Ms Demeanor. Danica Winters

that their day had already been ruined.

      Now it was up to Rainier to fix what he could, and help them all to move past what they couldn’t.

      He took the envelope from his mother. It was addressed to the ranch, care of his parents. When he tore it open, a letter fell out, with the same red lettering as on the envelope. It read Final Notice.

      He pulled open the letter and saw it was from the county. As he read the words on the page, they seemed to blend together into a jumbled mess of lines and swirls as he tried to understand how “back taxes” and “working ranch taxation rates” had resulted in “Payment due on or before December 31. If not paid in full, a lien will be placed against the property for $150,489.”

      The number rolled around on his tongue like a sour grape. His family couldn’t owe that much. There had to be some kind of mistake. Where would they get that kind of money?

      According to his mother’s letters over the last few months, they had been barely scraping by, and it was only because of the Yule Night festival that they had managed to pay their bills for the month. Now this?

      He looked to his mom, who was still staring at the door.

      Was it possible that she had known what was in the letter? Had she known this day was coming, and that was why she had turned in on herself as she had?

      He glanced back down at the page. There had to be a way to file for an extension—something, anything they could do to give themselves more time.

      The taste in his mouth grew more putrid as he read the last line of the body of the letter:

      “...an auction will occur if owners fail to remit all sums due by above date.”

      “What does it say?” Gwen asked, leaning against the doorjamb that led from the living room from the kitchen.

      Rainier wasn’t sure how he should handle things, but somehow telling Gwen the truth didn’t seem like the best option. In fact, telling anyone what he had just read seemed about as much fun as chewing off his own hand.

      “Do you mind taking care of Mother, Gwen?” he asked, motioning toward the couch. “Mom, do you want a cup of tea or something?”

      She nodded, finally pulling her gaze away from the door. “Earl Grey, please, Gwen.” She gave a half smile as she returned to the land of the living and false strength.

      “I’ll give her a hand in there,” Laura said, taking Gwen by the arm as they made their way into the kitchen. “That way you two can have a moment.”

      He gave her an acknowledging tip of the head and sat down beside his mother on the couch. He moved the letter so she could see it. “Did you know about this?”

      She took it from his hands and, opening the reading glasses that hung from a cord around her neck, she slid them on and started to read.

      Eventually she tried to speak, but the words came out in a smattering of syllables and garbled sounds, until she finally stopped struggling and simply shook her head.

      “What about Dad?”

      She shook her head again.

      “Is this even real? How could you be getting a final notice of something due next week if you didn’t even know about this?”

      “I’m sure it’s real,” she said, her voice filled with cold resignation. “If I’ve learned anything about William Poe, it’s that he’s capable of whatever he wishes. He has and will do everything in his power to try to tear the family and this place apart. He’s not going to stop until he succeeds.”

      Rainier pointed to the letter. “But something like this had to be in the works for months. Why now? Why is he coming after us with this?”

      “He’s never been a fan of ours, but I don’t know why. For the last few years we managed to keep him at bay, but once he became the county tax appraiser, we knew that our days might be numbered. Then with everything that’s happened...it’s only gotten worse. I told you about his brother, Daryl, and the fire in my letters, yes?”

      He nodded.

      William had to have some kind of vendetta—something that must have gone deeper than his wife dying at the hands of his crazed former sister-in-law, but Rainier could only guess what was behind it.

      “I have to put a stop to this, to him.” He stood up and made his way to the door.

      “No, Rainier, you’re not going to do or say anything that will stop him. William is like a dog with a bone right now. All we can do is hope...”

      “And get a goddamned good lawyer, someone who isn’t afraid to take the bastard down,” he said.

      “I’m sure we’ll try. But Rainier...you have to know that this may be the end of Dunrovin. We are all getting so tired of fighting. Maybe this is just the world’s way of letting us know that it’s time to move on. To get a new dream.”

      “No, Mom, don’t talk like that. You just have some asshat who thinks he can do and say what he wants without repercussions.” He opened the door. William was standing beside his Mercedes, talking to Penny.

      “Officer Marshall, I hope you are planning on escorting that man from our property,” Rainier said, charging toward the two as Wyatt and his father made their way back from behind the barn.

      “Actually, Rainier, Mr. Poe was just asking me a few questions about my job.”

      “Nothing about why you are here?”

      Penny slid William a look that made it clear that was exactly what he had been pressing her about. And knowing about the kind of man William was, Rainier was sure that he was making a solid effort at making a pass on the twenty-something woman, as well.

      “Something going on here?” Wyatt asked, coming closer and sensing the tension in the air.