“An acre or two here, an acre or two there. I’ll scrape together enough deeds to cover the note.”
“I don’t like selling off land.”
“You’ve never liked my ideas about diversifying, either. So now we’re stuck with one factory that’s about to be overshadowed by a whole new industry. If you had let me expand and update, do some of the things I wanted to do, we wouldn’t be in this fix,” Neal said angrily. “So shut up and listen for a change.”
Ivan scowled but remained silent.
Neal said, “Jade has shown an interest in several properties, but the Parker farm is by far the largest, and therefore the most important to her. That’s what we’ll go after. We’ve got to get our hands on Otis’s property.”
“The bank might not loan you that much.”
“They will if I tell them that it’s only short-term. All I have to do is secure the Parker property. Then Miss Astorbutt will have to come to me flashing a contract with the GSS logo on it. And you can bet your sweet ass that when she does, the price of that property will have inflated overnight. Not only the Parkers’ land, but all the acreage we own surrounding it.
“If she’s willing to offer half a million, she’s willing to offer more. She’ll buy from us, I’ll pay off the bank note, and all it’ll cost me is the interest. In the meantime, I’ll have made a substantial profit.”
“What’ll you tell the bank you need the money for?”
“I’ll make up something. I don’t want word of this spread all over town. I want this to shock Jade like a bite on the ass.”
Neal had plans on how to use the profit he would make, plans he didn’t want to discuss with his father until this other mess had blown over. He hoped Ivan would agree to updating and expanding their own business. They’d been quarreling over this issue for years. Ivan stubbornly clung to tradition and poo-pooed modern technology. Maybe this scare would change his mind. Neal had been operating the business since the train accident, though Ivan still remained the figure of authority. It was time everybody, including his old man, started regarding him as boss.
He tossed back the remainder of his drink. “You want me to bring you back a girl for tonight, Daddy?”
Ivan’s eyes twinkled. “That redhead you gave me for my birthday present had a mouth like a Hoover.”
“I’ll see if she’s still in town.”
“Naw, not tonight. I’ve got too much on my mind to have my brains sucked out.” He stroked his jaw ruminatively. “I keep thinking we’ve overlooked something. What about Otis? What’ll you tell him?”
“Since y’all go back so far, I’ll let you deal with Otis.”
Ivan cackled. “He’s dumber than the dirt he farms. I’ll remind him how good I’ve been to him all these years. I’ll say if he sells his place to anybody, it ought to be to a ‘friend.’ ” He paused, thinking. “Maybe you’d better ask the bank for six hundred thousand. It wouldn’t hurt to sweeten the pot. That Sperry bitch can be mighty persuasive.”
“G
ood idea.”
Neal made to leave, but Ivan detained him. “Show me the boy’s picture again.”
Ivan had been as shocked as Neal to hear that Jade had a teenage son. Neal had taken a Polaroid snapshot of Graham and brought it back to show Ivan. Once again, he passed the photo to his father, who had studied it for hours at a time.
Neal said, “I drove by their house again this morning and saw him mowing the grass. He’s the right age.”
“You told me she went to Georgie.”
“She did, but she came out with a baby.”
“You don’t know that. And Georgie’s dead. We can’t ask her.”
“I confronted Jade with it today. She didn’t deny it. Even if she had, I know I’m right. I busted her cherry. She wasn’t pregnant by Gary Parker.”
“Hell, son,” Ivan said, leaning forward, almost salivating, brandishing the photograph. “Think what it would mean to us if this boy is yours.”
“I don’t have to think. I know he’s mine.” Neal’s expression was sly and menacing. “I want him, Daddy.”
“Three of you had her that night,” Ivan remarked with a frown. “He could belong to Hutch, too. Or even Lamar.”
“He doesn’t even look like them!”