Then again, my mother, Sinclair and Ryder had been the center of my life, so maybe I was afraid to face them. My mother had forgiven me. Sinclair… Well, I wasn’t sure what she thought but she didn’t seem to have any animosity. During her visit, she sometimes seemed nervous, but mostly she seemed indifferent. I hadn’t gone out to see Ryder. I hadn’t even asked Sinclair if he was still in town. I shook my head as I realized I was whining when this was all my fault.
A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts.
“I’ll get it,” my mother called from the living room.
Just as well. I wasn’t in the mood for visitors. Unless of course it was Sinclair. She’d always haunted my dreams, but lately her appearances were more frequent and vivid. It had livened up my libido, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I’d thought that part of me had died years ago from lack of opportunity and interest. A curse because the only way to deal with it was in the shower stroking myself to images in my head of Sinclair riding my dick by the old oak tree. I had to admit, my morning orgasms to thoughts of Sinclair were a nice way to start the day, but oh, what I’d do to have the real thing. I knew for a fact that my imagination fell way short of reality.
A raised man’s voice had me abandoning my thoughts and the coffee to see what was going on. I strode into the living room to find two men in fancy suits trying to intimidate my mother. One looked smooth in a smarmy oily way. The other could moonlight as a bouncer. Both of them looked like they’d stepped out of a casting call sheet for bad guys in a b-move; they were a joke.
“Back away,” I barked out. “What’s your business here?”
“We’re from Stark Associates and are giving you warning to vacate the premises.”
“There must be a mistake.” I looked at my mother to see if she had any clue as to what was going on. “We’re not selling.”
“But your father is.”
“I tried to tell them that your father doesn’t have the right-”
“He owns this property,” the second man said.
“I own this property.” I said it with all the authority I could muster, even though I wasn’t sure I was right. My mom had said there was some deal about how the house could be sold or passed on, but was it legal?
“He’s right. Frank can’t sell it because he abandoned it,” my mother said.
“Well, we have paperwork that says differently,” Joker number one said.
“Go ahead, toss my drunk father some money, but you won’t get the title to the land. Stark will be wasting his money. Or you’ll be wasting Stark’s money and end up in court. I wonder how he’ll feel that two of his goons royally fucked up?”
The two jokers looked at each other, showing the first sign that perhaps they believed us.
I laughed. “Surely you did the proper public record searches?” I shook my head. “You didn’t give my dad a down payment, did you? You won’t be getting that back if you did.”
Joker number two puffed up. “This isn’t over. One way or another, Mr. Stark will buy this land.”
“Stop harassing my mother and get off our property.”
“We have every right to come out here and-”
“Since I told you to leave, every second you stay means you’re trespassing. I can call the sheriff, but I’m pretty sure I could toss you both out on your asses. I’m happy to send you back with matching broken faces.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Joker number two said. He was large but soft. He’d probably hurt himself trying to take a swing.
“Call the sheriff, Mom. Tell them I’m dealing with two trespassers… Actually, they’re intruders.”
“It’s not worth it.” Joker number one put his arm out to stop Joker number two from advancing on me. “Eventually they’ll change their mind. Mr. Stark always gets his way.”
The two jokers left. Once I heard their car leave, I turned to my mom. Shaken, she sank onto the chair.
“Maybe we should sell.” She pressed her hands over her face.
I went to her, kneeling in front of her. “Don’t be intimidated by them, Mom. What I need to know is if Dad can sell this place out from under us?”
She shook her head. “No. But you’re right in that we’d need to go to court.”
I sat back to think about what we could do.
“If those goons are making the rounds, someone needs to know. I’m going to report it and stop by the mayor’s office to see if there is more he can do. He can’t possibly condone this mob-mentality. And I can’t imagine the people of Salvation would want their kind moving in.”
I went to the kitchen and turned off the coffeemaker, worried that it might be a fire hazard. Maybe I’d stop by to get a new coffee maker while I was at it.
I grabbed my keys and then headed back out. “You’re sure Dad has no legit claim at this moment?”
“Yes, but-”
“I’m going out for a bit, and when I get back, we can discuss this more. Hopefully I’ll have news from the mayor’s office that will help.”
I walked out the door and down to my truck, my mother’s voice saying something, but I was on a mission. She could tell me when I got back.
I got in the truck and drove out to the highway. At first, I played through my head what I wanted to say to the mayor. He was going to have a problem if he was okay with Stark’s strong-arming tactics. But thinking of the mayor inevitably had me thinking of Sinclair.
In truth, nearly everything had me thinking of her. I was bothered that she
