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“Westwood’s?” Grandma repeated.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“What do they want?”
“They’re looking to purchase several acres of land on the southwest side of the farm for some expansion project they’re working on,” I shared.
Silence fell over the room. While this might have seemed like a simple situation, it was anything but. Especially for my family.
We’d just gotten out of a two-and-a-half-year long battle with the town of Landing over our farm. They’d wanted to take a hefty chunk of the land under eminent domain, and we had no choice but to fight them. We pushed back hard, dumping every last dime we had into the fight.
In the end, it had been worth it, because we won that battle, and we managed to hold on to every acre that had been in this family for generations.
But just because we won didn’t mean it was easy.
It was the most stressful time of my life. It was exhausting, and I was legitimately concerned we might not win in the end.
To top it off, it sucked up a lot of money, much of which we didn’t already have.
And now we had this.
Granted, it should have been as simple as being able to respond to the letter and tell them no, but I knew better. My family knew better.
My mom was the first to break the silence. “Have you responded to them?”
“No. I just got the letter right before dad showed up at the end of the day. But I plan to send a reply immediately and let them know we’re not interested.”
“It’s just ludicrous,” Grandpa muttered. “No matter how hard you work, there’s always someone looking to take a piece of it.”
I couldn’t say I disagreed. We’d dealt with that as a family, and I’d seen it in action in my personal life. Frustrated wasn’t even the correct word for what I felt about all of it.
“I’m going to take care of it, Grandpa,” I promised.
Disappointment washed over him. “You shouldn’t have to.”
“What are they even planning to do?” Grandma wondered. “They’ve already got so much going on over there. I can’t imagine what else they could be doing now.”
I couldn’t say I was completely angry about the presence of the Westwood family in Landing. People came from all over to visit Westwood’s, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of confectionery. While they made all sorts of goodies, it was the chocolate they were known for.
And if I was honest, having Westwood’s here in Landing was great for the town. Because it brought tourists, who would not only visit the Westwood campus, but they’d also visit the rest of Landing. It was great for all the smaller businesses.
But I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit upset by how much they’d grown over the years. It was great for them, but in a situation like this, all I could see was them doing what they had to do to expand their company. They would eat up the land for whatever this project was, and before we knew it, our farm would be reduced to less than half its size.
“I really don’t know what else they could be planning,” I confessed. “They’ve already got the chocolate factory, the museum, the hotel, and the theme park. What else is left?”
Everyone shook their heads, because nobody knew the answer to that. It was safe to say we knew what we did about our farm, our animals, and our family. We couldn’t begin to understand what the Westwoods intended to do next.
“Rhea’s going to tell them we’re not interested, so that should put an end to it,” Dad finally chimed in. “They can’t purchase what we aren’t willing to sell.”
“At least there’s that,” my mom mumbled. “We didn’t have that option with the town, but we have a choice now.”
I smiled brightly, because I didn’t want any of them thinking I was concerned. But the truth was, I didn’t think it was going to be so easy.
Of course, I’d do everything to make it clear where the Marks family stood.
But this was the Westwood family we were talking about. I didn’t think they were going to just accept my answer without a fight.
And it was that which worried me.
