Chapter 12
Sterling woke up the next morning to his phone ringing, and he realized that he’d slept in a little bit. It was his lawyer. “Hey,” he answered.
“I’ve talked to the other lawyer, the one your grandfather dealt with.
He’ll call your aunt’s lawyer—at least the last known one, who bailed about changing the title on the farm—and see how she’s handling the news, plus pass off a bunch more information, but we’re not sure she’ll take it very well.
Her attorney may try to get Penny and Charlie to come in for a face-to-face meeting, just among the three of them.
He’s wise enough to ask for a retainer up front when dealing with Penny’s shenanigans. ”
“I can tell you right off the bat that Penny’s not taking it very well,” Sterling stated. “I mean, as far as she’s concerned, it’s been her place all along. Since she’s lived there all this time, it’ll very much feel like home to her.”
“It might feel like home, but your granddad has paid all the bills and has put a lot of time and effort into making sure that it’s very clearly yours.
So, Penny can argue that point as much as she wants, but, in the end, it won’t work.
Unfortunately, it is likely to get a little ugly in the meantime. ”
Sterling agreed. “Aunt Penny’s trying to get money from Grandpa and trying to get money from Chelsea. So I don’t see how she has anything to put as a retainer. Her attorney may refuse to deal with her.”
“Sounds like the rational thing to do,” Sterling’s attorney noted.
“Right, well, let me know how that visit goes, if and when you get her to show up.”
“Yeah, that’ll be the challenge. She may just end up digging in her heels and stating that it’s hers, stating she’s not leaving. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, as they often misquote.”
“So, what are my options then?”
“You can move in with them,” he suggested, with a note of humor, “but I suspect we’ll have to go through the courts to make this happen.”
“Christ.”
“I understand. You shouldn’t have to fight for what’s already yours. However, if she won’t move, that’s our play.” He hesitated for a moment, then asked, “I’ll just throw this out there, but would you consider a compromise?”
“What kind of a compromise?” he asked in surprise.
The lawyer hesitated again, then suggested, “Maybe give her a spot on the property.”
“No way,” he declared.
“I didn’t think so, not after what she did.”
“Exactly, not after what she did to me and to my granddad. Not after what she’s continuing to do with her own daughter.”
“Yeah, the other lawyer was pretty upset about that too. More evidence that she’s willing to do whatever it takes, and she doesn’t even bat an eye at committing fraud.”
“Exactly, so hell no, there’s no chance for a compromise. She gets off my land, and, if I have to, I’ll move in, but I’ll be coming with at least half-a-dozen military men with me.”
The lawyer made a startled sound at that. “Hmm, that’s not a bad idea.”
“It might not be a bad idea, but it’s one I will prefer to not do if I don’t have to,” Sterling clarified. “Regardless, I can get the men, so don’t you worry about that. An awful lot of veterans like me are just looking for a place to call home.”
“Hey, that’s something else you can consider doing after we win the court case. If you’re looking to sell parcels or to set up a military refuge where you rent out parcels or homes or whatever, that’s something you could consider doing with all the land,” he shared.
“I could, but it’s way too early for me to even think about that, especially when I don’t even remember half of what the property looked like back then.
So I have no clue what it’s like now. Oh, and, speaking of fraud, apparently Aunt Penny misrepresented the organic part of the farm business out there too. ”
“What?” When Sterling explained about the false certification and advertising, the lawyer was shocked and added, “That’s good news and is just more ammunition against her.”
“The thing is, there’s a ton of ammunition against her, but, if she doesn’t leave peaceably, then what?”
“Right,” he replied. “If she doesn’t leave peaceably, it’ll still be an issue, and we’ll just do whatever it takes to stand up to her and to move her off the land. That will be another challenge because, if she doesn’t want to, you’ll have to be hardnosed about moving in.”
“I suspect I can round up an awful lot of people who’ll help me dump her stuff off at the property line, and I will carry on as the rightful owner. However, if I can’t do it legally, you and I both know it can get even uglier, and that boyfriend of hers is an armed wildcard.”
“I agree. I’ve asked for a court date as soon as possible, but it will also depend on your aunt’s response to the lawyers.”
“Keep me informed,” Sterling said. “I want her to recognize that she’s in trouble and to just take her lumps and move on without a hassle, but it’s not likely to happen that way. Also,” he added, “and I know this isn’t part of it, but I do need to bring up.” Then he stopped.
The lawyer laughed. “Spit it out, Sterling. We’re already ass deep in this, so it’s better if I hear it all on the front end.”
“My mother died in a car wreck, and it was always deemed an accident, but looking at all the horrible things Aunt Penny’s done, I guess a part of me wonders just how much my aunt wanted that property.”
After a short silence the lawyer whispered, “Good God.”
“Yeah, exactly. It’s that bad, and the last thing I want to bring up, but—”
“I can get a copy of the police report, if that would help.”
“It would help because, if nothing else, it will give me some answers, even if it doesn’t give me all of them.”
“You do know that ruminating on something like this is not healthy, right?”
“Oh, I know,” he stated, “but neither is finding out what I’ve already learned since I’ve gotten into town. Plus, Aunt Penny let my broken-hearted grieving grandpa think I was dead too. It was just too much.”
“No, I’m right there with you,” he declared. “And the sooner we can solve this, the better.” And, with that, they ended the call.
Sterling shook his head. “What a way to start my day,” he muttered, as he got up, showered, and dressed. He soon left the bunkhouse, heading to the main cabin for breakfast.
As he walked in, several of the men looked over at him and asked, “Hey, how goes the battle?”
“I’m feeling a little battle-scarred today,” he admitted. “I’m not sure how to handle some of this.” He took a few minutes and explained what was going on, and several of the men stared at him in shock. Sterling nodded. “Yeah, could be some ugly times ahead.”
“If you need any help, you know where you can get it,” one of the men spoke up.
“What I might need is a bunch of guys to move onto the property, just to help me move out the squatters.”
“Can it be done legally?” one asked.
“That’s the issue on one side of it,” Joel noted, “but, on another side, if it’s yours, and you just need somebody to add a little pressure, making it a little uncomfortable, I don’t think any of us would have a problem with picking up and moving over there.”
“I haven’t even seen the place in a very long time, not since I was eight years old,” Sterling shared. “I’m afraid that they would cause some damage out of spite if nothing else.”
“Right. Which is another reason you need to get onto the property.”
“Sure, but apparently weapons are on the place and some very ugly personalities.”
They frowned at him, shook their heads, and Joel added, “We’re still in, but it would be awfully nice if it the weapons were not part of this.”
“Wouldn’t it?” Sterling muttered, with a nod. “I’ll let you know how that works out.” They chuckled at that, and he shared, “I’ll see what I can sort out regardless.”
There wasn’t a whole lot anybody could say or could do at that point, but Sterling appreciated the knowledge that, if he needed ten men to come help him, ten men were at the ready, and he was gratified with the knowledge that these men would show up for him without a moment of hesitation.
As soon as he stood to head out for work, Timber walked in and asked him for an update. Sterling brought him up to date about meeting his grandpa and the conversation with his lawyer, and Timber just shook his head. “That’s unbelievable.”
“I know, but Grandpa has been paying all the bills and had it in trust for me the whole time,” Sterling pointed out.
“Apparently his name was on the deed with my mother’s name, and my aunt Penny kept browbeating him to sell it and to sign it over to her.
He really struggled with that. About the time I would turn eighteen, he hired someone to do some digging.
When he realized that I was still alive, he wondered why he’d struggled with it so.
Apparently his wife had been all for his signing it over, thinking that I was dead, as they had been told.
Yet Grandpa fought all of them about it.
His wife passed away at some point, but my aunt had been working on both of them until her death.
But then Grandpa followed his instincts and found out that I was alive, and that changed everything.
So he put the property in my name and documented all the resources he had put into the place over the years. ”
“Good God,” Timber muttered, staring at him.
“Yeah, that’s life, right?”
“I’m not sure we call that life,” Timber corrected, as he considered the whole scenario, “as much as we call that pure pain. I’m sorry, man.
” With a word of warning, he shared, “You’ve got to be careful though, and we’re more than happy to help, though we also want to keep everybody safe, including you. ”
“I know,” Sterling agreed, “so it will be an interesting time.”
“Do you think Penny will show up at the lawyer’s office?”
Sterling considered it, then shook his head. “No, because what’s in that for her? At the moment she’s on the land and supposedly has been working it for some time, selling organic vegetables.”