True Belonging 2 by Ella Cooper
Chapter Three
Flint
The call had come from Jonah Russell, Lawrence’s lawyer. Really, Jonah worked for most of my cousins as a sort of family counsel. I walked away from the barn and back up toward the house, trying not to lose my patience. Since before Granddad even died, they’d been sending Jonah after me. Right now, I wanted to end the call before he even got a word in, but I managed to keep my cool.
“Mr. Mayfield,” Jonah said in that smarmy voice of his that drove me up the wall, “I hope this is not an inconvenient time to speak.”
“It always is when you’re the one calling,” I snapped in return, curling my free hand into a fist. “What do you want now? I’ve done all the paperwork, signed everything I needed to. There’s no reason for you to be harassing me anymore.”
“I would hardly classify this as harassment, Mr. Mayfield,” Jonah answered, still with a cocky tone hidden behind his seemingly calm words. “Although I invite you to file an indictment if you wish, and we can have that battle in court.”
Despite his taunt, I refused to play the game he was insisting on. “I’m not going to repeat myself.”
“All right then,” Jonah sighed dramatically. “Mr. Mayfield, I would like to request your presence at a meeting being held by my clients today at two p.m. Naturally, I shall also be present.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I answered simply as I reached the porch and sat down on one of the rocking chairs in the corner. “I’ve told you that before.”
“I must insist,” Jonah said before I could end the call. “There are some linguistic concerns in your grandfather’s will that have been overlooked by both sides. It could result in the will being overturned, which I’m sure you understand isn’t good for you.”
“I’m not talking to you without my own legal counsel,” I said, my jaw slowly becoming more and more clenched. “How many times do I have to say that?”
“Then you’re welcome to bring them along,” Jonah continued, still sounding as patient as ever with his voice covered in the venom of a corrupt lawyer. “Can I tell my clients that you will be there? Or should I request a court order instead?”
“My lawyer will call you.” I rocked in the chair, trying to keep myself calm. “I’m done with this conversation.”
“Of course, Mr. Mayfield.” I could hear a sneer in Jonah’s tone. “I look forward to it.”
Without saying goodbye, I ended the there and sighed. I wasn’t going to attend this meeting on the basis of ‘linguistic concerns.’ It was vague enough to not really mean anything.
I didn’t have a personal lawyer like Lawrence and Brett did, and of course I wasn’t going to use Jonah Russell’s firm, even if my family had been doing so for decades.
There was, however, a man who I thought would be helpful. My grandfather hadn’t been a big fan of Russell’s father and had used a different firm for his will. It had been a point of contention in the family right up until his death, but George Mayfield would never budge.
I looked for Caleb Aberforth’s number on my phone and was surprised to see I’d never saved it. Luckily, a quick online search later, I’d found the number for the firm and dialed it.
A few rings later, a young lady answered. “Aberforth and Rogan Attorneys, Leslie speaking, how may I help you?”
“Hi, Leslie, my name is Flint Mayfield,” I explained, knowing that she must be new, since the previous receptionist had been a lifelong smoker at least twenty years older than me. “I’m looking for Caleb Aberforth.”
“Ah, Mr. Aberforth is in a meeting at the moment,” Leslie answered politely. “Could I leave a message for him?”
“Please, Leslie, it’s important that I speak to him,” I insisted as nicely as I could. “Have him call me as soon as he’s got the time, all right?”
“Of course, Mr. Mayfield.” Leslie paused, as if she was writing something down. “What is this about?”
“My grandfather’s will,” I replied with a sigh. “George Mayfield. I’m sure he’ll know what I’m talking about.”
“All right.”
“Thank you, Leslie.” I stretched myself out in the rocking chair before I got up and ended the call. I didn’t want to wait to speak to Caleb, but I had no choice. In the meantime, the whole thing was going to bother me and steal my focus. It looked like the barn was going to take longer than I thought.
With a grumble and a gloomy mood, I made my way back down to the barn, where Eliza was still busy loosening rotten wooden planks.
I saw an opportunity to pull a prank on her, since she didn’t seem to notice me approaching at all. It was definitely one way to improve my mood, and the temptation was too great to ignore.
Crouching low and trying not to make any noise, I crept up behind her slowly. She was whistling a fun little tune, which covered up the slight crunch of the ground beneath my feet.
I managed to get to within two feet behind her.
“Boo!” I shouted, poking her in her side with my fingers. Eliza shrieked and jumped back off the tiny stool she’d been sitting on, tripping and landing on her bottom beside me. For a second, she was shocked, until she turned and looked up at me.
“Flint!” she breathed before her surprise turned into crimson-faced fury. “What are you doing? I’m working with a hammer here! I could’ve hurt myself!”
“Oh, come on, don’t be silly,” I replied with a grin spreading across my face. “You’re pretty cute when you’re flustered like that.”
Eliza pushed herself up from the ground, still huffing, and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I bet you think you’re really funny, huh?” she growled at me, placing the overturned stool back in its place. “Let me tell you, don’t quit your day job to be a comedian.”
“Sheesh, that’s harsh,” I said, shrugging at the insult. “Anyway, I see you’ve made some progress here.”
“Are you ever going to help?” Eliza asked with a raised eyebrow. “Or do you just want to watch?”
This time, she didn’t seem too angry. Instead, it felt like she was teasing me, particularly with the way she swung the hammer around and moved her hips. I almost expected her to wink at me.
“I guess if you’re really struggling, I could give you a hand.” I sighed as if it was a lot of trouble to go through. “But you seem like you’ve got it under control.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Eliza said as she shook her head and sat back down on the stool. She refused to look back at me again, instead focusing oddly deeply on the nail she was maneuvering loose. It looked like there was something bothering her. I had to wonder if it was me, but I didn’t ask.
I took my own hammer and crouched down a few feet from her. With a flick, the first nail came loose easily.
“How did you do that?” Eliza asked, her eyes locked on to my hands. “It takes me forever to get one out.”
“Practice, I suppose,” I answered. I’d never really thought about it. This kind of work mostly felt natural. “Just hook and pull. Like this.”
While I was explaining, my phone rang.
“You’re popular today,” Eliza pointed out. “Answer it, might be important.”
“Sorry,” I said before I got up again and walked off.
“Flint?” Caleb Aberforth’s voice came through like a judge’s gavel on the other end. “I’m sorry about Leslie not immediately telling me you were calling. She’s new.”
“I realized that,” I said, moving away from the barn as quickly as I could. “Jonah Russell is trying to get me to come to a meeting this afternoon over linguistic concerns. Told him I wouldn’t show without you.”
“That’s good,” Caleb replied thoughtfully.
“Should we go?” I was genuinely uncertain about the situation. “I want to tell him to fuck off, if I’m honest.”
“I’ll meet you here after lunch, and we’ll have a chat,” Caleb said, already sounding busy with something else. “Is that all right?”
I agreed that I’d be there and ended the call. With a disgruntled sigh, I headed back to the barn. Eliza looked up before I reached her, as if she’d suddenly developed a sixth sense.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her expression filled with shadows of real concern. “You look like a personified storm.”
“Mm.” I paused to look at the progress on the barn. We weren’t going to get very far before lunch, and I’d have to leave around noon to get to New River on time. “Bunch of legal issues going on with my grandfather’s will. I need to go into town this afternoon.”
“Oh,” Eliza said with a nod. “What about the barn?”
“You can keep going if you want to.” I shrugged. “Or you can go back to the house. That’s your call.”
I appreciated that she wasn’t pushing me for more information, but at the same time, I kind of wished that she would at least have asked something. My position with the whole thing was a lonely one, and it would have been nice to have someone to confide in.
At the same time, I had to remind myself that this beautiful siren of a woman, whom I felt both an attraction for and a connection to, was essentially a stranger. As far removed as the possibility was, she could even have been a plant, paid by my family to betray me one day.
That thought seemed unlikely, but I couldn’t be too careful. In all honesty, Lawrence could have thought up some kind of scheme like that.
“I’ll see,” Eliza answered quietly. “In the meantime, let’s see how far we can get.”
We worked beside one another in a comfortable rhythm, as if it was something that we’d done for years. Every now and again, I caught myself glancing over at her, to appreciate the way the sun reflected off her hair or the slight beads of sweat that glistened on her forehead. Even the slope of her mouth as she concentrated on what she was doing pulled my attention over to her.
By noon, we’d gotten about halfway through removing the rotten wood. That was as far as we’d planned on going, but now I had to leave her to continue by herself.
“I have to go,” I said as I stretched out and got to my feet. “Seriously, take a break if you need one.”
“Mm,” Eliza said absent-mindedly. “See you later.”
Despite the blunt response, I didn’t feel too offended. I headed to my truck and drove into New River, which took around forty minutes. Caleb’s office was in the very middle of town in one of the oldest buildings.
Jonah Russell was stationed farther north, in Phoenix. It would take a while to drive there, and we’d probably be late. I didn’t expect that Caleb would actually want to go to this meeting, however. He probably had a different plan, especially because Caleb was the most time-sensitive person that I’d ever met.
I pulled up in front of the building and walked in. At reception, I was politely greeted and shown to Caleb’s private office. He stood at the window in his dark suit, his thinning hair combed to make it look thicker.
“You’re three minutes late,” Caleb sighed when I walked in, indicating the chair opposite his at the desk in the center of the room. “But I guess it can’t be helped. You’ve never been very punctual.”
Instead of disagreeing, I sat down. I wanted this whole business to be over with as quickly as possible.
“What’s the plan here?” I asked, leaning back in the chair to get more comfortable. “Are we going to this meeting or not? To be on time, you realize we’d have to essentially teleport to Phoenix.”
“I’m not giving them that home field advantage,” Caleb answered, the gears in his mind clearly already turning. “They’ll simply heighten the pressure. No, we’re not going.”
“All right.” I hesitated. I knew that my grandfather trusted Caleb, but sometimes, I wasn’t sure about his strategies. Perhaps what Jonah was pointing out was worth noticing, and it could cause us a whole heap of trouble in the future.
“We’ll do it through Zoom instead,” Caleb continued, making me raise an eyebrow. He was at least somewhere in his fifties, and I wasn’t sure the use of technology would improve our chances. At the same time, I reserved judgment. Maybe he knew what he was doing, and this would go well.
I checked my cell phone. Half an hour before meeting time. I was already nervous, the stress making me clench my jaw. Each time my family dug deeper into my grandfather’s last affairs, the more I hated them. He had meant nothing more, apparently, than how deep his pockets were, how much he could give them.
No wonder he’d decided to leave the ranch to me instead. I’d never expected it, nor anything else, from him.
“Do you want coffee?” Caleb asked. He didn’t wait for my answer before using his speaker system to order Leslie at reception to get it. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Flint. They’ve been looking for a needle in a haystack that simply isn’t there.”
“Never know with these people,” I answered honestly, knowing that they would go to the ends of the earth to get what they wanted. “I’m sure they’ve made up some scheme, and I want to know what it is at the very least.”
Leslie brought us each a mug of coffee, and we waited for time to march on. Eventually, Caleb took a seat next to me, his laptop open on the desk. I watched as the video call started, waiting for Jonah and my family to connect on the other end.
As soon as they did, I saw a table surrounded by angry scowls, staring up at what must have been a projector. It was clear that they weren’t impressed at all with the current situation. It made me think that Caleb might have had a point.
“We requested a physical meeting,” Jonah pointed out from the head of the table. “This is inconvenient.”
“I disagree,” Caleb answered calmly and slightly snidely. “Online meetings are the epitome of convenience. Now my client has informed me, and you have confirmed, that there is something in George Mayfield’s will that you’d like to discuss.”
“There are two wills,” Jonah answered, splaying papers out in front of him. “One created five years prior to George’s death, and one created two years prior.”
I remembered that. The first was written by Jonah’s firm, the second by Caleb’s after Granddad stopped trusting the former to have his best interests in mind. It didn’t seem like much of a point, though. After all, the first will no longer counted.
“The second takes precedence over the first,” Caleb sighed, as if this was a ridiculous thing to bring up. “You should know that the first has no legal significance whatsoever.”
“Oh, certainly,” Jonah said with a grin fighting to spread across his face. “That, however, is not why I bring it up. You see, a reading of both side by side has revealed a small but serious difference.”
I tensed up. Jonah would find the smallest loophole if he could take advantage of it. Caleb looked at him incredulously, as if wouldn’t make a difference no matter what it was. I knew, however, that the cogs in his mind were running wild.
“Here, you see, where it is noted that George wished to bequeath his ranch to young Flint there”—Jonah lifted the paper close enough to the camera for us to see, covering the rest of the family’s faces in the background—“the first will simply reads ‘to Flint Mayfield.’ Simple, isn’t it?”
“Counselor”—Caleb gritted his teeth in a transparent attempt at patience—“does this somehow have a point?”
“Of course, I’m getting to that.” Jonah put the paper back down and picked the other one up. “Here, the second will reads ‘to Flint Mayfield and his spouse.’ Not future spouse, not possible spouse, not Flint and/or his spouse, but Flint and his spouse.”
With a triumphant sneer, Jonah tapped at the point in the paper. I wasn’t sure what this meant.
Caleb frowned for a moment before his calm expression returned. “You’re wasting our time with trivial nonsense.”
“I don’t think so,” Jonah said as he put the paper down again. “In fact, I think that this is going to be a real problem for you. It’s clear that George specifically wished for the ranch to go to Flint only if he was already married at the time of George’s passing. Don’t you think that warrants investigation?”
My mind, for some reason, flitted momentarily to Eliza. I pushed that thought aside. It was ridiculous to even imagine marrying someone I’d known so fleetingly, even if I would lose the ranch if I didn’t.
“Ridiculous,” Caleb answered, but I could see that he didn’t mean it.
“Of course, I will give you time to peruse these documents for yourself, counselor.” Jonah tapped on the table in front of him, unable to wipe his sneer from his face. “I suggest you take this seriously, because I am, and I will fight you right to court.”
“I would expect nothing less.” Caleb ended the call right there and then before he turned to me. “I don’t think this is going to be a problem, Flint, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. I’ll need a few days to work through it all.”