ABANDON ALL HOPE: The Hope Brother Series (Book Two) (9 page)

Maybe my obsession with Crit was just a bad habit that needed breaking.

Maybe Lincoln was just what I needed to do that.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

 I spotted the limo when I turned the corner and pulled up to Johnson’s office.  It looked as out of place as a chicken in church.  But somehow, it gave me hope.

If LaCroix’s nephew had enough money to be driven around in a limo, then he probably wasn’t too interested in my tiny little farm.

Johnson greeted me at the door.

“Crit, nice to see you son,” he drawled, his voice cracking with age, reminding me that he was getting up there in years.

“Mr. Johnson,” I replied, tipping my wide brimmed black stetson at him.

“LaCroix’s nephew is in my office waiting,” he said.

“Yeah, I saw the limo,” I replied.

“Oh.  Of course, how could you miss that giant thing?” he winked at me and led me down the hall.

As I followed him, I tried to ignore the knot in my stomach.

This was business
, I reminded myself.  
I could handle anything thrown at me
, I thought.  W
e’re just a couple of men tying up some loose ends with our family.  No big deal.

My mama used to say that you should listen to your gut.  That’s how your body signals to you things that it knows before your brain does.

In this case, she was right.

As soon as I walked into LaCroix’s office, and locked eyes with the man standing in front of me, I knew I should have listened to the warning signs.

“Crit Hope,” Johnson said, “this is Lincoln LaCroix, Olly LaCroix’s nephew.”

“You?!”

The man from Norma’s diner stood in front of me, his hand outstretched and empty, his eyes bewildered and beady.

“Have you two already met?” Johnson asked nervously, immediately sensing the tension between us.

“Not formally,” I replied, taking the man’s hand in mine and giving it a nice, firm, and what I hoped was slightly intimidating handshake. He returned the handshake firmly, and even gripped it a little too hard, overcompensating for the smooth skin of his palm.  His hands were softer than Ruby’s, for fuck’s sake.  Right away, I knew this man had never done a day of hard work in his life.

Your future is in those hands
, I reminded myself silently, doing my best not to break his fragile fingers before I let go, despite the strong urge that was shooting through me.

“Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot, Mr. LaCroix,” I said, trying for manners and good graces to try to begin again with him.

“Call me Lincoln,” he said stiffly, sitting back down in the chair across from Johnson’s desk, and ignoring my words.  I sat down next to him, and Johnson sat down after me.

“Okay, Lincoln it is,” I replied, still looking over at him.  He wouldn’t look at me, instead staring straight over at Johnson.  “I’m real sorry to hear about your uncle.  He was a good man, and loved by many in this town.”

“He was old and it was his time to go,” he said, dismissing me.  “I barely knew him.”

“He was your mother’s brother?”  I asked.  “We didn’t know he had any relatives outside of his wife and son.”

“Yes,” he replied, turning slightly towards me finally.  “They hated each other, from what I hear.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” I said, looking over at Johnson, silently pleading for a little help.

“Gentleman, we’re here today to discuss the details of LaCroix’s estate,” Johnson began.  “As I mentioned to you both previously, the Hope’s were close friends with Olly, and he generously helped them out when they hit a rough patch with the farm.”

I nodded, stealing a sideways glance at Lincoln, but he sat stone-faced and staring at Johnson again.

“Crit’s parents were lost in a tragic accident a year ago, and they were unable to pay back Olly’s loan before they passed,” Johnson continued.  “So, that brings us here today to try to come to some sort of amicable agreement to rectify this situation.”

“As you know, Lincoln, your uncle left a sizable inheritance to you, since your mother has passed as well, and you are the sole remaining heir.  This includes all proceeds from his portfolio of stocks and bonds, and his hundred and fifty acre estate that borders the Hope’s farm.”

“Yes, I understand that,” Lincoln replied, looking down at his watch.  “Can we speed this up? I have a conference call in an hour.”

“Of course,” Johnson replied.  “Everything is very cut and dry, except for this one issue of the Hope’s farm.  I called this meeting today with the hope of working out an agreement between the two of you to either forgive the loan completely, or work out some other mutually agreeable arrangement.”

“How big is this farm?” Lincoln asked.

“Not big at all, honestly,” I replied.  “Five acres, which includes our house, crops, horse barn and pasture.”

“How much was this loan my uncle gave them and how much is still owed?” Lincoln asked Johnson, ignoring me completely.

“Well, sir, Olly lent the Hopes one hundred thousand dollars.  None of it has been paid back.”

“Not a penny?” Lincoln asked.

“No, sir.  The Hopes had every intention of paying it back, though.  They just hadn’t been able to get back on their feet just yet, but I know if they were alive, they would make good on their promise as soon as they were able.”

“So the Hope farm is mine, then, too?” Lincoln asked.  My stomach sank at his question and I knew exactly where this conversation was headed.  I sat silently listening to the two of them, my head spinning.

“Technically, yes, but as I said, the Hope’s died in a car accident a year ago, and Crit and his siblings have been running the farm themselves.  It’s an active farm, and Crit is doing a wonderful job taking care of everything.”

“Well, isn’t that adorable?” he asked, finally looking - no,
sneering
- at me.  

“Lincoln, now like I said, I know we got off on the wrong foot at Norma’s.  But I’m willing to sweep all of that under the rug and figure something out between the two of us.”

“You are, are you?” he scoffed, before turning back to Johnson.  “This all seems pretty clear to me.  If they give me the hundred thousand, plus interest, of course, then they can have their farm.”

“Lincoln, with all due respect, your uncle would never make a demand like that.”

“No?  Perhaps that’s why he wasn’t very successful in business, then, wouldn’t you say?  You can’t just go around giving loans and then not doing anything about it when they don’t pay it back.”

“My parents were good friends with your uncle,” I said. “This wasn’t just a normal business transaction.”

“Yeah, well, that’s all good, but now it is.”

“Would you accept payments?” Johnson asked.

“I think we’re way past the point of making payment arrangements.  Besides, I’m a very busy man, and I don’t have time to deal with this.  Just get the money, give it to me, and then you get your deed back.  That’s how things work in the real world.”  His arrogance was so blatant, so distasteful, so unlike his uncle that I began to wonder if he was really any relation to LaCroix at all.  “Until then, I’d like to see my uncle’s estate and this Hope farm, as well.”

There was no way in hell I was going to be able to come up with that amount of money, and a slow bubble of anxiety began building inside of me.  I wouldn’t be able to get a loan, either, because the only collateral I had was the farm, and apparently, I didn’t even have that anymore.  I was never one to let anyone see me sweat, though, and I wasn’t about to start with this asshole.  

“I’d be happy to show you around my farm,” I replied, putting a little extra emphasis on the word ‘my’.  

There was only one way this prick was going to get my farm, and that was over the dead bodies of me and my three siblings. 

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“Really?  A private plane?” George asked incredulously.

“I know!  I about peed my pants when we pulled up to it!”  George and I were at Norma’s, and I was telling her all about my date with Lincoln.  I was still reeling from it, doing my damnedest not to be impressed, but I couldn’t help it.  It wasn’t every day a girl was wined and dined by a man like Lincoln.  He was handsome, charming, and rich.  What more could a woman want?

As if to answer my question, Crit walked in the door, his arms full with two boxes of produce.  He put them on the counter, and turned to scan the diner.  Our eyes locked, and my heart skipped a beat.  There was something about Crit that caused an extreme physical reaction every time he was near me.  It never failed. 

Today, though, there was something different in his eyes.  Something that I hadn’t seen for a long time.  In fact, I hadn’t seen him look like that since his parents died.  I wanted to run to him, and hold him in my arms until all the little wrinkles on his forehead had disappeared.

Stop it
, I thought to myself.  
Don’t let him under your skin again.
  

As he walked over to our table, I tried to resist his magnetic pull, reminding myself of his rudeness the last time we talked.

Don’t give in to him, Ruby Rae, I thought, trying to push all thoughts of his touch, the long, wild nights of love making, and his passionate kisses that curled my toes, out of my mind.  Lincoln’s face flashed in my mind, and I took a deep breath as I tried to keep it there.

It was no use, though.  Crit’s eyes were glued to mine, and my body didn’t listen to a damn thing my mind was telling it. By the time he made it to our table, my panties were soaked.

He tipped his hat, forever a gentleman.

“Ladies,” he drawled.

“Hey Crit,” I said, trying my best to sound aloof.  I pulled my eyes away and looked out the window instead of drinking in his powerful arms, his strong body, and the relentless sexiness that oozed from him. 

“Hi,” George mumbled, her mouth full of fries.

“Hey, sis, listen, we need to have a family meeting tonight,” he said.

“I’ve got dinner plans with Beau,” she protested.

“I don’t care.  You can have dinner with him any ol’ time.  Be at the house at eight.”

“But —,” she began.  I knew she had cooked a pot roast in her slow cooker, because she had told me all about it before I began telling her about my date with Lincoln.

“But nothing.  Be there.  It’s important, goddammit,” he growled, before turning and storming away.  Not even a ‘goodbye, Ruby’ or a ‘kiss my ass’ before leaving.

Fine
, I thought.  
Good riddance!