her, she always seemed to manage to do something that made me want to be with her.
I booted up my laptop and started scanning MLS listings and checking the foreclosure sites. That was my best bet at finding a great deal on a property I could invest in and turn a nice profit on. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only guy looking to snatch up land for cheap. The competition was fierce. I expanded my search to nearby towns and couldn’t find a thing. A trip to New York could be a nice break. I had been working too hard and needed to get away, even if it was with my sworn enemy.
My eyes went to the paperwork on my desk that would have sealed the deal on the farm purchase. I would have made close to half a million with that deal. My mind refused to accept it was over. I had worked on that deal for months. I had already spent most of the money in my head, and now, after the manipulations of one small, extremely beautiful woman, it was all gone. My bank account would not get that healthy influx of cash. It was disheartening to think of what could have been, but I couldn’t dwell on it.
I had to keep moving forward. Maybe there was another farmer out there who was down on his luck and wanting to make some quick cash. One could only hope.
Chapter 21
Ashley
My stomach was a jumble of nerves. I had never left Jasper for more than a day at a time, but that wasn’t the only thing that had me a little unnerved. I was driving home to pack up my life and move away from the city I had fallen in love with. It was a huge change. My business was gone. I could still work as a freelancer, but I knew I couldn’t get the same kind of work in West Virginia as I did in New York.
Then there was the little matter of my partner for this road trip. I had agreed to let Brock tag along, hoping it would give us time to work out our differences and get everything out in the open. We had a son to raise and needed to figure out how to compromise. If I could avoid getting lawyers involved, it would be better for all of us. If we had to get an official custody agreement, things would get messy. I knew we could work it out if we could just air out the past and move forward.
I was in my dad’s truck after having returned my rental car yesterday. He swore the thing would make the eight-hour drive, but I was a little worried. I had roadside assistance on my phone and hoped if the thing did break down, it was within cell range.
Pulling into Brock’s driveway, I honked the horn. I didn’t want to go in. The last time I’d been in his house, things had gotten a little carried away.
He came out carrying a small duffel bag. When he saw me in my dad’s truck, his mouth dropped open. Opening the passenger door, he looked at me and laughed.
“No. No way are we taking this thing to New York. I don’t think it will make it to the state line.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Sorry, but I don’t want to rent a truck.”
“We’ll take mine,” he said firmly.
“What?”
“We’ll take my truck. It will be more comfortable. Does this thing even have AC? I’m not driving all the way to New York without air conditioning. Come on. We’re burning daylight.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. “Guess I’ll just leave the truck here.”
Secretly, I was relieved. I had the same reservations about the truck, and while the AC did work, it tended to cause the truck to overheat if it was used excessively. I climbed into the passenger seat of his truck and instantly appreciated the comfortable leather seats. The ride would be far more comfortable now, and I wasn’t too proud to admit it.
He backed out of the driveway and headed toward the highway. We stopped at a convenience store to fill up the tank and get some junk food. It had been a really long time since I’d taken a road trip. I was kind of looking forward to it. I hoped Brock would prove to be good company.
“Any particular type of music you like?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’m good with most anything. Maybe not heavy metal, but whatever you want.”
He nodded, and I wasn’t at all surprised when he set the satellite radio to a country station. Some things never changed. We rode in silence for the first thirty minutes or so. The silence was making me uncomfortable and the truck suddenly felt too small.
“This is a nice truck,” I said, looking for anything to fill the silence.
“Yes. It’s one of the things I spent my hard-earned money on because I like to ride in comfort, with a little style, while still being able to haul my fishing gear and go off road.�
��
I knew why he had answered the way he did. He was referring to my comment yesterday about his need to buy fancy things as status symbols. I hoped this trip would give us a chance to mend the fence between us, but if he was going to bring up the failed deal, it would be a waste of time.
I didn’t answer and decided the silence was preferable to his snarky attitude.
“Is Jasper excited to be moving out here?” he asked after some time.
I nodded. “He is. I’m glad this all happened before he made too many friends in school. I don’t think he is going to suffer any major psychological problems,” I joked.
“How does he do in school?”
“He only has kindergarten under his belt. He did fine, but he did struggle to make friends.”
“What? Why?” he asked with a great deal of concern.
“Nothing bad. Jasper is very mature for his age. He didn’t get picked on—I don’t think—but he tended to be a loner, preferring to dig or practice his reading. His teacher did tell me she wished he was more creative, but I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing,” I said. “I like Jasper just the way he is.”
“So do I,” he said firmly. “That teacher doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
I smiled, appreciating that he defended his son.
We talked about Jasper and what he liked and didn’t like. I was glad Brock was interested in learning as much as he could. It proved to be a safe topic as well.
I yawned, causing him to yawn, too.
“Ready to call it a day?” he asked.
“I think so,” I mumbled. “We’re close. We can stop for the night and drive in tomorrow—if that works for you?”
“It does. I’m beat. I could use a bite to eat and a hot shower.”
“There’s a place,” I said, pointing out a Super 8 with a Denny’s in the same parking lot.
“Works for me,” he said, taking the exit.
We got separate rooms and agreed to meet in fifteen minutes to go get some dinner. It was almost seven by the time we were done eating. We walked back to the hotel in silence. He went to his room and I went to mine. I was pleased he understood there could be no funny business.