Page 62 of All Mine

So hot that I tried to climb him like a tree, but I refused to admit that. I took a swig from the cup Lucy gave me. The Coke muted the smoky burn and made the whiskey drinkable, and it went down surprisingly fast. We all gathered around the kitchen island with our glasses.

“Oh yeah,” Sloane answered. “Dude belongs on the cover of a magazine.”

“He’s the enemy, ladies,” I announce. I’d forgotten that before, a mistake that wouldn’t happen again. The time and distance away from Camden in my space were what I needed for a clear head and focus. I have recommitted to my goal of destroying him.

“It sounds like whoever his client is, is actually the enemy. He’s just doing his job,” Lacy said.

“I would agree with you if he’d have quit when I explained it to him, but his response was if he stopped, he wouldn’t get paid.”

“Getting paid is important,” Lacy responded.

“He has enough and could move on to another project.” I am not the unreasonable one here. Am I? “Besides, Lewis wasn’t in the market to sell, and he keeps on after him, trying to convince him to sell. I mean, who does that? Who tries to force someone to sell their land?”

Lacy opens her mouth then closes it again. She had nothing. And I’m satisfied in my rightness.

“She’s gone stubborn again,” Lucy said.

“Yep,” Sloane said.

“Am I supposed to let this guy take advantage of me and this town? Cause I’m not about to step aside and do that. His only interest is in lining his already deep pockets and not what’s best for the town.” I refill my cup with more whiskey and a little less Coke than before. This time the swig burns on the way down my throat.

“But what’s best for you?” Lacy asked.

“Not losing my business. That’s the most important thing.” And not letting someone build a bougie, overpriced mall in my town. “So, are you two going to help me or not?”

“You don’t even have to ask,” Lucy said.

“Do you know when mom and dad are coming home?” Lacy asked, leaning on the island and taking a sip.

“I don’t know,” I shrug. “Said they were playing it by ear.”

“Where are they at now?” Sloane asked.

“A couple of days ago, they were up somewhere in Pennsylvania.”

“Must be nice to travel the country by RV with no schedule,” Lacy said.

“Sounds awful,” I said, a calm whisky haze washing over me. “It looks like you two have the house to yourselves. So no wild parties.”

Lacy rolled her eyes. “There’s no one here to attend a wild party.”

“I’m looking forward to the quiet,” Lucy said.

“My twin sister’s an old lady,” Lacy lamented.

“I’m exhausted. Do you know how many of my exams were nothing but a butt load of essay questions?” Lucy asked.

“No one made you go pre-law,” Lacy said.

“A week of rest, and you’ll be good as new,” I said.

“Wow,” Sloane asked. “You want to be a lawyer?”

“If I can get into law school,” Lucy said.

My older sister’s a doctor so, if my little sister becomes a lawyer, I’m a clichéd slacker with a business that can be taken from me in an instant by someone with deeper pockets. I’m a twenty-seven-year-old woman with a failed marriage who lives in an attic and sleeps on a hide-a-bed. Where did I go wrong? I refill my cup with straight Jack Daniels and swig, the room getting fuzzier by the minute.

“What about you?” Sloane asked Lacy.

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