by Leah Braemel
“Gradys have used Ackerman and Freeman until six months ago, when they switched to Carter, Murphy and Scott,” Logan spoke slowly, as if he were talking to a four-year-old.
Though Logan’s power play annoyed her, he’d raised a good point. “Is it possible that since Ben chose to leave your firm, Ed had used a different a law firm to handle a sale?”
“No.” Frost filled the other lawyer’s voice. “Ed was coming to my office the day he died. If he had hired another lawyer, he wouldn’t have been coming here, would he?”
To discuss what? Giving Logan a sideways glance, she asked, “Mr. Freeman, I hope you won’t think me impertinent, but may I ask you as Mr. Grady’s executor, was anyone else named in Edward Grady’s will as a part owner of the ranch?”
“No.”
Logan leaned forward, his gaze intent. “What are you getting at, Allie?”
She ignored him, still focused on Freeman. “You realize that once Ed’s will is probated and submitted to the courts, it will be on public record and I will have access to it.”
“I’m perfectly aware of that, Ms. O’Keefe. Ed left Bull’s Hollow to Ben and Jake, no one else. If you want a copy of his will, just let me know.”
Why was he coming to see you that day? Did he give you any idea? Damn Logan for showing up.
Fine, if she couldn’t get rid of Logan and talk to Freeman alone, she’d resort to a little trick of her own. She packed her notepad in her briefcase and stood. “Thank you, Mr. Freeman. I won’t waste any more of your time, but I needed to verify the facts. I’m one of those who likes to make sure all her Ts are crossed.”
“And Is are dotted,” Randy completed, though his tone was not as warm as when he’d first arrived. “Always a good practice in our profession. If you have any other questions, you have my email address.”
They shook hands, and he escorted her and Logan back out to the reception area. Logan held the outer door open when she patted her side. “Oops, I forgot my purse. I’ll be right back.” She started to cross the waiting room then stopped when she realized Logan was following her. “I’m heading to Bull’s Hollow to talk with Ben after this, and I think you need to be there. Why don’t I meet you there?”
Though he kept his expression blank, she caught a flicker of doubt in his eyes. “What are you up to?”
Damn, he knew it was a ruse. She lifted her chin and stared at him. She might not have spent much time facing a judge and jury in a court room but she had faced Lewis across the table at their divorce. “I told you, I forgot my purse.” Good, it came out light and genial as she’d intended. “I’ll meet you at Ben’s.”
After a quick explanation to Sheri, she breezed past the receptionist, down the corridor and picked up her purse, then checked the other rooms until she found Randy’s office, which turned out to be only two doors to the left.
She raised a hand to knock on the doorframe, surprised to find it shaking. He’d been polite to her, business-like, and she was here on business, but her question—and his answer—could change both Ben’s and Jake’s lives.
He glanced up and noticed her before she could knock. “Is there something I can do for you, Ms. O’Keefe?”
“I just wanted to ask—you said Ed was supposed to meet with you on the day of the accident. Do you have any idea what it was about?”
A cautious look flickered across his face. “With all due respect, Ms. O’Keefe, why should I tell you? Ben only gave me the okay to discuss George Grady’s business with you, not Ed’s.”
“I appreciate that, but a certain fact has come to light that I’d rather not have discussed in front of Mr. Vance.”
He sighed and shoved the keyboard shelf under the desk. “Come on in and get whatever it is off your mind.”
She glanced down the hall to ensure Logan hadn’t followed her, and then closed the door before taking the seat he indicated. “Did you know Ed Grady had an affair? Or that he got the other woman pregnant?”
Shock covered his face for a second before he looked down at his hands and flexed them. When he met her gaze again, his expression was grim. “Have you told Ben and Jake yet?”
“No. But I have to. What worries me more is if Tank knew about the affair and somehow kept in contact with Denise Molina and knows what happened with Ed’s child. If he’s using that to leverage a payout from the Gradys.”
“Like blackmail? I have no idea what Tank knows or doesn’t know. Has your investigation uncovered the child’s identity?”
She found it interesting that he showed no reaction when she’d dropped in the name of Ed’s lover. “No, only that Denise Molina gave birth to a son in Houston.”
He pushed his glasses to the top of his forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hell, I’m Ed’s best friend—I knew about the affair, but not until it was over. From what I gather it didn’t last long. But neither Ed nor I had any idea that Denise had been pregnant until last year.”
Which matched the dates of the online posts Ed had made. Her nervousness settling down, she rested her elbows on the desk, watching his expression carefully. “How did Ed find out?”
Uncertainty flickered across his face. “He met Jem Ackerman at the hospital one day. As Logan was quick to point out—” bitterness crept into his voice, “—Jem has Alzheimer’s. He mistook Ed for George and asked about his secret grandson. Asked how the boy was.”
His grandson. “Did Ed find out the child’s identity or anything about if he was adopted?”
“No, he was looking but his mother wouldn’t tell him anything, other than they’d taken care of things for him. He was spitting mad. He said if he’d known Denise was pregnant he would have offered to adopt the child or at least wanted to be part of its life. He was a Grady, after all.”
“But George knew about the child, knew that it was a son?”
Freeman nodded.
“Was this other child mentioned in George’s will? Or did George set up a trust fund or an annuity that wouldn’t show up in the will?” That was how she’d have done it if she were trying to keep the child secret.
“No. And believe me, when Ed told me, I went back and checked Jem’s files.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “I checked again when I learned that Tank was claiming he’d bought land from a George Grady Junior. Other than an annuity he set up for Agnes’ well-being, everything else was left entirely to Ed.”
“Do you know anything about his search for the child?”
He shook his head. “Not much. Agnes refused to tell him anything about him, so he’d put up some posts on some adoption boards and talked about hiring a private investigator, but then there was the car crash and...well, after that I figured it was better for the family to just let things go. Cissy—they’d all taken Ed’s death hard. I didn’t think it was worth burdening them with the knowledge that Ed had cheated on her.”
He was telling the truth both from the way he met her gaze and his tone, she decided, and maybe—just maybe—a potential ally, though she kept Ben’s complaints about Freeman interfering tucked to one side.
“So Ed hadn’t changed his will to include the child?”
He closed his eyes for a second before raising them again. “No, but he was planning on it. That’s why he was coming to see me to talk about drafting a new will but...”
He’d died before anything could be done. So what had Tank overheard at the funeral home? He’d very specifically mentioned a will being destroyed. Though he’d also been wrong about Junior being George’s child. “Is it possible Ed wrote a holographic will?”
“If he did, it’s not been handed over to me.” The tone of his voice changed, betraying his uncertainty.
Which didn’t mean one didn’t exist. Or hadn’t existed at some point. “Do Ben and Jake know about this other child?” Please say no. “Or Cissy?”
“As far as I know, Ed hadn’t told the boys about the affair. He didn’t want to say anything to them until he found him. As for Cissy, I’m not sure
what he told her or when.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his expression shuttered. “But, I can assure you that the only will I know about leaves Bull’s Hollow only to Ben and Jake. Even if this other person does show up with a DNA test, proving he’s Ed’s child, he can’t claim any of the ranch.”
Allie drummed her fingers on the armrest. His tone had changed the moment she’d mentioned Cissy. Was he protecting her? Maybe Cissy had told him about the existence of a will, one he hadn’t filed? One Cissy or Agnes had destroyed?
Or, Allie had to admit, maybe he’d just realized how much he’d revealed. She stilled her fingers, deciding to keep Randall Freeman on her don’t trust him list. “Thank you, Mr. Freeman. You haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know, but it’s nice to get the confirmation.”
He blew out a breath. “I take it you’re going to have to tell them all this?”
“That’s my next stop.” One she wasn’t looking forward to.
Something sparked behind his eyes, as if he’d made a decision about something, and he stood. “I want to go with you,” he announced. “I was Ed’s best friend. Maybe if I’m there, I can help explain things. They trust me. At least they used to before Charlie Carter got his hooks in Ben through Logan.”
Chapter Thirteen
Whatever had happened, Logan looked pissed. Like he was the only one who had the right to be in a bad mood. Ben slammed the truck door and stalked across the driveway. “This better be important. Do you know how it looks to my hands when I get a call from my lawyer telling me to get my ass out to a meeting ASAP? The grapevine’s gonna be buzzing that Bull’s Hollow’s about to go under and they’ll all be out of jobs.”
“Why did you tell them anything?”
“Because I had my hands full trying to fix a damned combine, so I put you on speaker phone. Why didn’t you come out to the field and talk to me there? Or were you afraid to get your shoes dirty?” Ben stomped up the stairs, loosening some of the clumps of dirt clinging to his boots.
“I didn’t call the meeting. Allie did.”
Crap. His step faltered, forcing him to grab the porch railing. “She’s got news?”
When she’d emailed him the night before, she’d not mentioned that she’d told Logan to come too, so he’d assumed she wanted to try the rest of the toys. That was what he got for making assumptions.
“She wouldn’t tell me what it was about, just that I needed to be here too.” Logan caught Ben’s arm. “I think she’s found an actual George Junior.”
Shit on a stick. If Logan thought so... “Why wouldn’t she tell you? She knows you’re my lawyer and my friend—she’d figure I’m telling you everything anyway.”
An ATV roared around the side of the house. Jake climbed off and turned his ball cap around backwards. “All right, I’m here. What’s the emergency?”
“She called you too?” Double shit. Whatever news Allie had was big. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, as if it might help shake off some of his nervous energy.
“She who? Randy Freeman called me and told me to meet him here.” His scowl deepened. “I ditched the chance to hook up with Tiffani Collins for this. It had better be important.”
What the hell was going on? “Allie has the power to deny our claim, so if she needs to meet us, we meet her, okay? No complaints. No smart-mouthing...” Ben stopped. “Tiffani Collins? Isn’t she the girl with the double-Ds down at the Hollow Leg who you’ve been hitting on for the last year and shuts you down every single time? What in God’s name makes you think she was gonna give you any today? And what the hell were you doing in town when you were supposed to be making sure those gas workers closed all the gates?”
“Yeah, so instead of assigning one of the greenhorns to trail ’em around, you send me. Like I don’t know how to do anything but close a goddamned fence.”
His worry changed to anger at Jake’s flippant attitude. “Damn it, Jake, you’re supposed to be working, not sitting on your ass swilling beer.”
“Oh, here we go, big brother treating me like some kid who can’t do a simple job.” Jake stomped over until they were nose to nose. “I coulda sworn Pop’s will said we were co-owners of the ranch, not that I worked for you.”
“Just promise me those gates have all been closed.”
“Of course they’re closed, douche,” Jake snarled, frustration bubbling off him like the steam off the hot tub.
“Gentlemen.” Logan forced his way between them. “Can we not do this now? We’ve got more important things to worry about.”
Though Ben’s fists stayed curled, he stepped back.
A moment later so did Jake, who swiped the back of his hand over his mouth “So what does Allie want? DNA? Has she found Gramp’s kid?”
His stomach churning, Ben faced Logan. “What did she say to you this morning?”
“That’s what worries me.” Logan shook his head. “It was what she didn’t say. It was obvious she wanted to talk to Randy but not while I was there, so she accidentally left her purse in the meeting room in order to ditch me.”
“If you had something you didn’t want her to hear, you’d have done the same thing.”
“It’s no joke, Ben. You should have seen her—” His speech faltered when a car appeared over the hill. “That’s Randy’s car, not Allie’s. What’s he doing here?”
Allie’s car appeared moments later.
Ben took a deep breath and shook off the sense of impending doom seeping into his skin. “I guess we’re about to find out.”
“Do you think we should get Ma?” Jake asked quietly, worry filling his voice.
Logan shook his head. “I’d wait until we hear what Allie and Randy have to say. It may be nothing.”
From the way Logan clamped down on his jaw, he didn’t believe that statement any more than Ben did.
Ben’s anxiety level only rose when Allie approached them but wouldn’t meet his eyes. Whatever it was she was here to tell them was bad. Holy shit, what if Tank’s bogus land claim went through and he sold off a half of Bull’s Hollow to some greedy developer or a strip miner or some freaking fracking company?
“Allie? What’s going on?”
“Let’s go inside and sit down.” She laced her fingers with his, giving them a squeeze. Two days ago he would have said it was a way to get closer, but this felt more like her comforting him. Shit, this was really bad. What if there really was a George Junior? Why else would Randy have come with her?
Once they were seated at the kitchen table, Randy glanced between them, while Allie booted up her computer. “What I have to tell you today may not be easy to hear. And questions need to be answered.”
“Did you find proof that Gramps had another kid who is trying to claim part of Bull’s Hollow?” Ben’s question bounced ’round the kitchen, or maybe the hollowness was just his imagination, but it reflected the empty spot forming in his chest.
“Not exactly. There’s no easy way to say it so I’m just going to say it right out. Your grandfather didn’t have another child, but your father did,” Randy said quietly. “A boy.”
“That’s horseshit.” Ben’s knuckles turned white where he clenched the arms of his chair. He had a half brother he didn’t even know? “Pop would have manned up and been part of his kid’s life.”
“He didn’t know about the woman’s pregnancy. Your father only found out about it last year, a few months before he died. He didn’t want to say anything to you until he’d gotten all the facts.”
Ben rubbed his temples. “I know he got Ma pregnant while they were still in high school, but he was dating someone else too?”
“I’m sorry to say it happened while he was married to your ma,” Randy said gently. “It happened when you were about two. He didn’t think of it as cheating on your mother since they were separated at the time and she’d told him she wanted a divorce.”
“No fucking way! Ma and Pop loved each other. To the end.” Ben shot from his chair and stabbed a finger in
the direction of his mother’s house. “She’s a ghost of who she was now that he’s gone. You don’t have to see her every day, but I do. She loved him. She never would have asked for a divorce. Ever.”
Allie touched Ben’s forearm but he pulled away, unable to bear the knowledge that she believed Randy’s lies. “It was a long time ago, and they got back together and made their marriage work. Hold on to that, but for now you need to hear Randy out.”
Logan murmured for Ben to sit down too, then looked at Allie. “Is SSTG denying Ben’s claim and canceling the policy?”
“No. Not at this time.”
Her answer must have satisfied Logan because he faced Randy, his expression intent as he spoke, “So you’ve known about this other kid for at least a year but you didn’t say anything to Ben or Jake?”
“I was Ed’s lawyer, not Ben’s, and what Ed told me fell under attorney-client privilege, which meant I couldn’t say anything to Ben, Jake or anyone else. Once Ed died, I didn’t see any reason to kick dirt on his memory.”
The matter-of-factness in their tones pissed Ben off. He thumped his fist on the table. “Excuse me, but before you further destroy my father’s reputation, I want to know exactly who this other kid is and why you believe Pop’s his father. He loved Ma. He would never have cheated on her.”
“I don’t deny that Ed loved Cissy,” Randy said, his tone filled with sincerity. “And she loved him. She still does. But like any marriage they went through some rough times, especially the first couple of years.” He ran his hand over his head in frustration. “You have to remember that your parents were only eighteen when they got married, and Cissy was a town girl—she’d never worked on a ranch before. She saw your grandparents’ fancy home and knew your grandma had a lady come in to help do the chores. She knew Bull’s Hollow had ranch hands and a cook and figured that might include someone to do all her chores too. Except it didn’t work out that way. She had a schoolgirl fantasy about what life would be like once they were married. One that didn’t match reality. When she discovered that being an adult, being a parent—especially as the wife of full-time rancher—was more work than she was expecting, well, she wasn’t happy.”