“It was probably so long ago he didn’t think about it. We need to find out for sure that he never paid his brother back.”
“If he didn’t?”
“Then he owns the land the clinic is sitting on. That would explain why he’s been harassing you about it. He probably wants to develop it.”
Harley stood and started pacing. “I cannot believe this. I’m going to lose everything I’ve been working for.”
“You will not. I won’t let that happen, Lee.”
She faced me. “Tripp.” Tears flowed freely down her face. “I put every penny I had into buying that place. I can’t ask Doc for the money back!”
Burying her face in her hands, she started crying harder. Standing, I pulled her into my arms. She felt warm against me. When she grabbed at my perfectly pressed shirt, my stomach dropped. It had been a long time since I’d held her in my arms like this. I missed it. Missed her.
“You’re not going to lose everything. You legally bought the clinic. If anything, Gerald will have to buy you out. He would have had to buy out his brother. Just probably not for the same price since he owns the land.”
“Oh, God. You heard what he said. If he was going to buy me out he would deduct the cost of the land.”
Reaching up, I pulled the piece of hair pasted on her cheek away and tucked it behind her ear. I lifted her chin so her eyes were locked on mine.
“Listen to me, Harley. You’re going to be okay. I swear to you, I won’t let him take away your dream. I’ll figure something out.”
When she buried her face into me, my chest tightened. I hated hearing her cry, but damn it if I didn’t like feeling her body against mine. My dick certainly took notice too.
Asshole. Asshole. Asshole.
I fought the urge to pull her closer. To stroke her hair and tell her everything was going to be alright. The urge to place a soft kiss on the top of her head was almost unbearable. I could have sworn I felt her rubbing my chest with her hand, but maybe that was wishful thinking.
My fogged-up mind was starting to clear up. My confusion, piece by piece, was being chipped away. I cleared my throat as I tried to regain some clarity, although the moment ended just as quickly as it began.
With an awkward step back, Harley wiped her cheeks. “I’m sorry I broke down like that.”
“Don’t be,” I answered.
Our eyes met again, and we stood in silence. Her breaths started to accelerate before she broke the intense staring contest.
“I’m going to head on home. Thank you for being there for me today.”
“We’re still going to win this thing.”
With a look that said she wasn’t as sure as I was, she forced a grin and walked away. I was rooted to my spot as I watched Harley walk to her car. She slipped in, rolled the windows down and drove off. I sat back down on the bench and scrubbed my hands down my face.
This was all kinds of fucked up. First thing on my agenda for Monday morning was a talk with Doc Harris. Maybe he could offer up a miracle piece of paper that said he’d paid his brother off long ago. I had a terrible feeling that wasn’t going to be the case…but I could at least hold out hope.
The door flew open, and Chloe and a goat came rushing out. It wasn’t Patches, so I was assuming this was Lincoln, Chloe’s show goat.
“Harley! You’re here!”
I was nearly knocked over when she plowed into me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
“Hey there, sweetie! How are you?”
“Great! I’m so glad you’re here! I need you to look at Roy!”
“Roy?” I asked as I bent down to look her in the eye.
“My rabbit,” she whispered.
The way she looked at me like I should have known who Roy was made me giggle. “Oh, right! Roy!”
Grabbing my hand, Chloe pulled me into the house with Lincoln hot on our trail.
I glanced over my shoulder to look at the goat. “Chloe, does your grammy know you have a goat in the house?”
Patches came tearing around the corner. Wearing a shirt that had the acronym G.O.A.T. down his back. Realizing what it stood for in the sports world—Greatest Of All Time—I just cracked up since Patches was her first, and obviously her favorite.
“Patches!”
Next it was Waylynn who went running by screaming the goat’s name.
“Oh no, Patches got into Liberty’s diaper bag again,” Chloe stated.
“Again?”
She nodded. “Yeah. He likes the blanket Mommy bought for Liberty. He ate Gage’s blanket, too.”
Patches ran by again and this time Lincoln followed. Waylynn came running up and stopped next to us. With her hands on her knees, she dragged in a few deep breaths.