A Sweet Reunion: A clean and wholesome small town romance (The Sweet Life Book 1) by Maria Michaels

Author:Maria Michaels [Michaels, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Jeff didn’t think Ivey had calmed down enough when they were inside the condominium, waiting for the elevator.

“Did you hear that? The FBI!” Maybe out of old habit, she leaned into him.

He snaked a supportive arm around her waist. “Calm down. It’s a mistake. That’s all it is.”

“A mistake.” She repeated, her eyes glazed over.

“Let’s go up.” Jeff more or less led Ivey into the elevator and up to the second floor.

There were indeed men in distinctive black suits with badges. No yellow caution tape. But a sign on the front door read: Seized by Order of the United States Government.

The gasp from Ivey meant she’d read the sign as well.

A gray-haired agent stepped up to them, showing his badge. “Are you Lucy Cartwright?”

“No, that’s my aunt. Is she okay? What’s happened to her?” Ivey clutched Jeff’s hand.

“Nothing, ma’am. As far as we know she’s fine. This property has been seized for payment of debts owed to investors by Ben Cartwright.”

Jeff squeezed Ivey’s hand. Everyone in town realized Lucy’s last husband was under house arrest in New York City. The story Jeff had heard was that he’d been indicted in a Ponzi investment scheme.

“Didn’t Lucy Cartwright obtain this property in the divorce?” Jeff asked the man.

“It’s a common trick to pass over assets that way, but Cartwright’s not getting away with it.” The agent handed over paperwork to Jeff.

“If you’ve been staying here, we’ll give you time to get a few essentials. But you need to be out of here tonight.”

“Tonight?” Ivey squeaked out.

“Go find a hotel room somewhere. Maybe there’s someone you can stay with.”

“You might have noticed it’s a small town and there are no hotels.” These guys were starting to piss Jeff off.

The agent shook his head like it wasn’t any of his problem. “Mr. Cartwright should have thought of that before he robbed his investors of their savings.”

Yeah, Jeff got it. He didn’t like Mr. Cartwright either.

“Those poor people need to get their money back, of course,” Ivey stammered out.

“Well, this will barely put a dent in it,” the man said abruptly and went to confer with the other agents.

Jeff pulled Ivey to the side. He hated to see her this way. Confused, hurt, frightened. Again, someone in Ivey’s life had hurt her. First her dad, who’d left Ivey and her mother when Ivey was ten. Her mother, dying in another small-town scandal when Ivey was eighteen.

Even he’d let her down.

“Where am I supposed to go now?” The look on her face, like she’d been gutted, slayed him. Maybe because he deserved it, he punished himself with the thought she might have had the same look on her face when he’d told her that he needed a break. A break from her. That’s how she would have heard it, when all he’d wanted was a tiny respite from the pressures of all the responsibilities.

“You can stay with me.”

After the words were out of his mouth, he couldn’t believe he’d said them out loud. But if nothing else, Ivey’s wide eyes clued him in that he actually had.

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