wanted to ask what exactly his father had done, but before she could, there was a knock on the door.
Mrs. Fitzgerald came shuffling out of the kitchen, a white apron tied around her waist and what looked to be fresh flour on her hands. She smiled at them as more knocking reverberated through the room.
“Be right with you,” she called, wiping her hands on her apron. “I don’t know why they bother knocking. If the police are done, I would hope that Wyatt would know to just come right on in,” she said, more to herself than to them.
She opened the door and her hands dropped to her sides and she stumbled backward. “What are you doing here, William?”
There, standing in the doorway, was a sour-faced man in a business suit. As he looked inside, he smiled, and the action was as crisp and polished as the rest of his exterior.
“I thought it was high time that I stopped by the ranch and said hello,” William Poe said. He nodded toward Laura. “How goes it, Ms. Blade? Your father mentioned that you were going to be poking your head in at the ranch from time to time, thanks to the family jailbird. You know, if it were up to me there would be more than one Fitzgerald prison bound.”
The man looked as out of place at Dunrovin as a fox in a henhouse, and just as predatory.
“What are you really doing here, William?” she asked, getting up from the couch. As she did so she made sure to pull her skirt just a bit lower on her knees. The man had a reputation, and she didn’t want him leering at her.
He opened his jacket and withdrew a letter. On the front, in big bold red letters, were the words Final Notice.
“Something was incorrectly sent to my house. I think it belongs to you all.” He flipped the letter toward Mrs. Fitzgerald, but she didn’t bother to try and catch it, and it fell to the floor at her feet.
“Why would you be getting our mail, Mr. Poe?” Eloise asked, her voice taking on a dangerous edge that Laura wouldn’t have imagined the woman capable of unless she had heard it for herself.
“Well, Mrs. Fitzgerald, I would hardly know,” William said, a sleazy smile spreading over his face. “But from that note on the front, I thought it better make its way into your hands.” He nudged the envelope with his shoe, leaving tread marks on the paper. “I’d hate to stand in the way of justice being served. You know me. I’ve always tried to be helpful.”
“We know you to be a thorn in our side,” Mrs. Fitzgerald retorted.
Rainier walked over to the man. “Why don’t you just get the hell out of here?” he said, pushing him back out the door.
“How dare you touch me,” William said, his tone filled with hatred.
“What was that old commercial... Reach out and touch someone?” Rainier asked with a wicked laugh. “You’re lucky all I did was touch you. The next time you set foot on this ranch, you are going to wish that all I did was touch you.”
“You are going to wish that you never laid your hands on me.” William readjusted his suit jacket in what Laura assumed was his best attempt to save his ego. “I’d threaten to sue, but based on what you’re about to learn, we both know that you and your family wouldn’t have the money to pay me if I won, anyway.” He laughed, the room filling with the foul sound.
William turned toward Laura. “You know, if you were like your father, you would save yourself some time and just arrest Rainier now.”
Her stomach clenched. Had he seen something? Had he witnessed her lying for Rainier?
“There’s no way that man is going to stay out of trouble. In fact, I bet that’s why the police are outside, isn’t it? Are they just waiting to arrest him?” William continued on, seemingly unaware of the questions raging through her. “It wouldn’t surprise me. This family is nothing but trash.”
“You know what, William? I think Rainier was right,” Laura said, as she walked over to the doorway. “You need to get gone and stay gone.” She slammed the door in the man’s face.
As she did, she knew it would come back to haunt her. But right now she didn’t need anyone to tell her who or what the Fitzgeralds were. To her, they were just another family that needed her help.
The affection Rainier felt for Laura had grown tenfold in a matter of seconds. The last thing he had expected was for her to stand up to William Poe, his family’s arch nemesis.
He watched as she leaned over and picked up the envelope from the floor, her skirt pulling tight as she moved, making him want her just that much more.
He forced himself to look away. His family didn’t need any more drama right now. Since he’d gotten home today they’d found a body, he’d nearly been sent to prison and now William. Rainier hated to imagine what was coming just around the corner. Though, admittedly, if it somehow turned into having Laura in his bed, he wasn’t sure that he would mind so much...as long as no one found out. If his mother ever discovered that they were sleeping together, it would probably be the thing that would push her over the edge.
She walked back to Eloise and handed her the letter.
His mom stood still, staring at the door as if she was just waiting for it to open and William to come strutting back inside. The letter in her hands trembled.
“Mom,” he said gently. “Mom, why don’t you sit down?” He walked over to her and, taking her by the arm, led her to the couch and helped her settle there.
Her gaze never moved from the door.
“Do you mind if I take a look at the letter?” he asked.
She lifted her hand, motioning for him to take it, but said nothing.
He’d never seen her like this, at least not since the day he’d been sentenced. The memory of her sitting in the wooden stands of the courthouse made shivers run down his spine. He’d vowed he would never make her feel like that again, yet here they were...although this time he wasn’t entirely sure it was his fault. William’s appearance at his family’s home had to simply be a coincidence—at least he hoped so.
On the other hand, William had mentioned that he’d known Rainier was being released. Maybe he had planned his arrival to coincide in hopes that his homecoming could be ruined. Maybe it was William’s hope that they’d never be happy again. Little had he known that their day had already been ruined.
Now it was up to Rainier to fix what he could, and help them all to move past what they couldn’t.
He took the envelope from his mother. It was addressed to the ranch, care of his parents. When he tore it open, a letter fell out, with the same red lettering as on the envelope. It read Final Notice.
He pulled open the letter and saw it was from the county. As he read the words on the page, they seemed to blend together into a jumbled mess of lines and swirls as he tried to understand how “back taxes” and “working ranch taxation rates” had resulted in “Payment due on or before December 31. If not paid in full, a lien will be placed against the property for $150,489.”
