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I find myself in a place I never wanted to be in: wondering whether it is too late to change the terms of my contact or not.
Twenty-Seven
River
An entire plate of Mary Mac's fried chicken and baked mac and cheese sits in front of me, all but untouched. Dale Tribley, Coastal Construction’s chief architect, suggested that we meet at Mary Mac's this time to talk about the construction project details.
But as I stare at Dale, and his right-hand man, Bishop, anger roils in my guts.
Bishop has been careful to keep his mouth shut while we've been at lunch. But he has a faint smirk all the time, and I want to rip the barbecue sparerib from his hand and stuff it up his ass.
Dale looks at Cole while he wipes chicken grease from his mouth with a paper napkin. "How do those deadlines sound?"
I lean forward, not letting Cole get a word in. "They're very impressive. But I'm worried that you can't possibly keep up with them. Your crew chief here has proven himself to be quite a hothead. So I would just like some assurance that if you fall behind, there is a plan in place to fix it. A plan that doesn't include Bruiser over there being a total dick."
Dale crosses his arms, sighs, and sits back. He glances at Bishop. "You aren't going to be unpleasant, are you?"
"Nah." Bishop looks bored. "I'm straight. I don't have to like you to do my job."
Dale raised his hands. "There you go. Straight from the horse's mouth."
Cole looks at me. "River, if this is going to be a problem, we need to know now. What’s your plan for approaching Delta Jackson and telling Pearl that you are trying to buy her land out from under her?"
I pause for a few seconds. "It's not going to be a problem for me. But I was thinking about the buyers--"
The door to the restaurant opens and Rex comes in, brushing off raindrops from his coat. He sees us and makes a beeline for our table. "Sorry I'm late. What'd I miss?"
He grabs a chair and turns it around to sit down. I roll my eyes at his showmanship.
"I was just going to say that the property we are going to buy is vast. Hundreds of square miles. What would you all say if I offered to buy all but a small portion of it? We would take ninety eight percent and the original owners would keep the remaining two percent."
"Hah!" Bishop laughs. "I knew it was the Jackson property."
“Wait.” Rex shakes his head, looking at me with concern. “It is? Pearl knows about this little scheme, right?”
“Not exactly,” I hedge.
“Are you serious right now?” Cole breaks in. “I thought she knew. In that case, I would also be very interested in hearing how you plan to tell her she’s evicted from the land her great grandfather struggled so hard for.”
“River, you are really playing with fire here.” Rex gives me long look. “Unless your whole engagement is fake and y’all don’t care about each other.”
“It’s not fake,” I say, clenching my teeth. “And can we please talk about this later?”
Rex looks at me, scratching his cheek. “Oh, you bet your ass we will.”
"Maybe I should talk to Delta," Bishop offers. He spreads his hands magnanimously. "She always liked me."
Dale rebukes him without hesitation. "Bishop, that's enough. If you like your job, keep your damn mouth shut. I will remind you that you have signed a non-disclosure agreement for exactly this scenario."
"Yes sir. Just trying to be helpful."
"It's not, so cut it out," Dale says. He looks at me. "Get the rights. And not to part of the land. I’m talking about the whole thing. Any way you slice it, no one is going to want to invest in a property that might be tied up in court for years. Make sure that we can get the land free and clear. Then we will make our next move."
He stands up, checking his watch. Everyone else stands up and shakes hands, saying goodbye awkwardly.
When I'm left with my brothers, I sit back down. My brothers are both staring at me so hard my skin itches.
“What?” I ask.
