Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
H is heart raced until he finally caught sight of her on the side of the road. To all appearances, she was fine. Pulling over, Reilly got out of the car.
“Flashlights would have been a good idea,” she said wearily.
“Taking you with me would have been a better choice.” His attempt at a smile resulted in a wince.
Lynne quickly moved to stand before him. “Reilly, what happened? Is that a black eye?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Nothing a little ice won’t fix. Let’s get in the car.” He held the door open for her, attempting to evade her gaze.
After getting in, he started the car. “I had a little run in with West back at the house. He sucker punched me. Who does that anymore? He acted like he was a teenager. Back then, I didn't have much use for him either.”
“He told me to leave. He wasn’t pleasant about it, but he didn’t touch me.”
Reilly studied her face and then nodded. She was fine. He could finally breathe.
“Let him be. I don’t need things. What would I do with all that furniture, anyway? You were being kind, calling it all antiques. I believe the correct term is junk. I have a few things, and I don’t need more. I don’t want anything else to happen to you.” She turned and looked out the window.
“He has no right to it.”
She nodded. “I know. I found the deed to the property. I need to see the loan papers. I'll let the law deal with him; I'm not going to confront him directly. If he stole the ranch…”
“We can take a look at the papers when we get home. I stopped by Jo’s place and got them.” he murmured. What was running through her head?
He parked in front of the house and they went inside. She was unusually quiet.
“Are you sure West didn’t hurt you? Have a seat. I’ll make tea.” He waited for an answer, but she didn’t say a word. Glancing over his shoulder, he noted that she was engrossed in reading the information from the bank.
Lynne smiled her thanks when he set her cup in front of her. “Do you know who Prime Horizon Holdings is?”
He froze then swallowed hard. “It’s my mother’s. I don’t think she uses that holding company anymore. Why?”
“She owns the property.” Lynne threw the papers down and walked out of the house.
Shocked, Reilly looked at what Lynne had been reading. His heart sank. There it was, his mother’s holding company on the deed. He’d have to go through all the statements to see when she bought the ranch. As soon as he had all the facts, he needed to have a talk with his mother.
It didn’t promise to be a pleasant talk.
She was the fool once more. She was baffled by Reilly's ability to keep a straight face while interacting with her. It was likely Stewart was also laughing at her.
It had already been an emotionally charged day, what with seeing her old house and now this. This was worse than being sucker punched. It was like being run over by a semi. Just how many times was she supposed to pick herself up and dust herself off?
After she entered her trailer, she sat in the dark. Her head pounded. Her hard head, obviously. There was no use asking why anymore. What right did his mother have to interfere in her life once again? If she could easily pick up and leave, she would be on her way out of town.
Funny, though, how West claimed the property to be his. Not that it mattered anymore. What was the point of living in a town where she was constantly getting kicked in the shins? Enough was enough.
She started searching on her phone for jobs. She should never have left it at home. She’d need to make improvements to her resume. Her laptop had long since given out, but she could probably afford a tablet. Prices weren’t so bad. Tomorrow she’d see which one came with what and order one.
Now, to find an article on how to make a resume shine without a referral.
Upon reviewing everything, he wished he'd never begun. A couple of things were clear. His mother had written Mr. Walsh a check for one hundred thousand dollars around the time Lynne had left him. Was the check in payment for Lynne staying away from him?
His stomach lurched. Lynne probably didn’t know. The ranch was at that time free and clear of all debt. The mortgage was paid off. Then a year later, his mother filed a lien on the property and Lynne’s grandpa began to write checks to the holding company.
That paperwork was missing. The checks provided no information regarding what they were for. He’d have to find the lien papers. He needed to visit the courthouse to inquire about it.
Mr. Walsh had then taken out a loan from the bank, probably to pay Reilly’s mother, but it looked as though she had never removed the lien.
That must be why the ranch didn’t go to Lynne. Why hadn’t she been notified?
That was as far as the paper trail went except for a large check written to David West. He felt as if his eyes would start bleeding if he looked through any more of the paperwork Rodgers had gathered. He needed answers before he had a talk with Lynne. It appeared she had more than one good reason to hate his mother.
She was probably upset. He wanted to comfort her, but without the answers, he didn’t know what to say to her. The lights were out at her place. Odd, because she always slept with one light on. It had been the light above her stove, but…
Had his love for her triggered all these events? Had her life been ruined by their relationship? His mother had been quite brilliant. She’d ensured he would never ask about Lynne.
What would their lives be like if she hadn’t interfered? Would they have had kids by now? There was really no sense wondering what if, but he couldn’t help the thoughts. His mother, predictably, wouldn't shoulder any responsibility. She'd most likely say she'd done him a tremendous favor.
Not good enough for his family. There wasn’t much of a higher society in Tyrone. There were a few of the rich who kept to themselves, but there wasn’t a country club or many social gatherings where only the wealthy could attend.
None of that had mattered to him. It still didn’t. Nothing irritated him more than the people in Billings who wanted to know him just because of his last name. That was precisely why he didn’t date.