Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
“What do you mean I need the lienholder to sign off on it?” Felicity demanded as she stared at Doris. They were back at the assessor’s office the next morning, trying to get the lien against her orchard removed so that the Sinclair Group would no longer have any claim to her property.
Jackson clutched her hand, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. They had the necessary paperwork, and the rest he could work out. “Surely this is enough to prove that the lien is void,” he said.
Doris nodded. “It definitely is. No doubt about it,” she said.
“Unfortunately, foreclosure paperwork has already been filed with the county. In order to get that dismissed so that Ms. Hill doesn’t have to show up in court, she needs the other party to drop the claim. Or she can wait until the court date.”
“When will that be?” Felicity asked.
Doris checked her ancient computer. “Looks like the end of January. If I were you, I’d do everything you can to get that signature.
Once these things get tied up in court, things can get messy.
I once saw a developer start bulldozing the day after the foreclosure date even though they knew their claim was bogus.
They were able to say they had no idea, and then the owner of the property ended up selling to them at a discount because of the damage. ”
Felicity sucked in a sharp breath. “That sounds like grounds for a major lawsuit.”
“It sure it,” she agreed. “But who has the money for that? I just wouldn’t risk it.”
Jackson said, “Thanks, Doris. We’ll get it taken care of.” Then he placed his hand on the small of Felicity’s back and guided her out of the office. The bright morning sun made him squint, and he had to shield his eyes just to lead her back to his truck.
“They wouldn’t really start bulldozing things, would they?” Felicity asked, her voice strained.
“After that phone call of Trace’s that I overheard, I wouldn’t put anything past those bozos,” Jackson said.
“Let’s just go to the Sinclair offices and get this taken care of today.
” The truth was, he was just as anxious to get the foreclosure paperwork settled as she was.
During his years in business, he’d seen more than his fair share of shady business maneuvers, and Trace was just the sort of guy to try anything to get what he wanted.
“Yeah, okay,” she said as she climbed into his truck.
Thirty minutes later, they were standing in the lobby of the Sinclair Group offices being iced out.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Hill, but Mr. Sinclair isn’t available. I can leave a message,” the receptionist said.
“Does leave a message really mean you’ll throw all correspondence into the trash?” Felicity asked, her patience long gone.
“No, ma’am.” The receptionist gave them a bored stare. “That’s not what it means at all. Mr. Sinclair is a very busy man. You can’t expect him to deal with every minor detail on everyone else’s time frame.”
“Well, Trina,” Felicity said after reading the nameplate on the desk. “This isn’t a trivial matter. It involves settling some paperwork on a property that your boss is trying to steal from me.”
Her expression hardened. “There is no need to raise your voice. I am not your enemy.”
“But you are defending the front line,” she shot back. Then before Jackson knew what was happening, Felicity bolted for the office door that was just behind Trina.
“Ms. Hill! You can’t go in there!” She quickly made a call, and as Felicity was rattling the doorknob, two security guards arrived and forcefully started to remove her from the building.
Jackson ran over to them. “You don’t need to manhandle her,” he said. “Let her go, and we’ll leave.”
“Sir, it’s too late for that,” one of the guards said. He grabbed Felicity by both arms and started to drag her toward the glass doors.
“Let me go!” she cried out.
The guard ignored her.
Jackson let out a growl of frustration and then strode up to the guard and grabbed his hands, trying to pry them from Felicity’s arms. Unfortunately, the other guard pounced, and suddenly they were both being escorted out.
Once they were out on the sidewalk, both guards pushed them, and Felicity and Jackson both ended up laid out on the pavement.
Jackson looked over at her. “You didn’t break anything did you?”
“No, but if that guard or receptionist gets in my way, I might break a finger or two.”
He couldn’t help it. He laughed. There were no circumstances in which he could imagine her hurting someone, but he had to admit that he was angry enough to consider it himself. He climbed to his feet, held a hand out to her, and then hauled her up.
She stared at the office building. “Should we stake out the place and wait for the weasel? I can bend his fingers back while you waterboard him until he signs off on the paperwork.”
Jackson snorted. “As fun as that sounds, why don’t we make a trip to see Ernie. Something tells me we might have more luck there.”
“Okay, but I think waterboarding an old man might be taking things a little too far,” she said.
“Come on, GI Jane,” he said, shaking his head. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Fine,” she said. But then looked back at the office building and added, “They’re lucky I’m not the hexing kind. It’s times like these when I wish I could curse them with ass boils.”
“I wish you could do that, too,” he said with a chuckle and then led her back to his truck.
By the time they pulled up to Ernie’s house, Felicity had finally calmed down. Instead of talking about hexes, she was staring out the window wondering if a PR campaign would help her cause. “If I called up someone at the Christmas Grove Chronicle, I bet they’d print my story.”
“They probably would,” he agreed. Especially since the most they ever had to write about was who made the best gingerbread cookies for the annual Christmas fundraiser.
“If Ernie can’t help, that’s what I’m going to do,” she said.
Jackson exited the truck and came around to open her door for her.
She smiled gratefully at him, and then together they made their way to Ernie’s door.
Before they even knocked, the door opened and Ernie was standing there, grinning at them. “I knew you’d be back.”
Jackson raised his eyebrows. “You did?”
“Sure. Young people always want to know about the past. And that’s the one thing I have to offer.” He gave his attention to Felicity. “You want to know more about your grandmother, don’t you?”
“No,” she said automatically. “I mean, yes, I will always want to hear stories about her, but that’s not why we’re here.”
Ernie frowned. “Is this about that loan again? I already told you that my business manager will handle that.”
“You mean Vincent Sinclair?” Felicity said with a snarl.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Sinclair, but your nephew has no interest in dealing with me.
I don’t know if you directed him to ignore me or if he decided to do that all on his own, but here’s where we’re at.
Not only won’t he help me get the foreclosure case dismissed, but he and someone named Trace Rhodes are actively planning what they want to do with my property once they steal it from both of us. ”
“I think you’d better come in,” Ernie said.
“I think you’re right.” Felicity held her head high as she followed the older man into the house.
Jackson felt himself smile with pride as he watched her come into her own. He had no doubt that no one had a chance against the feisty woman. She was a fighter, and goddess help anyone who came between her and something she loved.
Felicity glanced back at him. “Jackson, are you coming?”
He grinned at her. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Two hours later, Felicity, Jackson, and Ernie were at the courthouse filling out the paperwork to drop the foreclosure.
“Ernie Sinclair,” Doris said, her eyes lighting with pleasure as she walked toward them. “A little birdie told me you were here. How many years has it been?”
The older man leaned against the counter and flashed the assessor’s clerk a brilliant smile. “Too many, Doris. Far too many. But I will say that time has been good to you. You don’t look a day over forty.”
“Oh, stop,” she said, flushing from his praise. “Don’t fib, Ernie. You know I’m forty-eight.”
They both laughed and for the next fifteen minutes, Jackson watched Ernie flirt with the redhead until she finally said she needed to get back to her desk.
“Wait,” Ernie said. “I hear there’s a Christmas ball this Friday. If you’re not otherwise engaged, I’d really appreciate it if you’d do me the honor of being my date.”
Doris flushed from head to toe as she nodded with enthusiasm. “I’d love it.”
“Great. It’s a date.” He winked at her, and as Doris hurried off, Ernie kept his gaze locked on her until she disappeared around a corner. Finally he looked at Jackson and Felicity. “I always did have a thing for redheads.”
They both laughed.
Once they were done with the paperwork and Felicity had a copy of the canceled foreclosure, Ernie said, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Now I need to go fire my business manager. No one is allowed to try to cheat someone while using my name and resources. That’s not how business is done. ”
“It’s not?” Jackson challenged. “I read that you were pretty ruthless in your younger days.”
Ernie gave Jackson a solemn nod. “Ruthless? Yes. A cheat? No. There’s a difference.” Then he walked off with his head held high.
“I like him,” Felicity said.
“Me, too,” Jackson agreed. Then he held his arm out to her. “Come on, badass. Let’s go home.”
“Home to the cabin?” she asked.
“Is there anywhere else you’d rather be?”
“Nope,” she said, her eyes misting with emotion. “The cabin’s absolutely perfect.”
He cupped both of her cheeks with his hands and said, “That land won’t ever be anyone’s but yours. You believe that, right?”
One tear fell as she nodded. “I do. But maybe one day I’ll have a daughter to leave it to.”
“A daughter?” he asked, surprised. “Does this mean you might rethink maybe a husband, too?”
She shrugged. “Only if he’s a good cook.” Then she cackled and said, “One step at a time, Jackson. One step at a time.”
“Just as long as you allow me to be around for each of them,” he said.
She leaned into him as she grabbed his arm and said, “I think that can be arranged.”