Alex

THE NEXT MORNING LACEY rocked up to breakfast at eight thirty like she’d been invited. I hadn’t missed the trucks that had delivered things to her and I saw Edmund Wileman driving out there over the weekend; he was a local handyman. Lord knows what she was up to in the old cottage, but I had an idea she was changing it. What was the point? How long did she intend on staying anyhow? She had obviously decided that the light material trousers that looked like they cost as much as my car, were a bad idea as today she wore jeans. Armani jeans but it was a start. She still had her hair pulled into a sleek hair tie rather than the rugged look we were used to round here. She wore enough makeup to make a whore blush but I guess that’s what all these city girls did nowadays. I’d seen the Kardashians, I was alive!

She sashayed into breakfast chatting to people and introducing herself. I just watched her and tried to figure her the hell out. I deduced that she was pretty tough, talking to me the day before like she had a big, set of hairy balls and yet smiling at the rest of the guys like a beauty queen on speed. Yeah, she had the sweet all-American girl look down and yet she wouldn’t be who she was if she wasn’t smart and cutthroat... best not forget that.

I’d Googled her. Well, who wouldn’t have? When she bought the farm, my mom brushed it off like she was some investor and introduced her to me saying nothing would change, and until now... it hadn’t. So why now? Lacey Davenport was some rising hot-shot who worked for an investment firm where she made people rich and herself richer. She had some disgustingly lavish wedding that was plastered online, and I had no doubt that her interests did not lie in keeping our little family farm together.

She strolled onto the land where we sweated buckets every day, working every daylight hour and watching each other’s backs, looking like she’d never done a day’s hard work in her life. Everything about her was preened, sleek and perfect. She had a little ski-jump nose that protruded just enough, lips that didn’t need enhancement or at least didn’t look like they had. Everything about her screamed money and yet she was beautiful, which I supposed drew people in just before she spat them out.

“Morning,” she moved to sit opposite me in the same position she had the day before. Bear sat by my side and he moved a little closer to her, so she patted him. “Hey, boy,” she soothed. She had petted him yesterday in the office and he’d enjoyed it, traitor.

  “It was morning for us two hours ago,” I grunted. Most people round here started work at six am and that included me. I rode out to check on the various field teams before I fired up my laptop in the office. Only Juan, Johnny and Helen had conventional hours. Mabel drove the kids to the school bus for me in the mornings and I only ever had to collect Sara myself if she missed the bus.

“Right,” she sipped her coffee. “Well I bet you don’t want me hanging around at that time in the morning, you’re already grumpy enough at eight thirty.” She smirked at her own joke and I continued to eat my cereal.

“I need to get some actual work done today,” I told her, “so I can only spend a coupla hours, other than that you’ll need to do your own research.”

“Okay,” she shrugged, “I need to get back to the cottage anyway.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. I couldn’t bring myself to actually ask her what the hell she was doing, but she knew I was curious. She just smirked and ran her tongue over that plump bottom lip. This girl knew exactly what she was doing, and I bet she always got what she wanted—well not from me.

“Bear!” I barked the dog’s name, and he nuzzled deeper into Lacey’s hand as she rubbed him and he whined with glee. He broke away and moved to sit by me begrudgingly. “He’s a work dog, you shouldn’t spoil him.”

“I see,” she watched me and nodded. “Is he just on vacation lounging around the office then?”

“Funny,” I told her deadpan, and she laughed.

“I thought so.”

“Come on.” I stood and took my dish back inside the kitchen where Mabel always washed and tidied up. I nodded hellos to a few of the guys but I had seen them this morning at the staff meeting so any issues came up then. She hadn’t discovered the time of the staff meeting yet and once she did, there would be no turning back.

Lacey followed me and moved to rinse her cup, “No,” Mabel took it off her, “I’ve got that, you go and see to things.”

“Thank you,” Lacey said sweetly, the charm offensive in force again. I struggled not to roll my eyes.

“Eric said you guys had a great ride out yesterday. Did you have fun?” Mabel grinned at Lacey like a long-lost friend.

“Sure did,” Lacey said, “he filled me in on a few things.” She glanced at me and I bristled at her inference that Eric had told her stuff. He wouldn’t. “The place is so beautiful.”

“That it is,” Mabel agreed, “Montana is the most beautiful place on earth.”

I didn’t add that none of us had ever left the mid-west. “See you later, Mabel.” I said turning and whistling for Bear to follow. Lacey was by my side in no time, tottering in Converse today rather than her heels.

“What will we look at today?” she asked.

“You tell me, boss,” I grunted out, and she sighed.

“I wish you didn’t have to be such an asshole,” she said bluntly and her directness made me cough with shock.

“Don’t take offence, it just comes naturally,” I told her as we walked towards the wooden office building.

“I doubt you treat every visitor like this,” she said with flattened lips and narrowed eyes. I opened the door to let her walk through and Bear followed.

“We don’t get many visitors,” I said honestly, “and none who want to trawl through the books.”

She nodded, “Well I’ll go easy on you.” She grinned and I sighed. This wasn’t some game of cat and mouse where I eventually submitted. I just wanted to show her the shit and for her to leave. I certainly didn’t want to be her friend.

She stayed with us for a couple of hours and eventually I set her up with some figures at Mom’s desk when I told her I needed to go. I took Bear, and we left the confined space where her sweet perfume was stinking up the place. I felt constricted with her there, like I really knew I needed to be civil but being nice to her was the last thing I wanted. Sure, it wasn’t her fault she now owned my birthright, or that she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She was like a sleeper spy who would have been sent in to get all the guys gaga and then kill them in their sleep. I didn’t trust her.

I walked with Bear back up to the house and felt my cell vibrate in my pocket. It was an out of state unknown number and I sighed when I saw that.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Alex,” I heard my mom’s voice and internally groaned. She always sounded like an overexcited child who wanted to force her cheeriness on you. It from this lofty height that she often fell. She treated me like an adult she was nervously trying to impress.

“Hey, Mom,” I told her, but my voice betrayed me.

“I miss you guys,” I heard the emotion croak in her voice, “I don’t have long, is my baby there?”

“Logan’s at school, Mom, it’s Tuesday,” I told her and I shook my head. Why did we have to get this child for a mother and why did she need to call when I was feeling stressed already? Being pissy never worked, it just got her upset.

“Oh no,” her voice dropped, “I’ve lost track of days. How are the kids? How is Sara? Is she coping?”

“Mom,” I laughed a little, “this is Sara we’re talking about. I’m not sure coping is her M.O. but she’s eating and giving me shit, so she’s good.”

“And Logan? Is he alright? Is he sleeping?” He’d gone through some difficult times with night terrors when Mom got sick, and she left because I told her how distressing that was getting.

“He’s good, Mom. Honest, he’s doing good in school and he’s sleeping better. All we need is for you to get better,” I told her. I hated that secretly I preferred the house when she wasn’t in it. My mother was naturally chaotic and dramatic. I had not inherited that gene.

“Thank you, Alex. I love you so much, you know that right?” she started to get upset just as Bear and I sat down at the kitchen table, him nestled at my feet.

“Mom, stop, we’re good. I just want you to get better, right?”

“You are my rock, son. If it weren’t for you...”

“Mom,” I closed my eyes. “Just focus on getting better and not on anything else. We’re good here. We miss you but you need to be there.”

“All I do is cause you trouble,” she started to cry, and I knew, despite how I really felt, I had to dig deep to make her feel loved; she needed my lies more than I needed my sanity.

“No, we love and miss you. Get well, please.” I swallowed hard, and she took a deep breath on the other end of the phone.

“I need to go,” she gasped, “I get one call a week, so I need to change the time or the day.” She seemed alert again, and I was glad. I didn’t have enough pity to talk her off the ledge for much longer. I loved my mom, I loved who she had been for me, but I hated what she had become and how it affected my life even as an adult.

“Okay, stay strong, Mom, you got this.”

“Thank you, Alex.” She sounded more formal, almost motherly as she said the last part. “Tell the others I love them.”

“I will,” I shut off the phone and momentarily leant my forehead on my hand.

“Hey,” I looked up to see Mabel had entered the kitchen with a tray of baked goods that she had probably whipped up in her cottage down the road. “You okay?”

“Just Mom,” I sighed.

“Uh huh,” Mabel nodded and walked to the counter to lay the assorted muffins down and turned her motherly frame around to face me, “how’s she doing?” Mabel loved my mom. She had watched her grow and make so many mistakes I was sure she’d lost count. She also watched her lose her mom, her dad and her farm and despite the mistakes, we were family, not by blood but by land.

“She was down, wanted to speak to the kids but she didn’t realize the time. Is it bad I’m glad she missed them? It always causes... issues,” I sighed. “Sara gets moodier and Logan gets upset.”

“You can feel however you want to feel and not one day will I judge you, Alexander Miler.” She grinned, grabbed a double chocolate chip muffin and placed it in front of me, sitting on the chair next to me. “Guess what? You are the toughest, bravest most honorable man I ever met and only twenty-five to boot. She’d be lost without you and so would we.” She nudged the muffin encouraging me to eat.

“But?” I questioned, looking up to her and waiting for the life lesson to follow.

“You need to be nicer to the owner,” she sighed and shook her curly head, “could be so much worse, Alex. She seems a reasonable girl and the more she trusts you, the more she’ll back off.”

“She’s...” I hissed, “a diva.”

“She seems pretty down to earth to me,” Mabel chuckled, “alls I’m saying is you being hostile ain’t helping none and I get you’re pissed about the farm but none of that was her doing, we both know who caused all this and she’s just got off that there phone.”

I nodded, “I guess I see some spoilt, demanding princess and I can’t get past that.”

“Well that girl,” Mabel pointed to the offices at the back of the house, “she owns us, all of us and she pays the wages and for the insurance that is allowing your mom to get the best help in the State, so just think about it.”

“She’s changing things at the cottage.” I raised an eyebrow as I gave Bear some muffin and pushed a bite into my mouth.

“Good,” Mabel pushed her large frame up on her arms and groaned at the strain. She was almost seventy-five and yet did really well for her age. “That place reeked of death and sadness, this whole place needs an overhaul.”

I looked at her agape, “Mabel...”

“Look, soon me and Eric will be gone. One day you’ll be gone. In one hundred years none of who owns this and that will matter and the only thing remaining will be this land. No point holding onto things for the sake of them, possessions aren’t what matters, people are. You live the life you get given and live it well.”

I smirked, “You’re getting too deep for me, Mabel.” I shook my head and looked down at my cell, willing a message to come through to break the tension.

“Alls I’m saying is it happened; some little blonde girl from New York bought this farm and so far all I see is her being friendly, changing things for the better, and I think if you want a say in what she changes from now on you need to make a friend out of her.”

“Gotcha,” I stood and threw the wrapper from my muffin in the trash then started to walk for the front door.

“Oh and live your life and stop moping!” she yelled just as I closed the door. I laughed to myself and looked down to Bear.

“Live my life,” I laughed and looked down at his dark, brown eyes, “when you have two kids to look after and a farm to buy back, you have no life.” Bear barked, and I grinned down at him, just as his barking picked up a notch when the doorbell sounded. I walked with him to see a delivery man who had parked a huge delivery truck that had churned up dirt in front of the hothouse.

“Lacey Davenport?” He asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“I’ll get her to meet you at the cottage. Keep driving and it’s the first one you come across on your right.” I pointed down the lane.

He nodded to me, “Have a good day now.”

“You too,” I told him begrudgingly, and I turned to go back to the office and grab Lacey. “Bear!” I yelled and the old guy followed. Maybe Mabel was right, and I needed to be nice but I’d start tomorrow.