Page 15 of The Second Dance
“Acres.”
My mind spins, trying to do the math.
“But that would make them…”
“Billionaires? Yeah. They’re rich, Andy. Their dogs are rich. The flies that buzz around their heads are rich.”
“I had no idea.”
“Kind of puts eighty measly acres into perspective, right?”
Anger stokes in my belly. “Fuck yeah, it does.”
He laughs. “Watch that language.”
“Sorry.”
He pauses. “Andy? I know your grandma is looking down on you and what you’re doing for her birds… she would be proud of you. I know I am.”
“Thanks, dad.”
“You gonna hang in there?”
“You’re damn right I am.”
“Andy…” He growls, but there’s laughter in his voice.
9.
Bo
I climb out of my truck, circling around to meet Carl as he pulls down the lane. He drives a Lincoln pickup truck. It sparkles in the morning light. I doubt he’s put so much as a bag of leaves in the back of that thing.
He pulls up next to me, climbing out. He’s short and stout. According to my dad, he was one of the best linebackers in Silver Bend history.
He’s got the championship ring to prove it, though he has to wear it on his middle finger. The pinkie and ring finger were taken off in a hunting accident.
I feel like the messenger boy, carrying out my dad’s will.
I didn’t call Carl.
I didn’t ask for help with the legal side.
That was my dad.
And, yet, I’m the one standing here and my dad’s back at the house cooling his heels.
“Are you sure this is the best tactic?” I ask, watching Andy’s little sedan bounce down the lane.
Carl squints up at me. “You and your dad want this piece of ground back?”
I glance out across the pasture. A trio of birds flies over the spot where I would build my wood shop. “Yeah.”
He slaps my shoulder. “Let me handle it, then. Your dad says Heather’s just trying to make a point. If she was serious about selling, she would have broken up the corporation during the divorce proceedings. Trust me, this ain’t my first rodeo. We just need to apply a little pressure. She’ll cave.”
I’m not sure who he means, my mom or Andy.
Before I can ask what he intends to say, Andy’s climbing out of her car and Carl’s striding across the field to meet her. Unease trickles down my shoulders.