He's Got Her Goat (33 page)

Chapter Forty-One

T
HE ATTORNEY STERLING REFERRED PAIGE TO
made time to see her right away. She entered the offices of Samuel Lewis at ten the next morning.

He was a jolly-looking man with thinning hair and thick lips. Paige liked him right off. “I took the liberty of contacting Erickson Holding and they responded immediately,” he said. “After reviewing the documents, I hate to say it, but I don’t see that you have a leg to stand on. “

“What?” It felt to Paige as if she’d been dealt a physical blow. “The stipulations in the Power of Attorney I signed said I could oversee the move of the goats. When that wasn’t honored, shouldn’t the document have been null and void?”

He held his head at an angle and jiggled it slightly, his double chin echoing the movement. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. They sent me were basically a Bill of Sale for the patent rights to your soap formula and your current herd, and a copy of your bank record showing the receipt of $300,000 in your account.”

“Wait, that money was for medical bills,” Paige said.

“And why would Elaine Erickson be paying for your medical bills?” The lawyer looked thoroughly confused. “She doesn’t have a philanthropic bone in her body.”

“They were for my uncle, and she knew him. He used to work for her. That’s why she was executor of his will.”

“The record shows your uncle died ‘intestate’ or without a will.” He flipped through the pages of his file. “There is no mention of any connection between Elaine and your uncle at all.”

Paige couldn’t believe it. Was anything Elaine told her true? “Then there wasn’t a lawsuit against me from some emu company for the formulas of my soap products?”

His eyes had grown compassionate. “Sorry, she really did a number on you.”

“Then it’s hopeless?” Paige said. “Can’t I countersue, so she can’t do this to anyone else again? So it’s on the public record?”

“Yes, you can, but I’d counsel against it.” He closed the file. “It may do more harm than good since she included a police report where an addendum by the police chief calls you delusional. If you try to fight this, there’s a chance she could have you committed.”

Paige thought about Blanche and the emu farm next door. Of course Elaine had set that up, too. It was unthinkable that someone could be that conniving. How could Sterling endure being around her if he knew all of this?

“Well, thank you for your time.” She got up to go.

“Do you have any of the original documents you signed?”

Paige shook her head and chided herself again. She knew she should’ve kept a copy of any legal document with her signature.

“What about hard evidence? Receipts? Emails? Bruises?” Mr. Lewis seemed to really want to help.

Then Paige remembered what Sterling and Austin said about King. “I had a buck who’d been missing for three months before this all happened. We found him at the facility next door to me when we took the goats. He had obviously been stolen by her.”

“Or he wandered next door. The proximity makes it a hard sell. I’m sure she thought of that. I’ve got to hand it to her. If I hadn’t worked with Elaine before,
I’d
think you were crazy.”

The rest of what he said washed over her. He promised he’d continue to do what research he could and write an initial letter, but beyond that there wasn’t much he else to do. How could she have believed what Elaine told her? Why hadn’t she asked for proof? Elaine’s promises had seemed so real, just like her feelings for Sterling.

She left the lawyer’s office and went home, but the thought of chewing on her mistakes alone for a day was intolerable. Beside the front door, stacks of apple crates called to her. She still had an empty booth at the farmers’ market. Once the thought hit her, it wouldn’t go away. Packing what she could in her hatchback, she took off.

Paige arrived at her booth a little after ten. The florist’s daughter was working the booth next to hers alone and agreed to watch her product, so Paige could make multiple trips to the car. Right away there was interest in her new packaging and in the bright yellow daffodil soap. Two older women in red floppy hats asked her all about it.

Paige explained, “Mint constricts veins, and according to the back of the bottle of the daffodil powder I bought, it can help with arthritis. I’m hoping that’s the case, but to tell the truth, I’ve never tested it.”

“Then why don’t we test it together now?” A low voice behind her caught her off guard.

“Sterling?” Paige caught her breath. The flood of conflicting emotions pounding through her were nothing but a blur.

“May I wash your feet?” Sterling was on his knees. He took the bowl and filled it at the pump then waited in front of the cedar chair.

She wanted to throw her arms around him and punch him out at the same time. Cautiously, she stepped forward and sat. “Did you talk to Elaine?”

He unbuckled her sandal and slid the shoe from her foot. “Yes, but she’s not bending. She says everything is hers. How did the lawyer go?”

“Horrible. There never was a lawsuit. Elaine is claiming the money for medical bills was for the sale of my soap formulas and the goats. It’s over.” The flat of his thumb ran across her instep, sending a chill up her spine and through her skull, but it couldn’t offset the pain in her heart.

He cracked a grin. “You’re ticklish.”

“Only a little.” She let herself relax. “What are we going to do?”

His eyes caught hers. Those pale, clear eyes. “The best we can.”

After wetting her foot, he began to massage in the soap. He laid the base of her foot against his thigh and stroked the top of her foot from ankle to toe over and over. She closed her eyes. It was such a nice feeling. Then he lifted her foot in both his hands and worked out the bottom of her foot, rubbing each area in slow circles. She hadn’t realized how sore her feet were from all the stress of the last week. “You could do this forever,” she said.

He dipped her foot in the water and began patting it off with a towel. He looked up at her. “I should have seen it. If I hadn’t been so blinded by my feelings for you, I would have caught the money trail Elaine was leaving. It was so obvious.”

She opened her eyes. “Wait. You’re blaming this on your feelings for me?”

“No, I just can’t swallow that we’ve lost. There’s got to be a way to turn this around. I don’t care what it takes. I’ll get Elaine.” Sterling was still holding her bare foot. “I never lose.”

She yanked it away and stood, one shoe off and one shoe on.

“Yes, you do,” Paige said. “You lost twelve years ago when you hurt poor Darryl and your mom and dad. You lost two years after that when you refused to return for your mother’s funeral. You lost when you hired on with Elaine, and when you stayed at the drugstore talking to your disgusting coach. You lost when didn’t run to the aid of your sweet nephews.”

Paige couldn’t help the tears rolling down her cheeks. “Most of all, you lost right now. You were holding my foot in your hand, and rather than saying you won, that you won my heart, your focused on getting back at Elaine.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.” He went pale.

“Yes, you did.” Paige couldn’t do this anymore. “Sterling, it’s over between us for good. I can’t want you and care about you only to have my heart stomped on again. I won’t do it. No.”

He didn’t move. “And your no means no.”

Paige bobbed her chin, unable to say the words.

He left the bowl of soapy water in front of the chair and walked away, disappearing into the crowd of shoppers.

The women were still standing there. “So how does the soap feel?”

Paige could either collapse or keep going, and she chose the latter. “Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll show you.” She washed feet for the rest of the afternoon, so she wouldn’t have to think or hope or feel at all.

Leaving the farmers’ market, Sterling knew what he had to do. She may never know his sacrifice, but she’d reap the benefit of it. He lifted his phone. “Elaine, you’ve won. I’m coming back. Return the goats, and you can have me.”

“It’s not that easy. I’ve got to talk to my lawyers, draw up some contracts and iron out a few legal matters. Give me until Tuesday afternoon.”

“Done,” he said.

“And you’ll never see her again?” Elaine asked.

“That’s a certainty.”

“Sterling, you know this whole little fling has cost me a bundle, but you did the right thing.”

His laugh was derisive, but he didn’t care. “And how would you know what the right thing is?”

“It’s whatever I say it is.” Elaine gave a light chuckle.

“Now that, I believe.” Sterling hung up the phone and floored the gas.

Chapter Forty-Two

T
UESDAY MORNING PAIGE HAD NO REASON
to get out of bed. She’d peeked at the clock from under her quilt twice, but it was still before ten. Her hope to set a personal record was shattered when the doorbell rang. Paige wondered who even knew she was still alive, let alone cared enough to make the trip to her door.

Her living room was spotless from lack of use, and she threw the door open wide. The man in the blue jumpsuit looked familiar, and the roar of a diesel made her curious. Then she heard the soft bleating of dozens of goats, and a smile broke out across her face.

“Where do you want them?” It was the man who had confiscated the goats from Dallas.

“In the barn. I’ll show you.” Running barefoot across the gravel, she didn’t even notice the rocks biting into her feet. Elation filled her as she named each goat descending the ramp. Licorice, Cinnamon, Concrete, Chocolate Chip and so on. It saddened her that Petunia wasn’t among them, but soon her newborn would join the herd, and they’d all be together again.

After the goats were all settled, and the truck pulled away, she dashed into the house and picked up the phone. “They’re back! They’re back!”

Linda screamed on the other end of the line to the others in the room. “The goats are home!” and Paige could hear the cheers from the boys, Darryl and Sterling’s dad. Linda calmed them enough to talk. “So what happened? Did she settle?”

“I’m not sure,” Paige said. “The lawyer I was working with was really good. He must have done something.”

“Have you told Sterling yet?” Linda asked.

Paige squinted her eyes shut. “Could you?”

“For some reason his phone has been disconnected. We were hoping you had the number.”

“What?” Paige opened her eyes. “Did you try directory assistance? He might have changed it.”

“He’s unlisted.” Linda said. “Do you know where he lives? Maybe you could go by.”

Her chest felt hollow. “I never saw his apartment. The only thing I know is where he works.”

“Would you try there?” Linda pled.

“Of course.”

DRESSED IN HER BLACK PANTSUIT
with the copper shell, Paige had straightened her hair and took special care doing her makeup. She sat in the car for half an hour before she could find the courage to at last do it. Not two steps into the lobby, Paige had a security guard approach her.

“Ma’am,” he whispered. “Are you Paige Lindon?”

“Yes,” she said.

“We have a letter for you at the front desk.”

Paige almost skipped over to it, hoping it was a message from Sterling. Once the guard handed her the envelope, she knew differently. The clipped writing belonged to Elaine, who clearly stated that if she attempted to contact Sterling again, all legal action would be resumed against her with extreme prejudice. Paige tore the letter in half and left it on the floor as she stormed from the lobby. Sterling knew where she lived. The ball was in his court.