The sound of Levi’s voice froze me in my tracks.
“It doesn’t hurt, buddy.”
I cleared my throat. “I didn’t realize you were still here.”
“Yeah. The Big Bad Wolf with the stick up his butt forgot his wallet.” He took it off the counter and tucked it in his back pocket. “Incidentally, wanting to do what’s right for everyone involved in this situation doesn’t make me the bad guy.” He turned to Fern. “Or Grumpypants.”
He turned to my son. “Alex, go grab your ball and meet me in the yard, okay? We’ll play a quick game before I leave.”
Alex ran out to retrieve the ball, and once he’d disappeared, Levi turned to me with daggers in his eyes. When he took a few steps toward me, I got chills.
“You seem to think I have no regard for my grandfather’s legacy. Wanting to do the sensible thing is not disrespect.”
I swallowed. “Sensible doesn’t make it the right decision or what he’d truly want.”
“My grandfather certainly never said he wanted you to run this place. You show me where he wrote that down. He left half of it to Alex so the money from the sale would go to him. Period. You’re taking his intentions and twisting them into some convoluted fantasy to suit your own needs.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Fantasy? Well, if that means wanting to do the right thing, then bring it on.”
“The right thing is to sell.” He blew out an exhausted breath. “You’re in way over your head.”
“I’m just attempting to do what I think your grandfather would want.”
“By trying to turn his fucking house into a goddamn Hallmark movie for your own damn entertainment?”
Seriously? “Fuck you, Levi.” I felt steam coming out of my ears. I hadn’t meant to be so abrupt, but he’d brought it out in me.
Fern interrupted our fiery exchange. “With all due respect, I spent more time with Thatcher than either of y’all in recent years. And I can tell you one thing he absolutely wouldn’t want, and that’s to see you fighting!”
Levi and I looked at each other.
Fern got in his face and pointed her index finger. “Now listen to me, ya big lug. I don’t care what you think is right here. Your grandfather would’ve never wanted your nephew—or me, for that matter—out on the street. And as long as we want to live here, you have no right to sell this place.”
“So glad we could have a mature conversation about this,” he said, glaring at me before turning to her again. “Not really sure what say you have in all of this, Fern. But I am trying to do right by my nephew by selling this place. I don’t owe you any explanation for that. I’m sure you’d love to stay here with the minimal rent you’ve been paying, but I have to think about the big picture—not anyone’s selfish needs.”
She stomped her foot. “The big picture is me cutting off your balls if you sell this place with me or your family in it. End of story!”
He raised his voice. “I can’t sell it without her approval anyway. Our hands are both tied if we can’t agree on the fate of this place. So my goal is to knock some sense into Presley here and get her to see the light.”
I straightened, pushing my shoulders back. “Well, my goal is to get you to see that preserving this place as a local landmark is doable. We can make more money over time renting it out, while also upholding an important part of Beaufort’s history.”
“Sure. Go ahead. Keep practicing that ridiculous pitch.” He rolled his eyes.
I had a very long battle ahead of me. But I was willing to fight. I had to wonder if I needed my head examined for wanting to take all of this on, yet something deep inside me told me it would be worth it. I just needed to get through to this stubborn man first.
After he stormed off and went outside to play with Alex, Fern turned to me.
“That man is just as pig-headed as his grandfather. But sexy as all hell like Thatcher, too.”
I’m not going to touch that comment.
***
That afternoon my phone rang, and when I managed to pull it out, I was kind of sorry I’d bothered. And here I thought my shitty day couldn’t get any worse.
I blew out a deep sigh and closed my eyes for a few seconds before taking a calming breath. When I opened them, I felt only marginally better, but nonetheless, I swiped to answer and used my best cheery voice. “Hi, Tanner.”
“Have you come to your senses and left Beaufort yet?”
I rolled my eyes and shifted the bag of groceries to my other hand so I could dig in my purse for the car keys.
“Alex and I are actually very happy here.”
That statement was only partially true. While Alex seemed settled, the last couple of days—full of run-ins with Levi—had me considering packing up my entire life and moving back to New York. I clicked the key fob and unlocked the trunk of my car.
“How can my son be happy when his mother moved him a thousand miles away? A boy needs to be near his father.”
I dumped the groceries into the trunk and slammed the hatch closed. “Actually, Tanner, a boy doesn’t need to be near his father. He needs to spend time with him.”
“And how am I supposed to do that with you living all the way down in Beaufort?”
I sighed. Back in New York, Tanner had only lived a few miles away, yet he’d seen his son maybe six times over the last year. Distance had nothing to do with why Alex and his father weren’t very close.
“I’m busy running errands, Tanner. Did you call to have this argument again, or was there another reason you needed to speak to me?”
My ex cleared his throat. “I need you to hold off on depositing that check I gave you.”
My forehead wrinkled. “A new check? The last one I received was the one you gave me before I left, almost two weeks ago?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“I deposited that a few days ago.”
“Well...it’s not going to clear.”
I closed my eyes. I’d written a check for Alex’s football camp with that money, not to mention the phone bill and a few other things. “Why this time?”
“I ran a little short this month.”
The last few years had taught me how to translate the language I called Tanner Speak. I swear, if I popped I ran a little short this month into Google Translate, it would return I lost a big bet. Unfortunately, after his injury, when Tanner couldn’t play for a living anymore, he’d started getting his action fix by betting on games. At first it had been just football, but over the years it had spread to most sports.
I sighed. “That check was only half of what you owe me, Tanner. You were supposed to send me the other half by this week, and now you’re telling me you can’t even make good on the first half?”
“What’s the big deal? You have plenty of dough these days since you scored my half of The Palm Inn.”
Though he hadn’t come out and said it, I was pretty sure Thatcher left half of the property to Alex and not Tanner because he knew about Tanner’s gambling addiction.
“First of all, the inn isn’t even covering its costs right now. And second, even if it was showing a profit, that money would be Alex’s, not mine.”