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“Mh-hmm.” She shakes her head. “I found out from Beatrice Wilson and she just loved that she knew something about you that I didn’t. Your daddy would have been livid if he had lived to see this, young lady.”
My heart seizes up in my chest. The fact that my great aunt just invoked my father in this fight is brutal. My hand flutters up to cover my heart. “I’m sorry, Aunt Delta. I should have come to you first.”
“Lord.” Her mouth pinches together. “I need to meet your boyfriend. Before you get any more serious, I need to see for myself that he has good intentions. You’re going to inherit all of my lands one of these days. And I have to know that you’re not with a man who will use his connections to get it and then leave you high and dry.”
“You will,” I assure her. “I’ll bring him out to meet y’all this week. I promise.” I hesitate for a moment. “Have you reached a settlement with the IRS about the back taxes on this property?”
She snorts and waves her hand like a fan. “The details are still being ironed out.”
I study her face and try to decide if she’s being completely honest with me. It’s hard to know with Aunt Delta. She plays her cards very close to her chest.
She leans in, her eyes intense. “Let me worry about that. All you need to know is that I expect you to keep our lands wild and free. I don’t want you even entertaining the idea of selling it off. Business men often come to me with offers to buy and develop it. But I say no. I want our land to stand on its own, as it has for almost a hundred and fifty years.”
“But Auntie, if you don’t pay what the IRS is demanding–”
My aunt holds up both of her hands, quickly shaking her head. “Let me take care of that. I won’t hear another word about it!” she insists.
I suck in a breath. “Okay. I will stop bothering you about it for a while.”
My great aunt points at me. “And watch out for rich men who are only interested in you for your land. Why do you think I never married?” She pulls a face. “These men, especially White men, only want two things. One is in your pants. And the other is in your checkbook.”
Dropping my gaze, I nod. I’ve heard this droning dirge of hers for my entire life. But inside, I’m wondering at her words.
Is the type of man she’s describing anything like River? I’m pretty sure he’s not like that… but I don’t know for certain.
She scoots out of the red pleather booth, leaning heavily on the table to get up. “Come on. Get dressed in something you don’t care about. Cabin five has a leak coming in from the ceiling.”
“Again?” I ask. Getting up, I head back toward my bedroom. “What are we going to do about that?”
“It's leaking in a different spot than last time. I’ll just probably have you replace a couple of roof shingles and mop up the mess in the attic again. What the cabin needs is a whole new roof. But that’s way more money than we have to spend.”
I puff out my cheeks as I change into a pair of running leggings and a pink crop top. That sounds like a lot of work. I’m supposed to meet River in a few hours… but I’d better cancel.
“I’m just going to text River real quick,” I call. “We have dinner plans. But a leaky roof sounds more vital than that.”
“I’m going to go by my trailer. It’s time to take my pills. Maybe sit and rest a while, just to get my breath back. I’ll meet you down at the cabin in a little while. Okay?”
"Sure, sure. Go rest for a while. Get off your feet!"
Delta is already trundling away, fussing with her scarf as she goes.
I stand in the doorway of my trailer and stare blankly into the distance. Aunt Delta may be old as the red clay beneath our feet. But she does know a thing or two about life.
She has called out several times when I was about to be done wrong by a man. She's proved that she can tell things about men that I can’t. Now I'm wondering if she can possibly know something about River that I don't.
It seems unfathomable to me that he would have some hidden motive. How could he possibly be so shady?
My shoulders slumped, I head to my bedroom and text River. Not going to make it tonight. Sorry. There's an emergency at the trailer resort.
My phone buzzes a few seconds later. He must have been waiting for me to call.
What kind of emergency? Is it something that you could use a big, tall guy for?
I tilt my head to the side and mull his offer over. On one hand, I just need to get my rear in gear. The sooner I start, the sooner I finish. Plus, I may have just learned something less than positive about River.
On the other hand, he is tall, like he said. And I do sort of want to see him...
Okay, I really want to see him. If nothing else, I know he can drown out my great aunt's pessimistic words still ringing in my head. River seems good at distracting me.
