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What’s up with this guy? I hardly knew anything about him.
“What do you do for fun, Paul?” I asked, curious, but mainly wanting to redirect his eyes away from Frances.
“Huh?” he asked, directing his attention to me.
“I said, how do you unwind?”
“Oh. Well, I’m not usually wound up. So not much, I guess.” He smiled and folded his hands in front of him. I gave him one of my best ‘don’t shit me’ smiles, head tilt and all, and his grin faltered a bit.
“Really? Nothing ever gets you riled up?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say ‘nothing’, but it takes quite a lot.”
“Well, it doesn’t take much for me,” I said. “I especially get riled up when someone tries to take something that’s mine. Do you understand what I’m saying, Paul?”
“I don’t think I do, Colton,” he said, rising from the table. “All I see is you want to lay claim on something you haven’t earned yet. Including my father’s land.”
I wanted to wipe that smug smile off his face, but I somehow kept my cool. “Making plans for the property and staking a claim is not the same thing. I have told no one that your father’s property is mine, but I’d love to make it official this weekend.”
“Perhaps, like winning a particular woman’s heart, you should consider there’s more competition out there than you think.” He stood from the table and walked toward the stairs.
Sitting at the kitchen table, his words echoed repeatedly in my head.
More competition than you think.
I knew Paul had his eye on Frances, but who else was trying to purchase Morgan’s property? Who else would want to build there? I had to find out and squash their plans before this competition was something I needed to worry about. Pulling out my cell phone, I dialed Ryan’s number.
“Colton, what’s up?”
“I need you to look into something for me,” I said, looking around, but speaking in a low voice, just in case.
“What’s that?”
“Find out if any other company has requested a land survey from the city of Morgan’s property. We may have some competition.”
“You got it,” said Ryan, and hung up the phone.
Shoving my cell phone into my back pocket, I took the stairs to the second floor two at a time.
Morgan’s property already had the mayor’s approval for commercial development and it was close to a highway, so any commercial land developer would want it, perhaps even a residential one.
“Colton?” Frances called when I passed her bedroom door. Her hair was wet, but she was dressed in jeans and a blue sweater. “What’s wrong?” she asked, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.
Scanning the hallway and finding it empty, I walked into her room and stood in front of the window. “Paul and I just had a little chat,” I said, staring at the lake, trying to quiet my racing thoughts. “He insinuated that another company may have an interest in Morgan’s property.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He said there may be more competition out there than I had thought.”
“Did he say which company?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No.”
Frances put her hand on my back. “Any chance he’s just trying to play games with your head?”
“Maybe,” I said, and turned to face her. “I was trying to intimidate him. This could be his way of getting back at me.”
“Why were you trying to intimidate him?” she asked.
