CHAPTER 22
Colt
“Watch it,” Lowe calls. “You’re going to hit the doorjamb.”
I growl at my brother as Jake and I carefully, and without any error, maneuver a loveseat into the sitting room of Millie’s. “You’re awfully bossy for someone who doesn’t seem to be doing any of the actual physical work.”
“I’ve got ice-cold beer for the two of you,” Lowe points out as if that excuses his overbearing manners.
I just grunt in acknowledgment as Jake and I carry the loveseat to place in front of the window as Lowe had imperiously directed.
We set it down and turn to look at my brother expectantly for our next assignment. So far, we have carried in two high-backed chairs, a coffee table, a sideboard, and a dining room table that seats eight. In fairness to Lowe, he helped bring in the dining room chairs.
“Where did Mely get all this furniture?” Jake asks.
When I arrived this morning to help Lowe move furniture per his request, I was stunned to find a large moving truck in front of Millie’s blocking a good chunk of the road.
“She had me drive up to High Point a few days ago, and we picked all of this out. It was a lot cheaper for us to just bring it back ourselves in a rented U-Haul.”
“Because you had free muscle labor,” I mutter.
“Exactly,” Lowe says with a huge grin. “Besides, I know you’re going to have my butt out there harvesting grapes at some point.”
“And don’t forget you promised to build the actual winery portion,” I remind him.
“You two definitely have a quid-pro-quo deal worked out,” Jake says, butting into the conversation. “But what do I get in return for this?”
Lowe nods toward a cooler sitting in the foyer. “Like I said… I brought beer. And Colt and I won’t harass you for dating our sister.”
“A beer sounds like a good idea,” I say as I head that way. “Let’s have one now.”
“But we have to unload the bedroom furniture,” Lowe replies, following Jake and me out of the sitting room.
Bending over, I open the cooler Lowe had waiting in the foyer, pulling three beers out. I hand one to Jake and one to Lowe, then twist the cap off mine. I take a long swallow before I finally reply to my brother. “And I think we need a break before we do the upstairs furniture.”
“It’s hot as Hades in here,” Jake says as he opens the front door. “Let’s sit out on the front porch.”
Millie’s Bed and Breakfast has been an establishment in Whynot, North Carolina for decades. After Millie died, her sons let it run into the ground until it was unfortunately closed. It was the only place for lodging in our town. While the inside was a complete mess and Lowe had been hired by a real estate development company that bought it in foreclosure, the outside bones were still good.
It’s a Victorian-style house with a wide sweeping porch that ends in rounded turrets on both sides. They go up two stories, ending in a conical roof with a spire and gray decorative shingles.
The clapboard siding is done in a buttercup yellow and the trim in bright white. Black shutters adorn every window, and Mely has put out several rocking chairs so people can sit out front and stare across the street at the beautiful courthouse.
Jake and I take two of the rocking chairs while Lowe leans back against the porch banister facing us. He crosses one leg over the other and takes a sip of his beer. “You got most of your stuff moved down here?”
That question is directed at Jake, who nods in affirmation. “Yeah… for the most part. I’m going to have to put some of it in storage up there when I put my apartment up for sale.”
“I thought you were going to keep it since you’re going to be working some out of your Chicago office?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I’m just going to stay in a hotel because I don’t think my trips up there are going to be enough to justify the cost of keeping a home there.”
I smile and take another sip of my beer. Jake has become a permanent full-time resident of Whynot. Apparently, my sister Laken has just that much of an effect on him.
Jake and Lowe lapse into a conversation about the value of real estate in Chicago and I let my gaze drift out across Courthouse Square. To the left of where I sit is Floyd’s store, The Reader’s Nook, and Central Café. To the right is Sweet Cakes, Trixie’s law firm, and Chesty’s. On the far side of the courthouse and outside of my view sits Laken’s veterinary practice. It hits me all at once that all of my siblings now have their careers and much of their lives tied up right here in the town proper, whereas my life and career is still back at the farm on the outskirts of town.
For the first time in my life, I feel like a bit of an outsider with my brother and sisters. Which is ridiculous because they have never done anything to make me feel that way, and they have always maintained a great deal of interest in the farm even if they don’t want to actively be involved in working it.
My gaze starts to drift back over to Sweet Cakes, thinking I might stop in later to see Larkin when my eyes stop on a white sports car parked parallel to the bakery. It’s not necessarily the car that gets my attention, even though it’s foreign looking and well out of the price range of what someone around here would drive, but rather the man who is leaning against the passenger side and facing Millie’s.
He’s got his arms crossed over his chest, one leg crossed over the other, and he is staring right at me.
Darby’s husband Mitch.
I have no clue how long he has been sitting there clearly with the intent to find me. I know this because his stare is challenging and creepy at the same time. My gut tells me he’s probably been there as long as I have been here helping Lowe and Jake move furniture, which has been about an hour. If that’s the case, he could have potentially followed me from the farm and I didn’t notice.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter. I push up from my rocker and shove my beer at Lowe.
“What?” Lowe says when I start down the porch steps.
“I’ll be right back,” I call out over my shoulder. Crossing the street, I head toward Mitch.
As I walk his way, I’m secure enough in my manhood that I can admit to the outward appeal this man had to Darby when she was younger. He’s good-looking and super successful. While I never asked Darby what he did at the company they had both worked for, the fact he’s driving a super expensive car tells me he makes good bank. Why wouldn’t that be appealing to a young woman fresh out of college?
Mitch smiles as I draw closer but it’s not welcoming. If anything, it’s spiteful and his eyes are filled with utter disdain.
I don’t mince any words. “What do you want?”
Mitch chuckles and shakes his head at me as if I clearly don’t understand why he’s here.
I don’t.
His arms drop away from his chest, and he casually rests the palms of his hands on the hood of the car he’s leaning against.
“I came to give you fair warning,” he says with a smirk.
“About what?” I ask.
He smiles again. In a falsely polite and genial voice, he says, “Why… to stay away from my wife, of course.”
I am not about to get into it with this man about the nature and extent of my relationship with Darby. It’s definitely going places, but it’s a journey that’s none of his business. But I also don’t want to walk away from him right now. I would like to know the extent of his insanity, so I know how to best protect Darby and Linnie.
Because there’s no doubt this guy is off his rocker. Darby has told him time and again the marriage is over. She left him and moved away with their daughter. She has rebuffed him every time he has tried to push his way back in. Not only that, I saw firsthand just how nasty he can be and there is no way in hell Darby would go back to that.
While I don’t want to goad him into doing something stupid, I do want to know his motivation. “Can I ask you a question?”
He blinks in surprise but then gives me an accommodating smile. “Of course.”
“Why do you want a woman who clearly doesn’t want you?”
Mitch’s face turns red with anger and embarrassment. If looks could kill, I’d be dead in the street right now. He has an answer for me. “Darby doesn’t know or understand what she wants or needs. She’ll come to her senses soon enough.”
“Seems to me she has come to her senses. And the Darby I know has proved to be nothing more than a brilliant woman with a good head on her shoulders. It seems to me she knows exactly what she needs and wants, and it’s not you.”
Mitch pushes off the car and puffs out his chest. It’s comical since he is not a threat to me at all, but I don’t go there.
He sneers. “I suppose she needs a man like you? A farmer? You don’t know Darby at all. She wants a lifestyle you would never be able to give her.”
It just goes to show that Mitch has known Darby for years and I’ve only known her for weeks, and yet, I know her better than he ever will. Darby doesn’t give a crap about lifestyle, fancy cars, or expensive trips. She cares first and foremost that her daughter has everything she needs in life. After that, Darby wants to make her own way. She does not want a man to support her.
There is absolutely no sense in having that conversation with Mitch, though. He doesn’t want to know the real Darby. He only wants the woman who used to be content to sit under his thumb. He has no clue that woman is dead and gone.
I casually tuck my hands into the pockets of my jeans, wanting to come off as nonthreatening even though my words are very pointed. “Let me give you a suggestion. You need to leave Darby alone. She’s not interested in coming back to you, and she never will be. She is now in a community with many friends who care for and support her. She has everything she needs right here. Do yourself a favor and move on.”
Mitch then does something that causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. He actually laughs in a maniacal kind of way with something like a high-pitched giggle to it. He wags his finger at me. “You think by going to lunch with my wife and taking her to wedding parties, it gives you knowledge about the real Darby? You don’t concern me at all. You’re nothing but a speed bump, and I’m going to roll right over you.”
Mitch turns his back on me and walks around to the driver side. I don’t move an inch as he gets in and slams the door shut. After he turns the car on and puts it in drive, he peels out of his parking spot with a squeal of tires.
After he’s out of sight, I head back to Millie’s.
Lowe hands me my beer after I jog up the porch steps. “What was that all about?”
“Just had a few things clarified for me,” I say before taking a long swallow of the beer.
“What’s that?” Jake asks.
“That Darby’s soon-to-be ex-husband is a certified nut job. He’s also been stalking Darby and me.”
“Should you report this to the sheriff?” Lowe asks, his eyebrows drawing inward with worry.
I turn to look at Jake. He knows this guy better than I do. “What do you think?”
Jake’s lips press together in a grimace and he shakes his head. “I don’t know. Never liked the guy and sort of feel like he’s a lot of bluster and no action.”
I consider this for a moment. I don’t want to be an alarmist and it’s probably nothing more than this guy is just a world class jerk. “I think I’ll let this ride and I just watch over Darby a little bit closer. Hopefully, he’s all hot air.”
Hopefully.