Chapter 23
Justin
C ory sets a pitcher of beer on our table near the pool tables at Decoy Ducks. “Great game,” he announces. His eyes land on me seated beside Ricky. “Hell of a lot better than I anticipated.”
It’s Ricky who speaks up. “You’re all whispering like old ladies at a church social.”
The entire table around me laughs. I know my teammates have been whispering about Devan and me.
Ricky refills glasses around the table, draining the new pitcher. With his glass in his hand, he stands. “The rumors are true.”
My heart is slamming against my breastbone.
“My little sister Devan has decided to give this asshole a chance.” He shrugs. “You are all my witnesses.” Ricky looks at me. “If Justin doesn’t treat Devan right, I’m going to need help hiding his body.”
Glasses raise, clinking together as the discussion goes from the best way to transport a body to the best locations for hiding a body. The entire conversation would be entertaining if I wasn’t the body they were trying to dispose of and if their ideas weren’t so well thought-out.
The thing about living in rural America not far from major thoroughfares is that more than once, the land around Riverbend has been the location of said bodies. No one wants to find a partially eaten, decomposing corpse in the spring after the thaw. It’s not a pretty sight.
That may be the reason my friends have such wide-ranging opinions.
“Plastic is a must,” Galvin says. “Dexter was onto something.”
“State park, deep in the woods.”
“No, weigh him down in one of the quarries.”
“I heard if you plant chili peppers, the cadaver dogs can’t smell the body.”
Ricky perks up. “We grow some great peppers.”
“My grandma,” Nick says, “mentioned endangered species. No one would cut down a whitebark pine to look for a body buried beneath.”
“Is that why she had the Christmas tree farm?” Mick asks.
“What happened to your grandfather?”
As the group laughs and banters back and forth, Cory sits to Ricky’s side and leans forward. “Seriously, I’m glad you two are okay.”
Ricky looks at me and shrugs. “We are now, but I know I’ve got a great crew here. They’ll have my back.”
Cory’s focus is on me. “I thought about what you said. Devan is an adult. The parents of her students will need to see her that way.”
“It’s Riverbend,” Ricky says. “It will take some time, but they’ll come around.”
“Seriously,” I say, proud of my girl, “check out her classroom. She’s been working her ass off.”
“You’ve seen it?” Ricky asks.
“Yeah. Go look at it. She’s proud of all the work she’s done.”
Ricky stands. “Next pitcher is on me.” He laughs. “No, it’s on Justin.”
The table cheers.
Once Ricky is gone, I turn to Cory. “I don’t want to be a negative influence on Devan. I’d never do that.”
“No,” he sighs. “You’re not. I was worried you were…” He grins and shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. I was wrong, and now the entire fucking county knows about the two of you.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s made national news by now.”
When I climb into bed, my final thoughts for the day are of Devan. Lying there, I realize that as much as I like her, I have been worried about Ricky and his parents. Yesterday, that concern spread to Cory and others in Riverbend. Tonight, the weight is off my shoulders.
The entire world knows that Devan Dunn is my girl.
As I drift off to sleep, I’m not thinking about what-ifs.
I’m thinking about now-whats.
What can I do or say to convince Devan she’s meant for me and I’m for her?
After breakfast at the diner, I head back to the farm.
Not every day is spent in the sun, dirt, and fresh air.
Days like today are spent in Dad’s office working on profit and loss, budgets, making allowances for the increased price of seed and fertilizer.
Even though I’ve modernized our books, I spend a lot of time flipping through old paper spreadsheets.
You can learn from the past. If you don’t, you’ll suffer the same setbacks.
I’m on my fourth cup of coffee when Dad steps in.
“What is it?” I ask, seeing his expression.
“Jack just called. That developer upped his offer.”
“Fuck,” I growl, leaning back in the worn office chair. “We can’t compete.”
Dad takes the seat on the other side of his own desk. “I met with Jeffrey Murphy, the lawyer.”
“Yeah, I know who Jeffrey Murphy is. Why not talk to Dax?” He’s an attorney too.
“I wanted a less biased opinion.”
“And what did he say?” I ask.
“He said if we mortgage our land, with today’s prices, we can buy the Dunns’ farm, all of it.”
“All of it? You mean the house and barns too?”
Dad nods. “All of it.”
I sit forward. “I didn’t know Jack and Janet wanted to sell the whole thing. What about Ricky and Devan?”
“I know this is awkward,” Dad says.
Pushing the chair back, I run my hand through my hair.
“It’s not awkward, Dad. I just…” I sigh.
“I don’t want that developer tearing their property into pieces.
We don’t need the traffic. Hell, the development itself—building the infrastructure—will take a few years at least. And I was talking to Mick Reynolds the other day.
His construction firm was hired to do repairs on some of those new houses south of town.
The damn surveyors didn’t take into consideration the increase in impervious surfaces and runoff.
The heavy rains last spring. A shit-ton of those houses had flooded basements. ”
“The Dunns?”
“I want them to get the most they can for their property.” I meet my dad’s gaze. “Not by mortgaging our land.”
“It’s the smartest move, son. With their land, our acreage doubles. Our crops double.”
“So do our expenses. So do our possibilities for failure. A damn seed-corn maggot infestation and we’re fucked.”
“Have you talked to Ricky about it?”
“Not recently.”
“Devan?”
I smirk. “You know?”
“Your mom and I don’t keep secrets. That’s my advice for you and Devan.”
“Right. Tonight, at dinner I’ll compliment how great she looks and segue into what she wants to happen to her family’s land. I know, I’ll bring it up right before asking how her meeting went with the science department.”
“There are some big decisions that will need to be made. I’m sorry if the timing doesn’t work for the two of you. That’s life.”
“I’d rather keep life out of our bubble at the moment.”
“No one can fault you for that.” Dad stands. “You know, your grandfather put his faith in me to keep this farm going. I was a little older than you when he passed away. It was a scary time. Do you know who kept me sane through it all?”
“Me,” I say with a grin.
“Hell no. You were into everything, and Kandace was only a baby.”
“You’re going to say Mom.”
Dad nods. “Mr. Murphy thinks we need to make a counteroffer.”
“Dax?”
“He agrees.”
“Where the hell have I been in all these discussions?”
“I’d say where you were, but you know.”