Drake
Spending time with Stefanie proved to be distracting and more than a little inspiring.
They scooped and spread the straw around the base of the pens. Laughing and tossing straw at one another, Drake could’ve been a teenager again.
Stefanie stumbled from the tailgate where she clung as she tried to climb down from the back of the truck. She giggled, falling into Drake’s side.
Drake set the shovel against the truck, placing his hands on her hips. “Whoa, hang on there.” He flicked straw from her hair, gazing into her eyes. When was the last time he’d seen such blue eyes?
Stefanie’s giggle faded. She couldn’t look away from him. Drake could almost read the struggle in her eyes. He watched her, as she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I guess we’re done out here. Maybe we should go in and take a shower.” Stefanie bit the side of her bottom lip, plumping the other side.
Drake’s voice dragged from his throat in a throaty-over-theatrical huskiness. “Is that an invitation?”
Stefanie giggled again, cocking her head to the side. “No. Maybe next time.” And she winked. Turning away, she headed towards Nate. Over her shoulder she added, “You head in first, I need to finish up some stuff here with Nate. Don’t take all my hot water.” She wagged a finger toward the sky.
Drake’s day was looking up.
~~~
Rubbing a towel through his hair, Drake turned off the light in the extra bathroom and moved towards his borrowed room.
Hannah had let him take her room and she had moved in with Stefanie. Some nights ago, when Drake went down to get a drink or something, he’d almost tripped on Hannah sprawled on the floor in a sleeping bag outside Nate and Emma’s room. Probably so she could be closer to Emma. He didn’t blame her. The moments within an hour grew shorter and fewer with that one.
Nate’s voice carried down the hall from the office. “Look, Mr. James, I’m not trying to get rid of it right now. I understand there are limitations. But if someone wants to buy it and we don’t have to wait for auction, I would much rather get rid of it sooner rather than later. If you have any interested buyers can you let me know, please? Yes, I’d be happy to waive the auction admission fee. Thank you.”
The phone clicked onto its base. The sound carrying down to Drake.
He didn’t wait or try to pretend he wasn’t there. He grabbed his shirt from the bathroom counter, still clean because he hadn’t been working too hard while wearing it, and pulled it on.
Drake thundered down the hallway, bursting through the door into the office.
Nate jerked his head up, glaring at Drake. “What you want?” His elbow rested on the desk as he had been staring at the landline based phone. He watched Drake enter the office with a feral gleam in his eye.
Drake came to a halt. He crossed his arms over his chest, and met Nate’s glare with an equally hostile scowl. “What did you do? Did you sell it?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m close. Riddick just offered ten percent more than the asking price.” He sighed, standing and moving to settle onto the top of the desk.
He crossed his arms and considered Drake. “Ronan James said someone is trying to help Stefanie. If it’s you, I want you to back off. I have no problem selling to Riddick. I don’t mind waiting for the auction, but I want you to stop encouraging Stefanie. If she’s supposed to do this, she’ll do it. I’m trying to save this family, not sink it deeper. And trying to carry this place is doing us in.”
“I can help. You don’t have to sell Bella Acres. Stefanie loves this place. This is Emma’s home. Come on, I bet even you love this place.” Finally, it occurred to Drake that it was Emma’s home, and he cared that Nate loved it. As much as he hated Nate, the man was still his brother-in-law. He was still the one Emma had chosen over everything and everyone else.
Nate held up his hand. Focusing his gaze on the floor for a second, he closed his eyes and shook his head. He returned his gaze to Drake. “You don’t know anything about me or my family. You need to back off.”
The sudden switch to open hostility rankled. “What?” Drake clenched his fists at his side. Was this going to be it? Was he finally going to be able to beat the hell out of Nate?
“I’ll sell to Riddick with three days to close. He offered another ten percent to make it fast. I’ll do it. I’ll sell out from underneath everyone. Just push me.” The challenge in Nate’s eyes took on a maniacal gleam. He’d made everything personal to him and wasn’t worrying about anything else.
“It’s Emma’s house, too.” How could he do this? “Stefanie is trying so hard.” Desperation welled within Drake. What could he do to protect Stefanie from that kind of betrayal? Where would Emma go?
“Yeah? Emma is my wife. I can’t lose her. Selling this house with an extra twenty percent on top will get us so much medical help for her.” Open consideration softened Nate’s hardened expression.
“So would taking my money.” Drake bit his tongue from saying anything else. He didn’t want to argue with Nate anymore. He couldn’t do it and fulfill his promise to Emma.
He might not understand exactly where Nate was coming from, but he knew his brother-in-law was hurting.
With nothing left to say, Nate brushed by Drake as he stormed out of the office.
Drake stayed behind, more confused than ever.
If he backed Stefanie, she could easily buy the place and pay him back on her terms. But it wouldn’t help anything.
For some reason, Nate’s determination to get them out of there blinded him to logic.
What was Drake going to do? He rounded the desk, glancing up to make sure Nate really was gone.
Picking up the phone on the desktop, he scrolled through the caller ID and redialed the number with the name Riddick above it.
The phone rang. But it didn’t ring long. “Rourke, I didn’t think I would hear from you so soon. James from the bank is a lot smoother than I thought.”
Drake squeezed his eyes shut, his fingers tightening around the phone until it creaked. “Riddick. This is Drake Benson. I will pay you to back off Bella Acres. Ten grand, cash.”
Riddick’s laugh rolled through the phone like glass-covered asphalt. “I want the Rourkes and the Bensons gone from Clearwater County. Are you willing to pay me fifty percent of the asking price? That’s the only way I’m going to back off this deal.” He waited in silence, his taunt tossed so lightly into the space between them.
Emotionally, Drake wanted nothing more than to buy that place. He wanted to pay off Riddick to get him off their back. Give them a little bit more time. Minus the pressure of extra income. Minus the pressure of someone breathing down their neck. But Drake’s business side was smarter than he was. He wasn’t known as one of the top financial advisors of the West Coast for nothing.
His hesitation was a little too long.
Riddick’s laugh continued to peal through the phone line. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. Get your stuff packed, Benson. I have a feeling you’ll all be moving out soon.” The old man hung up the phone. The dial tone droned through the silence while Drake stood there with the phone in his hand.
Drake would have to come at this from a different angle. The only way to get rid of Riddick was if the house was already sold. Drake couldn’t come out and buy it himself. Everyone was against that. He’d be shackled to Bella Acres with no one to live on it. Nate wouldn’t stay if Drake owned it, and Stefanie would feel betrayed.
Somehow he had to figure out a way to back Stefanie.
In the tight place that he was in, Drake didn’t have many options to save the girl he’d always cared for.
He wouldn’t get help from Nate. How would he be able to convince Stefanie to let him help? Add that job to the list of figuring out what he was supposed to do with his parents and his dying sister.