AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER1
WatchingMelanie walk out of the loan office was just the sign Mathias Nordskov had been waiting for. Not a good sign. If things were going his way, she would be shaking his hand and having him sign the papers with a smile. Based on how she couldn’t make eye contact with him now, Melanie leaving meant she couldn’t tell him no herself.
Math wasn’t surprised. She had grown up just two miles from him and had been his sister Julia’s best friend all through school. Math had watched her grow up, and now he was watching her walk quickly to her boss’s office on the other side of the bank.
This was not the first time he’d been turned down for this loan, but this was the first time the loan officer hadn’t turned him down right away. This was the third bank he had tried, and it was looking like a strikeout. They all said that his debt was too high at this time to buy more land. But he needed more land—he wouldn’t be able to grow his farm without it.
Today he had dressed in his best gray slacks and a crisp white shirt with a tie in order to impress the banker, making it seem like he wouldn’t have any trouble with a loan of this size. By the looks of it, he should have just worn his chore clothes.
Melanie had disappeared into the office across the bank, but she didn’t come out of it. Instead, another woman came out. Coolly, she walked across the bank in her high heels, tailored knee-length black skirt with a matching jacket over a light gray shirt. Her ash blonde hair was pinned up on her head. She was not smiling as her eyes trained on him. Another bad sign.
Feeling trapped in Melanie’s office, Math was well aware of the new bank president; she was notorious throughout the county for being difficult. The word around was that she was a witch, but with a capital B. Few people liked her, and fewer had gotten a loan in the last eighteen months that she had been there. That was why this bank hadn’t been his first choice to get the loan … it was his third.
Now she was walking right towards him to shoot him down. Trying not to squirm in his chair, he knew he should just get up and walk out of the bank. No, he would take all the money he had in the bank and then walk out. This had been his bank his entire life—who was this woman to tell him no?
“Mr. Nordskov, I am Tess Thorn. Melanie says that you are here about a loan?” Her voice was pleasant sounding, but she talked slower than he had expected, probably because she was gearing up to deliver the death blow.
“Ms. Thorn.” Reluctantly he shook the hand she had offered. Her perfume filled the room with the smell of summer flowers. It almost made him smile. It was January in North Dakota, the time of year when the snow was so deep you forgot summer even existed.
Math knew bad news was coming when she closed the door behind her. Good news never came behind closed doors. It had been behind closed doors almost three years ago that his former wife said it was over.
“Mr. Nordskov, I have looked over your loan application, and I do not see that it would be in the bank’s best interest to give you a loan today. If you had a twenty percent down payment, we would feel more comfortable with the loan. But for today, we are going to have to say no,” she said politely.
Looking the woman up and down, he wondered how old she was. She looked young, too young for her position. But the lines around her eyes said she was older than he thought. Those blue eyes looked at him.No, he decided,they’re a gray color, not blue at all.The blazer covered most of her body in a boxy square. Her legs were long, and her heels made them longer. She had nice legs.
His perusal of her must have been too slow because she crossed her arms before asking, “Did you hear me, Mr. Nordskov?”
“I heard you, Ms. Thorn. You said no.”
“I said not today.”
“Tomorrow then?” He knew he sounded like an annoying kid, but he couldn’t help it. She just rubbed him the wrong way.
“Most likely not.” She shook her head.
“When?” he demanded.
“I do not have a date for you,” she replied in her slow, clipped manner.
“You know I have banked here since I was six?”
“I saw that, Mr. Nordskov. But that does not change the fact that your debt ratio is too large right now.”
“You’re not from here. The moment you are gone, I will be back in here. And I guarantee that I will be getting the loan I want,” he promised her.
“You’re right; I am not from around here. And just so you know, if you do get someone to finance this loan and default, you will lose your farm. You know, the one that has been in your family for generations? Your grandkids won’t get to live there. That is why I turned you down.”
He watched her turn and walk out of the office. At the door, he thought she was going to turn around and say something else, but she didn’t.
There was no reason to stay, so he jumped out of his seat and followed her out of the office. His eyes went to her butt, and he decided the nice sway was wasted on that woman. To her credit, she did not turn around as she walked to her office.
Walking out into the freezing cold January afternoon, he hurried to his pickup in the parking lot. Once inside, he sat in the cold, looking at the bank in front of him. It looked friendly, but looks could be deceiving.
The last year had been a bad one. He had been hemorrhaging money from new equipment and fixing old equipment. Math needed the loan to increase his acreage, which would increase his cash flow. This year was going to be an interesting one without adding the land he needed.
Glancing at the clock, he realized school was out. He needed to get the kids. Starting the pickup, he was glad he lived in a small town because he was only a few blocks from the school. It was the same one he had attended for twelve years, and now his kids were there. Cora was fifteen this year and would be graduating too soon for Math to think about. Mason was eleven, but he was so different from how Math had been at that age. He had a hard time connecting with his son since the divorce. The baby, Juniper was seven and probably in a class with Melanie’s son or daughter.
Karen walking out on him had been a surprise. He hadn’t even noticed that she was unhappy. Had he been unhappy too? Maybe, but marriage was supposed to be forever, whether there was happiness or not. Since they hadn’t fought, he had assumed they were doing great. He had been wrong.
