Macy listened as they talked, but didn't say much. She wasn't as smart as her friends. She hadn't wanted to go on to college; what she'd wanted was to get married and start a family, because that's what her mother had raised her to do. Not that you had to go to college to be smart, she understood that too, but she also knew she couldn't compete with her friends when it came to intelligence, so she rarely tried.
“What are your thoughts on this, Macy?”
Macy froze at Brad’s words.
“Oh well... I'm sure you guys will do the right thing.”
“But do you think that what the Falkirk Consortium is proposing is wrong?”
“Of course I do. It makes me sick to think they could destroy that land.”
He seemed happy with her answer, so she kept talking.
“I want to leave this place as I found it for Billy and the next generation of children. I know change is inevitable, but when I think of the destruction of that beautiful countryside that comes right along with what that consortium is proposing, it turns my stomach.”
Everyone was looking at her, Macy realized.
“What?”
“You never usually get involved in discussions, just nod and agree. It's good to see you contributing. We all know you have a brain, nice to see you using it.”
Macy felt uncomfortable at Annabelle's words.
“Yeah, well I think this is wrong.”
“It is,” Brad said.
The man wasn't even touching her and he unsettled her.
“You knew Nadine, Macy. What's your take on why she's selling?”
“Nadine had no loyalty to her family or that land, Newman, you know how she was. Like me, she thought about herself, and if someone offered her good money, she wouldn't hesitate to take it. But she did say once she thought she’d have that land forever, because who would want to buy it?”
“Was like you,” Annabelle corrected her. “You're not that person, and never really were.”
Uncomfortable, Macy didn’t add anything to that.
“This could get messy and cost us money if we try to fight it,” Ethan said. “I'm happy to use mine.”
“We’re not talking about borrowing your lawnmower, Tex,” Buster said. He’d been sitting quietly and listening. “This could take thousands and drag out for years. We all know what the legal system is like.”
“Me too.”
“Me too what?” Ethan asked his brother.
“I want to offer some money to the cause should it be needed.”
“This is not personal to you, Brad,” Annabelle said.
“Sure it is, anything that bastard has a hand in is personal to me. Excuse me for cursing, ladies and Billy.”
“You’ve been cursing since you got here, and now you’re apologizing? It must be you, Macy,” Annabelle added with a sly smile.
Macy glared at her friend, but as she still wore her glasses the gesture was useless. Why had Annabelle said that? Did she know what had happened last night? God, that would complicate things terribly, Macy thought.
“You're not using your money for this.”
“You’re not stopping me. I have as much invested as you in getting at him.”
