Barnes. She smiled and nodded several times and, though Laurel couldn’t hear what the man was saying, her mother kept repeating, “Oh, yes,” and “Of course,” and nodding enthusiastically. Laurel narrowed her eyes as she continued to watch her mother smile and nod — signing papers without a single glance at what they said. It was too weird.
Her mom didn’t like contracts, didn’t trust “legalese,” as she called it. She always pored over forms and agreements, often crossing lines out before she would sign. But now Laurel watched her sign about eight pieces of paper without reading a single word.
Barnes hadn’t even glanced in their direction the whole time.
Laurel’s skin began to tingle and she squeezed David’s hand as Barnes obtained a few more signatures, handed a stapled stack of papers to Laurel’s mom, and swept the rest into his briefcase. He shook her hand and turned, his eyes meeting Laurel’s almost instantly. His eyes snapped from Laurel to David, then back to Laurel. His features broke into a devious grin that made Laurel take a step back.
“Laurel,” he said in a voice that sounded so fake to her, “I was just asking about you. It seems that none of my messages made it through.” He finished the sentence with the slightest bit of a growl, and Laurel clenched her teeth as terror suddenly filled her chest.
Then Barnes shrugged and his expression turned smug. “Luckily I managed to find your mom, so everything worked out okay.”
Laurel said nothing as she glared at him, wishing she and David had arrived just an hour sooner. Then they could have…what? She didn’t even know, but she wished she could have found out.
“It was a pleasure to see you again, Laurel.” He glanced briefly at Laurel’s mom, who was still smiling. “Your daughter is…” He paused and reached out one hand toward Laurel. She tried to back away, but she was already against the wall. She turned her face, but his rough fingers trailed down her cheek. “Lovely,” he finished.
When he threw back the curtain and left, Laurel let out a breath and realized that she had been clutching David’s hand so tightly that his fingers were white.
Laurel gritted her teeth. “What was he doing here?” she asked, her voice a little shaky.
Her mom was staring at the curtain still swinging from the man’s exit. “What?” she asked, turning toward Laurel and David. “Oh, um…” She walked over to the table and began shuffling the papers into a pile. “He came to finalize the papers for the sale of the property in Orick.”
“Mom, you promised you’d think about it.”
“I did. And apparently you decided to do some of my thinking for me,” she said, looking meaningfully at Laurel. “You will pass on my messages from now on, understand?”
Laurel stared at the ground. “Yes, Mom,” she said quietly.
Her mom looked down at the papers on the small table and ran her finger along the edge of them, straightening the already orderly sheets. “Actually, I’d decided that if you wanted to keep the land in the family, we’d make do.” Hope flooded through Laurel. Maybe it wasn’t too late! “But that’s not a possibility anymore.” Laurel’s mom was quiet for a while, and when she spoke again, her voice was small and strained. “He showed up here and upped his offer.” She looked up and met Laurel’s eyes. “I had to take it.”
Laurel’s stomach twisted and her breath suddenly felt labored as she thought of losing the land — losing Tamani. “Mom, you can’t sell!” Laurel’s voice was loud and high-pitched.
Her mom’s eyes hardened and she glanced at Laurel’s dad for an instant before taking two steps across the room to Laurel and grabbing her upper arm. She stormed out, pulling Laurel with her. Laurel’s arm felt weak in her mother’s crushing grasp; she couldn’t remember her mom ever treating her so roughly. Her mom ducked into a small alcove and released Laurel’s arm. Laurel forced herself not to rub it.
“This is not about you, Laurel. I can’t hold on to something this valuable just because you like it. Life doesn’t work that way.” Her mom’s face was tense and sharp.
Laurel stood against the wall and let her mother rail. For weeks she had been a rock — but no one could take all this stress without breaking once in a while.
“I’m sorry,” Laurel whispered. “I shouldn’t have yelled.”
With a deep breath, Laurel’s mom stopped pacing and looked at her. Her face slowly relaxed till it crumpled into a mess of tears. She backed against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor as tears streamed down her cheeks. Laurel took a deep breath and crossed the small space to sit beside her mother. She slipped an arm around her mom’s waist and leaned her head on her shoulder. It felt strange to be comforting her mom.
“Did I hurt your arm?” her mom asked softly after the torrent of tears subsided.
“No,” Laurel lied.
She sighed a deep, heavy sigh. “I really did consider not selling, Laurel. But I don’t have a choice anymore. Because of these hospital bills, we’re drowning in debt.”
“Don’t we have insurance?”
Her mom shook her head. “Not much. We never thought we’d need it. But with all the tests and medical care there’s just — there’s too much to pay for.”
“Isn’t there another way?”
“I wish there was. I’ve been racking my brain, but there’s nowhere else to get money. It’s the land or the store. And to be honest, the land’s worth a lot more. We’ve stretched our credit to the limit just to keep your dad here as long as we have. No one will loan us any more.”
She turned to Laurel. “I have to be sensible. The truth is—” She paused as tears filled her eyes again. “Your father may not wake up. Ever. I have to look to the future. The store is our only source of income. And even if he does wake up, there’s no way to recover from a financial blow like this without selling
Laurel wanted to look away from her mother’s sad brown eyes, but she couldn’t. She pushed Tamani from her mind and tried to think rationally. She set her jaw and nodded slowly. “You have to sell the land.”
Her mom’s face was haggard and her eyes looked gaunt. She lifted a hand to touch Laurel’s cheek. “Thank you for understanding. I wish I had another choice, but I don’t. Mr. Barnes will be back in the morning with some more paperwork to finalize the sale. He’ll push it through escrow as quickly as possible, and with luck the money will be in our account within a week.”
“A week?” It was all so fast.
Her mom nodded.
Laurel hesitated. “You acted funny while he was here. You were all happy and agreed with everything he said.”
She shrugged. “I suppose I put on my business face. I just don’t want anything to happen to mess up this sale. Mr. Barnes has offered enough to cover all the medical bills, and we’d have some left over too.” She sighed. “I don’t know what he knows, but I want to sell while the price is high.”
“But you signed everything he put in front of you,” Laurel continued. “You didn’t even
Her mom nodded forlornly. “I know. But there’s just no time. I want to take advantage of this offer while it’s on the table. If I hesitate again, he may decide we’re too wishy-washy and yank the offer completely.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Laurel said. “But—”
“No more, please, Laurel. I cannot argue with you right now.” She took Laurel’s hand. “You have to trust that I am doing the best I can. Okay?”
Laurel nodded reluctantly.
Her mom rose from the floor and wiped the last trace of tears from her face. She pulled Laurel to her feet and hugged her. “We’ll get through this,” she promised. “No matter what happens, we’ll find a way.”
As they entered her dad’s room again, Laurel’s eyes went to the chair where Barnes had been sitting. It was unlike her to dislike someone so much without knowing him. But even the thought of sitting in the chair where Barnes had sat made her skin crawl. She walked over to the table and picked up his business card.
JEREMIAH BARNES, REALTOR.
Underneath was a local address.
It looked legitimate enough, but Laurel wasn’t satisfied. She slipped the card into her back pocket and walked over to stand next to David. “Hungry, David?” Laurel said, eyeing him meaningfully.
He missed it entirely. “Not really.”
