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“Hey, y’all!” she said as Jesse helped her down from the truck. Her smile faded when she saw their somber faces. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong.” Hank glanced at Jesse and waved the document he held in his hand. “We’re being evicted!”
Chapter Sixteen
Jesse’s brain was still trying to wrap around Liberty wanting to run a bed-and-breakfast together so it took him a second to comprehend what Hank Holiday had just said. When it finally sank in, he didn’t wait to be invited up on the Holidays’ porch. He took the steps two at a time and held out his hand to Hank.
“Could I take a look at that, sir?”
Once Hank handed it to him, Jesse quickly scanned the document. It was exactly what Hank said it was. An eviction notice. If they weren’t gone by July 1st, the county sheriff, who just happened to be Decker, would be there to escort them off the property.
“It came with this.” Rome handed him the piece of paper he held. “It’s the judge-signed foreclosure. Your friend must know someone high up to get it pushed through all the usual red tape so quickly.”
Corbin knew a lot of people who had connections—Jesse had made sure of it. He’d introduced Corbin to anyone he thought could help his brother’s business succeed. He hadn’t thought Corbin would use those connections to throw someone out of their home. The Corbin he knew wouldn’t. Something wasn’t adding up.
He glanced through the document before he handed it back to Rome. “I need to talk to Corbin and get this straightened out.” He glanced at Mimi, who looked pale and lost. “I promise you I will, Ms. Mimi. Even if I have to fly to Paris myself.”
“He’s not in Paris,” Decker said. “I saw him in town on my way out here.”
Jesse was surprised Corbin hadn’t texted or called him to tell him he was in town, but he tried not to show it. “Then we should have this all figured out by tonight.”
Hank snorted. “I’ll believe it when I hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Or more like the jackass’s mouth.”
“Hank!” Darla scolded. “If Jesse says he’s going to get it worked out, I believe him.” She smiled at him. “Thank you, Jesse. We appreciate you helping us.”
“Well, don’t just stand there, boy,” Mimi said. “Go talk to Corbin. When you two get things figured out, you both come on back here for supper and we’ll celebrate. You haven’t tried my homemade elderberry wine yet and I think it’s time to crack open some bottles.”
“Thank you for the invite, Ms. Mimi, but Corbin might be a little jet lagged.” Jesse looked at Liberty. “But I’ll be back.”
Liberty followed him out to his truck and voiced the same question he had been asking himself. “Why didn’t Corbin call to tell you he was back?”
“I don’t know. But I guess I’ll find out shortly.” He started to climb into his truck, but then stopped and turned to her. “Look, Libby, about the way I acted earlier. Your bed-and-breakfast idea just took me a little by surprise, is all.”
“You don’t have to explain.” She shook her head. “It was a silly idea.”
“It’s not silly. It’s just that I never really thought about being—”
She cut him off. “I get it. Why would a successful businessman want to run a bed-and-breakfast in a Podunk town?” She tapped the brim of his hat. “Now go save my family’s ranch.”
He started to get in his truck, but once again stopped. He knew her family was watching, but he didn’t care. He swept her into his arms and kissed her. He planned to just give her a quick kiss, but as soon as her lips melted against his, he was lost. When he finally drew back and looked into those pretty green eyes, a feeling washed over him. A feeling that pushed him to say something he had no business saying.
So instead, he just smiled. “See you soon, Libby Lou.”
Once he got to the trailer, he found a brand-new white dually pickup truck with the dealer tag still on it parked out front. It looked like Corbin had traded his Cadillac SUV in for a truck almost as big as Jesse’s. Jesse grinned as he parked and hopped out.
He thought he’d find Corbin sleeping off his jet lag. He should have known better. Like him, Corbin didn’t sleep. Instead, he was sitting at the scarred kitchen table working on his laptop with Tay-Tay curled in his lap.
He and Jesse looked nothing alike. Jesse looked like their daddy while Corbin had taken after his blond-haired, blue-eyed mama. Those blue eyes lit up when Jesse stepped into the trailer.
“Hey, Jess!”
Jesse was just as happy to see his brother. “Hey, yourself. I see you had a little truck envy.” He glanced out the window. “But yours still isn’t as big as mine.”
Corbin laughed. “Yeah, but it’s newer and doesn’t need a jump start every time it gets cold.”
“Hey, Bubba’s truck will outrun yours any day—or maybe not outrun yours, but run over yours.” He walked over and slapped Corbin on the back. “Good to see you, little bro. Why didn’t you text me to tell me you were back?”
“I wanted to surprise you.” Corbin grinned. “Or not me as much as—” Before he could finish, Tay-Tay woke up from her nap. Surprisingly, she didn’t hiss. In fact, she stood up on Corbin’s lap and greeted Jesse with a soft meow. When he petted her head, she pushed into his hand.
