Forever and Always by Leigh Greenwood

him that it would be impossible for a man living in Pennsylvania to understand anything about life in the Arizona Territory. He filled the will with a lot of tedious and, I believe, unfair restrictions, but I managed to convince him to name me the executor.”
    â€œHe never signed that will,” Sibyl said.
    â€œWhy not?” her father asked. “How do you know?”
    â€œHe made the mistake of leaving it out on his desk,” Sibyl told him. “I figured I had a right to read it since I was his wife. When I read what he wanted you to do, how he intended Kitty and me to live, I got so mad I tore it up. You don’t have to look at me like I’ve committed a crime,” Sibyl said to her father’s stunned reaction. “He hadn’t signed it.”
    â€œHe said he was going to sign it as soon as he read it over one more time.”
    â€œHe probably wanted time to see if he could think of more ways to humiliate me.”
    Her father ignored her. “But that means Norman died without a will.”
    â€œNo, he didn’t.”
    â€œHe tore up the will leaving everything to Noah,” her father said. “I saw him.”
    â€œHe never destroyed the will you had him make when we got married,” Sibyl said. “That one leaves everything to me.”
    â€œHe said he lost that will when we left Kentucky.”
    â€œI took it,” Sibyl confessed. “I knew he intended to make a new will. I kept it in case I ever needed it.”
    â€œThat makes it very easy to turn everything over to your father,” her mother said.
    â€œI don’t want to do that.”
    â€œBut you can’t handle everything by yourself. What if you should lose everything? Think of your future. Think of Kitty.”
    â€œI am thinking of the future,” Sibyl insisted, “of both our futures, but I don’t see why that means I have to give up control of my own property. Laurie has kept control of the store, and she’s doing just fine.”
    â€œShe has a husband to take care of everything for her.”
    â€œThey make all decisions about the ranch together, but Laurie manages the store by herself.”
    â€œShe has her father to help.”
    â€œThat man is such a terrible businessman he forced his daughter to marry a man she disliked so he wouldn’t lose his share of the store.”
    That was so close to what her parents had done that neither spoke.
    â€œI intend to handle my own affairs,” Sibyl told them. “If I need help, I’ll ask. But no one is going to tell me what to do with my property or my daughter. I’ve spent seven years married to a man who didn’t want to be married to me and who disliked my daughter.”
    â€œThat’s because—” her mother began.
    â€œI know why,” Sibyl said, “but no one is ever going to put the reason into words. I can forgive you for forcing me to marry Norman—it wasn’t a good solution, but it was probably the only one possible—but I will not forgive you that .” She realized she was so angry she was shaking. She had to calm down. She would never convince anyone she could handle her own affairs if she couldn’t control her emotions. She’d done that for seven years with Norman, and she could do it now.
    â€œNow I want you to go home. I’ve had a very difficult few days, and I need time to get back to normal. I still don’t know how this is going to affect Kitty. Tomorrow I have to go to the bank. I can’t let Cassie and Horace lose their jobs.”
    â€œI can help,” her father offered.
    â€œI want to do this by myself. All my life I’ve been treated as though I can’t do anything beyond keep house. I think I can do more. Starting tomorrow I intend to find out.”
    * * *
    â€œYou didn’t have to come back so soon,” Cassie said to Sibyl. “Horace and I could have handled things until you felt up to