Bet The Farm - Staci Hart Page 0,20

leave you to it.” I started to turn, hoping I could avoid an actual conversation with him, but he snagged my hand.

“Please, don’t. Don’t go back into that hothouse on account of me.”

I withdrew my hand from his and folded my arms.

“Smoke?” he asked, cigarette hanging from his lips as he reached into his back pocket.

“No, thank you.”

He settled the pack back where it’d been and took another drag. “It was a beautiful service. Frank’s gonna be missed around here, no doubt about that.”

I almost laughed—he certainly wouldn’t be missed by the Pattons. “Thank you.”

“When my grandfather died, it was the longest day of my life. He was the epicenter of this town, and the hoopla was almost unbearable. All any of us wanted was to be alone, but we found ourselves in the middle of everyone else’s grief. It’s brutal. But tomorrow will be a different kind of hard. Because that’s when it really hits you.”

I swallowed my tears, nodding. “Thank you for coming to pay your respects.”

He smirked even as he took a pull. “All you’ve done is thank me since you came out here.”

At that, I did laugh, relaxing just enough. I leaned against the house again, facing him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Why did you come? The Pattons and the Brents are the Hatfields and McCoys of this town. You can imagine it’s a surprise to see you here, at the house.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Would you kick us out if I said it was politics?”

“You? No. Your dad? No promises.”

“The honest truth is that I’ve been holding out hope he’d have the courage to mend fences. I can’t say I subscribe to a hundred-twenty-five-year-old feud—no good has ever come of it. I’ll keep holding out for a change of heart, especially now that Frank is gone,” he said with a nod toward the house. “There’s no reason to keep it going—not one that makes sense. But I couldn’t let him come alone. So here we are.”

I glanced in through the window to see James Patton talking with all the gusto of a politician, and the sight turned my stomach. I tried to tell myself perhaps the song and dance was just how a man like him dealt with regret. By pretending it didn’t exist.

“I heard you inherited the farm. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, infinity,” he teased.

I chuckled, looking down at the slats of the porch.

“So what are you going to do with it?”

“Well, if you know that I inherited, you know Jake inherited half.”

“I do.”

“And you also know we have to decide everything together.”

“Naturally. Of course, I didn’t figure you’d stick around. I thought you’d be back to New York.”

I frowned. “You and everybody, it seems.”

“It makes sense, that’s all. Don’t take it personal,” he said, somehow sounding reassuring. “You know Dad’s been trying to acquire your farm forever. Maybe one day, it’ll be up to you and me. We can put the feud to bed by joining forces. I’m sure you know we could do a lot for your farm. How we could use our reach and money and expand.”

“I’m sure you could, but I think we’ll be just fine on our own. We’ve lasted this long.”

He smiled sidelong at me so amiably, not a single warning bell rang. “You have. And I’m sure you’ll outlive us all. But it’s a nice thought, isn’t it?”

I was just about to thank him again for a laugh and excuse myself, but before either of us could speak, the back door flew open, and Jake blew out.

He stormed. He brewed and crackled. He rumbled and thundered with whorls and eddies of darkness.

His eyes were locked on Chase.

But Chase watched him approach, unfazed. He took a final lazy drag of his cigarette and flicked it into the yard. “Heya, Jake. Condolences.”

“Fuck you, Patton.”

Chase put up his hands in surrender and straightened up with the fluid grace of a cat. “Come on now. You don’t want to do this today, do you?”

“Today feels like the best day to do it. If I had my way, you’d already be in your car on your way to your daddy’s house with a broken nose.”

“And since you didn’t have your way, who did?”

Neither of us answered, but I swore I heard a battle cry rattling in Jake’s chest.

“I see,” he said with that cavalier smile on his face. “Well, I think I’ll say my goodbyes.” He turned to me. “It was nice seeing you again, Olivia. Hope next time it’s under better circumstances.”

I didn’t

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