Hang Tough(100)
What the hell?
Jade came down the stairs at a good clip, muttering to herself.
She didn’t even stop when he called her name; she just sailed out the door.
Tobin followed her and froze on the top porch step when he saw what had made that rumble.
A moving van.
He stomped down the steps.
Jade was already in the van driver’s face. “—back this rig up now or I will call the sheriff and have you arrested for trespassing.”
“Lady, I don’t give a damn what you think you’re gonna do. I’m gonna do my job, which is to instruct my guys to pack up the rooms on this list.”
“By whose order?”
He spun the clipboard around. “Last name Evans. First name . . . starts with a G.”
“No. This can’t be right!”
Tobin said, “Excuse us.” He took Jade’s hand and towed her around the side of the house. “I thought you sent your dad an e-mail telling him that your grandma was fine to live on her own.”
“I did! It was two pages long. It had bullet points. I e-mailed a copy to his personal address and to his office e-mail. I texted him and attached the PDF. I’ve been completely transparent about this situation with you, Tobin. Nothing has changed.”
His eyes searched hers. “Then why is there a moving van in the goddamned driveway?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why does that guy have a detailed fucking list of where to start boxing up?”
He wanted to stop yelling at Jade but he couldn’t for some reason.
Take a moment and fucking breathe.
Tobin attempted to stay calm. “Your dad must have signed that document.”
She looked away and wiped her tears.
“When did you send the e-mails?”
“Over a week ago.”
“Is there even a slight chance he didn’t get them?”
“No. I have a digital receipt from his secretary.”
“Well somebody fucked up.”
“And how nice that you assume it’s me.” She whirled away from him and headed back to the front of the house.
Tobin closed his eyes and counted to ten. What had gone wrong here?
When he found Jade, she was pacing with her cell phone to her ear. Pacing but not talking. She dialed another number and started pacing again.
Then she stopped to watch the movers pull down the ramp at the back of the semi. Another couple of guys slid open the door on the side. Flat stacks of cardboard were unloaded and dragged into the house up another temporary ramp they’d assembled that stretched to the top of the porch steps.
Neither of them moved until the first loaded box marked kitchen rolled down the ramp and up in to the van.
“Who were you trying to call?” he asked her.
“My dad. My mom. My dad’s office. GG.”
Tobin took out his phone.
He called Miz Maybelle.
No answer.
He called Tilda.
No answer.
He called Vivien.
No answer.
He called Bernice.
No answer.
No answer for either Miz G or Pearl’s phone.
Just for shits and giggles he called Jade’s phone.
It buzzed in her hand.
She frowned at the caller ID and then at Tobin. “What?”
“Since neither of us is able to get through to anyone, I wanted to rule out that we’ve fallen in some weird dead zone out here.”
“But my phone worked and disproved that theory,” she said dully.
“Yeah.”
“God. This sucks.”
“Short of chaining ourselves across the front and back doors, there’s nothing we can do.”
“That first day I showed up here, you told me you’d do whatever it took to keep the movers out, including coming out swinging.”
“I was a fuckin’ blowhard.” He exhaled. “I really don’t need assault charges on my record either.”
“So we just sit here and watch them dismantle her life?”
“Fuck if I know, Jade.”
“I can’t believe my dad would do this.”
I can’t believe you thought he wouldn’t.
More time passed in a silent void.
Eventually they both sat down in the shade.
Tobin hated that it was so fucking peaceful.
Jade cleared her throat. “Are we supposed to pack up our own stuff and get out?”
“I don’t think so. I didn’t see our bedrooms on the master list.”
She squinted at him. “You saw the master list?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you remember . . .” She briefly closed her eyes. “Right. That photographic memory. Did you see anything else?”
“Nope.”
She pulled her phone out and made another round of calls.
Nothing.
Tobin didn’t bother.
Something fishy was going on here. Why couldn’t they get a hold of anyone?
Needing to do something—anything—he stood.