Too wound up to sit and wait, she walked several feet away and turned toward her sons. "Everything is going to be fine. They probably thought nobody owned the house—it had been vacant for eighteen years. Once they understand what's going on, we'll be able to move in."
"Did Grandma Jules take all Grandpa Gene's things?" Zach scoffed and crossed his arms. "Cause that doesn't look like old man stuff in there."
Her mom had come to Avery Falls after Grandpa Gene died. At his request, he wanted his ashes spread around the property. She'd stayed with a childhood friend because her mom wouldn't let her come because she was in school.
"Your grandma cleaned out the house," she said softly.
"I wonder if we're going to die young." Kenny hopped onto the hood of the car and sat.
"Don't say that." She shook her head. "I know it seems like our family has had more than their fair share of death, but your dad was in a car accident, no fault of his own, and your grandma, well, a brain aneurysm is a freak medical condition you don't know until it's too late. Nobody knows if or when that can happen. But Grandpa Gene lived until he was ninety years old, so I think we'll live a long, happy life."
Her head pounded. Until now, she hadn't realized how much she'd battled a headache all day. Maybe they should come back tomorrow and try and catch someone home.
"This sucks." Zach walked off toward the woods.
She wanted to call him back and keep him close, but he was sixteen years old. Old enough to go off on his own. He deserved to have time away from her and his brother.
"Wait up." Kenny jumped off the car and jogged after Zach.
With the boys finding something to do, she leaned against the vehicle and sighed loudly. Things seemed to go from bad to worse.
If she couldn't get her family into Grandpa Gene's house, she would have no choice but to go somewhere else.
She couldn't return to Boise. She had no job, no rental house, and she needed to find stability for her kids.
The only thing she owned was her car and Grandpa Gene's house. She could provide for them here.
Worst case scenario, if she couldn't gain immediate possession of the house, she'd go to the nearest town and try and get a job to hold them over until they could have somewhere permanent to live.
She had enough money to put them all up in a motel for a couple of weeks or stay in a rental RV for a couple of months. It would take everything she had, but they weren't homeless—not really.
Rubbing her eyes, she blinked and looked at the house. It wasn't in as bad of a condition as she'd imagined. The roof appeared in good shape, and the walls were standing. Cosmetically, it needed a new paint job.
But it was a three-bedroom house. Big enough for her family with enough acreage for her boys to spread their wings.
She would've paid more attention while inside to look for any immediate problems, but the contents had distracted her.
"Mom!" Kenny ran out of the woods. "Someone's coming."
"Get your brother and come here." She motioned for him to hurry.
At the sight of Zach striding toward her with Kenny at his side, her adrenaline soared. She had no idea what kind of confrontation she'd end up in, especially if the people living in Grandpa Gene's house suspected her of trespassing—on her own property.
She'd need to prove to them she was the owner. If she had to, she'd stay parked right where she was and force them to leave.
The boys reached her side. She leaned against Zach. "I want you and Kenny to sit inside the car."
"I'm not leaving you to talk to them—"
"Do what I said." She opened the rear passenger door. "Get in, Kenny."
She raised her brows at Zach. Now was not the time to act like the man of the family.
Her oldest son walked around the car and stood by the door. At the sight of the stern set of his mouth, so much like his late father, she swallowed.
A loud rumble grew closer. Several seconds later, a biker on a motorcycle approached the house.
She retreated, hitting the edge of the car's open door against the middle of her back. The midday sun flushed her skin, and she suddenly wondered if she were strong enough to stand up to someone who could kill her with a snap of his fingers.
There was no one around. They were fifteen minutes from town. Nobody would find her if—
"Mom? Isn't that the biker that was at the RV park yesterday?" asked Kenny.
She squinted. It was hard to tell. She'd talked to a lot of people since arriving, and there were a lot of bikers in the town.
The rider stopped his motorcycle behind her car and shut off the engine, dipping his chin in her direction. Okay, he was friendly. He hadn't yelled at her to get off the property or run her over.
All she had to do was explain to him what was going on.
She was the owner.
She had a right to be here.
Chapter Three
Prez slowed down, signaling for the turn. Trip shifted, lowering his speed, following him. He'd been at the clubhouse when Ruger's phone call came in, reporting a woman and her two sons were parked outside the house on Sunrise Gulch, the knoll on the south side of Sether Mountain.
The timing of his conversation with Prez had come too late to stop her from finding the place.
Rolling into the yard, he spotted Ruger throwing a football to the two boys. He parked, glancing around the area, and almost missed the woman sitting on the front bumper of her car, looking over her shoulder at him and Prez.
He joined Prez without a word, and together, they approached the woman.
Prez stopped a few feet away from her and
