Chapter 41 Rowe
Rowe
The crowd erupts into cheers. Pane throws his arms around me, pulling me into a hug that lifts my feet from the ground.
There’s so much commotion that I barely hear Luke shouting, “That still doesn’t stop the foreclosure. The bank will take this property.”
Pane lowers me to the gazebo floor and shakes his head. “No, it won’t.”
Luke folds his arms. “What do you mean, the bank won’t take it?”
The limousine driver hands a briefcase to Sylvia, which she opens, revealing hundreds of bills. Pane’s mother throws a disdainful look to Luke.
Then Sylvia Maddox says something that floors me. “Since Rowe’s business won the competition, she receives one hundred thousand dollars in compensation.”
My knees become jelly, and I start to slip toward the ground. “Is that true? Is this a joke?”
Pane pulls me back up to standing and stares down at me with so much emotion in his eyes that my heart slams into my rib cage. “Sunbeam, I never told you because I didn’t want to give you false hope. But yes, you just won back your farm.”
I can barely breathe. This is literally the best day of my life. My hands shake as I take hold of the briefcase. It’s more money than I’ve ever seen in one place.
A staggered breath escapes my lungs. It’s a long time before I’m able to drag my gaze away from all the cash. But when I do, a spark of courage and pride fills my chest. I lift my head high and ask Luke, “Will the bank take a cashier’s check?”