by Crissy Sharp
“Then explain it to me. How is it so much more?”
Brent’s laugh sent chills down Jason’s spine. “The neighborhood wasn’t safe. That was a fact. It was my job to get people out of there.”
“You holding a gun on my son was your way of accomplishing that?”
“That was your fault—well actually Lotty’s. She got in the way and they knew she had the permits.”
Jason tried to keep his expression neutral as long as Brent was talking, but it took all his strength to avoid punching Brent in the face. Brent lowered his head and whispered, “Jason, just please keep my family safe. Convince them to leave. You should leave too.”
Jason’s new phone rang and Lotty’s name flashed across the screen. He swiped right. “Hey, I’m still with Brent. Can I call you in a few minutes?”
“Hold on, Jason, those permits are forged,” Lotty said. “The permits Brent wanted so badly. He forged them years ago before we ever lived here.”
Jason glanced at Brent, who was watching him closely. “Uh, okay, how do you—”
“Brent was heavily medicated last night and he said some things to Nikki. Most of it didn’t make any sense, but he told her people were going to find out he forged the building permits for the entire neighborhood.” Lotty mumbled something to someone else—probably one of the boys. “Anyway, ask him about it.”
“Uh, I’ll see,” Jason said, not wanting Brent to catch the direction of the conversation. “I’ll be home soon.” He hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket, his head trying to wrap itself around the information. Why would Brent have forged permits for the neighborhood? The lots were prime lake-front property so was it all about money? Memories swirled through Jason’s head; conversations with Brent about his family leaving him money years ago, how he could only afford the house they had because of the inheritance. Had this really been going on for so long? Jason looked up to find Brent’s narrowed eyes locked on him.
“Brent, what can you tell me about the permits?”
Brent shook his head. “Nothing important.”
“I think it’s important. I think you forging them is kind of a big deal. Don’t you?”
Brent shook his head and swore under his breath, but gave no explanation.
“Brent, I have to know what I’m protecting your family from.”
“Look, they couldn’t get permits. Something about the land taking longer to clean up than they expected.”
“Who’s ‘they’?”
Silence.
Jason tried again. “Clean up from what?”
“From the plant. Strawberry Lake Estates sits on what used to be a steel processing plant. The land seemed perfectly usable, but no one would sign off on it.”
“Except you.”
“Well, yeah, but, no. I didn’t have that kind of authority, but I knew what the permits looked like and they were surprisingly easy to replicate.” Brent grinned like he expected Jason to smile back. “An inspector signed off on the water test and-”
“Scott Willard,” Jason interrupted.
Brent raised an eyebrow. “Yes.”
“So, you forged permits a decade and a half ago. What triggered the problem this year?”
“I never thought there was actually a problem with the land. I wouldn’t have lived in the neighborhood if I had. Last year, everyone’s plants were inexplicably sick and dying. This year, Cade and his foreman ordered tests on nearby land and the results were...well, they weren’t good. I knew someone would try to look into the building permits for our neighborhood. I’d taken them from City Hall years ago, but I went to get them, to make sure no one would ever find them, and discovered Nikki had given you guys the file cabinet.”
“So, you organized a robbery to get them back?”
“No, that wasn’t me.” Brent shook his head.
Jason scoffed.
“They didn’t want those permits in the wrong hands so they went after them.”
“Brent, who is they?”
Brent continued talking as if he hadn’t heard Jason. “They wanted to scare Lotty. I was terrified they’d kill half the neighborhood in the process, including my family, so I said I’d take care of it. The other crimes were to scare people into leaving and hopefully get the permits back in the process, but I accomplished neither goal.”
Jason grabbed the sides of his chair, trying to channel his anger in a direction other than toward Brent. He needed these answers. Needed Brent to keep talking.
“Why was Scott Willard one of the bodies dug up in the grave robberies? There’s no way that’s coincidence.”
“Like I said, this is bigger than you realize. Let’s just say I had to keep certain people from coming forward and his body showing up in your neighborhood did just that.”
“You killed him?”
“No, his heart failed.”
“With help?”
“Not mine.” Jason could tell that’s all he was going to say about it.
“Why did you want people to leave?”
“It was simply a matter of covering up the initial crime. Everything goes back to the forged permits and they couldn’t have anything linking them to this development.”
Jason folded his arms. “How much did you make? Was it worth it to betray those closest to you?”
Brent’s eyes narrowed.
“Who else is involved in this? Who did you work for?”
“I’m not going to die over this, Jason.”
“I can’t help you if I don’t know what we’re up against.”
“You can’t help me either way. I only told you as much as I did so you’ll help keep Nik and the kids safe. Get her out of that neighborhood.” Brent pushed back from the table. “We’re done,” he yelled at the guard.
The guard led Brent back through a large, metal door. Jason let out a long breath. How had he allowed himself to be deceived by that man for years? A man who was willing to shoot a one-year-old just to keep some secret about forged permits. He would watch after Brent’s family, though only for Nikki’s sake.
He pulled into the driveway. Laughs echoed from the backyard. He rounded the corner and found Ty and Aiden laughing as Lotty chased them, a hen in her arms. She turned to face him and a smile lit up her face. A familiar sense of home settled in around him, a sense he’d been missing for over a year.
“Hey, we have an idea for a new chicken coop,” she said, setting the hen down. “These girls can’t stay in the garage forever. So, we’re thinking we suspend the whole thing. If I go to Dixie’s today, we can get started on it this afternoon—”
Jason cut her off with a kiss until Ty pulled on his shirt. “What do you think, Dad? Can we start today?”
“Let me talk to Mom for a little while and we’ll figure it out.” Jason sat on the patio bench and Aiden immediately started climbing into his lap. Three chickens appeared at his legs. “I take it Flo found her way home.”
“She was by the front door this morning,” Lotty said, nestling in next to him.
“I think we need to leave the neighborhood,” Jason said. “I don’t like being here when I know there’s poison all around. I don’t like the boys playing in the yard and, even with Brent’s fancy filters, the water scares me.”
“I agree,” Lotty said, interlacing her fingers with Jason’s. “I did some research about cyanide and chromium six this afternoon. Just reading the possible side effects made my liver and kidneys hurt.”
“I’m sure Dad would let us stay with him for a bit while we decide what we’re going to do. That way we’ll only have to move a couple of miles. Plus, the kids would love staying there. Then we’ll have some time to determine what we’re up against.”
Lotty nodded. “Did Brent tell you more?”
“Yeah. The toxins are from the steel processing plant that used to be here. The land was never properly cleaned up. Brent forged the permits for the developer who was in a hurry to build.” Lotty stared at him with wide eyes and Jason relayed every
thing Brent had told him.
She shook her head. “I still can’t believe it. Poor Nikki.”
Aiden lost interest in all the talking and joined Ty running around the yard. Lotty moved closer and Jason wrapped his arm around her. “How did it go with your Mom?”
“She was actually sorry.”
Jason raised an eyebrow. “She apologized?”
“Well, no. Doll does not apologize, ever. But she was nice and thanked me for coming and kept grabbing my hand and squeezing it. That’s as close as I’ll ever get. Plus, she didn’t say anything negative about you the entire time.”
“Impressive,” Jason said with a smile.
“So, about your dad’s place. He’ll be thrilled to have his backyard turned into a chicken coop, right?”
“Absolutely. It will fit in perfectly between the horseshoe pit and his tomato garden. Who wouldn’t want that?” He kissed Lotty’s forehead. “Everything will work out.”
Lotty lay her head on his shoulder. “I hope you’re right.”
Chapter 30
1 Month Later
LOTTY POPPED ANOTHER huckleberry in her mouth as she meandered through the booths dotting the street. Her hands were stained purple from holding the juicy berries, but it was worth it. It was the second day of The Huckleberry Festival and Walden’s town square was bursting with tourists. She passed the large stand where several people anxiously awaited the results of the cook-off, and stood on one of the metal chairs so she could get a clear view of the beach.
Jason and the boys had been happily building a sandcastle when she’d decided to wander off and check out some of the vendors. Now Jason and Ty were still busy building and Aiden was covering himself with sand. Trinity sat nearby in a lawn chair, glancing back and forth between her own children and Jason.
“Hey, I brought you a smoothie.” Jocelyn appeared by the chair Lotty was standing on. Lotty hopped down next to her and took the cup she held out. “It’s called Huckleberry Heaven so it has to be good.”
“Thank you,” Lotty said before taking a sip. “Ooh, that is good.”
Jocelyn sipped her own smoothie, a dark green concoction which Lotty was certain couldn’t have “Heaven” in its name. Maybe “Aura of Algae” or “Sucky Spinach.”
“Nikki’s on her way up here,” Jocelyn said. “Michael’s at the beach and forgot sunscreen so she had to run it to him.” She stopped and picked up a candle from one of the booths, smelled it, and set it down. “She seems to be better the last couple of weeks. Don’t you think?”
Lotty nodded. “She actually wrote to Brent last weekend. She still doesn’t want to see him, but she answered his letters and said she’s moving on. Also, I think finding a way that she can earn an income has taken a lot of stress off.”
“You think she can make enough from her blog to support her and the kids?”
“Yeah, I do,” Lotty said, smiling at Mrs. Becker as people cheered and she waved her trophy in the air across the square. “She’s had tons of followers for years. I just helped her monetize it. She’s already earning decent money, but Jason also told her he has a few jobs around the office if she’d like to work for him part time as well.” Excitement bubbled inside Lotty as she talked about Nikki’s blog. A part of her that had long been missing had returned as she’d helped Nikki find advertisers for her website. Her business skills came back like muscle memory and she’d loved every minute.
Jocelyn nodded behind Lotty and Lotty turned to see Nikki approaching. “Guess what I just heard?” Nikki said. “It made my week.” A smile lit up her face. Lotty hadn’t seen many of those on Nikki lately and seeing her friend happy instantly brought a smile to her own face.
“What?” Jocelyn asked, handing Nikki the smoothie she’d bought for her.
“Oh, thanks.” Nikki shoved the straw in her mouth. “Yum, that is awesome. What am I drinking?”
“Huckleberry Heaven,” Jocelyn answered.
Lotty nudged her friend’s shoulder. “What did you hear that made your week, Nik?”
“Oh, right.” She set the smoothie on the table at the photography booth they stood next to so she could use both arms while she talked. “I gave Michael sunscreen and was heading back up, when I heard your husband talking to Trinity.”
Lotty raised an eyebrow, wondering how hearing Jason talk to Trinity had made Nikki’s week.
“He was gushing to her about how much he loved his wife,” Nikki said, wrapping an arm around Lotty.
“Gushing? I’ve never heard Jason gush in my life.”
“Well, today he was definitely a gusher.” Nikki smiled. “Does anyone else suddenly feel like gush isn’t even a word? I’ve said it enough now I feel like I made it up. Gush, gush, gush.”
Jocelyn laughed. “What was he saying?”
“I wish I could have heard what Trinity said to get him going. All I heard was him telling her that the best decision he ever made was to marry Lotty, that she was an amazing mother who was patient and loving, that she was fun and had a great sense of humor, and that he adored her.” Nikki grabbed Lotty’s hand. “And that was his exact word. Adore.”
Warmth trickled its way down to Lotty’s toes as if she’d swallowed a ray of sunshine. Even though Jason had told her several times over the past few weeks how much he loved her, it never got old.
“Aw, that’s sweet,” Jocelyn said.
“It is,” Nikki agreed. “But the horrible side of me was just as excited by Trinity’s devastated look while he listed off all of Lotty’s amazing qualities.”
“Girls, girls, look,” Mrs. Becker moved surprisingly fast for an older woman and shoved her trophy in the middle of the three women. “I won again.”
Nikki hugged the beaming bakery-owner. “Good job, Mrs. Becker.”
“Ruth thought she was going to get me with those huckleberry cream puffs, but my torte put them to shame. Tortes beat puffs every time. Besides, I heard she used store-bought huckleberries. Can you imagine? That reminds me, I heard something else.” She wrapped an arm around Nikki. “Is it true that your husband’s trial got moved up?”
Lotty shook her head. Leave it to Mrs. Becker to transition from huckleberries to Brent’s trial in two seconds, but Nikki didn’t seem bothered. “Yes, that’s true. My soon to be ex-husband’s trial will be in the middle of September now,” Nikki said.
Mrs. Becker nodded. “I also heard about your move. Do you like living in the country?”
Lotty laughed. “Don’t we all live in the country? That’s what’s great about Montana.”
“You know what I mean. She’s outside of Walden now.” Mrs. Becker lowered her voice. “The Harper Ranch is definitely country.”
Nicki smiled. “I do like it. We’re only five miles away and they’re letting us stay there rent-free until this whole Strawberry Lake Estates mess gets figured out. It’s like a ghost town in that neighborhood these days.”
Lotty nodded. “It emptied out pretty quickly. Hopefully they can figure things out almost as quickly and get the land cleaned up.”
Nikki picked her smoothie up off the table.
“Oh no, you don’t want that.” Mrs. Becker took the smoothie out of Nikki’s hands and set it back down on the table. Then she opened the box she’d had tucked under her arm. “I saved some of my award-winning tortes.” She handed one to each woman.
“Mama!” Aiden yelled from behind Lotty. She turned around. Aiden was tucked under Jason’s left arm while Ty held Jason’s left hand. His right arm was wrapped around beach towels and sand toys.
“Hey,” Lotty said, taking a sand-covered Aiden from Jason. It seemed the entire beach covered his body and now it was caked on her shirt and arms.
“Your sweet son decided it would be fun to throw sand at all the people lying out on the beach,” Jason said. “We made a lot of enemies. We may need to move out of Walden entirely.” He smiled and Lotty’s insides melted. “We can come back later, but I need to get this sand off me.”
“I’m done
anyway,” Lotty said. She thanked Mrs. Becker for the torte, told her friends goodbye and walked to the van with her family.
Ty talked the whole way to Jason’s dad’s house about the awesome sand castle they’d made. As they entered the kitchen, Lotty looked out back at the temporary chicken coop. Jason and his dad, Tom, had helped her build it and Tom was surprisingly excited. He’d even bought two more hens.
“Mom, we decided on a name for the newest hen,” Ty said.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, Mrs. Tucker.”
Lotty tried to suppress her laugh. They wanted to name the hen after Trinity? Lotty looked at Jason, who’s eyes were dancing with laughter of his own. “Why Mrs. Tucker, Ty?”
“Remember how much Flo liked her flowers, Mom? Flo stayed in her yard for days while we were gone and Mrs. Tucker seemed kinda mad about it. I think she might feel better if we name this one after her. Dad thought it was a good idea too.”
“Oh, good. Dad agreed.”
“I just think Ty might be onto something. She was really mad. It’s the least we could do, especially after she lost that fight with the HOA about our chicken coop.”
“Yes. I’m sure this will help her feel much better,” Lotty said. “I’m pretty sure the HOA was so busy trying to figure out how to deal with deadly toxins that they ignored her claim altogether.”
“I spoke with Mayor Ross today,” Jason said. “It looks like they still don’t know how long the clean-up will take. There are more tests to be run, but he’s hoping to have an answer for everyone by the end of the month.” Lotty nodded. She’d heard the same thing from several people at the festival. She missed her home, but life was good here. She was happy. Content.
“I’m going to run these two a bath,” Jason said.
“I’ll do it. You can shower. Just let me change into some clothes that aren’t covered in sand first.” Lotty ran up the stairs into the bedroom she and Jason were staying in and changed into some clean shorts and a t-shirt. She walked to the hamper to throw her sandy clothes away and passed Jason’s cheval mirror. He’d moved it from the house last week. She stopped and stared. Maybe that mirror wasn’t so bad. The reflection had definitely improved over the past few months. Gone was the angry, self-conscious, haggard mother. In her place stood an excited, caring, wife and mom. Everything about her wasn’t perfect, but that was okay. She loved her family, loved that they wanted to be with her, that they needed her. She’d discovered a passion for hiking and camping and enjoying nature. She was a talented business-woman and felt a part of her come alive as she helped Nikki. She adored her hens and felt a sense of pride every time she looked at their coop. And now, looking at her reflection, she felt at peace. She was proud of the woman in that mirror; the one who ate too many sweets and hated running, but had learned to love that about herself. Even the owls etched into the mirror’s boarders seemed to be winking at her and telling her she was doing great.
