Fighting for Keeps

by Jennifer Snow

  “That’s right.”

  He’d signed and couriered them himself the week before. Was the mayor here to personally deliver good news?

  “I’m sorry to say I’m not able to reconsider it at this time.”

  “But, sir—”

  He held up a hand, his Rolex sliding down his arm as his suit jacket fell back.

  The cost of the watch would fund the program for a year, Noah couldn’t help but think. He didn’t deny the mayor the status and paycheck years of hard work had brought him, but the guy always seemed to forget that the town’s best interest was supposed to be his priority.

  There were rumors he was hoping to run for a larger office the following year, which might explain his lack of commitment to the small town’s affairs. He saw Brookhollow as a stepping stone, a launch pad to something better.

  That was fine with Noah. He wanted a mayor who took local responsibilities seriously.

  “It’s not just this program...all community center program funding is being cut,” Parsons continued.

  “What? But how can these programs serve the community without government support?”

  “Unfortunately they can’t.” Parsons checked his watch quickly. “Noah, this land is under consideration for development.”

  He clenched his hands at his sides. “You’re closing the community center?”

  “Not yet... Nothing has been decided. We just started exploring this new opportunity.”

  “Would you be building a new one somewhere else?”

  “We don’t have the money for that, no.”

  “What about the programs these kids rely on?”

  “If we decide to go ahead with this redevelopment, some of them will be moved to the library and the schools... Others will regrettably be forced to shut down.”

  “Shut down. Just like that?”

  “I’m afraid so. Yes. However, the majority of the funding will be recycled back into the community. Look, Noah, I’ll be honest with you—I’m not completely on board with this idea. So far, I’m just taking a look at the possibility.”

  Mayor Parsons checked his watch at the sound of a car pulling onto the gravel parking lot. “That’s my appointment.”

  Noah followed him outside, leaning on his crutches for support. He stopped short when he saw Ben Walker. He was the developer meeting the mayor about the land?

  “Hi, Mayor Parsons,” Ben said, extending a hand. “Hey, Noah.” His expression was hard when their gazes met.

  Noah looked between the two men. “It’s your company that wants this land?” Harper Walker Developments was involved in this?

  Ben glanced at the mayor. “It’s confidential...”

  “That’s right, Noah,” the mayor said. “I only told you because of your involvement with these programs. Thought you had the right to know why your funding was being denied. Please keep it to yourself until we can arrange a town meeting in a few days.”

  He nodded, his anger rising. He turned to Ben, giving him his coldest, hardest stare. “Was Nathan involved in this?” He couldn’t believe the father of five would have been in support of buying out the land to put up...what? New condos?

  Clearly this was Ben’s idea and, he suspected, the main reason the guy had showed up in the guise of wanting to help Lindsay with the kids.

  Ben ignored the question, instead turning to the Mayor. “Shall we?”

  The Mayor nodded and the two men went inside, leaving Noah fuming outside alone.

  * * *

  LINDSAY’S CELL PHONE rang as she carried her grocery bags in from the minivan. It was the generic ring tone, not the specific ones she’d applied to family and friends. Telemarketers no doubt.

  She sighed, balancing the bags on one arm and digging around in her purse for the phone. Just in case it was actually important...

  Nathan’s lawyer’s number lit up her Call Display screen. Again.

  She’d been meaning to call them, but it had repeatedly slipped her mind.

  “Hello?” She set the bags on the porch.

  “Lindsay Harper?” a man asked.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Have I caught you at a bad time?”

  “If you were hoping for a good time, those moments are few and far between these days...so go ahead. Now’s as good a time as any.”

  “Okay, um, this is Neil Marcus from the Henderson Law Group in Newark. We spoke a few weeks ago regarding your brother’s will.”

  “I remember.”

  “Great. Well, I’m calling about your brother’s business.”

  Disappointment seeped in. “Oh, well, I don’t have much to do with that. You’d better speak with Ben Walker, his partner.”

  She picked up her bags again and carried them inside, the phone propped against her shoulder. If she’d known what the call was about, she would have ignored it. The business was the last thing she needed to concern herself with. Ben seemed to be handling it fine.

  “No. It’s you I need. Have you had time to review the documents I gave you regarding the transfer of ownership?”

  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

  “You haven’t read them?”

  She didn’t even recall seeing them. “No.”

  “Nathan listed Melissa Harper as the primary co-owner of the company, but in the event that she wasn’t interested, the funds from the sale of a buyout option were to be divided among all five children equally.”

  Funds from the sale of a buyout?

  “What are you saying? The kids are still quite young. Melissa is nine. Is the company being bought out?”

  “Well, that’s one option. But for now, as the primary caregiver of the children, that decision rests with you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes. As of right now, you effectively co-own Harper Walker Developments with Ben Walker.”

  She dropped the phone.

  * * *

  “SO, THE COMPANY is yours?” Lily asked as she fed Mackenzie in her high chair.

  True to form, all she’d had to do was text her friend and Lily was there.

  Lindsay wiped Abigail’s face with a napkin as spaghetti dripped from her chin. “Half of it, I guess.” She’d searched everywhere for the documents the lawyer said he’d given her, but she hadn’t found them.

  “And the other half is Ben’s?”

  Lindsay nodded, annoyed all over again. He must have known...yet he hadn’t told her. Why? Was it because he thought she’d already known? In which case, wasn’t it something they should have discussed by now?

  She sighed. It was all too confusing. Until she met with Neil Marcus to go over the paperwork, she really didn’t understand what it all meant.

  “Do you think that’s the reason he showed up? To figure out why you weren’t turning to him for advice about your shared company?”

  Lily scraped the bottom of the bowl with the plastic Dora spoon and fed the last mouthful to the little girl, who was wearing more than she’d consumed.

  Lindsay remembered what Victoria had said about Ben being in Nathan’s office at the B and B. He had been there for something. But was that the case? Had he come to Brookhollow to see what control she would exercise over the business? Was he sticking around to make sure she didn’t find out? Her head hurt.

  “I really don’t know. I mean he’s been a big help around here and I’d hate to think everything he’s done was to protect his own interests in his company...but...”

  “But?” Lily urged.

  “Vic did mention something about him stopping by the B and B to go through—”

  The front door opened.

  “Is that him?” Lily whispered.

  They both stopped moving as if they’d been caught doing somethi
ng wrong. Even the girls paused.

  What was the matter with them? This was her house. She collected the girls’ empty bowls and carried them to the sink, tossing Lily a washcloth. She headed into the hallway and smacked face-first into Noah’s solid chest.

  “Whoa...”

  She placed her hands against his pectoral muscles under his form-fitting gray T-shirt to steady herself, and the effect only made her feel tipsy. They hadn’t spoken since the night of his fight and his sudden appearance in her house evoked mixed feelings. “Hi,” she said. “What are you—?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me the real reason Ben’s here?” he demanded, his expression hard as he readjusted his crutches under his arms.

  She frowned. Had he heard her and Lily talking moments before? She’d only gotten the call from Nathan’s lawyer a few hours ago. “What do you mean?”

  His eyes narrowed. “We need to talk,” he said, dragging her away from the kitchen, out of earshot of Lily and the girls.

  “Hey!” She yanked her arm away. “This is my house and we are in the middle of dinner. Can’t this wait?”

  Any happiness she may have felt at seeing him had vanished.

  “Just tell me. Did you know about the community center?”

  Noah rested his forearms on his crutches, studying her intently.

  Smiling, he was gorgeous. But serious and annoyed, Noah was downright swoon-worthy.

  “What about it?”

  “It’s under consideration for land development.” He paused, waiting.

  Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No way. Ben wouldn’t do that.”

  Would he?

  Lily’s theory was starting to sound more plausible by the second.

  Lindsay’s stomach turned.

  Noah’s expression darkened. “I’m sorry to tell you, but you may not know your boyfriend as well as you think you do.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s...” What was he? He’d been staying with her for almost a month. Taking care of the kids.

  “Look, whatever you two have going on is none of my business,” he said, jealousy seeping from his tone as he ran a hand over his short, dark hair. “But the community center is my business. Where is he?”

  Noah glanced into the living room.

  “I don’t know. But how do you know all of this?”

  There had to be a mistake. Ben and Nathan worked together on all major projects. And there was no way Nathan would have considered destroying something as important to Brookhollow as the community center.

  “He met with Mayor Parsons today at the center.”

  “And they told you? They actually said the center is being torn down?”

  She bit her lip, her newfound knowledge that she now owned part of her brother’s company burning in her mind.

  She wished she’d never answered the phone earlier today.

  “The Mayor said they were just in discussion about it right now...” He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

  Good, nothing was for sure yet. “Noah, I may be able to help,” she said slowly. “Emphasis on may,” she added quickly, not wanting to get his hopes up.

  The lawyer had said she was currently the co-owner, so she would have a say in decisions such as this, wouldn’t she? And if Noah was finding out about it today, surely they had time to stop it from happening.

  “How?”

  “Well, apparently I own part of the company now...or at least the children do or Melissa does... I don’t know all the details yet.”

  Immediately he crossed the room as fast as he could on crutches. “You can stop this deal? That would be fantastic.”

  His excitement and relief only made her cringe. “Hang on. I don’t know. I have no idea how much say I have.”

  “As partner, you would have to sign off on this.” He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure of it...”

  She released a deep sigh. A heads-up about all of this would have been fantastic, Nathan, she thought. Of course her brother had never expected things to turn out the way they had. He may have prepared for such a circumstance, but no one ever believed it would actually happen.

  “I’ll talk to Ben.”

  Noah brought her hand to his lips and placed a quick kiss on her palm. “Thank you. I’m not sure how many more of the things I care about I can lose to Ben Walker.”

  * * *

  “IT’S YOUR TURN, Aunt Lindsay,” Jacob said, waving a tiny hand in front of her face as her gaze once again drifted out the window, looking for Ben’s vehicle in the driveway.

  She turned her attention back to the board game. “Right, sorry.” She spun the spinner, landed on five and moved her Disney character six spaces.

  “Hey, cheater, that’s six,” Caleb said, moving her game piece back one space.

  “Sorry, guys. I’m a little distracted right now. Can we play later?”

  “We need three players,” Jacob said, taking his turn.

  Lindsay glanced toward Melissa on the nearby sofa, watching Gossip Girl. “Maybe your sister will play.”

  Melissa shook her head. “No way, they cheat.”

  “No, we don’t. Not since we were little kids,” Caleb argued, frowning.

  “Right, because you’re not a little kid anymore.” Melissa rolled her eyes.

  “You’re only a few years older than us,” Jacob said, standing to block her view of the television.

  “Move, brat!” she yelled as Caleb joined his brother to dance and block her view of the screen. “Aunt Lindsay, I’m going to kill them, I swear,” Melissa said, jumping up off of the couch and rushing them.

  “Hey, don’t touch me!” Jacob shouted.

  “Na-nan-a-boo-boo,” Caleb chanted, running away from her.

  Lindsay’s head throbbed. “Hey, guys! Quit it,” she said, louder and more angry than she’d intended.

  Where was Ben?

  All three kids paused to look at her in surprise.

  “Sorry. Please keep it down and, boys, stop bugging your sister.”

  “I’m going to finish watching this in my room,” Melissa said, disappearing down the hall and slamming her door shut.

  Lindsay cringed. That door was coming off the hinges the closer that girl got to her teen years.

  The boys sat back down at the game. “She’s no fun anymore,” Jacob said.

  The sound of the Land Rover doors locking outside made her jump. He was here.

  “Okay, guys, I need you to go play in your room, okay? Bath time is in half an hour,” she said, sliding the game pieces off the board and into the box, struggling to close the lid. These things never went back in the way they came out. Giving up, she handed the box to Caleb. “Here you go,” she said as the front door opened.

  Lindsay met Ben in the hall.

  “Hey. Sorry I—”

  “Don’t worry about it.” She cut him off. “We need to talk.”

  He removed his shoes and she took in his dark gray, pin-striped suit and his white dress shirt open at the collar. He had a dark blue tie in his hand.

  “I take it you spoke to Noah,” he said shortly.

  She couldn’t decide if he seemed annoyed because she obviously knew about the community center or just because she’d spoken to Noah. It didn’t matter, she decided. What mattered was that it appeared Ben had been conducting business that day.

  “He said Harper Walker Developments is shutting down the community center.”

  Ben went into the kitchen and took a bottle of water out of the fridge, opening it. He took a sip before answering. “Technically, the town may be shutting down the community center. The company is interested in buying the land.”

  “Semantics,” she mumbled. “So it’s really happening?”

  “I don’
t know yet. The first meeting with the Mayor went well.”

  Went well? He thought buying the land and shutting down one of the town’s landmarks was a good thing? “I can’t believe you.”

  “Lindsay, I know the community center is important...”

  “Obviously not. And why didn’t you mention this to me? I am part owner of the company now.” She waited for his reaction.

  He didn’t looked surprised that she knew. “I was planning to talk to you about it tonight.” He slumped into the armchair by the window and his gaze settled on something in the distance.

  He sighed. “Lindsay, the truth is, the company isn’t doing well. For the last six months, Nathan and I were struggling and we couldn’t agree on almost anything.” He paused. “I first mentioned this opportunity to him a year ago when I was approached by a contractor interested in the land for a new strip mall.”

  A strip mall? They wanted to tear down a community center for a shopping outlet? Unbelievable.

  “I tried to convince myself the jobs the new mall would provide here outweighed the benefits of the community center. But this was Nathan’s town, not mine, and it was impossible to convince him of that.”

  “You won’t convince me, either. There are so many great programs at that community center.” She placed her palms on the table.

  “I know.”

  “Really? Then why would you reconsider this option now that my brother is gone?”

  “Because this deal could save the company.”

  “Didn’t you hear me? The community center is important to Brookhollow. My brother was right about this and I’m not backing down, Ben. Besides, you need my signature on it, don’t you?”

  She held her breath at his wide-eyed expression. She had no idea if he did or not.

  He stood and moved toward her, frustration in his eyes. “Let me ask you something—and be honest.”

  “Okay.” She placed her hands on her hips and waited.

  “Is this really about saving the community center or is it about Noah?”

  Her mouth dropped.

  Could these two ever get it through their thick skulls that not everything was about them?

  “Noah was the one who told me, but this is not about him,” she said firmly.