In Pursuit of Justine

Chapter 6

The doorbell rang. Megan and Liliana, stood at the door ready to give me a hug. I was so elated to see them.

"Auntie Justine, I'm six now and I'm so glad you're here. I'm out of school for the summer, so we can have lots of fun." Liliana's big chocolate eyes burned with excitement.

"Yes, we sure can. I can't wait." I tickled her and she giggled with delight, in true Liliana fashion. 

"Grandma can I please sleepover your house, with you, and Auntie Justine?" She jumped up and down, waiting for an answer.

"You sure can, if it's okay with your mommy." Her grandmother beamed adoringly at her. You could tell, she was the apple of her eye.

"Yes, love bug, of course you can sleep over Grandma Corwin's house." Megan smiled at Liliana, tugging on one of her long black curls.

Alex, Chance, and Avalon all came in next, and it was one big happy family. I never experienced anything like this, before meeting the Corwin family.

Chance and Alex were very tense, and their faces looked stressed. Something had happened.

"Mom, can you and Liliana watch a movie in the great room? The rest of us need to go in the dining room to discuss some important business." Alex gave his mother a pleading look.

"Come on Liliana, lets find a good movie to watch and I'll make us some popcorn." Mrs. Corwin took Liliana by the hand—to her delight. 

It sure is good to be a kid around here.

The rest of us adults all went into the dining room, and Brandon closed the French doors. The men stood, while Megan and Avalon took a comfortable seat at the dining room table. I remained standing and leaned against a wall.

"First, I want to say, it's good to see you Justine. I'm happy that Brandon brought you back to our mother's house. You can be safe here." Chance began the discussion by acknowledging me.

"I was served papers today, at Corwin Development Corporation." Chance was seething. That explained the looks on his and Alex's faces.

"John McKay is suing us for $1 million, for that real estate proposal between he and our father, before he died. Alex and I decided it would have been a profit loss and didn't sign off on the deal." Chance paced back and forth, with his arms behind his back.

"Did you bring the original paperwork that dad had with, Mr. McKay?" Brandon addressed Chance. He needed to look it over. Chance handed him the folder and Brandon seemed overwhelmed, as he started leafing through the stack of papers.

Alex leaned over, resting his arms on a dining room chair. "It looks like we are going to be battling John McKay, once again. But this case may go to court."

"Before he wanted $500K. Now he wants $1 million for pain and suffering, that this lost income has caused him." Alex laughed, like give me a break.

"Well, I will look over everything in the morning. I'll be refreshed and have gotten a good night's sleep. This has been quite a day." Brandon looked visibly drained.

"No problem, bro. Just call me tomorrow, with whatever you find. C'mon Avalon, I'm ready to get some sleep too. I'm mentally exhausted. This guy is really unbelievable." Chance clapped Brandon on the back.