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Authors: Nicole Edwards
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penny.”
So
Luanne did know about the money. Did the woman not realize she was revealing
her lie? Or maybe she did it so often that she didn’t even notice.
But
despite Luanne’s lies and her deceit, Tessa didn’t want her money back. She
wanted the land. She had plans for that land, and she was almost in a position
to make her dreams come true. What was she supposed to do now?
“Since
I was able to sell the land for almost twice as much as what my father was
going to sell it to you, I think it’s safe to say your offer no longer holds my
interest. Unless, of course, you’d like to make another offer. But, keep in
mind, the person who is purchasing is willing to pay cash. Up front.”
Tessa
felt defeated. It wouldn’t matter at this point what she did or said. She
couldn’t even afford a lawyer to fight Luanne. If Cooper was willing to pay
twice what Tessa had agreed to, she would never be able to afford it. Not to
mention, she hadn’t even been able to come up with the down payment in cash,
much less the full asking price.
Realizing
she was beating a dead horse, and she was only going to get herself worked up,
Tessa decided enough was enough. Her temper was hovering on the brink of
explosive, and the last thing she wanted was for Luanne to see how defeated she
felt.
Standing
from her seat, Tessa headed toward the door without saying another word. It was
that, or she was going to scratch the woman’s eyeballs out. Her emotions were
churning like a violent, straight-line wind, and any minute, it was going to
start swirling, taking out everything in her path.
Fifteen
minutes later, Tessa was pulling into Charlie’s Restaurant. After leaving
Luanne’s, she called Jack and asked him to meet her. She wasn’t sure why she
needed to talk to her younger brother, but she knew, if anyone could, he’d be
able to put this entire situation in perspective. She couldn’t call Adam
because he had no idea that she had even been trying to buy the land, and she
didn’t want to put him in the middle. Since Cooper was his friend and the man
who was buying the Deluth farm, she felt as though he might not understand.
“Hey,
Sis,” Jack greeted as he approached the table she was sitting at. “Uh-oh, what
the hell happened?”
Tessa
loved her baby brother. He was actually more protective of her than Adam, and that
was saying something. She watched as he eased down into the booth across from
her, his muscular body folding into the seat awkwardly. There was a reason he’d
garnered the nickname “Tiny” in high school. Of course, she didn’t dare call
him that because Jack had always hated that name, but at six-foot-six-inches,
he wasn’t necessarily small.
“Did
you know that Luanne was selling her father’s land to Cooper Krenshaw?” she
asked, forgoing any pleasantries.
Jack’s
eyebrows shot downward as he stared back at her. “What? I thought you were
buying the land?”
Tessa
had told Jack about the situation a couple of years before when she wanted to
rent the house she was currently living in, which happened to belong to Jack.
He’d grown up in the house, and when his father met their mother, they’d bought
a bigger place just on the other side of town. After Jack graduated from high
school, his father had given him the house, but for reasons Jack wasn’t willing
to talk about, he never moved back there.
So
when Tessa had needed a place to stay, she felt compelled to explain why she
wasn’t looking to buy a house at the time and since they’d all been so worried
about her because of Richie’s death, she had told Jack everything.
“Well,
it looks like that isn’t the case,” she whispered, fighting the urge to cry.
“What
about the money you paid him?” Jack asked, his voice lethally low.
“Oh,
Luanne assured me I’d get it back. Said she was getting twice as much as Mr.
Deluth was willing to sell it to me for.”
Tessa
had been close to Jerry Deluth, helping him out for years when he
So
Luanne did know about the money. Did the woman not realize she was revealing
her lie? Or maybe she did it so often that she didn’t even notice.
But
despite Luanne’s lies and her deceit, Tessa didn’t want her money back. She
wanted the land. She had plans for that land, and she was almost in a position
to make her dreams come true. What was she supposed to do now?
“Since
I was able to sell the land for almost twice as much as what my father was
going to sell it to you, I think it’s safe to say your offer no longer holds my
interest. Unless, of course, you’d like to make another offer. But, keep in
mind, the person who is purchasing is willing to pay cash. Up front.”
Tessa
felt defeated. It wouldn’t matter at this point what she did or said. She
couldn’t even afford a lawyer to fight Luanne. If Cooper was willing to pay
twice what Tessa had agreed to, she would never be able to afford it. Not to
mention, she hadn’t even been able to come up with the down payment in cash,
much less the full asking price.
Realizing
she was beating a dead horse, and she was only going to get herself worked up,
Tessa decided enough was enough. Her temper was hovering on the brink of
explosive, and the last thing she wanted was for Luanne to see how defeated she
felt.
Standing
from her seat, Tessa headed toward the door without saying another word. It was
that, or she was going to scratch the woman’s eyeballs out. Her emotions were
churning like a violent, straight-line wind, and any minute, it was going to
start swirling, taking out everything in her path.
Fifteen
minutes later, Tessa was pulling into Charlie’s Restaurant. After leaving
Luanne’s, she called Jack and asked him to meet her. She wasn’t sure why she
needed to talk to her younger brother, but she knew, if anyone could, he’d be
able to put this entire situation in perspective. She couldn’t call Adam
because he had no idea that she had even been trying to buy the land, and she
didn’t want to put him in the middle. Since Cooper was his friend and the man
who was buying the Deluth farm, she felt as though he might not understand.
“Hey,
Sis,” Jack greeted as he approached the table she was sitting at. “Uh-oh, what
the hell happened?”
Tessa
loved her baby brother. He was actually more protective of her than Adam, and that
was saying something. She watched as he eased down into the booth across from
her, his muscular body folding into the seat awkwardly. There was a reason he’d
garnered the nickname “Tiny” in high school. Of course, she didn’t dare call
him that because Jack had always hated that name, but at six-foot-six-inches,
he wasn’t necessarily small.
“Did
you know that Luanne was selling her father’s land to Cooper Krenshaw?” she
asked, forgoing any pleasantries.
Jack’s
eyebrows shot downward as he stared back at her. “What? I thought you were
buying the land?”
Tessa
had told Jack about the situation a couple of years before when she wanted to
rent the house she was currently living in, which happened to belong to Jack.
He’d grown up in the house, and when his father met their mother, they’d bought
a bigger place just on the other side of town. After Jack graduated from high
school, his father had given him the house, but for reasons Jack wasn’t willing
to talk about, he never moved back there.
So
when Tessa had needed a place to stay, she felt compelled to explain why she
wasn’t looking to buy a house at the time and since they’d all been so worried
about her because of Richie’s death, she had told Jack everything.
“Well,
it looks like that isn’t the case,” she whispered, fighting the urge to cry.
“What
about the money you paid him?” Jack asked, his voice lethally low.
“Oh,
Luanne assured me I’d get it back. Said she was getting twice as much as Mr.
Deluth was willing to sell it to me for.”
Tessa
had been close to Jerry Deluth, helping him out for years when he
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