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“We aren’t going anywhere,” I said through gritted teeth.
“The great state of Texas says otherwise.” The statement was triumphant, like he knew something I didn’t.
“Who’d you get to?”
“I have no idea what you mean,” he said, his voice infused with innocence. “Not everyone has theJacobs’ power and influence.”
“You want a taste of just how far it reaches?” I hissed, not bothering to correct him that we were just ordinary folks when it came down to it.
“I’ve already had it. You still have the land that’s mine.”
“This has gone on long enough. You’re pissed off over something none of us were even around for and that no one remembers.” I paced in front of the dresser, catching a glimpse of my distressed state. I turned my back on the image.
“I’m not pissed off. I’m the one finally doing something to get what rightfully belongs to my family. You’ve been living off our mineral rights, making a mint off horses and cattle that belong to us.”
I nearly crushed the phone with my hand. “My family worked hard for everything we have. That ranch will never be yours.”
“We’ll just see about that.”
“What do you want with it anyway? You planning to come back to Burdett?” None of this made any sense. Why the hell was my land so important to him?
“You make it sound like it’s no big deal. If that’s so, why are you trying so hard to hold onto it?”
I mashed my lips together and let out a huff of air. “For reasons you’d never understand.”
“I appreciate you interrupting our Thanksgiving dinner for nothing. If you play nice, then we might be able to work something out.” I was starting to get a sinking feeling that he’d already won.
“Let this go, Randall.”
“You give my family what belongs to us. We might sell it back to you. Minus the mineral rights, of course.”
I pounded the top of the dresser. “You’ve lost your goddamn mind!”
“And you’re about to lose your goddamn ranch.”
Three tones sounded in my ear, indicating he’d hung up. I threw the phone against the wall. It splintered and left a dent in the Sheetrock.
“FUCK!” My shout echoed off the walls.
“Stone?” Muriella knocked on the door, sounding alarmed. “Is everything okay?”
I opened it to find her worried face. “I think I made a mistake.”
She glanced down at the pieces of my phone on the hardwood floor. “What happened?”
“I called Randall. Thought we could talk it out like men, but I lost my cool as soon as he answered the phone.”
Her brows pinched. “That’s not like you.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I hate sitting around doing nothing while everything goes to hell.”
She gestured toward the kitchen. “Come eat. We’ll talk it through, and see if we can come up with anything.”
I nodded, though I didn’t have the heart to tell her I’d lost my appetite.
While she ate,I mostly picked at my food.
“I don’t understand how this family went from pursuing your ranch directly to getting the state involved. If they want it, what good is it to them for the state to have it?” She looked at me from behind her glass of wine.
