He parks right in front of the doors, and we both get out. The deputy car pulls up behind us.
We haven’t even entered the lobby when the sound of yelling steals our attention.
Henry is standing by himself across from his kids and Preston. He’s yelling quite loudly, his finger pointing at Dutton.
“You did this. You ruined everything!”
“How is this my fault? You're the one who tried to sell this place out from under your own family.” Dutton is calm and firm. He doesn't need to yell to get his point across.
“Oh, I know you, and you have no respect for anything that doesn't belong to you. I have no doubt you pried my plans out of Preston and forced him to change the paperwork.”
“Ah, no, he didn't. I’m actually hard to intimidate, and I’m not fucking stupid,” Preston enters the argument. “This lodge belongs to Grace. It always has.”
“You don't know what you're fucking talking about,” Henry holds his hand up in Preston’s face.
“Can I get a comment on what you mean by your plans tosell the lodge without your family knowing?” a man with a mic asks and holds it out to Henry.
Henry shoves the cameraman.
Dutton reaches for his dad before he can hurt the guy more, but Henry jerks himself back.
His eyes collide with mine.
A devilish smile touches his lips.
“Ah, look at that, your girlfriend has arrived. Enjoy the little slut while you can, because?—”
No one gets a chance to hear what more he was going to say. Dutton punches him hard enough to knock him to the ground.
Blood pours from Henry’s nose onto the hard floor.
He wipes it away and looks up at my father.
“Arrest him!” he yells, pointing at Dutton.
My dad is looking up at the ceiling.
“Sheriff Sloan,” Henry repeats. “He assaulted me. Arrest him.”
“Me?” my dad asks with a hand on his chest. “I didn’t see anything.”
Relief consumes Dutton’s face, and mine lights up with a smile.
My dad looks at me. “Did you see anything?”
I shake my head.
He then looks at a few of the employees who have stopped to watch the scene unfold. “Did any of you see anything?”
Everyone shakes their heads.
“This is absurd. Check the cameras.”
“Ah,” Dutton says. “You'll need the owner's permission for that.”
Grace crosses her arms. “I think they are broken. Things around here have been … weird.”
Grace is the new owner? Jesus. How much did I miss in a day? It’s not even ten o'clock in the morning yet.
