Chapter 33 Hattie
HATTIE
“I’m just glad you’re done acting so New Moon Bella about this,” Mesa points out sarcastically.
I’m sitting at the dining table of the bunkhouse with the girls, leisurely picking at the fruit on the tray in front of us. After the guys all left to finish chores, Savannah made eye contact with me, and I knew we needed to have a quick gathering of the minds.
“Max level emo,” Blythe adds with a playful laugh.
Savannah purses her lips. “That’s a little harsh.”
“Okay, it wasn’t that bad,” Mesa admits. “But it was close.”
I snort a laugh, knowing it most definitely was that bad.
“It wasn’t pretty. We worked it out last night, though.
” I smile down at the sliced strawberry on the end of my fork in a dream-like state.
“I feel good about things today. It’s strange.
I’ve been on edge about it for so long, and now .
. . ” I shrug as my sentence trails off.
There are hardly any words to describe the relief I woke up with this morning.
Mesa tilts her head with a wistful sigh. “I’m so happy for you, Hattie. I’m happy for both of you. You two have been through so much.”
I smile up at her and nod. “It was a lot, but I think we made it through. I’m happy for us, too.”
“Gage won’t show it as much as Tripp and Warren,” Blythe says. “But I heard him whistling on his way out earlier. The guys have been waiting for this day, and I can tell they’re over the moon about it.”
Mesa takes a sip of her coffee and lets out a little snicker. “I think Tripp was so excited, he almost fainted.”
I look around the bunkhouse as the girls continue chatting.
Between the old pairs of boots by the door, the dishes from breakfast by the sink, and all the random little things strewn around the place, a phone charger, a hat, a set of keys .
. . the evidence of how blessed I am to be here with these people is everywhere.
I never wanted to leave that summer, and now I want to hold on to this place and everyone in it even more.
Savannah sits up taller and opens her laptop. “I’ll keep this short, because I don’t want to ruin the warm fuzzies we’re all feeling today, but I do have some updates on the Marcus situation.”
“Yes,” Blythe says, leaning forward. “We need to smash that bug ASAP. Let’s hear what you’ve got.”
“I have a theory.” Savannah clears her throat, and her eyes float up over her computer screen to look at me. “He has enough power and control over Rafe’s finances right now to take whatever money he can and run, but he hasn’t. Something doesn’t add up.”
My brows pinch together. She bends to pull a small stack of stapled papers from her bag and slides them across the table to me. Blythe and Mesa both lean in to look over my shoulders.
“That’s him, right?” Savannah asks.
The front page of the packet shows Marcus’s picture next to a list of vague personal information. I nod while flipping to the next piece of paper.
“He’s in debt,” she goes on. “I don’t have all the details yet, and digging into it further is going to take some time.
But the charges for tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud were easy to find as public information.
With limited cash flow and a criminal record, he’s been using Rafe as the front man to rack up new investments.
I think he realized it wasn’t going to be enough, even if he emptied your dad’s tank and skipped town, so he did the only other thing he could to cash in on a bigger scale. Marry you.”
I knew Marcus had hit it big in the past because he’d bragged to me about it countless times.
It always struck me as odd that he felt the need to flaunt his financial success, though.
Then again, I found it odd that he’d want to leave his seemingly successful career in the city to come work for my dad again, too.
If those things weren’t enough, he was also adamant about moving into the apartment above the ranch office. Clearly, the guy had no place to go.
How could I be so blind to all of this? I shake my head and blow out a heavy breath.
I can’t believe I ignored those red flags and never looked into him. I was so focused on my own stupid agenda of trying to make my dad happy and moving on that it never even crossed my mind.
“My dad and I had a conversation about the land he owns and the ranch itself not long ago,” I tell her. “It’s worth a lot more than anything of his that Marcus could easily swindle from him. The trust that protects it is in my name.”
Savannah smiles big and snaps her finger. “That’s what he’s after. He wants the big loot, and you’re his access point.” She stills and puts a hand on her chest. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound excited. Nothing about this is exciting, I just—”
“It’s okay,” I reassure her. “You’ve got your white hat of justice on, and I’m here for it.”
She laughs softly through her nose and glances down at her laptop.
Blythe taps the side of her water glass, deep in thought, before chiming in. “Where does that leave us?”
“Well,” Savannah sighs. “Ideally, we could nail him for extortion or push him to make a move on your dad. That would give us an easy path to conviction. But Marcus seems innovative. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s covered his ass by getting clearance from Rafe on everything that he currently controls.
If he empties your dad’s accounts or sabotages as much as he can, he’ll get off without a scratch.
Legally speaking, we may not be able to do anything about it. ”
“Ah, yes. Legally speaking,” Blythe repeats. “But he’d have to watch his back if he thinks we won’t—”
Savannah bumps Blythe’s elbow. “If my instincts are correct on this, then I think he’s threatening to take the ship down if he doesn’t get his way because he knows he’ll get off clean.
But at the end of the day, he’ll do whatever he thinks he needs to do to seal the big deal by blackmailing you into marrying him, Hattie. ”
I lean back in my chair and rub my temples.
“I let this drag out because I wanted to come up with some sort of evil plan to nail his ass. He should be in prison, as far as I’m concerned.
But I don’t even know if I care about that anymore, girls.
Maybe my dad should just take away all his access, fire him, and we can try to pin an extortion charge on him down the road.
He deserves so much worse, but I’m tired of feeling like the ground is crumbling beneath me twenty-four-seven.
I want to wash my hands of it all and start living like I’m not expecting the worst around every corner. I want my life back.”
I close my eyes to picture it, and the very first thing I see is Heston. I’m not so naive to expect perfect bliss from here on out, but I know for certain that with him, I’d come pretty damn close.
Mesa reaches over to touch my arm and calmly runs her thumb along my skin.
“Answer me this before you decide.” Savannah gently closes her laptop. “We know he’s a giant piece of work, but is he maniacal? Is there danger outside of monetary loss at stake here?”
I shrug. “I doubt it. But I’ve walked on eggshells around him since this all came to light. I don’t really know the extent of what he’s capable of, to be honest.”
“Hear me out,” Mesa perks up. “We all hunker down in our happy little bubble on Prairie Rose Ranch and never leave again.” She knows it’s ridiculous, and not unlike how Tripp is with Heston, she’s clearly giving into the urge to cheer me up anyway she can.
“Not the compound idea again,” Savannah says with a sigh.
“I’m not hippie enough for that,” Blythe admits.
Strangely, I’m down for this hypothetical joke of hers. I smile and stand from my seat to lean over her chair and wrap my arms around her shoulders in a tight hug.
“Say the word, and I’ll brush off my old notebook full of sustainable, isolated community ideas,” Mesa adds.
I shake my head and laugh. “I love when creative people get bored.”
“Whatever feels right,” Savannah says, “We’re with you, Hattie.”
Blythe offers a closed-lip smile and nods. Mesa squeezes my forearms.
I think I know what I want to do. But the thing I feel the strongest about at the moment is talking to Heston about it first. I want to feel like we’re a team again, and even though I’ve been terrified that he’ll take off and kill the guy, I really need to clue him in on all the details surrounding the complete disaster that is my former fiancé.