Love in Deed: A Silver Fox Small Town Romance (Green Valley Library Book 6)

by Smartypants Romance

  Ram’s eyebrows rise higher, and his smooth tanned forehead wrinkles.

  “You never knew you inherited all Ewell’s property?”

  “I did not. Howard came to the reading of the will, and he never told me what was said. I was young, naïve, and unfortunately, in love with a terrible man. I didn’t question him when he told me the will reading was standard procedure and he’d inherited everything.”

  “That’s my fault,” a stern feminine voice at my back makes me shift in my seat and face Janice over my shoulder. She closes the door behind her and nods at Ram. What’s going on? I wonder until I realize I’ve said it aloud.

  “I could be disbarred for all I’ve done,” Janice begins. “Ewell Townsen was a ruthless man, but I liked him.” She smiles guiltily as she perches on the corner of Ram’s desk. “He encouraged Howard and me to see each together at his home as if we pulling something over on Hasting, and I perpetrated the rivalry. After all, Howard and I were going to show them both when we ran away.” She shakes her head.

  “But you know what happened.” She isn’t accusing me of anything, but we don’t need a history lesson. “Ewell came to see me when he’d heard I’d become a lawyer. He expressed his concern that his son might sell his land and the land Howard had acquired from my younger brother. He wanted to ensure you and Hannah were taken care of, and this was his contingency plan.”

  I nod once as I understand the musing of an old man filled with revenge himself, and then fear that it would all be for naught.

  “He loved you and Hannah, in his own way.” She chuckles, possibly understanding my plight. Ewell was stern, a bit abrasive, but someone you forgave for his harshness. He was just a grumpy old man. “Hannah was his pride and joy.”

  I smile in appreciation that Ewell and I shared the same love of my child.

  “When he died…” Janice turns more somber and closes her eyes. “I did something I never thought I’d do.”

  She licks her lips, and I swallow in anticipation of bad news.

  “I slept with Howard, feeling like I’d really fuck him over.” I startle at the brash words and feel sick at the same moment. “Because afterward, I nailed him with the news of the land.” The innuendo in her little confession isn’t lost on me, and neither is the aggression in her tone. She hated Howard almost as much as me.

  “I’m sorry he left you and never told you the truth of the property. Follow-up letters were sent.”

  My guilt returns at never opening them, but I’m still in shock at her admission she slept with my husband while we were still married. A stronger woman might stand and smack her while I think I want to shake her hand for trying to screw Howard over. Then again…

  “Howard was here this week,” Janice continues, and she nods to Ram.

  “He tried to blackmail Janice into agreeing to be his lawyer. Said he’d tell whoever would listen she should be disbarred”—he clears his throat and acts demure as he states—“for being with him. He believes she tricked him out of his rightful inheritance. But I stepped in as your attorney, warning him I’d petition every woman he’s been with in this county to testify to his adultery. Then I brought up the gambling debts I’ve uncovered and unpaid bills in his name. Not to mention trickery in a card game with Boone Crawford. The amount of debt he’s incurred doesn’t balance his claim for half your property. Those debts are his, and any judge in Tennessee will agree, holding it against his claim for fifty percent. In addition, you’re disabled, and this means you haven’t been able to work. With the injustice in lack of livelihood and the eight years of child support he never paid to you, he might actually owe you more than fifty percent of the estate.” Ram pauses, and I note his voice has shifted from immigrant Latino to accomplished attorney. There’s the pow! moment, and I’m stumped myself.

  “I don’t think I really want anything from Howard. I mean, I understand that I’m owed, but I just want him to disappear again.”

  “That’s what I figured. I also advised him he could contest the divorce and the will, which would both be additional legal fees, and when he lost, which he would because, let’s face it—he’s been missing for twenty years and has no just cause as to his disappearance, like kidnapping or incarceration—he’d lose even more. We’d sue him for the additional emotional distress and attorney fees.” Ram smiles a full-wattage, white-toothed grin, which I imagine is pure evil when he’s up against a testy client, but it makes me laugh.

  “So what’s next?”

  “He signed the papers.” Ram flips the blue packet and presents me with Howard’s legal name on the line. “If you want the child support and loss of income, we can file a suit.”

  My head pops up from examining the signature and yellow sticky arrow pointing at where my signature goes under his.

  “I think I’m happy to have Howard written out of my life.”

  “That’s understandable,” Janice adds.

  “Give me the pen, then.” The second my name breezes over the line, I feel lighter. I drop the pen on the desk as if it holds germs. Goodbye, Howard.

  Shifting in my seat once again, I look up at Janice. “There’s a world of things I could say to you about what you did, but I’ve spent years holding onto grudges and losing my patience over things I can’t change. I also feel guilty for my behavior with Howard. I never knew he was engaged. Never dreamed other women could exist. And I’m sorry my pregnancy prevented your marriage to him.”

  “We were both duped by him and hurt, but the emotions have been a waste. He wasn’t worth it to either of us,” Janice states, and I smile in agreement.

  “With that said, I have another legal matter I need your help with. Your brother is very important to me, so I don’t want this to be another conflict of interest for you.”

  Ram nods, and Janice purses her lips in curiosity.

  “Could you help me with something regarding the land?” A smile crosses my lips. My land. Which I want to share with Jedd.

  Epilogue

  [Jedd]

  With all that’s happened, I’m a week behind on my promise to till the back pasture, but I start the tractor I borrowed from Vernon and begin the first stretch of the field. It’s a glorious mid-March day, and spring has arrived in all its wonder. Butterflies flit. Birds flutter. And my heart is full. I’ve never been happier than to be here.

  Boone was found buried in a haybed of his own making in the stables. Thankfully, he was cleared of any possible charges. I don’t know what he was thinking or if he was thinking at all when he started the fire, which I’m not saying he did…but my best guess is he did. He did it for Bee.

  She’d agreed to let Boone stay in the old house under the guidance of Tower. His patient temperament is suited for someone like Boone. Boone and I would probably argue as we did when we were kids, but Tower understands him. Janice and I got him some medical attention after months of homelessness, and a psychologist is lined up to help us better understand what happened to him. I’m also hoping Tower can teach my brother a skill and give him something useful to occupy himself. However, it turns out my brother is quite the artist. Beverly already has him sketching larger art pieces for her.

  Beverly. My chest warms just thinking of her.

  She proposed turning the old house into a veteran’s home. A place for warriors wounded in heart and spirit to stay and possibly work with the horses. She’s a girl after my own heart. She owns my heart.

  I shake my head as I shift gears, tearing up the ground. My thoughts rumble to the purr of the beast beneath me as I reflect on how I got here. Proposing I raise horses on borrowed land and falling in love with an incredible woman seem like opposite ends of a straight line, but I’ve never lived a straight line. Still am not. My mind fills with the naughty things I’ve done with Beverly, and how she loves all of it. I love her, and she loves me in return. It’s a heady feeling.

  I’m turning the corner when I see someone driving toward me. Whoever it is cutting a crooked path across the pasture, headi
ng straight for me. As the other tractor draws near, white hair comes into view, and a sweater slipping off one shoulder gives away the driver.

  Beverly. I smile just thinking her name. My Bee.

  I cut my engine but hold my position a moment, drinking her in as the wind blows her hair. I love to thread my fingers into and tug on those short locks. A healthy glow graces her skin from spending time in the spring sunshine. I can’t make out her expression, but she looks like she’s laughing.

  What is she doing?

  Then I see her driving closer at a speed that suggests she’s not slowing down.

  Holy crap.

  I hop off the tractor and wave my arms like she hasn’t seen me.

  “Brake,” I’m yelling as she continues jostling closer. She doesn’t appear like she’s going to stop, and I eventually step aside so she doesn’t get my toes.

  “What the hell?” I call after her as she draws up to me and then brakes with a jolting halt.

  “My,” she blurts. “That was fun.” She’s laughing as I walk up to the shiny new equipment and place my hands on my hips.

  “What are you doing?” I admonish, though there’s no bite to my bark. Her laughter is infectious, and I’m reminded of when she giggles in bed.

  A man gets used to that sound.

  “Jedd Flemming,” she yells a little too loud as she swings a leg over the steering wheel but then pauses, perched sideways on the seat.

  “I might be partially deaf, but you don’t need to yell,” I retort, tweaking an eyebrow. Beverly’s laughter has died, but her smile remains at the reminder of our first meeting.

  “And I might be lame, but I’m not lacking,” she replies, her grin growing larger.

  “What are you doing out here, and where did you get that thing?”

  Beverly runs her hand over the steering wheel. “I might have lost my license, but I can drive this all over my land. The insurance company covered this, and Vernon just dropped it off. ’Course I could be asking you the same thing? What are you doing out here?”

  “I’m plowing this field.” I’m not certain why she’s asking me this as we discussed it just last night before bed, laying out our days before we lay out each other.

  A man gets used to that.

  “And who told you you could plow my field?” she inquires, her expression trying to draw stern, but it isn’t quite working because her lips keep fighting a smile.

  “Well, see, I made this promise to a woman, and I intend to keep it.”

  Beverly’s expression does drop a bit, but she keeps her eyes on me. “You’ve made quite a few promises. Gonna keep all of them?”

  My head tips, not quite understanding her meaning.

  “I’m not sure I’m getting off on the right foot,” she teases, and I recall saying the same thing to her when we met.

  My brows rise, and hands come to my thighs, swiping at them. “Well, seeing as you aren’t standing on your feet….”

  I don’t give her a chance to respond before reaching up and dragging her down to stand before me. Her hands come to my shoulders as I press her against the big wheel at her back.

  “I have a proposal for you,” she mutters, smoothing down my T-shirt.

  “What’s your proposal, honey?” My mind races with all kinds of things I want to propose, but there’s only one thing I really want. Her.

  “Well, Mr. Flemming, I’m in need of a man to run the stables on my land.”

  My eyes widen as my mouth slowly curls.

  “And I’d like to propose you convert that garage into a mini soapmaking factory for me.”

  The corner of my mouth lifts higher.

  “And then I need this field finished and seeded.”

  We’ve already discussed all these things, and she knows I’ve agreed to complete them, but I’ll play along. I chuckle softly, lowering my head for hers. “Doesn’t sound like anything on that list is for me?”

  “Actually…” She pauses and reaches back for the tractor seat, pulling out an envelope from beneath it. She hands the envelope to me, and I stare down at it.

  “What’s this?” I ask, swallowing as I take the paper from her.

  “Something for you.” Her voice lowers, and my eyes lift looking for hers, but she keeps them aimed at the envelope in my hand. “Open it.”

  I flip the envelope, slide open the flap, and pull out a set of papers. Reading through the first few lines, I look up at her, watching her watch me.

  “What’s this?” I repeat. Although I’m reading it, I want to confirm this is what I think it is.

  The deed to Hasting’s property turned over to me.

  “I think it’s time for the Townsens and Crawfords to draw a truce. It’s your land, Jedd. The land you always wanted and deserved. It wasn’t right of Howard to poker it out of Boone’s hand.”

  She’s getting to know my brother, and it warms me the way he responds to her. She’s good for him, but he’s been good to her, she assures me. Her smile weakens a little, and she glances back at the papers.

  “I’ve been done wrong by Howard as well, and it doesn’t seem right to keep living with all this land. I can’t work it anyway.” She draws a deep breath. “But seeing as how you already built a stable on my property, you could still use it to raise your horses, and seeing as how you’re already plowing this plot on your land, maybe you could finish it and plant something for me. We’ll share the land even though we each own a section.”

  I stare at her a long minute before cupping the back of her neck and squeezing.

  “Is this what you really want, Bee?”

  She nods with a firm expression. “It is.”

  “Well, I don’t.”

  She pulls back, but I tug her forward, and our lips collide. She fights me off at first, but I follow her. Like working with a bucking bronco, you go with the flow of the beast until you’re one in rhythm. Bee gets there with me, and slowly, we fall into line. Eventually, she’s kissing me back instead of pushing me off. Just when she melts into me, I pull back, and she blinks up at me.

  “I have a different proposal,” I say, lowering to one knee although this isn’t how I planned it. “I propose we share the land but keep it as one piece of property. And screw the Townsens and the Crawfords. Let’s make this the Flemming farm instead. You know I’ll do anything for you, Bee, because the one thing on the list for me, Bee, is you. You’re my whole list.”

  Tears well in her eyes, and she blinks rapidly, lifting shaky fingers for her cheeks. The envelope is still in my hand, but I transfer it to my claw and then rip it in half.

  “I don’t need the deed to the land, Bee. I need the deed to your heart.”

  “Oh Jedd,” she says, unable to hold back a smile.

  “Marry me, Bee. This proposal is for real. I wanted it to be better, more romantic, but I can’t wait anymore. I…” Her hands cover my jaw, and her head lowers to mine.

  “Jedd,” she moans. “Just kiss me.”

  “Not before you answer me.”

  “I love you, Jedd. The answer is yes. Now kiss me.” Her command is my will, and I do what she asks. I kiss her, letting her know that with this that kiss, I promise to be a good man, deserving of her, working with her, and never letting her be alone again.

  “I love you, too, honey,” I say, releasing the kiss but not her lips, letting the words I’ve only ever said to her vibrate between us. This is a first for me. One of many I hope to have with her.

  “There’s one more thing I think we should discuss,” I say, tugging at her from my kneeling position. Her knees buckle, and she lowers to my level.

  “What’s that?” She giggles, wrapping her arms around my neck.

  “I think we should talk about laying my wood in your pasture.”

  “Cheeseoncrackers,” she mutters, rolling her eyes.

  “We can use that too if you’d like.”

  “Oh my gosh, Jedd. You are so dirty sometimes,” she teases.

  “You like my dirty thoug
hts, though, don’t you?”

  “I love them.” She laughs. “I love you. Now about that wood…” She pushes me so I fall back on the earth, taking her down with me. She lands over me.

  “I have wood for you, honey. I’ll give you all the wood you’ll ever need.” And that’s what I do, right there in the field, on the land where we’ll work together, love together, and just be…together.

  Did you enjoy this story?

  Have you read Naomi’s story yet? Love in Due Time.

  If you like sexy silver foxes and their feisty vixen love match, you might also enjoy: Silver Brewer

  Please flip the pages for a preview of Love in a Pickle (Scotia Simmons) – coming 2021

  Acknowledgments

  (L)ittle (B)lessings of Gratitude

  No work of mine is complete without the generous assistance of Melissa Shank, Jenny Simms, and Karen Fischer for reads and re-reads, edits and proofreads. You ladies polish me up nicely. Also, special shout out to Heather Monroe for her assistance once again with all things Pennyverse. In addition, thank you to Fiona Fischer and Brooke Mann Nowiski for all the behind-the-scenes work they do for Smartypants Romance and to the Overlord and creative genius, Penny Reid.

  I’d like to thank Penny a second time for collecting a group of woman who are incredible writers, incredibly generous, and just amazing people. The Smartypants Romance author group has been a rare gem and I am so honored to call everyone an author friend. Thank you for your constant support as we triumphed round one and then still held hands to make it through round two. Here’s an advance cheers to round three.

  Hugs and more hugs to readers—old and new. For my little slice of social media (Loving L.B. on Facebook), you feisty vixens know you are my safe haven, my laughter zone, my vent space, and my sexy silver fox headquarters. Thank you for following me into Smartypants Romance. AND to new readers, for taking a chance on an author you might not have known, or someone you’d heard of but hadn’t read yet. I’m so honored.