Lips pressed into a flat line, she tried to bring herself to agree but couldn’t promise anything. The thought of doing anything even slightly vulnerable made her queasy. “Drive safely.”
She watched Sue walk to her car, then locked up. As she walked to the back hall, she shut off the bar lights. Unlocking the door to her loft apartment, she glanced back at the dim bar and smiled.
This was hers. She didn’t need a man. She had everything she needed right here.
Chapter 2
“So, as you can see, I’ve come up with more than the required deposit for the loan amount. Plus, I have the bar to put down as an asset and collateral, and I’d be willing to sign a fifteen year loan agreement. With interest rates what they are, I won’t have any issues with the term of the loan or paying a little extra toward the principle when I can. I may have had too much coffee this morning, but I promise you, we’re the right people for the property, and I’m certain we can make this work.”
Perrin sucked in a long breath and slid the deposit across the table to the bank manager. Smiling, she added, “I know the property was foreclosed after the Perkins lost their land—so sad—but I’m sure Mr. Perkins would love to know the property went to someone who would make good use of it. We would. My sister and I, that is. Good use.”
The manager, Cynthia, glanced at the loan application, appearing a bit thunderstruck as I pelted her with a check, the paperwork I’d found online, and way too much information.
“This is the property—”
“Lot 467. The two acres just behind O’Malley’s Pub.”
Her hands flattened over the application as she glanced over it. “This is sixty thousand under the asking price.”
“Yes, but you’ll notice I have more than the recommended ten percent deposit, so it really should balance out.” It didn’t, but it should.
Cynthia nodded and appeared slightly speechless. “Miss. Harris, I’m sorry to inform you that we can’t accept your offer.”
Perrin smiled. “Pardon?”
“The bank can’t accept an offer in this amount.” She slid the check back.
Perrin frowned and pushed the check back in the banker’s direction. “Sure you can.” She tapped the paperwork. “I’ve made an offer. Right there. It’s a decent offer. I don’t think you’d get more any time soon. The land was foreclosed, and the longer you let it sit the less desirable—”
“I’m sorry, but we received an offer this morning.”
“Excuse me?”
“It was twenty thousand over the asking price.”
“Twenty? Who would do that? How can anyone compete with that? Who would…”
But she knew. She knew exactly who would want that uninhibited flat land just off the main road and smack-dab in the line of daily town traffic.
“I’m sorry. I think Mr. Perkins would have loved to see his land go into the hands of someone he knew.”
Frowning, she gathered her check and stuffed it into her purse. “Yeah. I… Excuse me, I have to go.”
She couldn’t believe it. She truly thought if she came up with the money as Maggie said, they wouldn’t have an issue with the loan. She’d spent the last year getting her credit into mint condition. This wasn’t fair.
As she got into the car and waited for it to warm, her hands gripped the wheel and her blood slowly boiled. “Son of a bitch!” she shouted, smacking the wheel, until her horn chirped out in battered bleats.
Seething, she gritted her teeth and scowled at the bank. This could not be happening. Jerking the car out of park, she drove to the bar. Except, when she reached the bar, she kept going down Main Street and turned down Park onto the old Perkins’ property. It was a roundabout way to get onto the land, but until they annexed the lots this was the only route.
Her eyes started to water as her little car slowly chugged down the gravel farm road. There wouldn’t be an until. They missed their shot.
This was supposed to be theirs. They were going to build an expansion restaurant. She had plans. They would have outdoor dining and possibly invest in grapes and start a vineyard that offered farm to table cheese trays and flights of wine.
An ache started in her chest. She’d done everything suggested to her, and once again, she’d been blindsided by someone who broke the rules.
Twenty thousand over the asking price! Seriously? Who does that?
She squinted at the sight of a car up ahead—not one she recognized. Slowing her speed, she glanced at the license plate. It was a rental but a nice one.
The sleek, black, luxury Mercedes Benz looked as out of place in Jasper Falls as a porcupine in a nudist colony. When she saw the driver, she wasn’t surprised.
He stood beside the luxury sedan, scanning the property, much like the way a man on the prowl scans a woman. She had the same visceral response as a girl who didn’t want the attention, her sense of violation and offense climbing on behalf of the land.