Page 58 of Tempting Fate

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He gave it a second to sink in. “Wow. You like twisting the knife, now don’t you?”

“It’s not my place to decide what someone does with the land once it’s theirs.” Even to her own ears she sounded too defensive. Moto Entertainment was offering her full price; she’d be a sentimental idiot not to take it.

“Nope, but you could sell to someone else. The constant noise, the smells, the traffic…it’ll be untenable for the neighbors. But I suppose this is your ultimate fuck you…to Lucky…Tawny.”

“I doubt they’ll even be able to hear it.”

“Really, Ray? They’re not even a mile away.” He put away the griddle, slammed the cabinet door shut, and strode away.

Chapter 15

Gabe felt sucker punched. Just when he was starting to think Raylene wasn’t the evil witch everyone thought she was…a motocross track. A goddamn motocross track. Sure, it was her property to sell to whomever she wanted to, but really? It was certainly an effective way to get back at everyone who’d been hateful to her. But he’d sort of gotten the impression that her trip here was as much about redemption as it was about Logan’s wedding.

Well, you were wrong, sucker.

He turned the water as hot as he could take it and stepped into the shower. Logan and Annie had redone the plumbing and gotten one of those tankless water heaters, so maybe he’d stay in here for the rest of the day.

He heard the door creak open and pulled the shower curtain open enough to see Raylene standing there.

“It’s not what you think,” she said. “I don’t want to sell to Moto Entertainment, but I need the money.”

He pulled the curtain closed, wanting his shower in peace. “You’ve got loads of it, Raylene. More than most people will ever have in a lifetime.”

“That’s the thing: I don’t.”

He didn’t want to hear her bullshit now. He just wanted a little time to himself to wash her away and get his head on straight. “I’ll help you look for the gold today if you promise to be out of here after we find a place for your horse.” When the neighbors caught wind of who she was selling to there’d be hell to pay, and he was duty bound to Logan to defend her.

“Can’t we talk about this?”

He could hear a tremble in her voice and thought she might be crying, but he wasn’t going to let her tears sway him. “There’s nothing to talk about. Let me finish my shower and we’ll go.”

She drew the curtain open. “Please.”

“Out!” he shouted, and she jumped. Gabe didn’t like yelling, he didn’t like scaring her, but he had nothing to say. “Please go away.”

By the time he got dressed she was gone, and so was the metal detector he’d stowed in the garage.

He found his phone on the floor of Raylene’s bedroom and called Griffin.

“Yo,” he answered on the second ring.

“I’ve got a favor to ask.” Gabe sat on the edge of the bed, which Raylene had remade, and explained the situation with her horse.

“There’s room,” Griff said, “but the stable is for residents only. I’m a resident and could presumably sponsor her but…”

“I know, I know.” Gabe pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, the sooner I can square away her horse, the sooner she leaves, which would be best for everyone. It’ll just be until Logan and Annie get back from their honeymoon and we figure out a more permanent situation.”

“All right. But who’s going to take care of the horse in the meantime? I’m looking to hire someone, but until then everyone takes care of his or her own animals.”

That was step two in Gabe’s nonexistent plan. “Still working on that. But having a place for the horse in the interim is half the battle. Thanks, Griff. I owe you big time.”

“You don’t owe me a thing—Raylene does. And she can pay me back by leaving Lucky and Tawny alone.”

Wait until he heard what good ol’ Raylene had in store for her former neighbors. Not that it was the horse’s fault, so why should he suffer?

After he hung up with Griffin, he called the hardware store. His last call was to Rhys, to see if there was anything new on their overnight break-in. Earlier, before Raylene had woken up, Gabe had spied one of Rhys’ officers outside, processing her truck. No matter how much he wanted to convince himself that it was the work of the homeless trio Rhys had spotted, something about it—them—felt weird, like there was a missing piece to the puzzle.

Rhys wasn’t in, so Gabe left a message, then headed out.