Dipping his head toward Scott, Gareth replied, “Actually, Scott’s got me on this. He was concerned about Luca Giardano trying to buy out Lizzie. On top of that, I’m taking a look at Paul Dugan.”
Getting nods from the others, Gareth continued. “Yeah, he’s a slick shit, for sure. From what I’ve been able to dig up on him, he gets his hands on cheap land, builds crap neighborhoods with crap houses, and then, when owners complain, he just lets things go into drawn out litigation until the homeowners can’t afford to keep paying so they give up the lawsuit—or he countersues. Found out that his lawyer is his brother, Yancey.”
Colt added, “Yeah, I’ve heard of him. I’ve taken several complaints, usually from elderly widows who feel like they were manipulated into selling their land very cheap. He was investigated about a year ago but manages to skate just on the side of the law to keep from doing anything illegal.”
Blowing out a breath, Scott shook his head. “I can’t believe that with everything she’s going through, Lizzie has to deal with this shit.”
“Could it just be kids?” Gareth asked. “Are we missing the obvious and making this more than just teens looking to play a prank?”
Pondering, Scott said, “I don’t know. I just know I’m going to keep a better eye on this place and on Lizzie. It’s what Beau would’ve wanted, and it’s what I want, too.”
Colt chuckled. “I wanted to keep Carrie safe, and she ended up in my house pretty damn quick.”
“Don’t think I’ll be moving Lizzie out anytime soon,” Scott said. Staring at the barn for a moment, his gaze searched the area. “I’m going to add some lights out here. I can’t secure the entire farm, but I can at least make sure that there is plenty of illumination around the barn where the animals are at night.”
Gareth grinned and asked, “Would you be interested in a security camera, as well?”
Eyebrows lifted, Scott replied, “Absolutely.”
Colt promised that he would add Lizzie’s road on the night rotation for a sheriff’s car to drive by. Offering his thanks, Scott shook their hands before they walked back to Colt’s SUV.
Gareth clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll get a camera set up and keep digging to see what I can find out. In the meantime, take care of Lizzie.”
Walking back to the house, he watched as Katelyn gave a heartfelt hug to Lizzie before climbing into the car with Gareth. Carrie and Belle had driven together, and with Lizzie assuring them that she was okay, they left as well.
He walked over and immediately enveloped her into his arms, noting Rufus had not left her side. Kissing the top of her head, he asked, “How was your visit with the girls?”
With her arms banded around his waist, she leaned back and peered up. “I’d hardly call it a visit, Scott. I know they just came with their husbands to keep me from going out there and poking my nose into the investigation. Honestly, I’m so mad, I barely registered anything they were saying.” Shoulders slumping, she sighed. “But it was nice that they came. I’ve never had a group of girlfriends before, so it’s cool that they wanted to check on me.”
They stood silent for a moment, their arms still wrapped around each other, then she mumbled against his chest, “I need to fix dinner.”
“Oh, no, Lizzie. We’ll go out—”
“Nope, not on your life,” she said, narrowing her eyes as she looked up again. “I’ve been planning this dinner all day and looking forward to it. The chicken has been marinating and it will take me very little time to throw together the vegetables. I’m not letting the asshole who tore down my fence ruin the rest of my day!”
Chuckling, he gave her a squeeze and nodded. “Let me wash my hands and then I’ll help.”
“That sounds perfect.”
He watched with interest as she boiled then mashed potatoes, adding crunchy bits of bacon, butter and sour cream, and chives. They chatted while she rolled out homemade biscuits and put them in the oven, then battered and fried the chicken. Quickly boiling corn on the cob, she soon plated full meals for them, and they sat down at the table with glasses of sweet tea.
Throughout the process, she did not talk a lot, but then, Lizzie was not someone who chattered endlessly. She spoke when she had something to say and appeared to be comfortable with silence. He kept a pulse on her, but the events from earlier, while upsetting, no longer had her rattled.
He almost brought it up, asking if she was okay with everything, but did not want to push. So, instead, he sat close to her at the family table and enjoyed the meal, giving Rufus a few bites of chicken and gravy. She shared a few stories of growing up on the farm, including a few memories from Baytown High School.
“I rarely went to social events,” she admitted. “There was always work to be done on the farm after school, so, like most agriculture kids, I got off the bus and went to work. I did belong to the FFA.” Grinning, she said, “I raised a few prize-winning pigs, I’ll have you know.”
“Prize-winning?”
“I’ve got the blue ribbons to prove it,” she laughed. After a moment she sobered. “We sold off most of our pigs, except for the two that I have behind the barn. I’m raising them to be fat and sassy and will have someone butcher them for me this fall. Someone local does that, and I’ll get the meat wrapped to go into the freezer.”
They were ready to dig into apple pie for dessert, and his spoon halted on its path to his mouth. Eyebrows lifted, he repeated, “Butchered?”
“It’s a working farm, Scott. I know it’s hard to imagine growing up this way, but when Papa Beau had some cows as well as pigs, that was how we got a lot of our meat. The extra we had, the butcher would pay us for so that he could sell it to others.”
“I feel rather foolish,” he admitted. “That makes perfect sense, and yet, I just had not thought about it.”
She lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. “I sometimes imagine what it must’ve been like for my great-grandparents. Certainly, they could have gone into Baytown to a mercantile store, but their vegetables were grown in the garden, their dairy came from the couple of dairy cows they kept, and their meat came from the cows and pigs they raised.”
“Are you going to get more pigs?”
Nibbling on her bottom lip for a moment, she shook her head slowly. “No, I don’t think so. To be honest, I don’t eat enough meat to warrant having a whole pig butchered for me. Certainly, I could just sell the meat, but then I’d have to spend money on the feed. I think when the last two are gone, I won’t buy anymore. The goats I’ll keep raising for the milk, and while alpacas are not big money makers, I can get about two thousand dollars a year on their fleece. That’s not a lot, but if I can learn to clean it and spin it, then I would get a lot more.”
“And don’t forget about your farm plans. Parties. Soap and lotion-making classes. Animal petting days. And even goat yoga!”
Throwing her head back, she laughed. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten any of that. And I know that goat yoga made a big impression on you.”
“I know we just went over a rudimentary business plan, but how are things going?”