Intoxicated By You
I shook my head. “I don’t know. If they’d done it yesterday or today, it would make sense because of Raquel and Chazz. I’m sure Chazz could make that happen. But Morgan tried to reach me the day I came back to Skagway. It had been called in before all the newsletter drama.”
Hollis’s eyebrows pinched together. “And your father’s land was the collateral? Why would they need collateral on a mortgage?”
“The whole thing feels off to me. Even the type of loan the bank approved.”
Taking out his phone, Hollis looked at something. “Does Milano Incorporated mean anything to you?”
I froze, and he tilted his head. “It does, doesn’t it?”
“Why do you ask?” I asked hesitantly.
“That’s
who called in your loan. When Morgan left to use the restroom, I snooped through her papers.”
My mouth dropped open. That wasn’t like Hollis at all.
He shrugged. “What? We needed to know. People just don’t call in loans for the fun of it. What do they want?”
“Milano Incorporated bought Raquel’s land. It seems a little odd they would go through the trouble to call in my loan, which was guaranteed by the land I inherited from Dad.”
“Have you ever heard of Milano?”
“Not until Drake found them last night.” I filled Hollis in on everything Drake and I had talked about. I tried to think of anyone Dad may have had an issue with but couldn’t. Dad loved his land. His belief was land was a priceless commodity. You couldn’t make more. What we had here on Earth was it. Apparently, someone else wanted it, too.
“Raquel got some as well. Mom got the land the B&B was on. We were all surprised her name wasn’t on the deed. Dad bought the place before he married Mom and never added her to the deed. The piece I inherited has been in the family for over a hundred years. It’s about three hundred acres. Raquel got the piece our grandparents had bought. Those two parcels of land can only be passed down to blood relatives. It’s why Mom only received the B&B in the will.”
At that point, Drake’s truck pulled in the driveway. He was freshly showered. But I could tell by the way his mouth flattened he knew something was up.
“You guys look like you’re in deep thought.” Drake gave me a quick kiss before putting his hand in his pocket and leaning against the rail.
Hollis nodded at me, and I explained to Drake what we’d talked about.
Afterward, he was quiet. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“Me either,” I responded. “But why—" I stopped talking as a shiny new black sports car with dark tinted windows pulled in behind Drake’s truck. This place was becoming Grand Central Station by Skagway standards.
Who’s that?
“Fuck, when it rains, it pours,” muttered Drake.
That put me more on edge, and I straightened up. Drake put his arm around my waist protectively, which wasn’t a good sign. It only heightened my anxiety as I waited for the car door to open. The flashy car wouldn’t be very useful in the winter. Or the fall. Or the spring, for that matter. It made no sense to have a sports car in Alaska when there was snow on the ground most of the year.
When the door opened and I saw my mother, my stomach dropped. “Oh no,” I said under my breath.
“Who is that?” Hollis murmured.
“My mother.”
Chapter Twenty
Alexa
Hollis and Drake stood on either side of me. I felt like I was being flanked when I was totally capable of taking care of myself. But, at the same time, I was glad they were there.
Mom dabbed her face with a handkerchief and looked at the clinic as if the mere site of such a place distressed her. There was still no landscaping, but that would come in the next few days or so. Other than that, it looked like a new home. If possible, her nose angled up in the air more than usual, and I felt like she was looking down on us even though we were higher on the porch.
“Alexa, I’ve been trying to reach you. Can we talk in private?”