Chapter 11
When the voice came up behind her, Crystal wasn’t at all surprised, and yet he gave her a start.
Oliver asked her, “What are you doing here?”
She twisted on the horse, backing Mirage up ever-so-slightly and closer to her and her horse. “Hey, we wanted to stop by but weren’t sure you were home,” she replied in that cheerful, socially awkward tone of hers.
He glared at her. “We aren’t friends for you to just drop by,” he countered. “So, that doesn’t wash with me, young lady.”
She frowned at him. “I thought you were interested in purchasing some of the property.”
His own frown eased somewhat. He almost laughed. “Now? Now you want to talk about it, huh?”
She was confused. “Hey, we’re not here to piss you off.”
“Sure, but a phone call would have been normal.”
She stared at him. “No, that would not be normal,” she argued, tucking back a loose strand of hair. “You and I both know that none of this is normal, … not the way you’re handling it. Obviously you don’t appreciate the fact that we’re here.”
“No, I really don’t,” he admitted, glaring at her.
She shrugged. “Well, when you find Ashton at your house, you can tell him that I’m out here waiting with the horses. He went in to talk to you.”
He shook his head. “No, you’re coming with me.”
“And if I don’t want to?” she asked, backing up a little farther.
He gave her a sour smile. “I don’t trust any of your family,” he began, his expression turning all kinds of nasty. “That grandmother of yours is a piece of work.”
She hated the feeling she had inside, wondering just what he knew, because, now that she knew, it felt like the whole world still knew even more than she ever did, even after her twenty-three years at Nelson Farm. “And what do you mean by that?” she asked.
“She’s a witch through and through.” He raised his hands in frustration. “So, I got no truck with any of you, particularly not if you don’t understand boundaries.”
She shook her head and noted, “I have never known anybody in this area to be so unfriendly. Your behavior right now is a little disconcerting.”
“I don’t care what it is,” he snapped, but his gaze didn’t leave hers. “You’re trespassing.”
“We came for a visit and to say hi,” she repeated.
“Most people would not consider a friendly visit as trespassing, but obviously we’re not welcome here.
” She barely held back a sniff, but her own sense of injustice was rising, and pretty heavily at that.
“I’ve only ever seen you a couple times in the last decade,” she pointed out.
“So, I’m not sure how we ended up on such a wrong foot over all this. ”
“It’s called property and property lines, … that’s how.”
She stared at him in confusion. “Are you saying that there’s a discrepancy regarding the property lines?”
He snorted, then howled with laughter. When his laughter died down a bit, he declared, “Hell yes, there is.”
She shook her head. “I heard you wanted to buy property, but that’s the first I’ve heard about any discrepancy.”
“Because your great-granddaddy paid way too little for it, knowing it was worth a lot more.”
She stared at him, not really getting all this hostility. “Okay, so now I’m confused. The Nelsons have owned that land for a very long time.”
“Yeah, they sure did. Wouldn’t let me buy back any of my pieces, the pieces I wanted.”
“So, you used to own it?” she asked.
“Yeah, I sure did along with my brother after my father passed on.” He stared at her with amusement. “You really didn’t hear the story?”
“No, I didn’t.” She wasn’t sure what to say about that. His penetrating gaze made her uncomfortable.
Oliver continued. “You really seem to think I’m making something out of nothing.”
“No, I’m not saying that at all,” she countered, hard-pressed to get out of this conversation. “I have recently learned that not everything is the way I thought it was.”
“No, it sure isn’t,” he spat, “but your great grandpa bought the land off my father when prices were down.”
“And your dad didn’t need the money?” she asked.
“Sure, he needed the money, but the greedy bastard could have let him buy it back again when things were better, but the old weasel wouldn’t let him.”
“Okay, so it’s not so much that you didn’t agree with the original deal, just that you wanted it to be reversed when things got better. Is that it?” she asked.
He nodded. “That was also their agreement, but your great grandpa didn’t go for that. That’s where the problem comes in,” he shared, with a shrug. “So, I don’t really care what he does at the moment, since I’ll be taking it all over.”
“An awful lot of people seem to think they have ownership rights to the Nelson land right now.”
He pointed a finger at her. “I’m buying it fair and square, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.
” She sat back, and he called out forcefully, “Now we’re going inside.
I don’t know what’s going on here, but I don’t like this.
Your whole family is a big bunch of screwups, and I don’t trust any of them. ”
She shrugged. “Maybe that’s wise, depending on who you’ve been dealing with.”
He stopped in his tracks, then turned back to her.
She knew right away that she had said the wrong thing. “Look, Oliver. I don’t know what’s going on, but I can tell you that things are a little bit messy right now.”
“Just a little bit?” he quipped, with a snort. “You should be a comedian with that statement.”
“Did you have anything to do with Grandpa’s disappearance?” she asked.
He seemed surprised by the question, but then a smile came on his face. “Hell no. I don’t have nothing to do with that kind of crap. The old man probably just wandered off. I heard he was missing.” He frowned at that. “Good thing it don’t matter to get his signature anymore.”
She stared at him, something clicking in the back of her mind. “Whose signature did you get?”
“Your grandmother’s,” he declared quite proudly. Then he turned to her, frowning. “Why? She’s the one who owns it, … doesn’t she?”
“Does she really?” she asked him.
He gaze narrowed. “Are you telling me that she isn’t the owner?”
“I am telling you that is definitely in question.”
“No, no, no,” he roared, his face turning pale. “That’s not happening. I’ve already paid her a big chunk of change.”
She closed her eyes and whispered, “Jesus.”
He stepped closer to her. “Hang on here a minute, young lady. You’re serious, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I’m very serious.”
“We need to get into the house. I’ve got,” he grumbled, “I’ve got paperwork. That house, … the whole property, … it’s all mine now, and I’ve got the paperwork to prove it.”
She didn’t say anything as she and the two horses followed Oliver on his determined trek back to the house.
She felt everything around her collapsing as she realized just what a nightmare this had become.
She didn’t know whether Grandma could be held liable for all this or not, but the pain that she was causing everyone was unimaginable.
And Crystal couldn’t begin to figure out what was going on in terms of how this would affect Ashton and the Nelson homestead and his grandfather.
She slid down off Bessie. “I need to see that paperwork.”
“Well, I’ve got it.” But now he was looking uncertain and blustery. “I paid a lot of money to her over this deed. She better not be screwing me over.”
“I hope not,” she replied, “but I’ve got to tell you, you’re not the first person she has conned.” He stopped, frowned at her, and then raced ahead, as if terrified at what she said.
Trouble was, she wasn’t lying. Yet, for Oliver, as far as he was concerned, this was a done deal. She tied up the horses to the railing outside, vaguely wondering where Khan had gotten off to, then walked toward the front porch of Oliver’s house.
He headed off inside and returned almost immediately with some paperwork. She wasn’t a lawyer, but, from her perspective, it looked legit. And that just made her even sadder. She looked over at Oliver and asked him, “And you have no idea what’s going on with Grandpa?”
“No idea what’s going on with him. I gave up trying to deal with him years ago, the stubborn old ass. But finally I got what I wanted. Maybe we should have been dealing with Johanna all along,” he stated, staring at her. “What’s with all the questions? What are you up to?”
She sighed and replied, “Because things are about to blow wide open, and I gather you don’t know anything about it.
” He just blinked. In that moment, she realized how somebody else had been used and had been taken advantage of by Grandma.
She held up the pictures Ashton had sent her.
“Do you recognize this place?” she asked.
He looked at it, frowned, and shook his head. “I don’t think so.” And then he frowned again. “That’s Alexander.”
“Yeah, it’s Grandpa,” she confirmed. “He’s being held captive, here on your place.”
He looked at her, his face ashen, then shook his head vehemently. “No, no, no, no way,” he bellowed. “We don’t do that kind of shit. We got a problem, we bring it out in the open.”
“Well, I tried to visit you today to see what the hell was going on, but you weren’t open to that either.”
He again just blinked at her.
She continued. “So the deputies and maybe even the sheriff will be here soon, and I don’t want you getting even more irate than you already are because it appears somebody may be setting you up as the fall guy here.”
He stared at her in shock. “I didn’t have anything to do with this,” he yelled.
“Are you sure about that?” Ashton asked, as he stepped into the living room.
She looked over at Ashton, glaring at Oliver, but Ashton’s hand was holding back a very agitated Khan. “I only ask because my grandpa is up in your barn loft—in the secret room that you’ve got built in there.”
He shook his head, his face flushed. “You must be out of your mind, young man. What are you talking about? What secret room?”