Chapter 7 Home Run （Margot） #4
“Extended relatives, yes. A long, long time ago now—almost a hundred years, way back in the 1930s. Rough time for the country and for Maine, too. Huge floods drove the Babins out one year. For a while, that lake was a giant swamp.” His mouth twists in what could be a smile or a grimace.
“The land was pretty useless till Leonidas came in with his money in the sixties.”
“Money talks with a loud mouth,” Viola says, like she’s trying to lighten the atmosphere.
“And your granddad had a lot of it, bless his soul. He put in a modern drainage system and hired a bunch of contractors. Took a few years to get everything cleaned up with state-of-the-art stuff. He brought the land back to life.”
“Money don’t just talk, sometimes it punches,” Joseph says. “I’m just saying, Miss Blackthorn, we’re good for it. We’ll work something out whenever you want to get this ball rolling, whatever it takes.”
When.
The word lands in my lap like a cactus, sharp and heavy.
This is not what I came here for.
I wanted a distraction.
I wanted to get out of Kane’s sight and breathe again.
I wanted to think about the future, but now that I’m stuck here in this bizarre conversation, I’m not sure I actually want to sell the old place.
Not this soon, anyway.
I’m also a little creeped out, and I’m not sure why.
They’ve been perfectly nice, even if they’re a little too honest for their own good.
But the way they’re watching me…
It feels like hawks scanning the fields for mice.
Hungry. Impatient.
A little ruthless, maybe.
Hardly the nice easy chat I expected.
If I announced I was selling this minute, I’m sure they’d shove a contract in my face to sign away my soul.
“It’s been fun, guys, but I should probably head back for dinner,” I lie, pushing my mug back toward them. I barely touched it. “I’ll get back to you about the property before I leave town. I haven’t made a final decision, either way.”
“Of course.” Viola’s smile feels forced. “You haven’t been here long, Miss Margot. Take all the time you need.”
Yeah, okay.
I give them a halfhearted little wave as I head back into the cool night. My car is right where I left it, waiting to make the short drive.
Nightfall swept in while I was at the Babins’ house, and when I pull up and park in the long driveway, there’s an autumn silence shared by the tinsel stars overhead.
So calm.
So peaceful.
So worry free—except for the human grizzly in the house I couldn’t keep my hands away from.
Sigh.
I let out a long, hushed breath.
The shock mortification after the kiss has faded, sure, but there’s an afterburn that smells like anxiety and shame.
And it’s so overpowering I have no clue how to face Kane again.
Or Dan with his adorably unfiltered mouth.
Or little Sophie and her cherub smile.
Holy hell.
Hopefully the kids didn’t catch on to what was happening in the attic, but it doesn’t make it any less cringey for me. Or clinically insane. Or—
Yeah, no.
Time to stop thinking about it.
My phone buzzes, and I grab it, relief flooding through me.
“Oh, thank God,” I mutter as I pick up. “Hattie? Has Ethan had you chained up?”
She laughs so loud I have to hold the phone away.
“Oh my God, no. But I need to hear everything right now. What guy did you kiss? When? How hot is he on the Dornan to Hemsworth scale?”
“Take a breath, girl.”
“Not a chance! You were on a dating fast. What happened?”
Great question.
“…I’m still figuring that out,” I admit.
“You know the family I mentioned who turned into surprise roommates? Well, Renter Daddy wanted to help me out. We were up in the attic looking for whatever Gramps left—we didn’t find it—but then I tripped on a broken board and he caught me and there was just so much thirst.”
“The dream.” She sighs fondly.
“Holy shit, if you’re about to mention my brother and thirst—”
“You’re getting distracted, Gigi,” she interrupts. “Back to the deets.”
“Fine. So he’s hot. Like so hot it’s scary. Horrible attitude, of course.”
“See? You’re living a rom-com dream.”
“I don’t have rom-com dreams,” I remind her.
But her banter makes me feel better. Like maybe I can finally walk into the house without turning into stone the second Dadzilla lays his eyes on me.
“Okay, fine, you’re living my rom-com dream. What are you going to do now? Have you seen him since?”
“Nope. I kinda ran away and he didn’t stop me.”
“You mean you’ve been avoiding him?”
“Did you miss the part where I mentioned he has kids? And they basically walked in on us?”
“Minor detail.”
Despite myself, I laugh.
My shoulders relax.
“Not minor, Hattie. But what am I supposed to do now? We’re stuck under the same roof.”
“The only thing you can—let him make the next move,” she says immediately.
Brutally good advice.
Ever since she tied the knot with Ethan, it’s clear her confidence has improved dramatically.
“…that’s a whole lot of nothing on my part.”
“Exactly. Just walk in and pretend it never happened. The sitcom remedy.” She laughs again.
“Yeah, I don’t know. Do you really think—”
I don’t get to finish.
A shadow bursts from the trees, large and blurred, yet shaped too much like a man.
He nearly smacks into the front of my car, the silhouette bright and unmistakable for a split second against the dark horizon.
I scream.
A heartbeat later, he’s gone.
The darkness swallows him like he never existed.
“Holy shitballs!” I spit the words as I lock the car pathetically.
He’s gone, he’s gone—but just gone from sight.
With my hands shaking, I put the car in Reverse and back out so fast my wheels kick up stray rocks.
Did that just happen?
But it did.
It was a man.
An intruder, illuminated in the headlights.
He came charging at me, straight past my window.
“Margot? Gigi, are you there?” Hattie’s worried voice floats up from the floor where I dropped my phone. “What’s going on?”
I need a few panicked seconds to catch my breath.
A sob rattles my chest.
“H-Hattie, I should go,” I strangle out. “Someone’s here who shouldn’t be… and I think they were watching me.”