I ended the call before the anger boiling in my chest came out in words I couldn’t take back.
By midday, I needed air. I took a walk down the dirt road, the chill biting through my jacket. The woods were still, the kind of quiet that sharpens every sound. Half a mile down, I found fresh tire tracks cutting into the brush near the property line. Someone had driven off-road to get closer.
I crouched, tracing the ruts with my finger. Wide spacing, heavy tread, probably the same SUV. They hadn’t just stopped by. They’d been poking around.
When I got back, Jack was stacking firewood by his porch.
“You’ve got company snooping?” he asked like he already knew the answer.
“Summit Realty,” I said, dropping my hands into my pockets.
He let out a low whistle.
“That’s Megan’s bunch, right?”
“Yeah. She sent them here like she owns the place.”
