Calmer by the moment, Lark at last felt strong enough to stop reacting and move forward. She called her friend Julie and asked if she could watch Grace for a couple hours. Her parents needed to know what Keaton had found. It was important that they knew what was coming.
An hour later, she turned her car onto the long driveway that led to the Taylor ranch house. Leaving Nicki in the car, she approached the house. It wasn’t until she set her hand on the doorknob that she realized she’d been so consumed about talking to her parents that it hadn’t occurred to her to call and make sure they were home. To her relief, her father was in his favorite chair in the great room.
“Lark, what brings you here?” Her father set aside the file he’d been reading and gestured her into a nearby chair. “You’re upset. Nothing is wrong with Skye, is it?”
She’d called her parents yesterday with the news that Skye had awakened from her coma, and to her relief they’d rushed to the hospital. For a little while they’d been a family once again, maybe not a particularly happy one, but at least for the duration of the visit, their focus had been on Skye.
“No, nothing like that,” she assured him, sitting down on the edge of the chair. “It’s about the land that borders the Holt property.”
Tyrone’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Let me guess, that Holt boy has convinced you the land belongs to his family.”
Lark ignored the acid in his voice. “He found the bill of sale at the town hall that predates the one that entitles us to that land.”
“Oh, he just found it.” Her father eyed her in disgust. “You were always book smart and not very good with people.”
She couldn’t deny her lack of social skills, but she’d seen no evidence that any of the Holts lied or cheated. They’d been nothing but kind to her and considerate of Skye and Grace. Lark’s head spun. Or was that what she wanted to believe because she’d fallen in love with Keaton?
“Can’t you at least sit down and talk with Keaton? It would save both sides a huge legal battle.”
“A legal battle we are going to win.”
Although she’d known this would be her father’s answer, disappointment swept over Lark. In the back of her mind, she’d held on to the tiniest bit of hope that her father would be reasonable for once in his life.
“You don’t know that. What if the land isn’t ours? You’re going to waste money and time fighting a losing battle.”
“It’s Taylor land.”
His vehemence threw Lark back into her childhood. For a moment she wasn’t a twenty-seven-year-old woman, but a girl of eight watching from the front seat of a pickup as her father drove his fist into David Holt’s jaw. The blow had been followed up by another to his opponent’s stomach. It wasn’t the fight that had frightened her, but her father’s savage delight. It had taken three men to restrain him.
Suddenly Lark had heard enough. “I’m sick of this stupid feud,” she cried, pushing to her feet. “It’s a couple thousand acres of land. Fighting over it has done nothing but hurt people. It drove Skye away. She left because she fell in love with Jake and no one could accept it.”
“She didn’t run away,” Tyrone said. “When I found out she’d been sleeping with that Holt boy, I threw her out.”
“What?” All this time Lark believed her parents had given Skye an ultimatum and that she’d chosen Jake. “She was your favorite. You loved her.”
“She betrayed us.” Her father rose.
Lark couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “She didn’t betray you.” Again her thoughts turned to Skye and what she must have gone through in those days after her relationship with Jake had been discovered. Lark would give anything to take back her unsupportive behavior and longed to ask her sister how she’d coped. “She fell in love.”
“Is that what you did? Your mother tells me you’re sleeping with the elder Holt boy.”
The change of topic caught Lark off guard. She should have come prepared to defend herself, but her emotions were too raw for clear thinking. “He’s not using me, if that’s what you think.”
“What I think is you didn’t have much experience with boys in high school. I’m guessing that continued in college. The Holts are liars and cheats. You should have known better than to let him trick you.”
“I haven’t.” But wasn’t that what she’d accused him of doing? Before she’d had dealings with them, Lark had always assumed there was something shifty about the Holts. She’d trusted her father’s judgment, but now that she’d gotten to know Keaton and his parents, she had a different perspective.