Page 42 of Hometown Hottie

Frank stopped too, and I got out with a frown as he strode up to me. I had half a mind to grab the collar of his shirt and toss him against the truck while I demanded answers, but I managed to keep myself from letting the violence take over.

“What the fuck is this, Frank?” I snapped, my features dropping into a scowl. “I know this place, and I also know that’s it’s not for sale.”

He held his hands up like he was trying not to frighten a scared baby deer. “It’s not for sale yet, but it will be. If you know the place, you also know that the owners are getting older and they’re drowning in the expenses of maintaining the property. I’m offering them a lifeline by buying pieces of their property one by one. As they let go of those pieces, I’ll sell them on to developers who will be able to help this land achieve its true potential in a way the current owners will never be able to do.”

So that was his scheme. He’d just given me the full rundown and it was more horrifying than I’d thought. He was planning on pushing them off their property bit by bit, splitting it up, and selling it off. Nausea rolled through me.

I might have the guts to tell him off about this, but how many others had he already brought out here? How many people already intended to buy these parcels of land as soon as they became available?

“Some might say that the current owners have already developed it to its fullest potential,” I ground out. “Not that it matters because, like I said, this property isn’t for sale.”

“Not yet,” he reiterated. “Mr. Murphy is coming around, though. Don’t you want to get in on prime land right next to town before it officially goes on the market? A location like this will sell itself within a week, tops, Carson. Think about it and let me know?”

Go kick rocks, asshole.“I’ve already thought about it, and I don’t need you as a realtor anymore. Stay away from the Murphys, Frank. Trust me when I tell you that they’re not people you want to mess with in this town.”

With that, I climbed back into my truck and sped off, leaving him in the literal dust. I wanted to go talk to Nova about it immediately, but after what had happened the other night and the morning after, I wasn’t sure she even wanted me around.

Frank had said that George was coming around, though, which meant that something had changed between now and then. That night, the property definitely hadn’t been on the market and he hadn’t intended on selling, but now, Frank seemed certain it would be for sale soon.

Unease wound itself like vises around each of my internal organs. Whatever he’d told George to get him to consider his offer, I had a feeling it hadn’t been the whole truth and George was in a damn dangerous position.

Determined to think it through before I went to them and accused Frank of planning an ambush, I pointed my truck in the direction of Moe’s. I needed some time before I went home and had to face my mom for dinner. Time to think of how I was going to break it to her that my childhood best friend was about to have his home—and the reason he hadn’t chased his dreams—yanked away from him without ever seeing it coming.