Baby and the Billionaire by Beverly Evans

Author:Beverly Evans [Evans, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

Scarlett

April…

Winter gave its last gasp about three weeks ago, and spring has finally really arrived in Shadow Creek. There's no more snow on the ground, and as I walk up the curving brick walkway to the newest house on my list, the beginnings of flowers are peeking up through the dirt in the beds on either side of the door.

This house is somewhat of an unusual case. It's been sitting empty for quite some time, but the owner never wanted to sell. In fact, no one has been able to get in touch with the owner. That's how it ended up in my hands.

There's a law in Shadow Creek, a throwback to the old days when people would essentially just throw down a shovel and say land belonged to them. People didn't flock to this area to find their opportunities quite like they did to the west, but the rich soil, beautiful land, and fresh air did draw families away from the creep of the growing cities. Like the west, though, not everybody made it. Some people would come with the highest hopes and best of intentions, only to find it too difficult or come up with another idea and wander off. This often left houses and plots of land abandoned, but technically belonging to people. To make sure the town didn't end up clogged with empty homes and overgrown properties, a law was drawn up to limit how long a house could go without being occupied.

Property owners were given three years to either come back and occupy the house or sell it. If at the end of those three years neither of those things happened, it was considered abandoned and ownership was voided. The land and anything on it were turned over to the town to handle. The law is still technically on the books, but this is the only time I've seen it actually enforced. Trust me; I've tried. There have been several occasions I've strode up to Town Hall and asked about the claim on the McVey mansion. But it's never worked out the way I hoped. The official word has always been that the family maintained residency for the required amount of time in every three year period.

It didn't seem to matter that no one had ever seen them during those supposed stretches.

This house is almost as mysterious. It doesn't have the same spooky aura as the mansion on the hill but has been known around Shadow Creek for sitting empty and alone for as long as anybody can remember. The only times when it wasn't empty came right before the three-year deadline. Every three years, someone would show up and open up the house. For two weeks, lights would appear in the windows, and crews could be seen moving around the interior and exterior, performing repairs and tidying up. After the two weeks, it would fall silent and dark again.

For the next three years, one of the neighbors would go by and mow the lawn or tidy up the flower beds.

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