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“Marnie Chapman,” she said, walking around the desk, arm extended. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Thank you so much for coming all this way,” Georgia said as they shook hands.
They were going to get along well. His instincts were right. He knew a lot of male attorneys, but something steered him toward pairing Georgia with a female attorney—and not just because Marnie was one of the best he knew. Georgia needed an ally when going up against all these cowboys, including the ones in her own family.
“Have a seat,” Marnie said as she walked back to her side of the table.
Clayton pulled Georgia’s chair back for her before taking his own. He had a notepad and pen at his spot, as did Marnie. He slid his over to Georgia. She was the one who would likely want to take notes.
“Iced vanilla latte,” Marnie said, gesturing toward the coffee cup in front of Georgia. “I know this time of year, most people like hot coffee, but I figured this would hold up better in these temperatures.”
“Thank you,” Georgia said.
When she reached for her drink, Clayton couldn’t help but notice her hand was trembling slightly. It would probably be barely noticeable to anyone else, but he was tuned in to her.
He also wondered if she paid attention to the fact that they were both seated on the same side of the table, like they were together. That had been Marnie’s suggestion, but Clayton had been perfectly fine with it. She’d said it was less intimidating this way. Two attorneys staring at you across the table was straight out of one of those cop dramas where detectives were trying to shake down the criminal.
Marnie leaned forward, hands clasped on top of the papers on the open file folder. “I’ve reviewed your case. Certainly, you’re free to choose any attorney you like, but I definitely think we can come to some compromises here. I’m sure Clayton told you going to court is never the best option in a case like this.”
Georgia and Clayton shared a look that shot sparks through him once again. He was probably going to have to resign himself to fighting these feelings whenever Georgia was around.
“I’d love to settle,” Georgia told Marnie. “But my brothers aren’t going to just agree to whatever the Knott family wants to get them off our case.”
Marnie nodded and looked down at the notepad. She’d gone through the case files thoroughly and jotted some things down before making the trip here.
“The issue, as I see it, is that you have a business that’s making a lot of money, and the Knott brothers don’t.” Marnie glanced at Clayton.
He returned her stare with a look. The look was designed to repeat what he’d told her before Georgia arrived. He couldn’t get into those details, but whatever Marnie discovered on her own was her doing.
After he’d contacted her, she’d reviewed the same paperwork he’d given Georgia and come to these conclusions on her own. That kept it from appearing that he was helping the respondent when he was supposed to be representing the complainant.
“That explains the milk,” Georgia suddenly said. Clayton looked over at her, at which point she seemed to realize her outburst hadn’t made sense to anyone but her. “You said they were selling milk at the grocery store. Cattle ranches don’t typically operate as dairy farms. It made me wonder if they’re having financial troubles.”
Had Clayton inadvertently given away his clients’ financial information? No, the fact they were selling milk was hardly a secret. The milk said Knott Ranch right on the label. Obviously, the Ludingtons didn’t pay attention to the labels in the dairy case while they were shopping.
“The thing is, you’re operating a thriving business on land that doesn’t belong to you.” Marnie set down her pen and crossed her arms on the table in front of her. “The family who actually owns the property is struggling.”
She shifted her gaze to Clayton on that last word, and he resisted the urge to squirm. He knew what she was getting at. It was clear from the paperwork that the Knott family was having a tough time making ends meet.
Yeah, they were selling milk at the grocery store, but they didn’t have the setup necessary for a full-blown dairy farm. Making the move into farming might not be the best course of action, anyway.
They’d also discussed selling the land and dividing everything up between siblings, but Gus Knott didn’t want to do that. And it was during those discussions that Phoenix Knott pulled the property records and found their family owned more land than they realized. And on half of that land sat a very profitable business.
“I will excuse myself now.” Clayton grabbed his coffee cup and pushed his chair back with his legs as he stood. “I’ll be outside when you’re finished.”
Marnie nodded, but Georgia turned two panic-stricken eyes on him. She’d be fine with Marnie. She was in good hands. But it was a conflict of interest for Clayton to be in here for this.
“I’ll be right outside,” Clayton repeated, giving Georgia his most earnest stare. In that, her expression relaxed, making him comfortable enough to leave the room.
A full twenty minutes passed before Marnie finally emerged. Clayton wasn’t sure whether that was a good or bad sign.
But Marnie immediately eased his worry. She put a hand on his upper arm and smiled up at him.
“She’s ready to settle. Let’s work up some documentation and sit down this weekend.”
“My town or yours?” he asked, a big smile on his face.
“I’ll come back here,” Marnie said. “I’d love to take a look around the property if I could. Maybe you and Georgia could show me around Cupid Ridge.”
