“I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing, Wyatt, but I’m not sure what the mayor can do about it. Did you call the sheriff’s department?”
“I was about to.” He frowned. “You said the community needed to come together on this. What’s he doing about that?”
I paused, wanting to choose my words carefully. “The mayor is a diplomat.”
“Uh-oh,” Trina said from her desk.
“Something wrong?” I asked, looking at her.
She looked up at me and then Wyatt. “The Jones property transfer details.”
“What?” Wyatt stood and moved toward her desk.
“Well, your mother is right in that if there is a Jones living there and working the land, the property stays in the family.”
“I’m living there and working the land,” Wyatt said.
Trina frowned as she read her screen carefully. “I’m thinking your father has no standing because he doesn’t live there and isn’t working the land. Did he know you were home? If not, maybe that’s why he thinks he can sell it. But he can’t unless he comes home… Oh wait…” She shook her head. “I’m not sure either of you can sell it.”
“I don’t want to sell it.” Wyatt put his hands on his hips.
Trina looked up with an apologetic expression. “According to this, to secure your ownership of the property you don’t just have to live there and work the land, but…”
“What?” Wyatt demanded.
“You have to be married.”
My jaw dropped. So did Wyatt’s.
“What?” he managed.
Trina turned her screen to show Wyatt the legal documents handwritten before such things were typed. Now it had been scanned into our system when we finally went digital.
“The good news is that your father divorced your mother, so he has no standing either. Unless he remarries and moves back home.”
“Fuck.” Wyatt ran his fingers through his cropped hair. “Divorced?”
“I don’t know if it’s a done deal yet. I know he filed. If it’s not done, he could simply return home.”
My heart dropped as I realized I might be losing my most compelling leader in this fight. Wyatt was the type of man who could garner support from the community. His family had been there forever. He was strong and persuasive. He had a presence that suggested he could be a leader. But now, he didn’t have control of the property.
“You need to get married.” Trina said it like it was something he could do like an errand. Pick up milk and bread, gas up the car, get married.
He stood in stunned silence.
“You know,” Trina said, looking at me in a way that made me shift uncomfortably. “I know Stark has no scruples if he’s willing to threaten farmers, but how would it look if he was also threatening a town leader?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
She looked from me to Wyatt and back to me. “You two have the same goal in mind. Stop Stark. To do that, Wyatt needs to have complete control of the farm, which means he needs a wife. You’ve been talking about moving out of your folks’ home. Plus, you’d be involved first-hand in the fight. Mayor Valentine could hardly reprimand you for taking sides on the issue if it personally involved you and your husband.”
I nearly choked, sneaking a glance at Wyatt. His head whipped around to look at me. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, except he didn’t appear to be as horrified by the idea as I was.
“Stop joking, Trina. This is serious.” God, if she only knew how serious her suggestion was. Granted, I’d wanted to marry him at one time. I couldn’t deny that even today, I was attracted to him. But I had a secret that I still kept from him. I didn’t feel bad about not telling him before, after all, I couldn’t find him. But now, my conscience told me I had to tell him. At the same time, what if Stark won, and Wyatt tossed in the towel again, leaving Salvation and me behind like he did ten years ago?
She shrugged. “Back when this crazy deed transfer rule was made, I’m sure the Jones marriages were all set up like this. Marriage used to be a business deal, after all.”
“This isn’t 1880 anymore,” I huffed out. “The idea is ridiculous.”
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Ridiculous?”
Oh God, is he offended? “You know what I mean.”
He shook his head. “No. Enlighten me.”
7 Wyatt
There was a moment when I thought, “Yes, that’s what I want.” I knew it was a wacky idea, but my heart rolled in my chest at the idea of finally having what Sinclair and I had once planned.
She thought the idea was ridiculous. It was, and yet, I couldn’t help but feel slighted by her response. At one time she loved me. She’d planned to be with me. So, what was wrong with me now? Except of course that I’d disappeared for ten years.
She rolled her eyes. “How is a marriage to me going to change anything?”
“Like I said, he needs a wife to secure the property to him. And with you married to him, you’re now tied to the property. You can take a personal, active role. The mayor might fuss, but no one in town would blame you for fighting for your man’s heritage and legacy.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the over-the-top explanation. Then again, I supposed the land was my heritage.
Sinclair stared at the both of us like we’d gone nuts. “What if your father comes back?”
“Once you’re married, you can file to be recognized as the proper owner.” Trina talked like getting married was no big deal. It was a big deal. One that I was willing to make.
“Won’t his father have the ability to appeal?” Sinclair asked.
“Sure, but will he? Everyone knows the farm was starting to fail with all of Frank’s drinking and carousing.” Trina looked up at me. “No offense, Wyatt.”
“No offense taken.”
“Plus, he’d have to come
