Chapter Nine #2
Stomach burning, she forced herself to go to the fridge.
It took no time to put together a plate.
It was a beautiful day and she’d been inside for most of it.
Lunch outside was exactly what she needed to cheer her up.
After adding the last chocolate chip cookie in the jar to her plate for dessert, she piled everything on a tray and carried it out to the front porch.
Two unfamiliar trucks were parked in front of her property. Abram’s Surveyors was written on the sides. Several men were pulling equipment from the back.
She set her tray down on the patio table and hurried down the front steps. “Excuse me. What’s going on here?”
An older man with gray sprinkled liberally in his short-cropped hair left the others and walked toward her, hand extended. “Mitchell Abrams, ma’am. Don’t worry about me or the boys. We’ll be careful not to trample any of your lovely gardens.”
It was automatic to take his hand. “I don’t understand. I’m Cilla Wainwright. This is my property. I didn’t commission any survey.” She’d had one done after her grandmother’s death and kept it, along with earlier ones, in a safety deposit box at the bank.
Frowning, he took off his ball cap and scratched his head. “This is the Wainwright property on Ivy Lane, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I still have no idea what this is about.” When one of the men began to set up a tripod, she pointed at him. “Tell him to stop. Now.”
“Brad.” The foreman waved. “Hold up.”
“Who hired you? Was it my brother, Richard? If so, he has no claim to this property.” She took a deep breath and reined in her temper. Whatever was going on wasn’t this man’s fault. He’d been hired in good faith.
“No, ma’am. There must be some kind of mix-up. Your husband hired us.”
“My husband?” The bottom dropped out of her stomach. “I don’t have a husband. We’ve been divorced over a year. This land has been in my family for over a hundred years.”
A silver late model Mercedes pulled into the driveway. When Christopher stepped out of the vehicle, her brother’s words from yesterday came rushing back. He might be willing to take you back.
Not only no, but hell no! She yanked her phone out of her pocket. “Please leave or I’m calling the police.”
The foreman glanced from her to Christopher and then jerked his head at his men. “Load up.” When her ex protested, Mitchell shook his head. “If you two work this out, give me a call.” He tipped his hat. “Sorry to have disturbed you, ma’am.”
While Christopher tried to talk his way around the man, she bolted toward the house. How dare he! She was shaking too much to try to carry the tray back in, so she left it. The door was half closed when a heavy hand slammed into it.
“Let’s talk about this, Cilla.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” She tried to shove the door shut, but he used his greater weight and strength to force his way in. “Get out!” The trucks were pulling away, leaving her alone with him. “You’re trespassing.”
“Hard to prove seeing as this is a bed and breakfast. It’s open to the public.
” He held his arms out by his sides. “I’m the public.
” His blond hair was impeccably styled. He wore dress pants but had left off the jacket.
The sleeves of his crisp blue shirt were rolled back, exposing the Rolex on his left wrist. It was his idea of summer casual. “I just want to talk.”
It was hard to imagine his smile had once made her stomach quiver and heart palpitate.
The burning in her gut intensified and a low pain pulsed behind her eyes.
“Isn’t it a coincidence that Richard stopped by yesterday?
” Annoyance flashed in his eyes. “He didn’t tell you he was dropping by, did he? ”
“Forget Richard. This is about us.” When he started toward her, she took several steps back.
“There is no us. There hasn’t been for quite some time.”
A muscle in his jaw clenched. A third-generation lawyer whose grandfather and father had gone into local politics, Christopher aspired to go even further. Their divorce had put a serious crimp in those plans. “There’s no need to be unpleasant about this.”
“Isn’t there? I remember you making things extremely unpleasant for me after I left.
” It was silly to bait him, but she wasn’t in the mood to pretend their divorce had been anything but acrimonious.
“Whatever you have to say, I’m not interested.
You can tell it to my lawyer. Now leave.
” She waved her phone in the air, a reminder of her threat to call the police.
“Hear me out.”
“If this is about the legal document I received yesterday, then no.”
He snatched the phone from her and tossed it to the floor. “Dammit, Cilla. You will listen.”
“That was mature.” She missed the scant security the phone had provided.
She should have called Cal the second Christopher had shown up.
He was not only a good friend but a cop.
There was no sign of Alex. This wasn’t his fight, but she wished he’d show up out of nowhere like he had yesterday when she’d been dealing with Richard.
“And I’ll do whatever I damn well want. We’re no longer married. ”
Heart racing, she bent down to retrieve her phone. He grabbed her arm and yanked her back up before she could reach it. “No we’re not, but we were married the day your grandmother died.”
Cilla stilled, a sick sensation spreading through her. “I signed the divorce papers that morning.”
He leaned down, his warm breath fanning over her face. “They didn’t get filed until later that afternoon. Technically, we were still married when the old lady died. So technically, a judge might decide I have some claim to this property.”
“Inherited property is separate from marital assets.” Her lawyer had made her aware of that during the divorce proceedings, but with the letter from Christopher coming out of nowhere, followed by Richard’s visit, it had slipped her mind until now.
“Do you really think I can’t find a way around that?
It’s easy enough to present a legal document with your signature to support my claim.
You think Richard wouldn’t back me up in court?
He wants the property as badly as I do. If nothing else, contesting my claim will cause the legal bills to pile up. I can afford it. Can you?”
Her lungs momentarily seized but then her brain kicked in. “You’re talking about forgery.” That could get them both disbarred. Being a lawyer was everything to him and her brother, which proved how desperate they were. “I’ll fight you.”
He gave her a quick shake before shoving her back. She stumbled but caught herself. “You’ll bankrupt yourself and end up having to sell anyway. Do yourself a favor and deed it to me now, and I’ll give you half of what it’s worth.”
“You’ve always hated this place. What was it you called it?
” She tapped her forefinger against her jaw.
“Oh yes, I remember. A town full of losers, wasn’t it?
” A lightbulb went off. “Richard told you he’d inherit it when Grandmother died, didn’t he?
It must have been quite a shock to you both to learn she’d left it all to me. ”
“You were never dumb, Cilla, only naive.”
“Why now? Why’d you wait so long? We’ve been divorced a year.”
“Richard promised to handle it, but I’m tired of waiting around for you to come to your senses.
We have a prominent developer interested, but he’s growing impatient and has given us a deadline.
If we don’t deliver, he’ll walk away. That can’t happen.
An association with him would open doors to new financial opportunities.
I’m planning on running for office. That takes money and connections.
You owe me.” He pointed a finger at her.
“I wasted five years trying to mold you into the perfect politician’s wife. ”
“Try it,” she shot back. “You go down this road and I’ll create a scandal so big you can forget your political aspirations.
Both you and Richard seem to forget Eleanor Foster Wainwright knew a lot of powerful people.
I spent a lot of time here with my grandmother, which means I know a hell of a lot of powerful people.
” If they wanted to threaten her, she’d return the favor.
His blue eyes turned arctic. “Be careful, Cilla. Don’t start something you can’t win. There are more permanent ways to handle the situation.”
Surely he wasn’t threatening to kill her. He wouldn’t go that far, would he? “Leave before you say something you’ll regret.” She hated the waver in her voice.
“I regret many things in regard to you, Cilla, but what I just said isn’t one of them.” He caught her jaw in his hand and squeezed. Not hard enough to leave a mark but enough to make a point. “This isn’t over.”
“The men from the survey company know you’re here. If anything happens to me, you’ll be the prime suspect. Think of the headlines.”
“Oh, I’m always thinking about them.” He rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip in the parody of a lover’s caress.
“I wouldn’t harm a hair on your head. Not now, at any rate.
What happened here today is your word against mine.
I can frame you as a bitter ex-wife because I’m replacing you.
That’s right,” he continued, as though they were having a normal conversation and he hadn’t threatened her with violence.
“Congratulate me. I got engaged last night. Her father’s a senator. ”
Obviously, Richard hadn’t known if he still harbored some idea of her and Christopher getting back together. She pulled away. “Get out.”
“Walk away with enough money to start a new life. Fight me and lose it all. Think about it.”
When the door closed behind him, she lunged for her phone and grabbed it before locking the door. With her legs no longer strong enough to hold her up, she slid to the floor, buried her face against her knees, and let the tears come.