Collins
Clarke, my parents, and I were sitting around the kitchen counter at Toades. Brady was standing in the corner.
"I didn't realize that I was signing something final," my mom said. There were tears in her eyes. "They said it was a precontract—something that would give them permission to come scope out the properties and do inspections and things like that—they said I could back out at any time."
My dad was holding her hands tightly. There were tears in his eyes, too.
"Why would you even think about selling, Mom?" Clarke asked. She was angry.
"It's good money, Clarke—life-changing money. Money that would mean you and Collins wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again."
"I don't want money. I want the shop." Clarke's voice cracked, and I felt it at the base of my throat—where all of my feelings were stuck. I grabbed her hand under the table, and she held on to me tightly.
"My love, you don't know that. I know you love this place, but I didn't want you to feel obligated to take it over someday—to make our life's work yours too. And with the state Toades is in right now…we don't even know how we're going to repair it all—if we can."
"Well, if you had talked to me about it, I would've told you that there's not a single doubt in my mind that this is what I want." Clarke was raising her voice. "What about my dreams?"
"Okay," I chimed in quietly. "I know this is a lot for everyone to take in right now, but we're going to have to save the therapy session for later. Right now, we need to figure out how to get Toades and your other holdings out of Sullivan's hands."
"I don't think we can, peanut," my dad said. I'd never heard his voice sound like this before. I didn't know Dex Cartwright could feel defeat.
The front door to the shop opened and closed. Boone came into the kitchen.
All at once, my mom, Clarke, and I scooted our chairs back from the table and went to hug him. "What are you doing here?" my mom asked; her lower lip was trembling.
"Brady called me," he said. I looked over at Brady in the corner. He gave me a sad smile. "He told me everything. I came to help."
We all loved Boone dearly, but I didn't quite know how he could help here. Brady must've seen the confusion on my face because he started talking.
"When I was at Boone's that day, he told me a lot about his brother—including the fact that his granddaughter's mom was a real estate lawyer up until very recently.
I thought he could help." Tears pushed their way into my eyes.
Brady did that for me—for my family. God, I loved him.
At first, I didn't know how I would know that—I'd never been in love with anyone before, but then I realized that's exactly how I knew—because everything with Brady felt different.
I almost felt like my body couldn't contain it all. It was overwhelming.
"I called my brother, and he called the lawyer. They're ready for us whenever.
" My mom sniffled, and Boone put a weathered hand on her shoulder.
"Over my dead body is anyone getting this shop, Joanie. This is yours." My mom squeezed her eyes shut and nodded.
I thought about the twenty-one-year-old girl who'd scrounged up enough money to buy the white house, and how brave she must've been to do it all on her own.
That version of my mom didn't know she had just started dating the man she would spend the rest of her life with or that she was about to meet the only father figure she'd ever know in the hardware store.
We had to save this place for all of us, but mostly, we had to save it for her—for every version of my mom who built and grew with this place.
"We can use my laptop," Clarke said. She popped it open on the counter, and all of us gathered around—except for Brady.
I looked back at him and reached my hand out.
He pushed off the wall and took it. He wrapped his other arm over my chest and kissed my temple.
My family didn't blink twice at the display of affection.
Boone pecked in his brother's phone number, and Clarke hit the FaceTime button.
He picked up after one ring, and I slapped my hand over my mouth before blurting out, "Holy shit! He looks just like you." I'd seen pictures of Boone's brother, but they were from when they were younger—there wasn't anything current.
He and Boone had the same green eyes. His brother's hair still had some pepper—Boone's was all salt, and his brother's beard was much neater.
The man on the screen smiled. "But ten years younger, and a hell of a lot better-looking," he said.
Boone grunted.
"Amos Ryder," the man said. "Wish we were all meeting under better circumstances. I've heard a lot about all of you."
"Oh my god, he's so pleasant," I whispered to Brady.
"I heard that, Collins," Boone growled.
"I'm Collins." I waved. "Nice to meet you, younger Boone!"
"Nice to meet you, too, Collins," Amos said. "And you must be Clarke," he said, looking toward my sister. "Which means I've also got Joanie, Dex, and Brady in the back. Is that right?"
"You're good," Clarke said.
"Is she there?" Boone interrupted. "This is time-sensitive, kid."
Amos moved his camera to put both him and a regal-looking woman in the frame. She had dark, curly hair and dark eyes. She waved. "Hi," she said. "I'm Cam Tucker."
"We really appreciate you taking the time," my mom said; her voice was still watery.
"No problem at all," Cam said. "I've heard some of the details from Boone, and Brady was able to send over the contract you signed. It sounds like you all have been the victims of some very shady legal practices and clever language. I'm so sorry."
"Do we have any options?" my dad asked.
"The contract is legally binding, and since it's for the private sale of property, I don't think the court of public opinion is an option here."
"They said it was a precontract," my mom said.
Cam nodded thoughtfully as she looked at my mom. "Those were a real thing at one time; they just don't exist in any sort of present law practice," she said gently.
My mom buried her face in her hands, and I could almost hear the fissures in my heart starting to form. "I feel ridiculous."
"Hey," Cam said gently. "Joanie, look at me. This firm set out with the intention to deceive and take advantage of you, and they've done it to countless others." Cam's voice shifted then to something firmer and more brutal. "And I'm going to do everything in my power to make them pay, okay?"
"What do we do?" my dad asked.
"I have an idea," Cam said. "It's a little unorthodox, and there's no guarantee that we'll be immediately successful, but it will buy us some time."
"We'll do anything," my mom said.
I watched Cam take a deep breath and look at Amos, who gave her a small nod—like a father encouraging his daughter. "How quickly can you and Dex file for divorce?"
All of the air got sucked out of the room.
"Wh-what?" my mom asked.
"We're not getting divorced," my dad said.
"I understand," Cam said. "And I'm not asking you to get divorced. I'm asking you to file for divorce. There's no way that Sullivan is going to let you out of escrow, and if you try, he will absolutely file a lawsuit."
"What will filing for divorce do?" I asked.
"It will allow your parents to freeze all of their assets—including the shop and the multi-use buildings under their name."
"So?" Clarke asked.
"So they can't become Sullivan's if they're frozen. The hope here is that you tie things up long enough that he walks away."
"Do you think he will?" my mom asked.
"I think there's a chance. Sullivan is a path-of-least-resistance guy, and from what we know about him, he tends to target people with smaller holdings first. I think there's potential for him to move on to his real target in Sweetwater Peak, who we can try to get to ahead of time, and it also gives us time to draw up our own lawsuit. "
"W-we're going to sue him?" my mom asked.
"Yes," Cam said with a nod. "The divorce filing and frozen assets give us time to talk to as many people in other small towns as we can, and if we can prove that he acted with intent to harm and made these contracts in bad faith, we can sue him sideways. We might not get any money out of it, but all we need is to get him out of Sweetwater Peak."
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as Brady's thumb rubbed over my shoulder. This made sense to me. It felt batshit crazy, but it made sense. I watched my parents intertwine their hands.
"What do you all think?" Amos asked thoughtfully.
My mom looked up at the computer screen and nodded. "It is a good idea," she said. "But, Cam, I don't know how we can pay you. We're…we're strapped right now."
Cam shook her head. "No need," she said. "My husband and I have everything we need. I want to help you, and if I need another lawyer or two to tag in, I know they will, too."
Tears sprang up in my mom's eyes again, and she nodded.
"Well, my love," my dad said with a kiss to the side of her head. "Let's go file for divorce."