looked as out of place in a suit as a donkey would, and his fidgeting reflected his discomfort. "Why don't you two handle this? I'm going to go down and see to the horses."
He started to rise until Jason gave him a steely glare that sent him slouching back into the chair. He muttered a curse and stared out the window, watching a fat cumulus cloud float past on a blue sky. If it hadn't been for the funeral, they'd be starting the roundup by now. It was the perfect day for it.
"You both need to hear this," Hale said. "You know your father didn't buy the ranch until your real mother died?"
Jason Harding nodded curtly. "Pa earned every cent he ever made. We've heard the tale before."
"And your stepmother, Louise, you knew she came from a wealthy family before she married your father?"
Kyle groaned and rolled his eyes heavenward. Jason merely stopped his pacing and stared out the window.
At their silence, the lawyer continued nervously, polishing his unrimmed glasses as he glanced over the papers on the desk. "You have to understand that Louise made this will out when her father died leaving her all that money. At the time, your father was already doing very well for himself. The two of you were young men with promising futures and didn't need more than you already had."
Jason threw him a look of disgust. "She showered us with everything money could buy and taught us how to behave at the same time. Quit making excuses. We loved her just like she was our own ma. Get on with it."
Hale sighed and picked up the yellowed pages in front of him. "Well, there's something that you don't know, and I don't know how I'm going to tell you this. Louise's father always did business with my father, and he's the one who drew up this will and the trust agreement for Louise. I never looked at it until your father died in that accident and it looked as if your stepmother wouldn't survive. I knew about the payments leaving the estate, but I never looked into the reason. I didn't think I would find anything. My father was a very closemouthed man, he kept everything in his head, and his files went with him. I just honored the agreement. It wasn't until I found this will that I understood."
Kyle's attention had wandered to the dancing prisms, but Jason was watching the lawyer more intently now. His eyes narrowed as the lawyer hesitated.
Hale lifted his head, noted the angry twitch of Jason's jaw, and hurriedly returned his attention to the aging papers. "Your mother, your stepmother, that is, left her entire estate to a child by the name of Evangeline Peyton Howell."
Both Jason and Kyle were staring at him now, and Hale ran his finger between his stiff collar and his neck. Both men were larger than he, and they were notorious for their quick tempers. He counted on the fact that they still didn't grasp the legal implications.
"Who in hell is Evangeline Peyton Howell?" Jason asked quietly.
Hale shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that there have been payments going out of a trust set up by your mother in this girl's name for the last seventeen years—since Cyrus, her daddy, died. The payments are sent to a woman in St. Louis for the girl's maintenance. I had always assumed that the woman was some retired servant of her father's." Or his mistress, but Hale didn't say that. Cyrus Howell had been an important man in Mineral Springs. One didn't cast wild aspersions on a man of consequence, even after he was dead.
Jason watched Hale with a dangerous calm. "All right. So ma's money goes to some female in St. Louis we've never met. Pa never let her use the money on the ranch, so it's not as if we'll miss it. She used it for foofaraws and gimcracks around the house, and we have more of those than we need. We'll not suffer for it. If her money is all that this Evangeline person has for support, I daresay she needs it more than we do."
Hale took a deep breath and polished his glasses again. "That's mighty open-minded of you.
He started to rise until Jason gave him a steely glare that sent him slouching back into the chair. He muttered a curse and stared out the window, watching a fat cumulus cloud float past on a blue sky. If it hadn't been for the funeral, they'd be starting the roundup by now. It was the perfect day for it.
"You both need to hear this," Hale said. "You know your father didn't buy the ranch until your real mother died?"
Jason Harding nodded curtly. "Pa earned every cent he ever made. We've heard the tale before."
"And your stepmother, Louise, you knew she came from a wealthy family before she married your father?"
Kyle groaned and rolled his eyes heavenward. Jason merely stopped his pacing and stared out the window.
At their silence, the lawyer continued nervously, polishing his unrimmed glasses as he glanced over the papers on the desk. "You have to understand that Louise made this will out when her father died leaving her all that money. At the time, your father was already doing very well for himself. The two of you were young men with promising futures and didn't need more than you already had."
Jason threw him a look of disgust. "She showered us with everything money could buy and taught us how to behave at the same time. Quit making excuses. We loved her just like she was our own ma. Get on with it."
Hale sighed and picked up the yellowed pages in front of him. "Well, there's something that you don't know, and I don't know how I'm going to tell you this. Louise's father always did business with my father, and he's the one who drew up this will and the trust agreement for Louise. I never looked at it until your father died in that accident and it looked as if your stepmother wouldn't survive. I knew about the payments leaving the estate, but I never looked into the reason. I didn't think I would find anything. My father was a very closemouthed man, he kept everything in his head, and his files went with him. I just honored the agreement. It wasn't until I found this will that I understood."
Kyle's attention had wandered to the dancing prisms, but Jason was watching the lawyer more intently now. His eyes narrowed as the lawyer hesitated.
Hale lifted his head, noted the angry twitch of Jason's jaw, and hurriedly returned his attention to the aging papers. "Your mother, your stepmother, that is, left her entire estate to a child by the name of Evangeline Peyton Howell."
Both Jason and Kyle were staring at him now, and Hale ran his finger between his stiff collar and his neck. Both men were larger than he, and they were notorious for their quick tempers. He counted on the fact that they still didn't grasp the legal implications.
"Who in hell is Evangeline Peyton Howell?" Jason asked quietly.
Hale shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that there have been payments going out of a trust set up by your mother in this girl's name for the last seventeen years—since Cyrus, her daddy, died. The payments are sent to a woman in St. Louis for the girl's maintenance. I had always assumed that the woman was some retired servant of her father's." Or his mistress, but Hale didn't say that. Cyrus Howell had been an important man in Mineral Springs. One didn't cast wild aspersions on a man of consequence, even after he was dead.
Jason watched Hale with a dangerous calm. "All right. So ma's money goes to some female in St. Louis we've never met. Pa never let her use the money on the ranch, so it's not as if we'll miss it. She used it for foofaraws and gimcracks around the house, and we have more of those than we need. We'll not suffer for it. If her money is all that this Evangeline person has for support, I daresay she needs it more than we do."
Hale took a deep breath and polished his glasses again. "That's mighty open-minded of you.
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