Kiss, Marry, Kill

Maxwell

“River is threatening to evict me?” I growled.

I stared at the “Three-day notice to pay rent or quit” document until my eyes began to cross. Confusion and anger flooded me. How did River think he could get away with something so outrageous? Why did he continually tell me he wanted to be my friend when every time I turned around, I caught him doing something sneaky?

I trembled with resentment, trying to make sense of what was happening. If the notice was legit, that meant he’d gone behind my back and purchased the land where I was rebuilding my clinic. Why? How? As far as I knew, the land hadn’t even been for sale. He’d have had to go out of his way to pursue the purchase. Why would he do that? Why did he continually screw with me? Did he think I’d just throw my hands in the air and quit?

Wouldn’t I have done that only a month ago?

Regardless of what I might have done before, I wasn’t letting that snake chase me out of Rainy Dale. I’d promised Royce I was staying, and that was exactly what I was going to do. If I had to examine patients in the trunk of my new car, then I would.

“Maxwell Thornton won’t be bullied,” I hissed, crumpling the offensive paper in my hand.

Looking puzzled, Grumpy followed me as I strode into the kitchen, trying to think of what I should do first. I was buzzing with anger and tempted to march over to River’s clinic and call him out to his face. But I needed to be logical about this. It was probably best to go in like a ninja rather than a wrecking ball.

I glanced down at Grumpy. “I need to find my lease.”