—
“Fucking politicians.” Stephen slammed down his office phone. His first thought when Hannah had told him about her meeting with the city was a simple one—buy the land. Didn’t matter if she wanted him to or not. It was hers, a part of her, and he would make sure it stayed that way. But nothing was ever easy when dealing with the government. Did anyone there actually work?
He’d done a good amount of research since their return from Vegas and he didn’t like what he’d found. The letter Hannah had wasn’t a will, and the government was under no obligation to recognize handwritten wishes. But they could.
So why didn’t they? What was their endgame? To use it? To sell it? Should he be looking at the city or the state?
The business world might be cutthroat, but at least you always knew the end goal was money and everything was for sale. It all depended on how badly the buyer wanted it.
He dropped his pen and smacked the arm of his chair. He wanted to hit something. So far all he’d hit were dead ends. He glanced at the time on his computer. After six. He wasn’t going to get any further today, not with the government and their damn day-spa hours. Besides, he’d accepted a dinner invitation at his parents’. It had been a while. Not since he’d been invited, but since he’d accepted.
He shut it down, closed it up, and grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair on his way out the door. He needed to speak to Dave again about that inside information, but his partner was getting more and more difficult to reach.
Stephen walked to his reserved spot, rethinking what he knew and what he still needed to know as he drove. He’d never come across a piece of land he couldn’t get, and he wasn’t going to start now.
Chapter 33
An hour later he was at his mother’s table listening to the usual clatter and chatter of a family meal. It was just Matt’s and Lizzy’s families tonight.
“I’m sorry Hannah couldn’t join us,” his mother said.
“Yeah. She was too and made me promise to thank you for the invitation.” A student needed to change an appointment at the last minute and of course Hannah had accommodated.
His mother’s hopeful smile beamed across the table. She wasn’t looking at him like he was one small step from the edge as much as usual. Though, being thirty-plus, single, and not settled down with a nice girl and a minivan full of kids, he was, in her opinion, headed for a life of ruin.
As Hannah was only the second woman ever to meet his family, he knew she was making a great effort to keep her enthusiasm under control.
“I think what she does with those children and horses is absolutely wonderful.”
So did he. And he figured his mother was thinking about J.T. He’d talked to Hannah about his brother—first time that had ever happened—and she’d asked if maybe J.T. might want to come to Freedom Farm. The answer was no, or more like he didn’t know. J.T. wasn’t exactly communicating these days. Hannah told him to give it time. Maybe he should ask her to talk to his mother, ease her mind as she’d eased his.
“I had lunch with Hannah today,” Abby said, halting her mother-in-law’s imminent gush of hearts and flowers.
“Oh, yeah? How’d it go?”
“Great. Plans for the big publicity day are coming together. We’re calling it Freedom Farm Awareness Day. And my reporter friend thought it would be a great local story.”
The girls had definitely embraced the idea and were running full steam ahead.
Abby and Lizzy continued laying out the plans. It sounded like they had it all figured out. He had his own contribution in the works. “I appreciate all this. Really. And so does Hannah.”
“Well, don’t think you’re getting off without helping,” his sister told him. “Abby has lists. You all get a list.”
He looked at his sister. “You’re just loving this, aren’t you? Gives you such a great opportunity to be bossy.”
Lizzy stuck out her tongue and turned to their mom. Conversation ebbed and flowed. Kids who’d eaten in thirty seconds skirted in and out of the room. Jack and Charlie made a beeline for his dad’s old electric trains in the basement. The girls were “setting up shop” in the other room with his mom’s costume jewelry. Mary laid her head on Matt’s shoulder and sucked two fingers into her mouth.
If Hannah hadn’t come into his life, would he have his family back? Maybe, somewhere down the road. Maybe not. Maybe he would have moved farther away. She’d given him that.
A private look passed between Matt and Abby and his brother caressed his wife’s hand where it lay on the table, linking their fingers. “Do you want to tell them?”
Like a radar detecting information, Lizzy’s ears perked up. “Tell us what?”