“Ms. Riggs,” he greets warmly. “It’s lovely to see you in such high spirits.”
“You’ve got about 10 seconds to stuff your wrinkly old ass back in that car and get the fuck off my property,” she snarls.
I stop a few feet behind her, unsure of what exactly is going on. Around the other side of the car, I see Tony and Bill come hustling out of the barn, both of them concerned and looking ready to fight. Everett follows behind them, and his face goes from worried to infuriated as soon as he lays eyes on the man his daughter is glaring at.
“Your property?” the man asks, his voice smooth and unbothered. “I was under the impression your father owned this land. Is he around, by any chance?”
“Mr. Mallory,” Everett mutters, his face twisted into an ugly sneer.
The man turns to look at Everett, his smile never wavering. Jenny spits at his feet, missing his shoes by hardly an inch, but he doesn’t pay her any mind. She’s visibly vibrating with rage, and it looks like she’s only barely managing to hold herself back from hitting him. Who the hell is this guy that both Jenny and Everett hate him so much?
“I believe my daughter told you to get going,” Everett continues, halting at the front of the SUV.
It’s probably a good thing that he doesn’t get any closer, because Everett’s hands are balled into fists just like Jenny’s are.
“Everett, the man of the hour,” Mr. Mallory says. “You never responded to my last offer, so I thought it might be a better use of my time to come have a chat with you in person.”
“You deaf?” Everett asks, his nostrils flaring in anger. “Get lost, Carter. You don’t get to show up unannounced in front of everyone and ask tochat. I’ll send you a fucking email if you want, but the answer’s still no.”
Carter chuckles, and it makes me want to shout at him to leave, too. I don’t even understand what’s happening, but something feels wrong.
“Come on, now, Everett, be reasonable here,” Carter says with a sigh. “You’ve got, what, three months left? You need to make a decision sooner rather than later.”
Everett bares his teeth in restrained threat. “I’ll make a decision when I make a goddamn decision. Get the fuck off my property before I drag you out of here myself.”
Carter raises his brows in a disappointed frown, shaking his head like Everett is being completely unreasonable regarding whatever they’re arguing about.
“I’m just trying to help you out,” he says, raising his hands innocently. “You could sell the ranch now and make some profit,or you can lose it to the bank. It’ll be mine either way. I wanted to let you keep your pride about it, but if you’re going to be stubborn, I guess I’ll have to let you dig your own grave.”
Sell the ranch? Why would Everett need to sell the ranch?
I was told the ranch was in need of some help, not that it was on the verge of foreclosure. This guy said something about three months, too. Are they really that close to the end, and still refusing to admit it?
It takes the sound of Jenny’s voice shouting almost incomprehensibly to break me out of my own thoughts.
She advances on Carter, pointing violently toward the gate and insisting he leave, and Everett is stepping closer, too. Considering Jenny’s temper and the fury on Everett’s face, I wouldn’t be surprised if this escalated into a proper brawl. If they’re in this much trouble financially, assault charges are the last thing they need to be dealing with. I can sit down with them and figure everything out later.
Right now, I need to do something.
I cast my eyes around, looking for something to diffuse the situation with. I’m pretty sure throwing a half-rotted piece of wood at the trio won’t help, but an idea flares in my mind when I see one of the younger ranchers standing a few feet away from me with a hose in his hand. Water is pouring out of it, splattering on the ground, and I rush over and yank it from the guy’s hand.
“Sorry!” I say, both to him and the trio I’m about to turn it on.
I cover half of the opening to make the spray stronger, and by some trick of fate, I raise it just as Carter opens his mouth to say something back to Jenny. It blasts him right in the face. As he chokes out water, he’s slammed back against his SUV.
Jenny leaps out of the way, along with Everett. I almost laugh, but my aim doesn’t waver. The hose is still pointed straight at Carter, soaking through his suit. Suddenly, I realize what I’m doing, and I drop the hose to the ground. I’m caughtsomewhere between confidence and hysteria when Carter’s eyes land on me. He splutters in shock, spitting out the last of the hose water and looking down at his suit in dismay.
“I think it’s time for you to go, Mr. Mallory,” I say, grateful that my voice is steady.
He stares at me in furious shock for a long moment before managing to collect himself.
“This suit was four hundred dollars!” he shouts. “How dare you?”
“It’s a hot day out, you looked a little thirsty,” I counter, raking my gaze over him disapprovingly. “Besides, it fits better now. You might want to look into getting a tailor.”
His mouth snaps shut and his cheeks flare with embarrassment, and he yanks the door to his car open. He glares at all three of us in turn, his face ruddy with anger and humiliation. I can’t help but smile when I realize we’re standing side-by-side, a united front.
“You’re all going to regret this,” he spits. “I look forward to tearing every inch of this place to the ground.”
