Page 23

Merit

I reach for another handful of popcorn, carefully making sure I don’t shift the blanket. I don’t want Daddy to see Holt’s hand caressing my thigh. Although my dad’s not stupid, so I’m sure he knows something’s up. I mean, the thermometer on the side wall of the screened-in back porch shows it’s still seventy-six degrees outside, despite the late hour. And we’re covered in a blanket. Needless to say, we’re suspicious as hell.

It’s been a great two days. Better than great, actually. Fabulous.

My family loves Holt. It’s plain to see. Last night, after whatever ‘chores’ Holt and Daddy did, we all watched college football together. It’s the first time I’ve really done that since my grandfather died, and I forgot how much I missed it. Best of all? Daddy really enjoyed it. He and Holt talked until after two in the morning.

Today, after church, I took Holt all around the property and showed him everything about the farm. And now, we’re on the porch, watching a movie together. Well, everyone except Granny, who went to bed a while ago. Daddy is actually taking tomorrow off, too, which is almost unheard of for him. Farmers don’t get holidays. But a couple of the employees volunteered to work because they want the double-time pay. The plan is to drive to the coast for an early lunch and spend a few hours on the beach before Holt and I head back home. Mom loves the beach and used our visit as an excuse to guilt-trip Daddy into a day trip.

I dropped a kernel of popcorn down my shirt, and I’m trying to fish it out when my phone buzzes with an incoming call. A ball of dread forms in the pit of my stomach when I glance at the screen. I quickly hit the decline button. I wish there was a ‘flip the bird’ button, but decline will have to work for now. After a couple of minutes, it happens again.

I do my best to avoid eye contact with Holt, but he nudges me with his elbow. “Kyra?” he whispers.

I shake my head no.

“Alarm company?” he whispers, louder than last time.

I give him a side glance, pretending to be engrossed in the movie. “It’s no one.”

He frowns when I don’t offer an explanation. He’s about to ask another question when my phone buzzes for a third time.

I’m gonna kill the bastard.

Yanking my phone from the table, my legs tumble off Holt’s lap, and I mumble an excuse to my family, telling them I’ll be right back. I speed walk through the house and race up the steps to my bedroom. By the time I get there, the phone’s done ringing. I stare at the screen, daring it to ring again. Daring it to give me a reason to fling it across the room like a Frisbee.

Sure enough, the vile device dares me again.

“Yes,” I answer. There’s plenty of other greetings I’d like to extend to my ex-husband, but I’m trying to remember I’m still a lady.

“Well, that’s an interesting way to answer the phone.”

I never would’ve answered the phone like this when we were married. Just the thought of defying his expectations of politeness makes me smile a little bit. “Edward, it’s late. Why are you calling me?”

“I know it’s late. So, imagine my surprise when I stopped by the condo for a visit and found you weren’t home.”

“Why on earth would you stop by the condo?”

“I need to discuss something with you. Are you coming back soon?”

“No,” I growl, already perturbed this conversation has lasted as long as it has. “I’m at my parents’ this weekend.”

“Ahhh, how are Deke and Marie? Please give them my best.”

He’s got to be kidding. He knows my parents despise him. “Edward, we’re in the middle of something. Can this discussion wait until I get back? If it’s about the loan—”

He cuts me off midsentence. “I’m selling the condo. You’ll need to be out by next Sunday. One week from today.”

All the blood rushes from my brain, down my body, and pools in my toes. For a second, I feel like I’m about to faint. I grab onto the edge of my bed. Unable to hold the phone up to my ear, I put the speaker on and drop it on my white and green-striped comforter. “Excuse me?”

“I’m selling the condo.”

“What do you mean you’re selling the condo?”

He sighs like he’s disappointed that I don’t comprehend what he’s saying. “I’ve held onto it for way too long. It’s a drain on my resources. Appraised values have really increased, and I have a motivated buyer lined up. It’s a cash offer and they’ll be taking possession in two weeks. I need you out so I can have everything professionally cleaned. It’s the courteous thing to do. We both know you were never the best housekeeper.”

My voice raises. “The courteous thing? The courteous thing! The courteous thing would be giving me some notice.” I shake my head violently, giving myself a headache. “No! No. What about the divorce settlement? That says I can stay there, Edward. I have the right to stay there.”

“The condo is mine and mine alone. The divorce decree specifically says that, and you know it. You were a legal assistant, Merit. Or did you forget everything I taught you.” He starts his car and the phone switches over to Bluetooth. “I was letting you stay in the condo out of the kindness of my heart. I was giving you a break so you could make the business loan payments to my father. I wouldn’t want my father to pay for your poor financial mistakes. But,” he sighs again, this time more dramatically, “the time has come for you to stand on your own two feet. I can’t support you anymore, Merit.”

Support me? He thinks he’s supporting me. Oh, that’s just fucking ridiculous. There’s not even a word to describe how big of an asshole he is. “I have to work when I get back! How do you expect me to work at the store, find a new place, and move—all at the same time and in less than a week? I need more time, Edward.”

“Hang up the phone, Merit.” Holt’s voice catches me off guard.

I spin around to find him standing in my doorway. If I weren’t about to throw up, I’d find the whole intimidating vision of him incredibly sexy.

“Hang up the phone, Merit,” he says again. His voice is low and predatory. I’ve never heard him speak that way before.

“What? Who’s there? Deke?”

Holt stares at the phone like Edward’s about to emerge from it like a genie from a bottle. Fury etches across his face, and his hands curl into fists. Before I can say anything, Holt crosses the room and grabs my phone from the bed.

“She’ll be out by Saturday.”

“Holt? Holt, is that you?” Edward cackles into the phone. His high-pitched laugh sounds like nails on a chalkboard. “Ah, man. You realize she’s only after you because of your money. That’s all she cares about. Her and her family. They have everybody fooled. You know that sod farm has been close to bankruptcy more than once.”

I open my mouth to defend my family, but Holt’s already answering. “Shut the hell up, Edward. Like I said, she’ll be out by Saturday. And don’t worry about the professional cleaning. We’ll take care of that. Consider it our parting gift.” He hangs up on Edward. His grip on the phone is so tight his knuckles are white.

What the hell just happened? Holt just agreed to Edward’s demands, and in the process made me homeless. “What did you just do?” I gasp.

***

Holt shrugs. “You’ll just move in with me.”

“Absolutely not,” Daddy and I both say at the exact same time.

We’re all sitting around the kitchen table trying to digest what just happened. Correction, Holt, Mom, and I are sitting at the kitchen table. Daddy is pacing back and forth, wearing a hole in the floor.

“It’s not like that, Deke. There’s an apartment connected to my house. It’s completely separate living quarters. It even has its own entrance from the outside.”

I shake my head. “We can’t move in with each other. That’s totally crazy.”

Holt cocks an eyebrow. “Why is that crazy? It’s no crazier than living in your ex-husband’s condo.”

Touché.

Daddy finally sits down, chugging from the beer bottle he grabbed from the fridge. “It’s a little soon to be talking about living together, don’t you think?”

Mom tilts her head and makes a tsking noise with her teeth. “Deke, I think you may be forgetting that we met each other and within two months were married. Compared to us, the kids are talking it slow.”

He chides her underneath his breath. “Marie? Really? You think now’s the appropriate time to talk about that?”

She lovingly rubs his arm. “They’re not even talking about living together. Good grief, he just said it’s a separate apartment.”

Daddy snorts like a horse and lifts a furry eyebrow. “And you expect me to believe these two…” he nods in our direction, “will let some walls and doors keep them separated? They can’t even keep their hands off one another for two seconds.”

Eww. Gross. My dad is about to have a sex talk with me and my boyfriend. I shake my hands in the air, interrupting before the conversation goes any further. “Where I put my hands is a moot point because I’m not moving in.” Well, that’s not exactly how I planned to word that. “What I mean is…I’m just going to find my own apartment. I’ll rent.”

Holt leans back in the chair. Reaching up, he grabs his baseball cap and turns it around backward. He lazily folds his hands behind his head. “Really?”

I scowl at him. He knows I like it when he moves like that, flexes his arms like that. It stretches his shirt across his broad chest.

He’s playing dirty.

“Yes, really. If I find someplace cheap enough, I can budget other ways and still pay the loan off early.” When I tell them my thoughts on a price range, Holt bursts out laughing and Daddy chokes on his beer.

Mom pats my hand. “Honey, you live in a city. Sure, it’s not a gigantic city, but it’s still a city. Even I know you can’t find anything for that price range in a decent location.”

“I don’t need a decent location. I’ll be fine with anything.”

“Mer, you’d have better luck finding housing on Skid Row for that price,” Holt says.

Why does he have to look so good when he’s being so irksome. “Oh, will you just put your hands down and turn that hat back around!”

And what does that get me?

A playful wink.

That jerk!

When I don’t smile, he rolls his eyes. But at least, he finally puts his hands down. Ignoring me, he turns back to my parents. “The apartment has two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a laundry room. It even has its own separate driveway on the opposite side of the house. It’s already furnished.” When my parents exchange a look, Holt uses that opportunity to dig even deeper. “Let me do this. Please. I’ll do anything and everything for Merit. Let me help her. I’m begging you.”

My anxiety makes everything move in a fog of slow motion. Turning to Daddy, Mom nods her agreement. He takes one last swig of his beer. “I guess it’s settled, then.”

Holt smiles, wrapping his fingers around mine. “It’s settled.”

I smack my free hand against my forehead. “What the hell just happened?” I mumble.