Well, that is when they found out that my uncle, my mom’s brother, had already started contracts for the sale of over three quarters of the ranch. He is fighting them in court, saying that the deed was left in will to each of them. Gramps had the deed changed to just mom, he moved it into her name, not even dad's, before he died. “
“Then there’s a record.”
“Well, that’s the thing. Apparently, the deed wasn’t recorded properly. Unless we can produce the original with Gramps signature on it, we will lose over half the property. Honestly, probably most of it because after we pay the lawyers and all the other crap, we will be upside down. It’s a mess.”
“Why would your uncle do that to his sister?”
He smiled, “Money. That’s all he ever cared about. Not that the land has been in our family since the 1800’s. Not that he and Mom were both born there, not that Grammy is buried there, none of that matters. It’s about the almighty dollar.”
I shook my head. For years, I’d always wished I had a sibling. Right about now, I was thankful that I was a loner.
He sighed, “Anyway, that is what has me preoccupied. There is no way we can afford this school if we end up having to fight for the ranch. This will be my last year.”
“I am so sorry I couldn’t see your grandpa.”
“It is really ok. I mean, it isn’t your fault.”
He looked at his phone.
“You have to go?”
“Yeah, sorry, I have practice.” He stood up but kept my hand in his. “Walk me out?”
We headed out to the front of the auditorium. The sun felt bright after the fluorescents of the basement. His long strong hand kept a tight grip on my fingers. “So, can we catch up later?” he faced me; his emerald eyes owned my attention.
“That would be nice.”
His expression shifted. His hand went for the back of my head and ever so gently, he kissed me, long and deeply, way more than I would be comfortable if anyone were around. He pulled away and smiled at me, and then flashed a taunting head nod towards the quad. I followed his eyes and saw a very disgruntled Moe walking the other direction. Ahh, so that was his motive.
“That was kind of mean.” I looked at him through my lashes.
His cocky grin spread across his face again, “I’m sorry, did you want to go out with him again?”
I shook my head, “No, I don’t think we have much in common.”
“I really gotta go, I’m gonna be running late as it is.” He kissed my cheek quickly and jogged away. “I’ll text you.”
I turned back toward the library, where I really needed to spend the next several hours. My head was filled with Jell-O. No thoughts were coming into focus.
My phone alert went off.
Apparently, I was late for my concussion checkup.
I headed off smiling, this could be interesting.
I was still showing improvement, and it looked like next week I should be completely cleared to head back to full normal schedules.
Just in time for Camryn to get back.
I had been thinking of her so much now, not being able to stand her being gone. So much had happened, with Tyler, and with the potential of my gifts coming back. I walked past the big house, looking longingly into the window, wondering if the child would be staring back at me.
No such luck. The stained-glass window looked hollow in comparison. I missed the strange little face, and for the first time in a while, I started getting excited about the possibilities of seeing it again.
Tyler knocked on my door just after I’d gotten back from dinner. His smile was cocky, and I couldn’t help but blush as I saw him.
“Hey,” he leaned on the door frame, and I was suddenly hyper aware of the empty room just behind me.
“Hi,” I held the door open and he walked in, assessing the space.
“Which one is yours?”
I pointed and he nodded, but then took one of the desk chairs instead. I sat across from him, feeling incredibly awkward. "So how was practice?”
“Shitty.” He still smiled, stretching his long, toned legs out.
“I’m sorry. Isn’t it supposed to be fun?”
He laughed, “Not really. I mean, practice usually sucks.”
My face crinkled up, “Then why do you play?”
He tucked his hands behind his hat, pushing his brown curls forward beside his neck, “Because the games are like a drug. They are the best. The feel of the air on the diamond is like electricity pulsing through my veins. I can feel my skin react to the sight of the other team coming on to warm up. It is pure bliss.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t get it. Games were just not that much of the season. Practice was most of the stuff they did. “But if practice is bad, are the games really worth it?”
He laughed and leaned over his knees. His eyes holding mine with a grip I couldn’t look away from. His breath blew out slowly, “Because even a shitty day on the field is better than almost any other day of the year.” He reached over to my knee touching it lightly. “What do you have going on tonight?”
“Umm, same as always, homework and sleep,” I laughed. “For the record, homework is shitty too.”
"Did you want to go grab a coffee or take a walk or something? This is one of the last nights the lights will be on downtown. Or did you and Moe already do that?” His smirk spread across his face making just one dimple show.
“Speaking of which, that was so not ok. He totally saw that. You did it just to be a jerk,” I
