"I had it towed. You can't be living here."
"I hate you!" Emily charged Parker at full speed, ready to swing.
Parker grabbed her arm before her hand could make contact with his freshly shaven face. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling the wild woman tightly against his body. He wasn't going to let go of his restraining hold until he knew she'd stop attacking him.
"Let go of me!" Emily yelled.
"I'll let you go when you promise to stop physically attacking me. Can we talk like adults?"
"Adults? Do you think what you did was the adult thing to do? Railroad my grandfather?"
"Can we talk? If you have to scream that's fine. Just stop trying to hit me." Parker was both serious and humored at the same time.
"Fine!" Emily felt the man release his hold and she backed away.
"I want to talk to you about what happened, how it is we acquired this property. We didn't steal it. That check you threw at me was pretty gracious of me. If more money is required for you to leave in peace, name your price." Parker stood firm, just in case she tried it again.
"You didn't have to shut all the power off in the house and steal my car."
"This is my property."
"I'm trying to get my grandfather's belongings out of here. Or were you planning to destroy the house regardless?"
"Miss Carson, I have no intentions of keeping any structures on this property. So the answer to your question is yes. If you're nice, I can allow you some time to remove what you need."
"How much time?" Emily had no intention of leaving this house.
"I've never been inside of the house. How many days do you need?"
"6 months."
"No..."
"Three months."
"No, I asked you how many days, not months."
"I was raised in this house!" Emily didn't mean to start crying.
"Look, I'm not trying to hurt you. I know that the loss of your grandfather must have been horrible. Obviously, you weren't aware that the property was being sold. I understand your situation." Parker relaxed his posture and stepped forward to maybe squeeze her hand or pat her shoulder...anything to make her stop crying. Parker is, and always has been, a sucker for a woman's tears. Her pouting lip and sad eyes were definitely affecting him.
Yeah, that's right. Come a little bit closer you son of a bitch...
Parker felt the sting on his cheek. "Okay, that's enough of that. You hit me again and I'll have assault charges pressed against you. Your career will be over with." He wasn't going to let her know that his face burned like hell. He kept his voice calm. Wow, she does pack a mean one.
"I'm not going to apologize." Emily was breathing hard.
Her chest heaving up and down didn't go unnoticed by Parker. "How about I come back later when you've calmed down some?"
"I want my Explorer back. Go ahead and keep the utilities turned off, you bastard. I can't exactly leave if I don't have a vehicle."
"I'll have a car and driver available for you so you can vacate, then you'll get your vehicle back. But you aren't getting free reign with the way you're acting. I don't trust you."
"You don't trust me? You're the pathetic thief and liar!"
"Miss Carson, I'm not hard of hearing. You can stop screaming at me. I wish we could just sit down and have a calm conversation."
"I want you to leave, Mr. Scumbag."
"I don't think name calling is necessary. I'm willing to give you one week to vacate."
"I'll leave when hell freezes--"
"Hopefully you won't be injured when the cops haul you off."
"You obviously never lost someone who was close to you. You don't have one shred of decency in your system!"
Parker cringed at her words.
"I'm not the horrible man you're portraying me to be."
"Yeah, go tell your wife that. Poor brainwashed woman..."
"Look, I refuse to disclose anything about my personal background. All you'll do is throw it in my face. I'm done trying to talk to you, Miss Carson. One week and I'll have you removed. I suggest you pack." Parker walked backwards to his car. He didn't trust this woman, especially with his back turned.
Parker phoned his brother. "Russ, she's going to be a problem."
"Did you give her more money? That's probably what she's after."
"I gave her a check for twenty million and she threw it at me. Now I know how much your face stung." He listened to his brother's laughter. "Russ, this isn't funny. She's refusing to leave. I had everything shut off at the house and even impounded her vehicle. All that did was piss her off. I'm not sure what my next move is going to be, but damn...I have to do something. We stand to lose a ton of money."
"Parker, I wouldn't sweat it. We have other projects in the making. The worst case scenario; we lose five million, but have fifty-thousand acres of beautiful land. Hell, I wouldn't mind camping out there with Rhonda and the girls. We could just keep it long enough for Miss Carson to give up on this mission. Is she a tree hugger?"
"I don't think she's capable of hugging anything..."
"Send her flowers or something." Russ began laughing again.
"You just gave me a great idea. Thanks a million, bro."
***
Emily sat in the middle of the living room floor bawling. She wanted to call William but knew her phone would die as soon as she said hello. I can't believe this is happening! It's a fifteen mile walk to get into town. By the time I returned, the house would be plowed down. Her grandfather had been fed with a tube so there wasn't any food in the house. But that wasn't going to stop Emily. She fished down at the lake with her grandfather all the time. She'd go catch her meal, start a fire, and cook some lunch. Grabbing her fishing pole and tackle box, Emily headed for the lake.
Finding worms was easy in the soft soil. Fishing made her mood lift, as it was one of the fondest memories of her grandfather she had. After ten casts, she got a hit and reeled up a nice Yellow Perch. After about two hours of fishing, Emily had a total of five. Perfect! She reached in her tackle box, brought out her knife, and filleted them.
She grabbed matches, the cast iron skillet, and a few spices from the house. Emily quickly found dry wood, brush, and twigs, and then walked to the fire pit. Just when she was ready to strike the match, she heard the sound of a large truck coming down the road. What the hell?
Parker drove off the RV lot with his Class A forty-footer. He'd never had to maneuver this large of a vehicle before, but found it fun. Watching Emily Carson's face would be even more entertaining. Paying the sales guy a five hundred dollar tip made him more than willing to stock it with things he'd need while Parker ate breakfast at a nearby diner. He hadn't camped since he was a young boy and, to be honest, he was really looking forward to it. This will definitely make her leave...