28. Miles
28
MILES
“ B riggs Priest to see you, sir,” Sarah announced over the intercom.
“What’s he doing here?” I muttered. “Sure, send him in.”
A moment later, the lawyer stepped into my office.
“Briggs, what brings you in today?” I got up from my desk and gestured for him to take a seat in the conversation area in the center of my office.
“I had another meeting in this building, and I thought I would stop by and check up on your little situation Upstate.”
“I thought I was paying you to deal with that,” I said.
“We sent out the initial communication a while ago, but the woman we contacted hasn’t responded.”
“Is that good or bad?” I asked.
“Depends on what her intent is,” Briggs responded. He tugged up the front of his slacks and took a seat. “If she has any kind of plans for coming after you for any financial support, it could be bad.”
“How so? Drink?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I can only speculate, which isn’t going to do you any good at this point.”
“What’s your best guess?” I asked. I sat across the small coffee table from him.
“Worst case scenario, if she can prove that you were in that little town on business, she could come after this whole thing.” He circled his finger in the air, indicating the company.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I laughed. “She didn’t seem to care who I was or why I was there.”
“If she didn’t care, then she would have signed acknowledgement and sent the letter back as requested.”
“What do I do at this point? Recommendations?”
“There’s nothing you really can do until she makes some kind of financial demand. When that happens, we can jump into action,” he said.
“You’re telling me I have to sit here twiddling my thumbs, waiting for her to come after me and my company for an undisclosed amount of child support?” I asked.
“Basically, yes,” he said. “I know that’s not the answer you were looking for. But you can’t force her hand. There is no child yet, and even after the baby is born, you need to get a positive paternal DNA test.”
“I was really hoping to get this settled and behind me sooner rather than later,” I admitted.
“How soon before the child is due? The initial letter was a courtesy. You can serve her with a court order, but again, that’s not going to do any good until the baby is here.”
I shrugged. I had no clue when Lydia was due. “She was pretty big,” I said. I held my hands in front of my torso, indicating how big her belly was.
“Sorry. I can’t be more helpful at this point in time. Maybe she isn’t coming after you because you are not the cause of the situation,” Briggs suggested.
“You mean she no longer blames me for knocking her up? I seriously doubt that. She made it very clear that she thought I was the father.”
“Maybe that’s her game plan. Convince the last few men she slept with that they are the father until one of them bites and accepts responsibility.”
I laced my fingers together and rested my hands on top of my head as I thought. Lydia had been fairly straightforward, telling me that I was the father.
And I had gleefully stepped into that role. I had been that sucker for her.
How many other guys was she playing this game with?
“Thanks for stopping by,” I said. “I appreciate the update.”
“No worries,” Briggs said as he stood up. “I won’t even bill you for the time.”
He smirked and chuckled at his own joke as he stepped out of the office. I sat there for some time, contemplating my situation.
“Sarah, what’s my calendar look like?” I yelled.
Moments later, she appeared in the open door to my office. “You called?”
“How’s my meeting schedule? Is it clear?”
“You don’t have anything for another week,” she said.
“Book me a flight to Albany. First thing in the morning, and get a rental car. I’m headed back to Brookdale.”
“For how long?” she asked.
“Make sure you get me a return flight for the same day. I’m not packing a bag. I don’t plan on staying.”
This time, as I made the drive from Albany farther north toward Brookdale, I didn’t pay attention to the fall colored leaves on the trees. I didn’t care. I wanted to get to town and find out what Lydia thought she was doing. I drove straight to the inn and took the front stairs two at a time before I barged into the lobby. Just as expected, I found Lydia cleaning up after the morning’s breakfast setup.
“Welcome to the…” she started, a fake smile on her face until she realized who she was talking to. Her expression darkened as her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed together. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
There was a quaver of anger, or was it fear, in her voice.
“Lydia, I need to talk to you.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you. You can turn around and go back to the city,” she snapped.
“I’ll leave” —I pulled a copy of the lawyer’s letter from my pocket and held it out to her— “as soon as you sign this.”
She took a few stomping steps toward me, snatched the letter out of my hand, crumpled it up, and threw it directly in my face.
“No. Fuck you, and fuck your letter,” she said.
I hadn’t thought Lydia was capable of such vehemence.
“Then don’t expect to get a penny of child support out of me,” I said.
“I never asked you for any kind of child support,” she yelled. But tears streamed down her face. “All I wanted was for us to be happy. But that’s not going to be possible because you lied about who you are, Miles, or should I call you JM?”
“You’re never going to be happy, Lydia, because you have a silly notion that you can restore old buildings that are already falling down on their own. You are too obsessed and blind to see what’s going on all around you.” I brought my arms out wide, gesturing at the dilapidated old inn. “This place is never going to be restored enough to be the kind of place you dream it can be. It was probably never that nice to begin with. All you’re doing is polishing a turd, Lydia. All that gets you is shiny shit.”
“Don’t call my inn shit. Now get out. Go away already.” She turned and started to walk away from me. I wrapped my hand around her upper arm, stopping her, turning her so she would face me.
“Who’s the father of the baby, Lydia?” I demanded.
She twisted, yanking her arm out of my grasp.
“What does it matter to you? You’ve already proven that you don’t care about anything other than trying to destroy my town, my home, my life. So why do you even care?” she spat out.
“Sign the paper, Lydia,” I growled.
“I don’t have to sign that stupid letter. It’s only applicable if I want something from you. Read the room, Miles. I don’t want anything from you. I don’t want you. I just want you to go away,” she snarled. “Leave me alone. Leave Brookdale alone.”
“You and your little historical society are not going to get rid of me that easily.” I chuckled. “Be prepared for a fight.”
“There’s nothing to fight for, Miles. No one is willing to sell to you, and you can’t force us. Take your resort development somewhere where they want you. Nobody wants you here in Brookdale. I don’t want you here in Brookdale.” She was crying in earnest now, real tears, and not just those anger tears women get.
“I’m sure you’ll be singing a different story the second that child is born and you realize you can’t do it on your own.”
“I can do anything I want, and if that means I’m raising this baby without a father, then that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
“You’re no longer claiming I’m the father?” I asked.
“I will never admit it. It was a mistake to have told you. Forget I ever told you. Forget you ever met me. Forget about Brookdale. Just leave already.”
Her desperate sadness and tears seemed to trigger a tightening in my chest. There was still something in me that hated to see her in so much pain. If she let me and accepted my terms, I could take away all of her troubles and grief. I could make sure she never had to struggle again. But she would not listen to sense. She held on to this ridiculous idea that she could restore this inn, this town.
The urge to reach out to her started in my gut and grew more intense.
I shoved that weak emotion down.
“Fine. I’ll leave, but this isn’t the last you, Brookdale, or your little Historical Society have seen or heard from me.”
“Go already.” She sounded tired and defeated and unwilling to fight anymore. Her shoulders rounded as if it took too much effort to stand upright.
I had won this round. Lydia didn’t know who she was dealing with. By the time I was done with her and this place, I would own Brookdale, the whole town.