Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
GIA
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got a text last night from Timothy telling me to meet Lisa Hurst in the Baptist church parking lot ten minutes before the meeting.
When I pulled in, the only vehicle waiting was a cherry-red truck so spotless it gleamed in the morning sun like it had been waxed by angels.
Not exactly what I expected Timothy Hurst’s mother to drive.
I was one hundred percent sure her husband had shined up the truck for her, probably this morning.
The driver’s door swung open, and Lisa Hurst descended like she owned not only the truck, but the church and possibly the entire town. She tucked a cell phone into her oversized red leather purse.
Her blonde hair was flawless. She wore fitted jeans, boots, and a modest blouse that screamed respectable Christian woman, while everything else about her said cross me and I’ll bury you in the back forty with a smile on my face.
Long pink nails flashed in the sunlight, freshly painted and wickedly sharp.
She opened her arms. “Come here, honey.”
Before I could brace, she wrapped me in a hug that smelled like expensive perfume, fresh laundry, and pure maternal authority.
She pulled back, keeping both hands on my shoulders while giving me a once-over like she was measuring my soul.
“Timothy told me what an absolute son of a monkey butt this Justin has been to you. Now, I can’t say I’m heartbroken you divorced him since it led you back here, but you don’t deserve anyone who disrespects you with some other woman.
” Her smile turned bright and dangerous.
“Before we march down there and financially ruin that boy for sport, I need to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For standing between Sofia and your father.” Her expression sharpened into something fierce. “Men like that count on fear doing their work for them. You didn’t give him yours.”
Heat rushed into my face. “He crossed a line threatening her. I meant what I said. I’ll put a bullet in his head myself if he touches her.”
Lisa Hurst’s eyes lit with something close to delight. “Well.” She patted my cheek like I’d just made the honor roll. “I think you might be the right one for my feral child.”
“Timothy? Feral?” I laughed softly and thought, maybe in bed. “Whatever rebel he had in him got beaten down by responsibility.”
Lisa’s smile turned knowing. “Oh, honey.” She looped her arm through mine and started steering me across the street toward the coffee shop like a general leading troops into battle. “It didn’t die. He was hibernating.”
She glanced sideways at me. “Thanks to you, he’s awake and focused.
Lord help anybody dumb enough to stand in his way now.
” She lowered her voice like someone might overhear, but there was no one in sight.
“I don’t doubt he’s around here, watching.
Maybe even through a sniper rifle.” She looked up to the church’s roof and chuckled to herself.
“He’s not the type to send his women into battle and not be on lookout. ”
I kind of guessed that too. I wondered if Timothy’s dad was around too. “Is Mason here?”
She released a small snort. “My husband knows I can fight city boys on my own. It’s the backwoods ones that make him load his long guns. Let’s go show this boy some Southern hospitality.”
I followed Lisa Hurst into Vision’s only coffee shop.
Justin sat in the corner with one lonely cup of coffee in front of him, posture loose and smug like he thought he held all the cards. He wore one of his work polos with the name of my old clinic in one corner and his name with a load of initials embroidered in the other.
My body braced for new criticism or hurt.
Lisa hooked her arm through mine and steered me forward like I was the guest of honor, and he was an unpleasant errand she intended to finish quickly.
“You didn’t order for us,” Lisa said as she slid into the chair across from him, smooth as silk, sharp as barbed wire. She motioned me into the seat beside her.
Justin frowned. “Who are you?” His eyes cut toward me. “You brought a lawyer?”
Lisa laughed out a low, rich sound that somehow made him look foolish. “Sugar, if I’d brought a lawyer, you’d already be bleeding money.” She lifted one manicured finger toward the barista. Immediately, two drinks were started.
“Did you ever meet my mother?” I asked, mostly because I wanted to watch him squirm. Not that I’d ever shown him a picture of my actual mother, nor did he ever ask about her.
His gaze bounced between us. “She’s your mother? Since you never talked about her, I assumed she was…” He hesitated. “Dead?”
Lisa’s perfectly arched brow lifted. “That’s rude.
” Her smile came out as a bright and dangerous thing.
“Also disappointing. I expected better manners from a doctor. Not even going to introduce yourself, Justin Stevens?” She accepted the two to-go cups from the barista with a gracious nod before turning that smile back on him.
“Now then, let’s discuss this sudden interest you’ve taken in land that belongs to Gia. ”
“It’s our land,” he corrected.
Lisa slowly opened her oversized purse—not rushed, not flustered—and removed a thick envelope.
The sound of paper hitting the table cracked like a warning shot.
“Interesting claim.” She slid copies of the documents toward him with two fingers.
“According to county records, the deed is in Gia’s name.
The loan is in Gia’s name. The monthly payments…
” She glanced at me, then back at him.“Have been made only by Gia. So, explain to me carefully what part of this property belongs to you?”
Silence stretched.
For the first time since sitting down, Justin looked uncertain.
He leaned back, crossing his arms, trying for arrogant. “We bought it together. When two people are married, everything is fifty-fifty. And she doesn’t want it. She’s here, isn’t she?”
Lisa took a slow sip of coffee. Then set the cup down with deliberate care. “No,” she said softly. “She’s here because she still believes in civility.” Her eyes pinned him where he sat. “I do not.”
The air changed. Even I sat straighter.
“Now answer the question,” Lisa ordered. “Why do you suddenly want that land? Choose your next words very carefully. I’ve stared down meaner men than you over cheaper coffee.” She leaned forward slightly.
I nearly choked on my drink.
Justin’s face darkened. “Maybe I was going to build something there for my new family,” he bit out. “Take the money, Gia.”
Lisa smiled like a cat hearing a mouse rustle. “There it is,” she said softly. “Now we’re finally getting closer to the truth.” She tilted her head, studying him the way a hawk studies movement in a field. “What exactly are you offering Gia for this land?”
He named a number.
I laughed from sheer disbelief. It was a hundred thousand less than what I still owed on the loan.
Lisa did laugh. Not loudly. Not kindly. She released one short breath of amusement that made color crawl up Justin’s neck.
She reached into that cavernous purse again and withdrew a second sheet of paper, crisp and neatly highlighted. “That’s not an offer. That’s an insult dressed in slacks.”
She laid the page flat between them and tapped one manicured nail against the numbers.
“Comparable sales place that property Gia owns at nearly triple what she paid, and that was before adjoining acreage started moving and community expansion crept into this direction.” Her finger slid lower on the page.
“Which means, if a person were interested in squeezing every last dime from it…”
She turned the paper around. Her smile sharpened. “They’d sell to Vitcon Developers.”
Justin’s whole body went still as if bracing.
Lisa slow blinked at him over the rim of her coffee cup. “I called them this morning,” she said casually, as if discussing the weather. “Lovely people. Ruthless, but lovely. They made an enthusiastic offer.” She folded her hands neatly atop the table.
His jaw flexed. “You’re bluffing.”
Lisa’s smile vanished. “Oh, hon.” Her voice dropped low. “At my age, I don’t bluff. I make phone calls before most people finish breakfast.”
She leaned forward. Her eyes locked on his. “Now I’m curious.” Her tone was conversational, but cunning lived under every syllable. “Why does a soon to be remarried man with a shiny new family suddenly need this specific piece of land badly enough to crawl back to the woman he discarded?”
Silence.
Justin looked at me, then away.
Lisa caught it. Of course she caught it. Her mouth curved into a slow, terrible smile.
“Well now,” she murmured. “That look tells me there’s something buried in this dirt besides sentiment.” She tapped the paper once. “Mineral rights? Highway access? Commercial rezoning? Or,” her eyes narrowed, “did you already promise something you don’t legally own?”
Color drained from his face.
Lisa sat back, victorious and perfectly composed. “There you are. Found the nerve.”
Then she lifted her cup. “Start talking, hon. If I have to uncover it myself, I promise you won’t enjoy what happens next.”
He addressed me. “Gia, this is about you and me. The divorce agreement says we should sell the land and split the profit.”
I didn’t remember the exact wording of the agreement. I’m sure that showed all over my face. “Now you want to sell it? A minute ago, you offered me a shitty amount and now you want us to sell to these developers and split the profit?”
“Hold up, sweetie. Let’s look at what that divorce agreement specifically said.” Lisa pulled out yet another paper. I wondered how she’d gotten all this information in a few hours and how she got a copy of my divorce agreement. Wasn’t that private?
She shuffled the thick document to turn to a tabbed page and tapped a painted nail on a highlighted portion.
“The specific wording says Gia will determine what she wants to do with the property. It wasn’t a quibbling point.
Gia is the only one named on all the papers.
Legally, Gia owns it. Your name isn’t mentioned anywhere in discussion of this property.
And that…” She flipped to the last page and rotated the papers.
“That’s your signature.” Her lips tilted into a frown.
“What use are you in this whole business, then?”
“I’ll sue you for the land. It’s mine, anyways.” Justin’s vicious gaze targeted me.
I didn’t back away from him. “If I recall correctly, you were obsessed with buying this land to build a horse barn on it, but your credit was crap. You had the papers put in my name and then claimed since I made more that it was my responsibility to pay for it. I also clearly remember my lawyer saying once we signed the divorce agreement it was final. He made me read it several times to be sure it was what I wanted.” Even though the lawyer was technically free, he was as thorough as he could be.
“This woman can’t be your mother,” he bit out. “She doesn’t look anything like you.”
“Did I ever say she was my mother?” I smiled gratefully at Lisa.
Lisa cut in, “My child is the man who almost tore you apart in the parking lot yesterday. Right now, he’s staring at you through a sniper rifle and wondering if he should pull the trigger on the man who disrespected Gia.”
Justin’s face went from red to pale so fast it was almost impressive. His eyes flicked toward the window like he could somehow spot a scope glinting in the distance.
Lisa laughed softly. “Oh, don’t look so alarmed,” she said, smoothing an imaginary wrinkle from her blouse. “My son knows better than to make a mess on a weekday. Too much paperwork. Too many witnesses.” Her smile sharpened. “He prefers humiliation. It lasts longer.”
Justin swallowed.
Lisa slid the papers neatly back into her envelope.
“Based on what you offered Gia, which was insulting, and what the land is actually worth, we will be phoning developers.” Her eyes glittered.
“In the end, I expect her to have enough left over to send you a handwritten thank-you card for being such a selfish idiot.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing.
Justin pointed at me. “You planned this.”
“No,” Lisa said, voice suddenly flat as stone. “You planned. Then you lied and manipulated. You counted on her standing alone.” She stepped closer. “That was your mistake.”
The room seemed to shrink around her.
“In this town,” Lisa said quietly, “when someone hurts one of ours, we pray. We organize. We call attorneys, maybe bankers. Sometimes we call mothers.” Her smile returned, sweet as acid.
Justin’s eyes went wide. “What do you want?”
Lisa looked offended. “I already have what I want.”
She looped her arm through mine and guided me toward the door like a queen escorting favored company from court. At the doorway, she glanced over one shoulder.
“One more thing. If you so much as whisper Gia’s name with disrespect again, my son won’t need a rifle.” Her smile widened. “I’ll handle you myself.”
Justin went still.
Outside, I finally exhaled.
“That was quite something. What exactly are you?” I asked, half-joking.
“A Baptist.” She primly patted my hand.
“I think I might need to walk across the street and convert.” My family had always attended the Methodist church.
“I’ll personally escort you this Sunday.
Then you’ll stay for dinner.” Her eyes flashed with wicked delight.
“We’ve got bidders to call. I intend to fleece that fool’s pride for every cent it’s worth.
” She turned as if a sixth sense told her someone was coming. “Ah, there’s that wild child of mine.”
Timothy stalked our way from the direction of the church. A man in a black baseball cap and dark outfit handed him a suspicious black bag, which Timothy put into the back seat of his mom’s tuck.
I squinted at the guy near Timothy. Even though I hadn’t seen him in a year, the one-inch scar across his chin was unforgettable. “Jackie, is that you?”