The Publicity Stunt

29. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Shortly after the funeral, Tessa moved out of Bri”s New York apartment in what felt like a rush. Almost like something happened, but she assured Bri she just needed to get out on her own again. She”d found a job, and she stopped being as available as Bri had become accustomed to. In a matter of months, Bri”s life turned upside down, and she now has the sudden need to find a place to call home rather than a stopping point between tours and appearances and recording. Home.

She scoured the internet, and she finally found a small farmhouse on six hundred and fifty acres of land previously used for ranching. On a whim, she decided to fly out and look at the place herself. It”s been so long since Bri drove herself anywhere, and while Bobby and the team were near, she wanted to do this alone. To feel like a fully grown-up adult.

An elderly woman with fluffy white hair and an aged face from too much time in the sun steps outside to greet her as she puts the car into park. Wearing a long dressing gown and a robe, she reminds Bri of her grandmother, and she remembers that Texas was always home. Texas and something about this land just feels right.

”Can I help you?” the woman says, her hands holding onto the shaking railing tightly as she steps down the cement stairs.

”I”m so sorry to just show up unannounced. I saw the listing for your place online, and I was wondering if I could talk to you about the property,” Bri says. ”If now isn”t a good time, I completely understand.”

”Are you a developer?”

She smiles and shakes her head. ”No, ma”am.”

”Would you like coffee or tea?”

”Tea would be great,” Bri says and hurries to help the woman up the stairs.

Inside, she takes in the wallpaper torn at the corners as well as the unmistakable smell of mold. Regardless of the worn nature of the house, Bri can feel the love in the small home. The type of love that gets passed down from generation to generation with so many memories of holidays and children and grandchildren running through the house.

”I apologize for the mess,” the woman says. ”I”m Mildred, by the way.”

”It”s nice to meet you, Mildred. I”m Bri Waters.”

The older woman stops abruptly and turns. ”Bri Waters?”

”Yes, ma’am.”

”The singer?”

She smiles again and nods. ”Yes, ma”am.”

”And you want an old house like this one?”

Moving to help her in the small galley kitchen that no doubt has seen more turkeys than years Bri”s been alive, she grabs the kettle, fills it with water, and places it on the stove.

”I love the land. To be honest, I”d probably build on it. If you don”t feel comfortable selling knowing that”s my intention, I completely understand.”

”This house has been in my husband”s family for two centuries.”

”I can feel the history here. How many children do you have?”

The kettle whistles, and Mildred points to a cabinet to the right of the stove. Bri opens it and pulls out two mugs. Her host places a tea bag in each cup, and Bri pours the water over them before following Mildred into the dining area with both mugs.

”I had seven, but I lost one at the age of two.”

”I”m so sorry,” Bri says and looks around the room. ”How many grandchildren?”

”Eighteen.”

Her eyes widen. ”Wow.”

”Wow, indeed,” she says. ”The doorframe over there has their heights and ages every time they came to visit. I have one upstairs for my children, too.”

”It was a ranch?”

She nods, and her puffy curls look like clouds on top of her head. ”For the past two hundred and some years. Unfortunately, none of our boys wanted to take over the family business, and they”ve all moved away. My husband fell ill, and we had to sell the cattle to make ends meet. He passed away six months ago.”

”How long were you married?”

”Fifty-two years.”

”I”m sorry for your loss. Not just your husband but the family business. I know how it can be. My grandfather was a rancher, and he was the last line of his family to bust his butt raising cattle. My father opted for another line of business, and he couldn”t get anyone who wanted to buy him out and take over.”

Smiling, Mildred shakes her head. ”You didn”t want to buy his land?”

”He passed away when I was ten. The land was sold off to a developer for a pretty penny, and there”s a small community on a golf course where I remember watching Grandpa out with bulls. I”d love to buy it, but it”s ruined now.”

She looks around the house and sighs. ”The house is kind of falling apart, isn”t it?”

”It has a lot of time on its bones. It”s a beautiful house, and there are pieces I”d like to try and keep. Like the fireplace I saw in the living room.”

”And you won”t sell off the land?”

Bri shakes her head no. ”It”s the best part of the place.”

”I haven”t had many offers outside of developers, and Jerry would roll over in his grave if I sold it to one of them. To see it pieced out breaks my heart. My realtor tells me it”s priced too high.”

”I do have an issue with the price. Just a small one. Do you feel the place is worth the price you have it listed at?”

Sighing, Mildred wraps her hands around her mug as it sits on the table. ”Honestly?”

”Please.”

”I think it”s priced too low. Sure, the house needs work, but there”s a lot of land. My realtor strongarmed me into listing it as it sits. But he”s getting frustrated because I refuse to lower it or take the developers” offers.”

”I agree with you,” she says and smiles. ”That”s why I didn”t want to have this discussion with our realtors. There”s so much history here, and I wanted to hear about it. With them, it comes down to dollars, and memories of the place don”t factor into the price with them. But it does for me. I can tell this place is really important to you as more than just a house. It”s been your home for many, many years, and selling it has to be extremely difficult. Unless you have strong objections, I”d really like to purchase your place.”

Her eyes widen. ”You do?”

”And I want to purchase it for the price you feel it”s worth.”

”But you don”t know how much that is.”

Smiling, she pulls out a piece of paper and a pen. ”Write it down for me?”

Mildred takes the pen and writes down a number still lower than Bri expected. Adding twenty-five percent, she slides it back to her. ”I can certainly make that work. Here”s what we”re going to do. You”re going to call your realtor and let him know you have someone interested in the place. You want to up the price to this number. My realtor will work with yours to negotiate down, and this gives us some leeway to get you the amount you want for it. My finance guy will have a fit if I don”t let them negotiate, so this works best. You”ll get what you want for your family”s legacy, and I won”t have a headache listening to him complain to me.”

”Are you sure, Ms. Waters?”

”Bri, please. And I”m positive.”

”I”ll go call her right now.”

Bri smiles and sighs, leaning back in the chair to look around. She wants a family home, and while she won”t be moving into the house as-is, the history of the place will remain untarnished. That”s what”s important.

Amonth and a half later, Bri stays in a rental house in Texas while contractors work on her new home. If everything stays on track, she should be able to move in by October. Her hope is to have Thanksgiving for her team not spending time with their families at her new place.

”Bri?” Bobby calls from the intercom.

Something with Bobby seems different lately, yet he says he”s fine. But Bri knows better.

”Hey, Bobby. What”s up?”

”I have Victor Lyons here to see you. Should I send him up?”

Bri”s stomach flips. She hasn”t spoken to Kace since Mr. Hanks” funeral, and she worries something might be wrong. Kace stopped reaching out to her, but she thought it was just from playoff season starting. So far, they”re almost to the finals, and they just need to beat out the Twisters to play for it.

”Yes, please,” she says, suddenly nervous that something may be wrong. Opening the door, she ushers Victor inside. ”Is everything okay?”

”Everything is fine. I don”t mean to worry you. It took me a minute to figure out where you live to come and talk to you. Texas girl at heart,” Victor says with a smile and takes off his hat. ”I”m not going to lie... this was one of the last places I”d expect you to be. So close to your parents.”

She smiles at him. ”It”s my temporary home. I”m building on an old ranch, and I”m just here until it”s finished.”

”That sounds beautiful.” His eyes look to the two large pieces of wood leaning against her living room wall. ”What are those?”

”Oh, those are from the house. The woman who lived there before, Mildred, has the heights and ages of her children and grandchildren marked on each. I put varnish on them, and I want to give them to her when I see her next. She”s such a sweet older woman who hated selling, but she just didn”t have a choice. She couldn”t afford it, and none of her children wanted to take over the ranch. I just wanted to make sure she still had a piece of her home with her.”

He walks over and reads the names and ages. ”That”s a sweet idea.”

”Thank you. Would you like something to drink?”

”Coffee, if you have any.”

In the kitchen, she makes him a cup and brings it out to him at the table. They sit, and she smiles. ”Not that I”m unhappy to see you, but why are you here?”

”First, I need to ask you a very serious question.”

”Okay.”

”Are you really seeing that Easton fellow?”

Tilting her head back, Bri laughs. ”No, not at all. The media really had a field day with that one lunch I had with him, didn”t they?”

He nods. ”Yes, they did. It wasn”t a date?”

”Gosh, no. It was a meal to clear the air. He apologized, and I really needed to know if he truly believed the baby was his or not. He”s not always bright, but he isn”t stupid. Then we talked about music, and I offered to help him out. Because, let”s be honest, he needs some help. But that was it.”

”Okay, that makes me feel a little better about my next question. And I understand if the answer”s no, but would you please consider talking to Kace? Just to give him a chance to explain what really happened? I”m hoping once you talk to him, you might consider giving him another chance.”

The idea has crossed her mind multiple times, but she hasn”t been able to bring herself to give in and talk to him. ”I don”t know. I mean, what else is there to say? That interview kind of summed it all up.”

”That”s the thing,” he says and takes her hand, ”it doesn”t. Rudy was wrong. So wrong. And Kace has been having a difficult time with his teammate and best friend because of how they hurt you. He doesn”t even care what it cost him, and he can”t forgive them until you do. But he”s miserable without you, sweetheart, and he won”t stop blaming himself for what happened.”

”How do I trust him after what happened?” Bri asks. ”I fell in love with him. So much so that I let myself believe we had a future together. For the first time, I let myself make plans. And he offered me what I wanted more than anything.”

”Love?”

”Family,” she says, her lip quivering. ”I met you and the rest of the family, and I fell in love with all of you, too. I lost everything, including what little dignity I had left, when it all exploded.”

Victor nods and pulls a box from his jacket. ”I understand, and I about knocked Rudy out myself when he stopped by on Christmas with Brett. What they did, and why they did it, will never be forgotten even if it”s forgiven.”

Her hands touch the white box, and she looks at him. ”What is this?”

”The Christmas present he kept with him just in case you showed up. It”s expensive, but he said the moment he saw it, it reminded him of you. Your eyes, but also your heart. After selling the ring he had for Sasha, he said he made some of the money back, but I know how much each cost. He didn”t get that much back.”

”If I ask you something, will you be completely honest?”

Victor nods. ”Of course.”

”Was Kace seeing other women? Could it be true?”

Shaking his head, he leans back. ”My son has never been unfaithful to a woman. He knows how I feel about it, and I made sure to instill that value in him. Besides, he”s a serious dater. Once he”s with someone, he”s with her. So much so, he convinced himself he wanted to marry Sasha. In a way, Rudy saved him.”

”Even though our relationship was fake?”

”It wasn”t. And I know for a fact that when you brought me out for that game, it wasn”t fake for him. Letting you get hurt is the biggest regret of his life, and he”ll walk away from everything he thought he wanted because of it. This whole mess has tainted hockey for him.”

Standing, he kisses her cheek and leaves the box.

”You don”t want this?” Bri asks.

”He didn”t buy it for me. He just hasn”t had a chance to give it to you himself,” he says and opens the door. ”Goodbye, Bri.”

Confused, Bri opens the box and gasps. Inside sits a gorgeous sapphire heart on a platinum chain. She”s not a jewelry expert, but she knows it”s likely over twenty thousand dollars.

”It reminded him of my eyes,” she whispers and touches the large stone. “Damn you, Lyons men.”