AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ugh. You’re impossible.” Coral gets up.
“But you love me.”
“And I question why every single day of my life,” she says, closing the door to my office behind her.
***
After I pick Dylan up from camp, we head to the farm. Bob asked me to help him clear some of the brush that has started crowding his garden, and I don’t have the heart to say no and let an older man do all that work by himself. I also can’t tell him that I’m planning to bulldoze his home—although I reason that the garden might be a nice touch that can stay.
When I get there, Bob has already started on the far end, so I begin working on the other side, figuring we can meet in the middle.
“Dylan, what’s wrong? Why are you acting so weird?” I hear Mina say in the distance.
“Nothing. I just want to be left alone. Okay?” Dylan sounds so angry, and I curse under my breath. It’s all my fault. I should have known that after everything that went down with Anna, we would need to have this conversation.
“Okay. But why?” Mina asks. “We hang out almost every night.”
“Exactly. I just want some space.”
“Why?” Mina asks again.
I stand, stretching my back, and look over at them. They’re standing by the barn with their hands on their hips, squaring off against one another.
“Because my dad and I are just living here until we can buy up all of the surrounding land and build condos! Okay?” Dylan shouts.
I curse again, this time louder. Well. That didn’t go as planned.
“What?” Mina asks. She sounds close to tears.
Shoot, shoot, shoot.
I look over at Bob and see that, thankfully, he doesn’t have his hearing aids in. He keeps on working on the brush, not showing any sign that he heard what Dylan just said. Good.
But that does not mean that I don’t have major damage control to do now. I look back over at the kids. Mina looks anguished and raises a hand to wipe away a tear. Dylan looks just as hurt, his face a mixture of shock and regret.
I never thought these condos would lead to this kind of heartbreak. What in the world have I gotten us into?
Chapter fourteen
Mae – Dylan Said What?
“Mina? Can I talk with you, please?” I hear Dean say. I turn to see Mina stomp into the kitchen. Her face is bright red, and her eyes look like she’s been crying. “What’s wrong?” I ask, instantly on edge. It’s not the bees, is it? I race over to one of the drawers and grab her EpiPen.
She breathes in and out a few times, and it seems as though she’s too angry to speak. Not her allergies, then, thankfully. I guide her to one of the chairs. Then, I bring her a glass of water. I rub soothing circles on her back as she drinks it.
When the crimson on her cheeks dies down a bit, I ask again, “What’s wrong, love?”
My phone buzzes on the table. It’s a notice from my bank.
Miss M. Dale, we are contacting you to notify you that the bank account ending in 4432 has insufficient…
Dang.
“Mom?” Mina asks. She looks worried, and I run a hand down her hair.
“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry. I’m listening.” I put the phone in my pocket and look at her.
“Dylan just told me that he and his father are going to try and buy our land.”
