Try

Part 3 of 8

What should have been just a day-long meeting, ended up being three days. It was a mandatory meeting to keep their license for the chemicals they rarely use on their crops, and vastly boring. Matilda, despite being furious, did feel sorry for the new speaker who had no idea the determination of Don Abilene. Facing Abilene himself is one thing, but like usual these days, he had back up in his son Devon. A day-long two-part meeting reinforming everyone on the dos-and-don'ts that they already knew, ended up being a debate on all the sensitive topics of GMO's, hormones, and every other topic that was unnecessary to overload the poor speaker. If it had not been required to attend, neither Matilda nor Morgan would have had to travel the four and a half hours to get there and spend money on a hotel room just to get that little checkmark beside their names to say they were approved.

Now back home, Matilda walks into her house and flings her bag on the couch. She had learned from previous meetings that it is always a possibility that the meeting could be extended, and to always go prepared. They had hope for the first half-hour because neither Abilene nor Devon were in attendance, but it vanished when they both entered spewing some excuse of traffic. Both Matilda and Morgan were grateful that there were no seats left near them, and the two evil pair were forced to take the last seats somewhere in the back. By the end of the second day, everyone else, including Morgan and Matilda, was boiling with rage. The Abilene farm, of course, was big enough to have many employees and managers to keep it running in their absence, but that was not the case for ninety-five percent of the others in attendance. They were the small, family farms that could not afford days off and missing employees. The meeting could not be "officially" adjourned until the host and speaker declared it, and neither would do so as long as questions were being asked. Only two people, out of nearly five hundred scheduled to attend that particular session, asked every question. When Abilene successfully stumped the speaker and humiliated him in the process, he stopped asking questions and everyone could therefore go home with that check of approval.

"The Paisleys packed up shop," Morgan answered as he enters her house behind Matilda, looking as drained as she feels. "And the Johnsons just got divorced. Both sold their land to Abilene. That is why they weren't there."

"You know Don got in between Hannah and James, purposefully driving them apart, just so he could buy them out," Matilda grumbles while reaching the kitchen table, and somehow she is angrier now than she was during the meeting. That always happens. She always thinks of the things she should have said or should have done after the fact. "And we both know that the baby Hannah is carrying isn't James' baby. It is Devon's."

"That is just gossip, Matilda." Morgan, having had enough of all things related to Don and Devon Abilene, rolls his eyes, and props himself against the wall. He could leave, but he always sticks around to let her vent.

"What is just gossip?" Cooper comes in the front door, making Matilda realize her voice must have carried louder than she thought. It is dark now, and she secretly wonders what Cooper has been up to the three days she has been gone.

"She is just upset and exhausted. Best just to let her get it all out." Morgan does not look at Cooper, but he gets a worried glance in return.

"It isn't gossip, Morgan. You know it. You know that is what they tried to do to me, and you." Matilda continues, as though Cooper is not there. It is a subject the siblings fought over for years. "You could never see what Delanie was doing, but I could. She wanted to get pregnant because she knew you would marry her and then Don would have our farm."

"Matilda..." Morgan starts with a warning bite in his tone.

She is on a roll now, and her anger is keeping her from filtering her words. She has always kept things in until her mind got too full then it all comes out like floodgates. "You have always denied it, but I could look the other way if Devon didn't try to..." She trails off while snapping to attention. It is not something she talks about, nor is it something she is proud of. Her childhood crush on Devon was only that, but Devon used it against her every chance he got. He became obsessed with her when they got older and thought he could get away with everything. He never thought she would fight him off, and he never thought his best friend would stop him. Devon and Morgan were thick as thieves back in High School, but even then there was a line that Devon was never allowed to cross. However, Morgan's anger at Devon did not stop Devon's obsession. He just became craftier about getting Matilda alone, even when she tried her best to stay near Morgan. She was only successful in fighting him off her that night due to her hatred of Devon by that point. If Matilda became pregnant, Devon would not deny the baby was his, knowing her only choice was the marry him. But she fought back, and she made sure everyone in the town knew how disgusted and terrified of Devon she was. Everyone would know that he forced himself on her, and the entire Abilene legacy would be ruined.