Page 76 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

She pulled back, keeping both hands on my shoulders while giving me a once-over like she was measuring my soul.“Timothy told me what an absolute son of a monkey butt this Justin has been to you.Now, I can’t say I’m heartbroken you divorced him since it led you back here, but you don’t deserve anyone who disrespects you with some other woman.”Her smile turned bright and dangerous.“Before we march down there andfinancially ruin that boy for sport, I need to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For standing between Sofia and your father.”Her expression sharpened into something fierce.“Men like that count on fear doing their work for them.You didn’t give him yours.”

Heat rushed into my face.“He crossed a line threatening her.I meant what I said.I’ll put a bullet in his head myself if he touches her.”

Lisa Hurst’s eyes lit with something close to delight.“Well.”She patted my cheek like I’d just made the honor roll.“I think you might be the right one for my feral child.”

“Timothy?Feral?”I laughed softly and thought,maybe in bed.“Whatever rebel he had in him got beaten down by responsibility.”

Lisa’s smile turned knowing.“Oh, honey.”She looped her arm through mine and started steering me across the street toward the coffee shop like a general leading troops into battle.“It didn’t die.He was hibernating.”

She glanced sideways at me.“Thanks to you, he’s awake and focused.Lord help anybody dumb enough to stand in his way now.”She lowered her voice like someone might overhear, but there was no one in sight.“I don’t doubt he’s around here, watching.Maybe even through a sniper rifle.”She looked up to the church’s roof and chuckled to herself.“He’s not the type to send his women into battle and not be on lookout.”

I kind of guessed that too.I wondered if Timothy’s dad was around too.“Is Mason here?”

She released a small snort.“My husband knows I can fight city boys on my own.It’s the backwoods ones that make him load his long guns.Let’s go show this boy some Southern hospitality.”

I followed Lisa Hurst into Vision’s only coffee shop.

Justin sat in the corner with one lonely cup of coffee in front of him, posture loose and smug like he thought he held all the cards.He wore one of his work polos with the name of my old clinic in one corner and his name with a load of initials embroidered in the other.

My body braced for new criticism or hurt.

Lisa hooked her arm through mine and steered me forward like I was the guest of honor, and he was an unpleasant errand she intended to finish quickly.

“You didn’t order for us,” Lisa said as she slid into the chair across from him, smooth as silk, sharp as barbed wire.She motioned me into the seat beside her.

Justin frowned.“Who are you?”His eyes cut toward me.“You brought a lawyer?”

Lisa laughed out a low, rich sound that somehow made him look foolish.“Sugar, if I’d brought a lawyer, you’d already be bleeding money.”She lifted one manicured finger toward the barista.Immediately, two drinks were started.

“Did you ever meet my mother?”I asked, mostly because I wanted to watch him squirm.Not that I’d ever shown him a picture of my actual mother, nor did he ever ask about her.

His gaze bounced between us.“She’s your mother?Since you never talked about her, I assumed she was…” He hesitated.“Dead?”

Lisa’s perfectly arched brow lifted.“That’s rude.”Her smile came out as a bright and dangerous thing.“Also disappointing.I expected better manners from a doctor.Not even going to introduce yourself, Justin Stevens?”She accepted the two to-go cups from the barista with a gracious nod before turning that smile back on him.“Now then, let’s discuss this sudden interest you’ve taken in land that belongs to Gia.”

“It’sourland,” he corrected.

Lisa slowly opened her oversized purse—not rushed, not flustered—and removed a thick envelope.The sound of paper hitting the table cracked like a warning shot.“Interesting claim.”She slid copies of the documents toward him with two fingers.“According to county records, the deed is in Gia’s name.The loan is in Gia’s name.The monthly payments…” She glanced at me, then back at him.“Have been made only by Gia.So, explain to me carefully what part of this property belongs to you?”

Silence stretched.

For the first time since sitting down, Justin looked uncertain.

He leaned back, crossing his arms, trying for arrogant.“We bought it together.When two people are married, everything is fifty-fifty.And she doesn’t want it.She’s here, isn’t she?”

Lisa took a slow sip of coffee.Then set the cup down with deliberate care.“No,” she said softly.“She’s here because she still believes in civility.”Her eyes pinned him where he sat.“I do not.”

The air changed.Even I sat straighter.

“Now answer the question,” Lisa ordered.“Why do you suddenly want that land?Choose your next words very carefully.I’ve stared down meaner men than you over cheaper coffee.”She leaned forward slightly.

I nearly choked on my drink.

Justin’s face darkened.“Maybe I was going to build something there for my new family,” he bit out.“Take the money, Gia.”