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If she knew that, why didn’t she get to the point? “What is this about?” Directness was his middle name. Even if he had a fairly solid idea about what she was going to say.Please God.
“I know that some of our mail has been, shall we say, misplaced over the years—”
Misplaced, misdirected, whatever.
“—so I thought I’d call. I’m sure you’d appreciate being saved a trip to town.”
“I do appreciate that, thank you.” The words came out tight, impatient, even as he shot for as much politeness as he could, as his gut tensed.Please God, please God, please …
“I’m sorry, but your application for a loan extension has been denied.”
He closed his eyes, the word beating into his soul. Denied. Denied? What the heck was he going to do now?
“Considering the mortgage has already been extended once, the bank truly is in no position to offer further credit unless and until we know there is a guarantee of payment within the parameters of our initial contract. I’m afraid we both know you have not met your legal obligations to date.”
He swallowed. Was her slight emphasis onlegala hint that this could be about to get ten times worse? “Millie, you know things have been tough lately. We just need a little more time.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Reilly—”
“We’re back to formalities now?” That never boded well.
“—but having been the one to personally review the application, I had to conclude it did not meet our criteria for automatic approval.”
His eyes closed, his finger clenched, and he was sorely tempted to kick something. Then that second-last word filtered into his brain again. “You said automatic approval.”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean there are grounds for alternative approval?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Is there a way I can amend the application to earn the bank’s approval?”
There was a short pause. “As explained in the policy document you read before filling out the application, there is no guarantee that an application will meet with success. So I’m sorry, but unless you can come up with an alternative option that will prove financially viable, the answer will still be no.”
“But Brutus is destined to be the top breeding bull in the county.”
“But he isn’t now,” her voice was patient, like he was a little kid, and not someone he’d shared a freshman English class with fifteen years ago. “If you can get that side of the business going, then well and good. If not, well, I’m afraid we’ll need to consider what options remain.”
“What options do remain?” Man, he hated the whining sound in his voice.
“I’m afraid your options are being increasingly more limited, but such is the case for anyone who has extended their mortgage to the extent you have. If you hadn’t bought that new machinery last year—”
Machinery that meant he could grade his road after heavy rain or snow and not have to wait for the county to fix it.
“—then perhaps things wouldn’t be so dire. But what’s done is done, and unless you find a solution in the next month or so, then you may need to consider whether you should sell off a parcel of your land.”
Now he really wanted to swear.
“I’m sorry, Jackson,” she said. “We’ll be in touch, okay?”
“Can’t wait.” He stabbed at the phone to hang up, but even that piece of childish spite was denied him as he saw she had already ended the call.
He was sorely tempted to throw the phone across the room, but didn’t, knowing he would then have to buy a new one. And that, like everything else, was something he couldn’t afford.
What was he going to say? What was he going to do?God, help me.
He shifted to face the view and stretched back in the chair, extending his arms and legs to full capacity, rolling his shoulders to release the tension. But nothing could truly release the pressure within. He’d known things were bad. But this bad? How could little Millie Avery be so uncaring, like she’d forgotten he used to flirt with her in school?
