Page 120 of It's a Wonderful Knife

“I… I assumed you knew. The landlord has to notify the tenant of a sale, right?”

The blood in my body felt like it was pooling in my feet. “I didn’t get any notice.”

“Oh dear.” She grimaced. “You don’t look happy.”

Trying to gather myself, I willed my heart rate to slow down. It felt like I was on the verge of a stroke. “You must be mistaken. Mrs. Numi must have been talking about a different property.”

Her face twitched. “Yes. I’m sure you’re right.”

“Maybe I’ll call Mrs. Numi.”

She pushed a gift bag that held the candle holder toward me. “That’s a good idea.”

I took the bag and my credit card from her. “Have a good rest of your day.” My face felt stiff as I forced a smile.

“You too, Dr. Thornton. Say hi to Royce for me.”

“I will.” I left her shop feeling numb. Shehadto be wrong. That couldn’t be true, right? The very idea of River owning the property my clinic sat on was terrifying. That would give him way too much control over me. Why would he have purchased the land to begin with? Why wouldn’t he have mentioned to me that he’d purchased the land? I couldn’t think of any good reason why he’d keep that to himself.

I wish Royce was here.

I took a calming breath. The original owners couldn’t sell the land without notifying me. I couldn’t stop the sale, but they were legally obligated to tell me about the sale. If River really had bought the land, why hadn’t I received notice? Was it because the clinic had burned down and the notice had been undeliverable? I’d forwarded all mail to River’s clinic. Had that notice come before I did that?

I walked up to Royce’s house, my mind a tornado of disjointed, paranoid thoughts. With shaking fingers, I slipped the key in the lock and opened the door. When I saw Royce standing in the foyer, grinning and holding Grumpy, I let out a gasp. I dropped the package I held and lunged toward a very surprised-looking Royce.

Chapter Fifteen

Royce

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Max mumbled, his arms squeezing me tight.

I’d known Max would be happy to see me, but I hadn’t expected him to bequiteso happy. He’d never greeted me with such heartfelt enthusiasm before, and while it was nice, I knew immediately something was wrong.

“You okay?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

I frowned. “You sure?”

“Positive. I’m just so happy you’re home.”

I didn’t believe him, but I also didn’t want to push him to talk if he wasn’t ready. He’d get there. “It’s good to be home.” I kissed the side of his head, since that was about all I could reach while holding the pup.

He let go of me, looking a little embarrassed. “Sorry. I guess I should let you move.”

“Nah, I like it when you’re affectionate.” I handed Grumpy to him because the dog was going nuts trying to get to him. “Grumpy wants some love too.”

“Hey, boy.” He took the dog and buried his nose in the pup’s fur. “I thought Ashley was bringing him home tomorrow.”

“She was, but I decided to pick him up and surprise you.” I put my arm around his shoulders, studying his tense face. What could have happened that had him so rattled? He hadn’t been home that long. Was it just residual stress from the nightmare we’d just been through?

“I was afraid you wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.”

“That was the plan, but I told them everything I knew. To be honest, there wasn’t much I felt like I did know. I feel like I may never know half of what went on. I’ll have to go back, of course, if they request that. Maybe during the trials, if they have them.”

“Why wouldn’t there be trials?”

I shrugged. “They both confessed. Unless they take their confessions back and say they were coerced or something, it should be a cut-and-dried thing.”