Chapter 18
CASSIDY
I blinked. Stared. “I’m sorry. What?”
My hands shook and my heart started pounding. What was she talking about?
Kathleen was a lovely woman in a pretty blue dress and she seemed to know Hayes well. But what the fuck?
Kathleen’s smile slipped. “You don’t know about the account?”
I shook my head. “No. You said it’s in my name?”
“Yes. It’s a custodial account.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is.”
“A custodial account is a financial account set up by an adult for a minor, allowing the adult to manage investments on the child's behalf until they reach adulthood,” Hayes said.
“That’s right,” Kathleen agreed, smiling at Hayes. “You should be a banker instead of a lawyer.” She looked at her screen. “This account was set up… eight years ago. In March.”
I’d have been–ten. “That’s when my mother died.”
Hayes tipped his head down and murmured, “Were you given money in her will?”
I shook my head. “No. I wasn’t contacted by anyone.”
“Who’s the custodian?” he asked.
“Her father, Conrad Trout.”
I popped to my feet, ran a hand over my face, then leaned on Kathleen’s desk. “My father gave me two million dollars?” I whispered.
She shook her head. “No. It was set up for you. He’s the one who’s in charge of the money.”
“Until she comes of age, which she has,” Hayes added. “She should have received notice and taken control of it herself.”
Kathleen glanced between us. “Mr. Trout should have told her.”
“He didn’t,” Hayes bit out. “Who set up the account?”
“Myers and Milken in Denver. It’s a law firm.”
Kathleen must’ve caught on that there was a problem here.
That this wasn’t just a little cash that I didn’t know about.
A savings account for holiday gifts that my father hadn’t mentioned to me.
She went back to work on her computer as I paced behind my empty chair and Hayes’.
He reached out, took my hand and swung me back so I sat on his knee.
His hand rested warm and protective on my thigh.
People would see us like this, but right now, I didn’t care. I needed his comfort.
“Here’s their number.” Kathleen jotted it down on a sticky note and passed it to us.
“Want to call?” Hayes asked me.
I shook my head. “You do it. I don’t know what to say.”
“Why don’t you make the call in the meeting room?” she pointed to a glass walled space that had a conference table and a few chairs.
Hayes nodded and I stood. “Thank you,” I told her. Hayes took my hand, led me into the room and shut the door.
“I’m really nervous. What does this mean?” I asked. “I can’t have two million dollars. I thought I had athe few hundred in cash. I mean, what the fuck?”
He grinned. “Let’s call this number and find out.”
“You do it,” I said, wringing my hands.
He pulled out his cell and typed in the number Kathleen shared. “Yes, hello. I’m Hayes Wilder, Attorney at Law in Devil’s Ditch, Montana and I represent Cassidy Trout Wilder.”
His voice was deep, professional.
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Hayes answered after short pauses, then passed me the phone. “They want to talk with you.”
I studied his face but he wasn’t giving anything away. I decided to click the speaker button so Hayes could hear, too.
“Hello?”
“Hello, this is Mr. Dart. I took over the law firm from Mr. Milken when he retired.”
“Okay.”
“Are you Cassidy Trout?”
I flicked my gaze at Hayes, who nodded. “Yes.”
“Mr. Milken represented your family’s estate.”
“My mother?”
“Your grandparents. Mr. Milken and Mr. Myers have both passed away, as well as your grandparents.”
“Um, I’m sorry to hear that. I mean, I knew my grandparents were dead, but not the lawyers.”
I closed my eyes and put my hand over them for a moment. I sounded like an idiot.
“Your grandparents died over twenty-five years ago. Then your mother more recently, sadly. Your inheritance from her has been in a trust until you turned eighteen. The trustee has been taking care of the trust in your stead since you were, until recently, under age.”
“Okay.”
“The trustee was to receive a stipend for their efforts and to notify you of any actions related to the trust.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.
Hayes crossed his arms over his chest. “Kathleen Weaver here at the bank said that Conrad Trout, her father, is the trustee of it.”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Mr. Dart said.
Hayes met my eyes and explained. “Your father was assigned to take care of the money for you and to receive some money for his time. Like a salary.”
“Okay.”
“He was also supposed to tell you about the money and everything he did with it.”
“Like buy a car?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Mr. Dart confirmed. “If he used your money to buy a car, then he’d have to notify you. It’s the law. He has a fiduciary responsibility.”
I didn’t know exactly what that meant. “Why would he need my money to buy a car? He’s rich,” I said.
“I don’t handle your father’s legal matters,” Mr. Dart replied. “As I said, I represented your grandparents.”
“What did their will say?” Hayes asked. “If Cassidy Trout was left something in it, she had a legal obligation to be told about it.”
“That’s correct. There’s a fiduciary duty.” There was that word again. “It’s the law. But the custodian would have–”
“Assume the custodian didn’t share anything,” Hayes added.
Mr. Dart paused, then said, “Your grandparents left everything to their daughter, your mother, Maura Cove. The will stipulated that none of it was to be included in marital property if she married, which she did, to Mr. Conrad Trout, um… twenty-four years ago. Your grandparents’ inheritance was solely hers.
It couldn’t even be touched or modified in her personal will. When she died, it passed to you.”
My eyes widened even though the man couldn’t see. “Me? Not my brothers?”
“Your grandparents’ will specifically stated that the inheritance could only go to a daughter of Maura Cove upon her death. It seems the land passed from daughter to daughter.”
“Meaning I inherited the money. It’s mine.”
“Yes, that’s correct. And the rest of the estate.”
I eyed Hayes. “What’s the rest of the estate?” he asked.
“The Two Rivers Ranch.”