“You’re not upset about Ethan?” I asked her.
“Spencer,” she said, “I love Ethan like a son. He’s a very good boy, but I never thought he was right for my granddaughter. Ethan is very consistent, he’s got very set ideas about things, and Cricket is the very opposite of that. She’s impetuous and very open and Ethan tried to stifle that. Now, I never disliked him, ever. He was patient and kind and he did love her very much, but he was not meant for Cricket.”
I breathed a little easier. “I was so afraid you would hate me for taking her away from him.”
“No one here does. We’re not blind, boy. We see things as they really are.”
“Thank you,” I told her.
“Everyone can see the way she looks at you. The way you look at her. Everyone knows how much you love her. Everyone recognizes a good fit when they see it.”
It was so comforting to hear her words.
A knock came at the glass door and Jonah told them to come in.
A man walked into the room, towering over us in our chairs, the smile on his face was so malevolent, so malicious, my hands shook violently. I stood quickly.
“Get out,” I ordered. “Get the hell out of here right now. Get out.”
The man chuckled. “Not happy to see me, I see,” Dominic said, cocking his head sarcastically.
“What’s going on?” Ellie asked, confused.
Bridge’s hands went to her mouth. Jonah stood in front of her, beside me.
“Who’s this?” Emmett asked politely.
I shook my head in disbelief. I charged at him, my chair screaming in protest as I pushed it behind me. I grabbed his throat while he smiled. “Get out of here. Right. Now.”
Emmett stood and pulled me back. Not wishing to upset him further, I let him.
“But I have news,” Dominic offered, holding up a manila envelope.
“Please, get him out of here,” Bridge nearly shouted. “Get him out of here.”
Jonah turned and held her but kept an eye on us both.
“We don’t want anything you have. Keep your news to yourself. Get out!”
“But this news can’t wait.” He beamed, delighted in the horror he was causing the room.
“Can’t you see what we’re dealing with right now?” I asked him. I changed tactics. “Please, whatever it is you have, just give it to me on my own. These people have too much on their plates right now. Here,” I said, walking toward the door, “let’s step outside.”
“I guess,” he said, “but this news concerns them too. Well,” he said, a sinister laugh escaping his lips, “it really only involves them.”
“What-what? Why? My dad’s business is with me, not with them.”
“But you made it their business when you decided to live on their property.”
My breaths became labored. “What has he done?”
Without another glance my direction, he turned to Emmett. “Emmett Hunt?” he asked.
“Yes?” a baffled Emmett answered.
He handed the envelope to him and Emmett took it before I could snatch it from Dominic’s hands. “You’ve hereby been served with an eviction notice,” he told them, a blackhearted smile on his evil face.
Emmett’s and Ellie’s faces dropped.