All My Tomorrows (10 page)

"Whoa," Jordan exclaimed. "Slow down a bit, sweetheart. Why don't we plan this out? I want it to be special, not just the two of us standing in front of a total stranger saying I do."

"Jordan, I don't want to put it off forever."

"Neither do I, love," Jordan replied. "Let's wait until the weather breaks, say, maybe April or May?"

Maggie nodded. "Okay. I'll compromise. My birthday is April sixteenth. That's about a month from now. I'm still going to call the justice of the peace tomorrow though. It's not too early to begin planning."

Jordan smiled. "What am I getting myself into here?" she teased. "I hear redheads are notorious for determination and hot tempers."

Maggie whispered into Jordan's ear. "I'll show you hot, but it won't be my temper."

"Oh, God," Jordan exclaimed as she scooted down in the bed taking Maggie with her.

CHAPTER 9

Jordan walked across the yard and stepped into the barn. She stopped short when she heard voices.

"Did you hear the news?"

Jordan recognized John's voice as she waited for the reply to his question.

"News? No. I'm pretty much out of the loop these days."

Jan. Jordan's interest was piqued as she covertly listened to the conversation.

"Well, Maggie was in here about an hour ago to take Shawny for his morning ride, and she told me she and Jordan are getting married."

"What?" Jan shouted angrily. "Say that again?"

"I said Maggie and Jordan are getting married. Apparently she proposed last night and Jordan said yes. Maggie was all smiles this morning. I haven't seen her that happy in a long time."

"Jesus Christ," Jan exclaimed. "Did she say when?"

"She said something about having it on her birthday," John replied.

"April sixteenth," Jan whispered nearly under her breath.

John looked at the date on his watch. "Well, it looks like we're going to have a party in about a month."

"Damn," Jan cursed.

John frowned. "Look, Jan. I know you and Maggie used to be together, but maybe you should just accept that she's in love with Jordan now and just let it go."

Jan took several steps toward John and stopped within a foot of him. "Look, old man, I don't have to accept anything. I knew that Lewis woman would be bad news the moment I laid eyes on her. I won't just sit back and let her take everything away from me."

Jan's attempt to intimidate John did not sit well with him. "Well, I reckon I wouldn't be making an enemy of Jordan seeing as she'll be your boss soon."

"We'll see about that," Jan spat as she turned to leave.

Jordan quickly stepped out of the barn and pretended to enter for the first time, just as Jan was leaving. "Good morning, Jan," she said cheerily.

"Fuck you!" Jan stamped past Jordan and headed to the bunkhouse.

Jordan watched her go as she continued to enter the barn. Stopping face to face with John, she asked, "What's up with her?"

"Well, she ain't very happy with the fact that you and Maggie are getting married."

"I see," Jordan replied.

"Well, I think it's grand," John said as he extended his hand to Jordan. "Congratulations."

"Thank you John." Jordan looked around. "So, what can I do to help you today?"

"You don't need to help me with anything, Miss Jordan," John replied.

Jordan put her hand on John's shoulder. "John, I'd appreciate it if you cut the Miss Jordan shit, okay? I'm still just Jordan, and I still want to pull my weight around here. So, what do you say you and I clean the stalls together?"

John smiled. "You got it, Jordan."

* * *

Jordan spent the entire day in the barn with John, cleaning stalls, stacking hay bales in the loft, and doing general repairs. As the sun began to set, she called it a day and sent John home. As she crossed the yard toward the house, she noticed a truck approaching the barn from the north pasture.

The truck was soon close enough to read the name on the door. J. T. Robinson, Artesian Well Drilling.

The well in the north pasture. Maggie, do you realize what you have just done?

Jordan immediately went in search of Maggie. "Maggie! Maggie, where are you?" she called when she entered the kitchen.

"In here," Maggie replied from the living room.

Jordan found her in the far corner of the living room sitting at the desk organizing paperwork. Maggie turned to face her as she approached and smiled broadly.

"Hey baby," she said.

Jordan forced herself to remain calm. She realized that there was no way Maggie could have realized the ramifications of placing the well in the north pasture. "Hi love. Hey, I just saw an artesian well-drilling truck come out of the north pasture."

"They're finished already? That was fast," Maggie replied.

"I didn't realize you were having a well drilled."

Maggie shrugged. "I almost didn't remember about it myself," she said. "It's actually been scheduled since last fall. It was supposed to be finished at about the same time the new barn was, but Jack Robinson fell behind due to some health issues. By the time he was able to get back to work, it was winter, so it had to wait until now."

Jordan nodded. "I see. So, where in the north pasture did you have it dug?"

Maggie continued to sort her paperwork as she talked to Jordan. "Well, that's the unfortunate part. It's pretty far from the barn. Jack couldn't find a spring to tap into any closer. I'm afraid we'll have to lay pipeline between the new well and the barn for it to be useful."

"So, it's out in the middle of the field?" Jordan asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Maggie stopped what she was doing and turned to face Jordan. "Why the sudden interest in the well?" she asked.

"Maggie, did the contractor produce evidence that the land is dry around the vicinity of the barn?"

"No. I just assumed he was right. Jordan, what are you implying?" she asked.

"I'm working on a hunch here, Maggie. Could I ask you to humor me by getting another opinion?"

"I guess so," Maggie replied hesitantly, "but I just paid three thousand dollars to have that well dug."

"Maggie, if my hunch holds true, it will cost a lot less money to have the well re-dug than it will to hire Robinson to lay pipeline."

Maggie threw up her hands. "Okay. You're the boss on this one."

"Thank you, love," Jordan replied as she kissed the top of Maggie's head. In doing so, she glanced at the paperwork laid out across Maggie's desk. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Ugh. Tax time. Every year I have to sort out receipts and bills in preparation for having the taxes done. I hate it."

"How about next year, I set up a spread sheet on the computer so you can keep track of debits and credits as they occur? Then, at the end of the year, all you have to do is print out reports in any flavor you want. Sound good?" Jordan asked as she glanced again at the paperwork.

As she looked away, something caught her eye. It was a letter from Pritchard and Yeats law firm, the firm that handled Maggie's father's estate.

"That sounds wonderful. But I'm afraid I'm not very computer literate," Maggie replied.

Jordan continued to stare at the paperwork — at one document in particular.

Where have I seen that logo before?

Jordan replied, "It's easy, love. I wouldn't mind holding your hand through it until you're comfortable doing it yourself."

Maggie grinned. "I'm game. Any reason to hold hands with you is good."

Jordan committed the name above the logo to memory in the event it came to her later. "Okay, sweetie. I'm going to leave you alone so you can finish what you're doing. How about I start dinner?"

Maggie was immediately on her feet. "Baby, no offense, but I think I'll make dinner."

Jordan tried to look offended, but was secretly glad. The last time she'd tried to make dinner, they ended up ordering take-out. "I really don't mind, Mags."

"The paperwork can wait. I'll make dinner," Maggie insisted.

"Well then, let me help, okay?" Jordan suggested.

"Only if you promise not to burn the water this time," Maggie teased.

Jordan chuckled. "Deal."

* * *

Jan had made herself scarce since she discovered Jordan and Maggie were to be married. She spent a great deal of time training and exercising the horses and avoided the immediate area of the farmhouse during daylight hours. Jordan did, however, notice that Jan spent a significant amount of time in the barn after John left for the day and after Jordan and Maggie retired to the house.

After finding the burr on Maggie's saddle, Jordan rose early each morning and went to the barn to search for evidence of what Jan was up to, but each time, she failed to find anything. Finally, she sought out Jan in the bunkhouse to confront her.

Jordan knocked loudly on the bunkhouse door and waited for Jan to answer. After several moments of silence, she knocked again. Still, no answer. Finally, she reached down and turned the knob. The door opened easily.

The bunkhouse was dark. Jordan stepped inside and turned the switch on beside the door. Light immediately flooded the common area. Everything was neat and orderly. Jordan walked across the common room and pushed open the door to Jan's bedroom. She stepped inside and turned on the lamp that was on top of a nearby dresser. Again, Jordan found nothing out of place in the room. Jordan began searching drawers for anything that appeared suspicious. A thorough search of each dresser drawer yielded nothing. She sighed deeply and was about to leave the room when she noticed the bedside table had a built-in drawer. She quickly crossed the room and pulled the drawer open.

Jordan stared at the contents of the drawer for several moments before reaching in to extract an envelope. She held the envelope up and realized it was addressed to Maggie, but most discerning was the return address and the familiar logo below it — Pritchard and Yeats, Attorneys at Law. Jordan's hands shook as she opened the flap and removed the letter inside. The letter was dated October 29, 2018.

Damn. That was more than four months ago.

Jordan closed her eyes and tried to remember back four months and suddenly realized why the logo looked so familiar to her.
This must have been the letter Jan was reading the morning after she moved into the bunkhouse. That's where I've seen the logo before.

She quickly read the letter and became angrier and angrier with each line of text.

"Maggie needs to see this," she decided as she folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope.

Jordan closed the drawer of the nightstand and turned the lights out behind her. She left the bunkhouse then charged directly toward the house. Maggie was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

"Hey, baby," Maggie said as she wrapped her arms around Jordan's middle. "Good news, lover. The new well contractor just called and said they hit pay dirt, or pay water as the case may be. They found a water source exactly where you told them to drill, just off the corner of the new barn. How did you get so smart?"

"That is good news," Jordan replied. "I hate to minimize it, but I have some news of my own that is more important, but unfortunately, not as good."

Maggie frowned. "What is it, love?"

Jordan handed the letter to Maggie.

"What's this?" she asked as she opened it.

"Read it," Jordan encouraged.

Maggie extracted the letter from the envelope and read it out loud.

October 29, 2018

Miss Downs, please find below, a description of the information you requested relative to a recent change made to the deed of the horse farm in Shelburne, VT, based on the wishes of your father, Gary Downs.

Based on the addendum, ownership of the farm is hereby transferred to Miss Margaret Michele Downs, with secondary ownership transferred to Miss Janneal Sanford in the event Margaret Down's predeceases her. Since Gary Downs is the author of the above-mentioned addendum, any changes to the intent and contents must be requested only by him, until he is deceased, at which time, changes may be made by Miss Margaret Downs and approved by Miss Janneal Safford.

Please feel free to call our office if you have any questions about this document.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Pritchard

"Oh, my God," Maggie exclaimed when she finished reading the document. "This is the document I asked them to send to me months ago. I totally forgot about it. Jordan, where did you find this?" she asked.

"In the nightstand drawer next to Jan's bed," Jordan replied.

"Jan? How did she get it?"

"She must have intercepted the mail, Maggie. That's the only thing I can think of. She obviously has a vested interest in making sure the deed stays exactly as it is."

Maggie folded the paper and angrily shoved it back into the envelope. "Well, she has another thing coming to her. I'll call Daddy right now and insist he has this changed immediately. How dare she?"

"Do you have any idea where she is right now, Maggie? I have a thing or two I want to discuss with her as well," Jordan exclaimed.

Maggie reached for the phone to call her father as she responded to Jordan's question.

"Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a couple of days. She's visiting friends out of town. She should be back on Friday. At least that's what she told me."

"Damn," Jordan responded.

* * *

After dinner that evening, Jordan made excuses about a project she was working on in the barn and left Maggie to work through the tax papers. Jordan secreted herself in the hayloft and waited. She had a hunch that Jan was not really out of town. Near nine o'clock, just as Jordan fought to stay awake, the door of the barn slowly opened. Jordan had positioned herself such that she had a clear view of the main area of the barn and sat as still as possible so as to not call attention to herself in the loft.