CHAPTER 15: DECISIONS
THE PETERSON RESIDENCE
SEWICKLEY, PA
“Ronald, seriously? Why are you being this way?!” Nancy screeched.
“Because you were warned, Nancy. It’s as simple as that.”
“But Ronald, you were being unreasonable!”
“I was being unreasonable? Woman, if you were to look up the definition of the word in the dictionary, you and your wayward spawn would appear there with greedy, green eyes of envy and avaricious smiles. There aren’t any people on this earth who fit the very definition of unreasonable as well as you and Lindsay.”
“Is there anything I can do to change your mind about this?”
“Short of being reborn out of some womb far, far away, NO! You have brought this on yourself, Nancy. All you had to do was keep your upturned nose out of Lindsay’s problems, but as usual you couldn’t do that.”
“But she’s our daughter, Ronald…”
“No, she’s YOUR daughter! And has served as your meal ticket for more years than I care to think of, or remember. But out of curiosity, what exactly did you think would happen?” At her silence, and downcast eyes, he laughed sardonically. “Oh, you just thought that all of this would blow over as it had in the past, did you? You thought because of the threat of taint on my family name, I would once again roll over and play dead for you, didn’t you? Well underestimating me in this instance was your first mistake, Nancy. And now, you have made another.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ron. I didn’t tell Lindsay to go over there!”
“I’m not talking about Lindsay’s stupidity in darkening the Foxx residence’s front door, although I can also hold you accountable for that, since it’s exactly what you would have done yourself. No, what I’m talking about is the call you put in to Clara not even a half an hour ago, after you eavesdropped on a private conversation between me and Giles.”
She gasped. “How do you know about that?”
“There isn’t much I don’t know, Nancy. When will you learn that?” He shook his head in both pity and exasperation. Nancy was just much too entitled for her own good, and sadly those same issues had rubbed off on Lindsay. “In any event, I called Clara back to advise her that should Christopher even think to make an appearance in Pennsylvania- let alone in Pittsburgh directly- that I will call the remaining mortgage due on their mansion immediately.”
“I still can’t believe you bought it,” she muttered.
“I don’t know why not. You know I’m all about acquisition, Darling, especially when it comes to real estate. But look on the bright side of the situation…”
“Which is?”
“When you leave here later on tonight, you’ll at least have the illusion that you are simply visiting your family members, instead of being permanently evicted from my life,” Ronald answered gleefully, before growing falsely thoughtful. “Although the announcement of our imminent divorce will be in the papers, I’ve arranged for it to appear in an obscure view in the Vital Statistics registry. It will appear in the obituary section right after the last name of the recently deceased. Poetic justice and a bit of irony, don’t you think? After all, our marriage has been dead for years.”
“Fuck you, Ronald!”
“Not even with Marcus’ nearly-dead dick, Nancy. If I were you, I would pick my last outfit as Lady of the Manor, carefully. The one thing you’ll not want is for the last supper you will ever have within these walls to be gossiped about unduly. But a word of advice…”
“What is it?” Nancy asked, the agony of defeat heavy in her tone.
“Warn your wasted fuck of all both you and she stand to lose tonight should she be the bitch she is by bringing up that asshole nephew of yours. I mean it, Nancy. One mention of Christopher Hobbs and you will not even get the pittance of alimony to live on that you’re entitled to.”
“You can’t do that!”
He moved closer to her, deliberately invading her personal space. He leaned in to whisper, allowing his breath to ghost across her lips, and asked, “Are you bold enough to take the chance that I can’t?”
Ordinarily, Ronald Peterson was not such a vicious man. Methodical? Yes. At times, diabolical? Hell YES!
But he’d always believed wholeheartedly in fairness; in playing the game of life within their society and beyond it with integrity and skill. Sadly, he hadn’t always been able to do that, especially when it came to matters concerning his soon-to-be ex-wife and her daughter. It had taken everything within Ronald most days to just stick with the plans of the prenup, always looking forward to the day he would be free of the Hobbs harridans. And although that day was finally here, he was finding that he needed to work just as hard- if not harder- to thwart their plans for Brian Kinney and Melanie Marcus as he did to save himself years of headaches and money, resulting from his increased therapy bills. But the piece de resistance still had yet to be revealed.
Just a little while longer, he thought to himself, struggling to keep the triumph from his eyes for Nancy’s benefit.
“You really think you’ve won, don’t you, Ronald?”
Ron laughed in the face of her implied threat. “I don’t have to think about anything, Nancy; I already know I have. And it’s in ways that you can’t possibly imagine. See you at dinner,” he said as he dismissed her from his presence.
Nancy stood there glaring at him for mere moments, willing him to look up from the paperwork he’d been perusing before she dared to enter his office without even the courtesy of a knock on the door. As she finally huffed and flounced out of the office, Ronald breathed a slight sigh of relief. Phase one was complete, and so it was time to begin laying the foundation of phase two. Picking up his cellphone, he dialed the familiar number. As the call connected, he couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his lips at hearing the greeting.
“Hey, Daddy. Is everything okay?” Lynette’s cheerful voice came through the receiver.
“Yes, Darling. Everything is fine. I just called to tell you that everything is going according to plan so far. Are you sure you’re up to going ahead with your idea?”
“More than you know. By the way, I heard that she made an appearance at the precinct on 57th and Firth today. George called Jonathan, who handed the phone to me.”
“Hm, that could work to our advantage.”
“It already has, since according to George, quite a few officers saw the scene she and her minion put on regarding the apparent domestic abuse and subsequent kidnapping of her child. Although none of us could figure out how Lindsay could fix her lips to tell the lies she has. It kind of makes you wonder what other untruths she’s told over the years, doesn’t it?”
Ron picked up the full investigative report he obtained regarding one Lindsay Peterson, and smiled. “I think I have some idea of those.”
“Any idea what you’re going to do about them?”
“Certainly! But first, let’s get through this last dinner, then I’ll tell you the rest.”
Lynette agreed, before disconnecting the call. Ronald smiled to himself, before looking down at the report again. If there was one person who had an even bigger axe to grind against Nancy and Lindsay, it was Lynette. And whereas he was powerless to fix her problems with them while they were happening, it seemed to Ronald that the saying ‘Better late than never’ was about to take on a whole new meaning… for both of them.
NEW YORK
“And you’re absolutely sure that this is what you want to do?” Donovan asks the pregnant woman sitting directly across the table from him.
“It’s not about what I want to do, but what’s best for my children and me,” Melanie says, then sighs. “In all honesty, I’ve gotten to the point where there are times when I want to see if I can find loopholes in the law to get away with cold-blooded murder.”
“Funny, considering I know that Brian’s had that same reaction regarding you, a time or two.”
“And vice versa, let me assure you, Donovan. No one on earth can vex me more than Brian Kinney… or that used to be true, until I started really opening my eyes about Lindsay. In retrospect, I can see every single time she played puppet master with me and Brian, causing us to argue like it was about to be outlawed any minute. Unfortunately, I allowed her to play on my insecurities, which is something that Kinney is guilty of, too. Lindsay knows the exact buttons to push, and when.”
Donovan nods at her in agreement. “So that only brings the question of what you want out of all this.”
“The kids, my personal effects, my office, and a painting that Brian bought for me called Lucky.”
“Okay, but… well, as I understand it, you single-handedly paid off the mortgage to the house. Why would you just give it to her, free and clear?”
“Truthfully, I don’t want to live there. In fact, once I’m finished collecting my things along with the kids, I want to move out of it and not look back. But if I allow her to keep the house, I don’t have to have any dealings with her going forward. She’ll be fully financially responsible for all the upkeep.”
“But what if you sell the house to someone else and they turn it into a rental property? She’ll still be financially responsible for the house if she plans to continue staying there, without you having to be involved.”
“True, but you don’t know Lindsay.” Melanie sighed, knowing that she would have to spell out how Lindsay would react knowing that Melanie had sold the house out from under her. “The problem is that no matter what I do, Lindsay will find a way to not only appear the victim, but it also will encourage her to try and get Brian to fund her life going forward. Whether Lindsay stays in the house or not is of no consequence; it’s all about what she gains by doing so. With me letting her keep the house, it cuts off one avenue she’ll use to get to Brian. She won’t have the kids to use as her brand of extortion, although she’ll certainly try to drag us to court for visitation, especially for Gus. It won’t matter that she really doesn’t want to see him, but just to pump him for information. The new baby, she’ll just want to take from me for spite. The only thing I have going in my favor right now is that she doesn’t have a steady paying job.”
“I’m sure you have much more than that, Mel. Especially considering the company she’s keeping in Michael Novotny, who just lost his own shop for non-payment. As they say, birds of a feather… So I have to ask again, what is it you want to do?”
Mel seemed to think about it for a moment. “If you were me, what would you do, Don?”
“Sell the house flat out, and suggest that the new owner turn it into a rental property. The trouble would be deciding who could do it that would be completely immune to her dubious charms…”
“I’ll buy it,” came the voice from the corner. Neither Donovan nor Melanie had even heard the young woman enter the suite. “I’m Daphne Chanders, by the way. Justin said that I should come up and introduce myself since we’ll all be seeing a lot of each other going forward.”
“And what do you do for the company, Ms. Chanders?” Donovan asked, for both himself and Melanie.
“Outside of being the International Liaison for both Taylor Industries and Winston, Inc. I’ll be working fairly closely with the Kinnetik team. While Kinnetik’s staff handles all the public relations aspects, I am responsible for keeping the relationship between both companies and our clients intact so that whatever is said publicly doesn’t adversely affect anyone’s bottom lines. Since I am also Justin’s best friend since before the crib, that also gives me a unique insight into what you’re facing regarding your ex, Ms. Marcus.”
“I’m curious as to why you believe that,” Mel stated.
“There isn’t another person alive, including his mom, who could tell you what Justin’s reactions will be.” Daphne heard everything. It was time she lay all the facts out for each of them, that neither one of them had seemed to consider. “But back to the matter at hand about the house… Brian can’t do it; he’s too close to the situation. Justin is already dealing with enough, regarding his sperm donor, and both are dealing with Lindsay and her lapdog who are trying to put the kibosh on whatever may develop between the two of them…”
“You think something is going to develop? Between two of the most commitment-phobic men to walk the face of the earth?” Donovan asked skeptically, to which Melanie laughed.
“Definitely,” Mel confirmed. “They are denying it with every breath they take, but the possibilities are endless in that quarter.”
“I noticed the sparks- or make that mini-bombs- exploding whenever they looked at each other while we were at the DeCampos offices.”
Mel laughed harder. “Honey, you should have seen them on the plane coming here. I don’t think I’ve seen two men better suited for each other in my life. While denying that there is anything more than sexual attraction and common interests, they also are developing protectiveness towards the other which has absolutely nothing to do with business.”
“I noticed it, too,” Daphne confirmed. “So how about it? Let me buy your house? If it means anything to you, I’ve spent my entire life dealing with ignorant people like Lindsay. Believe me, she and her family have nothing on mine. In fact, Lindsay’s family would be first in line to kiss the well-heeled asses of mine and Justin’s families.”
“And yet, you all are so down to earth…”
“It’s the fact that we are from old money, and are used to having the power it brings. We don’t have a need to lord it over others, or to constantly remind them where we come from; they know.”
Donovan looked at the young woman, a slight smirk on his face. In a way, she did remind him of all he gleaned from Justin upon meeting him. But there was also a lot about her that reminded him of Brian Kinney. But then that could also stem from the lascivious looks she’s casting at Melanie, even though the brunette has yet to notice. Donovan nearly chuckled aloud at his thoughts.
Yes, something is telling me that just as Brian is going to have his hands full with Justin, Melanie is going to find herself running from this young woman, too. But will she really want to?
“Okay,” Melanie answered. “So how do we do this? I always thought there needed to be a broker involved.”
“Not really,” Donovan answered. “We would have to draw up a contract specifically stating the Exclusive Right to Sell, which would allow you to sell the house directly to Daphne without having to involve a broker. You’re not planning to carry a mortgage on the house, are you?”
At first, Daphne looked at him as if he had ten heads. Until she realized he really didn’t know the extent of her finances, which made the question a fair one to ask. “No, no need to. I’m willing to give you fair market value, plus a little more for a short sale. The only thing I’m going to request is that you let me come with you when it’s time to pack up your belongings and clear out of there. I think it’s best that someone be with you while you’re doing that.”
“I can always ask Ted or Emmett to come with me,” Melanie protested, but Daphne wasn’t blind. She could see the woman’s nervousness at the thought of having a stranger accompanying her.
“No problem. We can ask them to go with us. In fact, it may make packing you up that much faster. In the meantime, I will also call some very special friends of mine, who will be all too happy to move your things, including any furniture you may want to take with you. Do you have a place to move into?”
Melanie’s head was spinning with the rate at which this was all happening. Donovan had only arrived a little over an hour ago to talk about this, but with the arrival of Daphne, Melanie found herself making split-second decisions. The funny thing is that she wasn’t feeling forced to do so, but that the younger woman was ensuring that Melanie went with her first instincts; not giving her a chance to second-guess herself. She couldn’t say she was sorry in that respect. And honestly, Melanie was coming out much more ahead on this deal than she would have previously thought, had she had to go it alone.
“Not yet. I would need to talk to Brian, since he might have some idea about it. He knows that I wouldn’t want to seem like I’m hiding from Lindsay, because I’m not. But he, more than anyone else, would want me to be in a peaceful environment, especially now.”
“Understandable,” Daphne concurred. “So tonight at dinner with the DeCampos, it’s probably one of the first things that needs to be addressed. Which was actually what I was coming to tell you before I got sidetracked with my thirst for a new acquisition.” She giggled in glee, which was so far removed from the whirlwind woman Melanie and Donovan had just been privy to meeting. “So Donovan, as soon as you draw up the papers, I will sign them. As for the price of the house Melanie, how much did you pay for it when you first bought it?”
“Eighty-nine thousand, and that was after a slight bidding war. The house was originally appraised at seventy-five grand.”
“And how much work have you done at the place since you bought it? And how long have you lived there?”
“Just shy of eleven years, and I’ve done all major upgrades to the house a little over time. Most of that was cosmetic, except for the additions of a new washer and dryer, and the new plumbing put in to accomodate a dishwasher. But the roof I paid to have replaced just over a year ago,” Melanie answered.
Daphne narrowed her eyes in thought, mentally calculating all that Melanie had told her. “And how much of a mortgage is left on the home?”
“None, now. I own it free and clear,” Melanie answered, looking both sad and proud. “I used a portion of the inheritance my grandfather left me to pay the rest of the mortgage off, once I was able to catch it up four years ago. It was the only time I’d ever run behind, and it was just after Gus was born. But when my grandfather passed a little while back, I used over half of it to make sure all I had to pay was property taxes on the house.”
“Does Lindsay know?”
Melanie smiled. “No. I managed to keep that bit of information from her. All she knew was that I was called back home for his funeral. She didn’t ask any questions when I’d gotten back. But once my inheritance hit my account, Ted suggested that I change the access codes at the same time that Brian was changing his. Because of Lindsay’s penchant for spending, I didn’t think twice about it, even though I left the joint account the way it was.”
“Smart thinking,” Daphne stated. “So here’s what I'm thinking, I’m prepared to pay you $311,600 for the house, which covers the initial cost of the house, plus fair market value at the time you bought it. Then I added in ten percent for every year you’ve lived there, prior to this one. In all honesty, consider it restitution for having been wrongly convicted of the crime…”
“A crime?” Donovan asks, as Melanie sits there in shock.
“Yes. I mean, what else would you consider being saddled with Lindsay Peterson? I don’t think anyone could have pissed off God that much in this life or any other. It’s like having all seven plagues of Egypt stuffed inside one harridan.”
Donovan and Melanie couldn’t help but laugh at Daphne’s assessment of the situation. They could instantly see why she and Justin have been friends all their lives. Each of them have such a unique way with words, where even while laughing, their point couldn’t be misinterpreted. “Yeah, you just described Lindsay,” Donovan said. “But I’m curious, do you know her personally?”
“No, I’ve never had the displeasure of meeting her. But her mother and aunt, I know entirely too well for even my own peace of mind. It’s not hard to see where the apple fell where she’s concerned, even though there is more to that story as well. Suffice it to say that all the chickens are about to come home to roost for Nancy and Lindsay…”
“Not Lynette?” Mel asked.
“No. Ironically Lynette and Ronald are the ones who are going to make sure the two of them get exactly what they deserve. Trust me, their axe to grind is much bigger and will be much more effective once it’s applied. But that’s going to take some time to accomplish. In the meantime, it’s going to be best to remove you from the situation as soon as possible, beginning with getting you and the kids out of Lindsay’s orbit immediately.”
They talked a few more moments before Donovan excused himself to draw up the contract / bill of sale between Melanie and Daphne. Again, he looked back to take a brief peek at them, but this time he caught Daphne’s eyes on him. He raised an eyebrow in her direction, asking the question that had been on his mind since he first noticed the way she was surreptitiously watching Melanie. At her imperceptible nod in response, and the slight smirk coming across her full lips, Donovan almost laughed aloud. Instead, he opted to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that no matter what, Melanie Marcus was going to be protected from Lindsay Peterson’s machinations.
And in the process, perhaps Daphne Chanders will show the woman what it really meant to be worshipped, even if it’s within the scope of a fling. Donovan smiled to himself again as he closed the door behind him. From the intensity on the younger woman’s face, I doubt it’s going to be a fling… not in the least.