Summer on Kendall Farm(20)

She expected he’d drop his gaze, but he looked directly at her. While his eyes remained steady, she could see he was surprised that she knew about his trip to see Kurt Mallard.

“This is a small town, Mr. Kendall. Didn’t you think word would get back to me about your adventures?”

“Actually—”

“Actually, you didn’t,” she finished for him. “So don’t go behind my back and try and usurp my right to be here. You are the one who’s trespassing.”

“I know that’s how it looks.”

“That’s how it is.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, raising his hands in defeat. “I could tell you I’m just surprised to find things so changed.”

“What did you expect? That the world would stop until you returned here to set it in motion again?”

“For the Kendall, that’s how it’s been for a century.” He paused and looked at the house behind her. “My father and my brother kept things the same. Tell me, when you took over this place, you didn’t have to upgrade and restore everything?”

Kelly shifted her weight from one foot to the other. That’s exactly what she had to do. She’d spent a fortune bringing the house up to code. A lot of which she’d had to learn and then qualify to do herself, since she couldn’t afford to hire professionals.

She’d put up with the dust and general mess of renovation by using the rooms not being worked on, until it was their turn, and she’d switch to living in the finished ones. It was a long, arduous process.

“Almost everything. And all right, most of what you said is true. But whether it is or isn’t, you still have no claim here, and no business trying to undermine me. And what possible hold could this place have for you when you were treated with contempt by both your father and brother?”

Kelly watched him force himself to relax. “I see you know more about me than I thought.”

“People talk,” she said. “It’s still a small county.”

Jace moved up the steps and sat on the top one. He glanced at Kelly. After a moment she sat a discreet distance from him. She was angry, a body singing anger, yet she could feel the vibes that seemed to bounce off Jace.

“I never thought this place would or could hold anything for me,” he began. He spoke softly as if he was talking to himself and not to an audience of one. “Then I got Ari.”

“Got Ari?”

“He’s adopted.”

“You told me,” Kelly said. “But you made it sound as if he was left on your doorstep.”

“Close,” he said. “His mother threw him to me. Ari is four. I’ve had him for three years.”

“He wasn’t an orphan?” Kelly asked.

“Not at first. He had a mom. I didn’t know her. I only learned about her after she died. I knew nothing about the cocaine factory where she worked.” He stopped. “You’re probably thinking a factory is a building. It’s not. It’s a hole in the ground, protected by guys with guns. I was working on a water pipeline through one of the jungles and the cocaine factory was nearby. There were rumors about it, so I knew it was there and our crews steered clear of it. But then it was raided. People were screaming and running in all directions when it exploded.”

Kelly’s heart went out to the small child sleeping in the bed upstairs.

“When we heard the bang, I ran toward it, grabbing and pulling people out of the wreckage. Ari’s mother crawled out, dragging the child with her. She pushed him at me just as a second explosion rocked the ground. Both Ari and I went down, but I fell on my back instinctively keeping him safe. He’s been with me ever since.”

This, Kelly knew, was designed to gain her sympathy. It did, but she was determined not to show it. “And Ari is the reason for the return?”

“In part. Ari needed better doctors. I mentioned his asthma.”

“You have health insurance?”

“I have to check on my options. I’m not sure anymore.”

“What happens then?”

“I hope to have a job by then.”

“I’d like to suggest that you put your efforts into finding employment with insurance instead of trying to get a bank loan to buy the Kendall. It’s not for sale.”

“I suppose that’s fair. In the morning, I’ll look for another place for us to stay.”

“Dad?” The door to the Kendall had been ajar and Ari pushed it fully open and stepped onto the porch, his fist wiping sleep from his eyes.

Jace automatically opened his arms and the small child walked into them. He settled the still-sleepy boy on his legs.