Page 43 of The Handyman

I pursed my lips thinly. Glaring hotly at Delilah through the rearview mirror, irritation gnawed at my gut as she flopped back to cross her arms with a huff.

God damn bitch has her head so far up her ass her brain is being fried by her stomach acid.What did Delilah know about the world? She had a rich, foreign boyfriend that paid for everything she wanted or needed. Sure, she had someone looking over her shoulder, but who didn’t? Delilah wasn’t fucking special because she didn’t like being watched. Whether it was the government, a parent, or a concerned friend—everyonewas being surveilled in some way, by someone, at all times.

But I wasn’t stupid enough to ignore the fact that Delilah had a point. Introducing me to Riley’s parents, and making sure they knew that I knew their nasty ass secrets, meant leverage. Short of killing them, scaring them was my best option, and I had plenty of ammunition.

It’s not my decision, though.I wasn’t gonna pull a Carlyle and hijack Riley’s problems to solve them for myself. That wouldn’t help her. Through the speakers of the car, my cell phone started to trill insistently, and I reached without thinking to touch the pad on the dash.No point in grumbling about it to myself. Riley always pulls through. It just takes a while.

“What?”

“Mr. Brandt— it’s Francine, your mother’s estate planner. Is now a good time?”

Curiosity arched my brows high and I answered a simple ‘yes.’

She continued, “I apologize for calling seemingly out of the blue, but your mother insisted I wait 3 months. I’ve been keeping an eye out for your sisters, like she’d asked, and things are going…well as expected. That being said— I have a clause in your mother’s will that states if your sisters can’t come to a decision about the house, I need your authorization to sell it. The property was to be transferred to you if, after 90 days, no decision could be reached.”

“Uh. . . seriously?” My dumbshit response was all my brain could get out, and Francine shuffled around on the phone a little as I reached to rub my jaw roughly. “I thought my sisters got the house to fight over.”

“As I said, if no decision could be reached by them within 90 days, the deeds are transferred to you. I know you don’t want to, but I can do everything remotely from here. I’d like permission to record the conversation starting now for confirmation. Is that okay with you?”

Fuck.“Yes, it’s fine.” My aggravation increased ten-fold, and I flexed my hands stiffly around the wheel. “Why wasn’t I informed of this before?”

“I suppose your mother hoped your sisters would come to some sort of agreement before the 90 days were up. This hasn’t happened, so as stipulated in her will, the deed to the house and the land it sits on is yours, Reece. As I mentioned, I can outsource everything. You’d only need to come to Arkansas to sign the sale. That being said, again, as per your mother’s will, I started the eviction process on your sister this morning.”

I could’ve fucking told her that my idiot sisters would argue until they died about that house, and I rolled my eyes until my sockets ached.

“I need confirmation to bulldoze the buildings on the property and sell the land as-is. If you wouldn’t mind stating your full name and date of birth, and whether you approve this step.”

I did as she asked, and Francine clacked away on a keyboard briefly as I contemplated pulling over to throw a tantrum. Was this shit even allowed? I had all my mom’s shit, which I didn’t want, and now I had her land, which I also didn’t want. I hadn’t missed my mom since her funeral, but now she was putting all her fucking baggage on me from beyond the grave—exactlythe way she did before I left.

“I need approval to put the land up for sale through Trundle Real Estate Firm.”

Again, I stated my name, birthday, and verbal approval, and my knuckles turned white around the wheel.

Francine spoke again, “Finally, I need approval to lawfully force the occupants of the Brandt house out should they refuse after the eviction is processed.”

A third time, I repeated my information, and Francine said her thanks and goodbye before hanging up.

Silence reigned in my smallish car as I ground my teeth. My mom pulled this shit all the time when I was a kid, heaping my sisters’ responsibilities on me. I was too damned old to be cleaning up after them and yet, after ten years out of the house, my mom still found a way to drag me back.

“Damn…now I’m in a bad mood.”

31

Riley

“Please don’t ask me if I’mreallysure I want to do this, Reece.” Maybe, the words spilled out of my mouthbecauseI wanted him to stop me, but I knew he wouldn’t. Reece was all about independent decision, and I glanced over the center console as he scowled lightly. “Are you okay?”

“I should’ve expected my mom to jerk me around from her hole in the ground…” Grumbling more to himself than me, Reece rubbed his clean-shaven jaw with his palm and flopped his head back against the headrest to exhale a rough sigh. “Not much I can do about it, I guess. At least Francine isn’t incompetent, but I wish she’d told me beforehand. Honoring the dead only shits on the living.”

My heart pounded hard against my ribs, and I reached to hold his free hand tightly as tension zinged through my body. I only hummed softly, staring out into the neighborhood I’d grown up in. Redding was a small, rich town with two schools and more snobby, rich people mansions than actual residents. Trees lined the road, dead right now, but the oaks would be in full bloom in the spring to make everything beautiful and rustic.

Rubbing the back of my hand absently, Reece hoovered up air through flared nostrils.

I pursed my lips thinly. “At least it’s money?” Honestly, I didn’t know what to say concerning Reece’s mom. All I ever heard about her was that he loved her, but she wasn’t a very strong-willed person. Even now, dead and buried, she couldn’t make a decision, and he hated that inability to choose.

Which, really, made it easier for me to decide to see my own mom.

“That bitch could sell the property for a million dollars, and it wouldn’t be enough to make me want to drive back to Arkansas.” Reece almost growled.