Page 22 of Your Heart & Mine

TryThatinaSmall Townby Jason Aldean blasting from the side table next to his bed had Wyck groaning in pain. His head pounded like tiny coal miners were working in his brain. He'd finished off the wine and a good portion of a bottle of Jack after Harper's sudden departure the night before. His hand clawed blindly at the bedside table trying to find the offending noise and make it stop. One blue eye cracked open to see the screen as he brought the phone to his face.Fuck! Davis.

"What?" he growled into the phone.

"Good morning to you, too, Sunshine," Davis quipped.

"What the fuck time is it?" His voice was thick, and he thought something might have crawled in his mouth and died overnight.

"Dude. You hitting the moonshine up there in the mountains?" Davis asked with a smirk in his voice. His buddy was all too familiar with the sounds of hungover Wyck. He stifled another groan as he tried to drag himself up to a sitting position.Fuck me!

"What do you want, Davis?" Wyck gritted out. He leaned over resting his elbows on his knees, trying to tamp down his nausea with deep breaths. He heard the man chuckle and ground his teeth.

"I take it you partied too hard last night?" Davis asked. "Haven't heard you this bad since college."

"Definitely not a party," Wyck grumbled. "Just some old memories got the better of me."

"Thought you might like to know that the attorney out there called me again," Davis shared after a beat. "Apparently, there's someone local that is wanting to buy some of the Carrington properties. Pretty badly apparently. I told him no the first time he called but now he's sent me a proposal of what they want to do with them. Kinda interesting. Thought I'd see if you still wanted to hold onto all of them."

Wyck sat up slowly, willing the room to quit spinning, and scrubbed a hand over his face. "I don't know. I can’t think right now. Who wants them?”

“Looks like it’s some kind of non-profit. Must be brand new. The old Google couldn’t tell me anything about them.” Wyck heard the shuffling of papers. “It’s called Community Legacy.”

That didn’t sound like some big development outfit, but Wyck’s head was still pounding too badly to think straight. “What properties are they wanting?"

Davis recited the list and the planned development as outlined. Wyck huffed. "Fine. Let them have those first two buildings, but not that property out by the factory. I have plans for that one."

"Will do," Davis agreed, his voice laced with way too much amusement for Wyck's current state of mind.

Wyck hit speaker and placed the phone next to him on the bed. He massaged his temples trying to dispel the throbbing pain in his head. "Where are we on getting that house back?"

There was a long moment of dead air before Davis spoke again. "Haven't been able to get Mack to sell it back to us yet," Davis confessed.

"Why the fuck not?" Wyck asked through gritted teeth. In the scheme of things, it was an insubstantial property but for Harper and her family, it was everything.

"Leverage," Davis huffed. "He wants that commercial property we've been holding onto in Short Pump."

Wyck's jaw clenched. Mack had been trying to get to that property for two years but didn't want to pay what it was worth. Seemed he'd found something to force the issue.

"Make it happen," Wyck ground out.

"But, dude, he's offering half of what it's worth," Davis protested.

"I'm aware, but that house is important. I'll make up the difference to the company from my personal account." Wyck scrubbed his hands up and down his face again the rasp of his beard sounding too loud in his ears. "I need that house back, Davis."

One beat, then two went by before Davis spoke again, his voice more serious. "Maybe you should come on home, man. That place isn't good for you. You've moved on, built something here. Don't get dragged back down into the muck of those hollows."

It was sound advice, but it was already too late. "You're probably right, but I've still got some unfinished business here to take care of. I'll be fine, Davis. Just let me know when it's taken care of. Alright?"

"Yeah, man. Whatever you say. Talk to you soon."

The line went dead and Wyck fell back onto the bed. He definitely had unfinished business. And her name was Harper Carrington.

After showering, shaving and drinking a vat of coffee, Wyck decided he needed to run to town to get some groceries. He couldn't keep eating at Janelle's and ordering take out Chinese from the next town over. He was pushing a cart up an aisle of Food City when he saw her. Mitzi and Mrs. Osborne seemed to be debating the costs of different large bags of coffee. Before he could do an about face and escape, she noticed him. Her face went completely blank for a beat before a bland pleasantness descended over her features.

"Hey there, Mitzi, Mrs. Osborne," Wyck said hesitantly. He had no idea if Harper would have mentioned their meeting.

"Wyck," Harper's mother acknowledged with a short nod. "I'd heard you were back in town."

"Yeah, uh, it's been a while. I had some business close by so I thought…" Wyck trailed off. What could he say? I came to gloat over ruining your husband and somehow I tripped and my dick landed in your daughter?Jesus!

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