Chapter Eleven
Levi
T he day of the funeral brought the threat of more rain.
Sullen clouds rode in on fierce winds from the mountains, spitting lightning, before pausing a few hours over the badlands where they remained most of the morning, undecided as to whose day they should ruin.
It wouldn’t be Otto’s day that was ruined. He’d loved a good storm.
Levi accompanied Dana into the pretty Methodist church through a pair of double-arched wooden doors that overlooked the parking lot beside it instead of the road. The Tongue River flowed behind the church, beneath a quiet green cemetery, where crumbling headstones from settlers long forgotten comingled with those of the more recently interred, and ancient willows stood watch. A patch of freshly turned earth quietly waited.
Not even a cranky storm could dull the brilliance of the stained-glass windows within. A red-carpeted aisle leading straight to the pulpit split the wooden seating into two sections—left and right. At the foot of the pulpit rested a red mahogany casket. There had been no visitation by request, although Pastor Addams had allowed for the coffin to be set up ahead of time so anyone who wished could pay their last respects.
“Funerals are for the living,” the pastor told Levi. “Otto knew my stance on it.”
A few Endeavour Ranch people had turned out and were already seated. The Endeavour’s owners weren’t here yet, but Levi knew they planned to attend.
A slight, elderly woman had taken pride of possession at the head of the casket. She looked too much like Otto to be anything but family. A middle-aged man, who leaned toward senior citizenship, with a combover that wouldn’t fool the legally blind, and a sullen man around Levi’s age who gave the impression he’d prefer polar-dipping to this, flanked her on either side. Levi and Dana approached them to shake hands.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Levi said sincerely. That people from Otto’s family had cared enough to show up for the funeral was unexpected. They’d had no need to attend.
The woman took Levi’s hand between dry palms and introduced herself as Olive Danby, Otto’s older sister. The two men, Roger and Parker, were her son and grandson, respectively.
Olive’s wrinkled lips trembled under a thick layer of bright red. “We hadn’t seen each other in more than sixty years, but I know my brother. I was worried no one else would show up.” Red-rimmed eyes took note of Ryan and Elizabeth O’Connell as they made their entrance. “I’m glad to see that isn’t the case.”
“He was well respected,” Levi said.
She smiled a little. “If not well liked. Rumor had it he could be difficult. Good to know some things never change.”
Levi smiled, too. She was Otto’s sister, without doubt. They had the same bluntness of speech.
“I liked him just fine. He could be difficult when he decided to be. He was also smart, and generous with his time and his knowledge.”
Sadness crossed her face, lending her eyes a faraway expression that suggested she saw things no one else could. “He was those things, alright. Too much so for his own good, sometimes.”
The other Endeavour Ranch owners and a few of the hands had also arrived and were waiting to pay their respects, so he and Dana, who’d been politely chatting with Olive Danby’s son and grandson, moved on.
He ushered her into one of the pews near the front of the church, then slid across the plain wooden bench to sit beside her—close, but not so close as to invite speculation, since they were in public. She looked so solemn and lovely—so coolly remote—that he had a hard time reconciling her with the woman who’d woken him in the early hours of the morning, which probably wasn’t something he should be thinking about right now, but he couldn’t make himself stop.
The simple gray dress and blazer, and the high-heeled black shoes, covered pink-and-white pieces of lace that were too skimpy to serve any particular purpose as far as support went, but visually, packed quite a punch. He knew because he’d watched her get dressed—twice.
Ford took the seat next to him and guilt took a swing, even though it had no business starting a fight. He was sleeping with Ford’s brother’s former girlfriend. So what? The key word was former. His mom was right with her dance story. What was between Dana and him was nobody’s business.
Dana was too good at self-control to let on she was bothered by Ford’s sudden appearance, but the slight tightening of the skin around her mouth and eyes gave her away. She didn’t reach for Levi’s hand for support, but the toe of her shoe angled his way.
Ford leaned past Levi.
“Good to see you,” he said to her. Ford being Ford he was no doubt sincere, or he would have sat elsewhere. “Tate told me you were in town. I didn’t know you were staying at Otto’s.”
He didn’t sound especially surprised, though. Ford had a good eye for horses. Most likely he’d spotted Lady in the pasture and recognized her. The fact that Levi hadn’t mentioned Dana’s presence to him wouldn’t have escaped his notice either.
Dana met Ford’s eyes—a trick hardened men couldn’t pull off. Her face smoothed as if drawn back by invisible strings.
“Hello, Ford,” she said. “I had no idea you used to train horses for Otto.” Since we’re talking about things that are nobody’s business. “Tate looks wonderful, by the way. Motherhood suits her.”
Ford straightened and returned to his personal space, nursing a frown.
Leaving Levi stuck between them with a load on his conscience. It was easy to say that what he did with Dana in private hurt no one, or that he shouldn’t worry what other people might think.
But Ford, who’d played more of a parental role to his younger siblings than their actual parents, had been a wreck after Tanner’s death. He’d blamed himself and everyone around him for it, including Dana, because he’d viewed her as a distraction when Tanner should have been training. There was no rhyme nor reason where grief was concerned, only methods of coping. Tate was all that had held him together.
Opening Ford’s wounds didn’t sit right with Levi. Ford scraping the edges off Dana’s wasn’t right either, because one thing was painfully obvious. Despite what she believed, Dana wasn’t done grieving for Tanner.
So here he was, caught in the middle, sympathizing with both, but knowing that the moment he’d slept with Dana, he’d chosen a side.
And most likely set himself up for a whole world of regret.
*
Dana
George Cooper had asked everyone to meet in his office on Yellowstone Drive that afternoon, after the funeral.
Dana, already out of sorts thanks to Ford’s presence, felt out of place walking in, as much for the surroundings as her reason for being in them. The attractive woman in a business suit, who reeked of professional success, stepping out of her office to offer Levi a warm welcome, didn’t put Dana more at ease.
“I heard you’d be here this afternoon,” the woman said to Levi, her smile sweeping over Dana just long enough to make her aware of her three-year-old dress, discounted shoes, and long, unstylish hair.
Levi introduced them. Shauna Walsh was pretty, well-educated, and had confidence wafting around her like a dose of expensive perfume.
And suddenly, Dana saw Levi through the same lens Shauna used. Handsome, blue-eyed, and blond, in a clean suit and wearing a tie, with his fancy master’s degree to hang on a wall, he possessed an equal measure of self-worth—and potential—to that of the lawyer. He had another dimension to him. One that hadn’t seemed important, but suddenly, she was no longer comfortable with. For the first time in her life, standing next to him, she felt shabby and ignorant and rural.
“You’re the barrel racer. My little sister is a huge fan,” Shauna said to her, with so much friendly admiration that Dana disliked her a little bit more, for no good reason other than that Shauna was the exact opposite of shabby and ignorant and rural.
Then Shauna gave her a reason by adding, “She was an even bigger fan of Tanner Shannahan’s. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“It was a long time ago,” Dana said.
The Danbys arrived, saving her from having to make more polite small talk that not even Lady Dana could muster. Levi nudged her toward the room Shauna directed them to. The pressure of his hand on the small of her back made her more uneasy than she already was. She’d known there was more to him, but the educated, suit-wearing side was far less familiar to her than his touch.
The large window of the conference room at Grand Cooper and Nash overlooked the boardwalk fronting the Yellowstone River. Water streamed down the glass. Below them, the rain-slickened boardwalk was empty. Boats bobbed on the uneasy river, tossed about by the wind.
Olive Danby took a seat at the far end of the long conference table. Her son and grandson chose chairs on either side. Dana and Levi seated themselves side-by-side, facing the storm framed by the window. Ford walked in with George a few moments later. He sat across from Levi while George took position of honor at the head of the table.
As George made opening statements and began to read out the terms of Otto’s will, Dana only half-listened. Her thoughts were otherwise engaged in self-reflection. She hadn’t liked feeling jealous of Tate and the life she’d made for herself. She wasn’t about to be jealous of Shauna and her interest in Levi now, either. Jealousy was a terrible, terrifying, controlling emotion that caused nothing but misery and had ruined her relationship with Tanner.
Except, she didn’t have a relationship with Levi for it to ruin. Sex didn’t give her any more right of possession over him than it gave him over her, and really, that was all they had in common. The other woman’s interest served as an excellent reminder that she could be replaced if he chose, and that he’d be free to replace her very soon, because she had to return to Billings before the McCone County rodeo so she could work with Crackerjack.
She caught a little of what George was saying. Enough to advise her that she should pay closer attention. Otto had left Olive Danby a considerable lump sum of money.
Levi Harrington receives the horse registered as Nova, along with one-third of the property comprising…
Ford Shannahan receives the horse registered as Buckwheat, along with one-third of the property comprising…
Dana Barrett receives the horse registered as Tanoa, along with one-third of the property comprising…
George must have misunderstood Otto’s final instructions. Or someone had made a major typographical error. Why would he leave one-third of his horse ranch and business to a woman he barely knew?
Wind hurled sheets of rain at the window while she waited for the Danbys to protest.
“That land has been in the Hart family for three generations,” Olive Danby said. She sounded more curious about it than upset.
“Otto left you enough money to cover its fair market value. Put plainly, he bought you out. He said the land would only have sentimental value to you, and your family would most likely push you to sell it, and he thought to spare you the trouble,” George said.
Parker Danby spoke up. “Fair market value for his horses would have been preferable.”
George shrugged, but otherwise, offered no comment. The money had been left to Parker’s grandmother, not him.
“The terms for the land and the horses are restrictive,” George said, gazing in turn from Ford, to Levi, to Dana.
He began listing them off, but Dana caught only a few. The news slowly sank in. If she wanted Tanoa, she’d have to help Levi and Ford run the ranch for six months, which would allow each of them time to continue pursuing their respective careers and prepare for the future.
After six months Tanoa was hers. She also then had the option to sell her share of the ranch and its holdings to Levi or Ford. At the end of the year, all remaining horses and property could be sold on the open market and the proceeds divided amongst the owners accordingly.
She pressed her knees together to stop them from wobbling. Six months was too long. A year was beyond comprehension.
“I’d like to buy Tanoa outright,” she said. She’d find the money.
George was shaking his head. “I’m sorry. That option isn’t available to you. For the next six months, Tanoa—and Nova and Buckwheat—all belong to the estate.” He paused before dropping the bombshell. “Ryan O’Connell is Otto’s executor. Any requests for exceptions will have to go through him.”
From what little Dana knew of Ryan, she’d figured out this much about him—he’d make no exceptions. He’d follow the terms of the will to the letter. Otto had taken every loophole into consideration.
Across the table, Ford was staring at her. “It’s not a problem, Dana. Otto left you what he would have given Tanner.”
If he’d meant to reassure her—and she believed that he did—then he was mistaken. She’d never expected this. She’d never asked for it. All she’d wanted was Tanoa. She’d planned to come to Grand, arrange for the purchase, and leave, avoiding the Shannahans altogether.
Instead, she’d been forced to stay a night, then she’d bumped into Tate the next day, and now she was expected to spend six months with Ford—who behaved as if her receiving an inheritance intended for his brother, from a man she barely knew, was a natural thing.
Olive Danby seemed inclined to share Ford’s opinion.
“Our family didn’t treat Otto’s decisions with much respect while he was alive,” she said to George, who appeared impervious to the uncertain mood the room had acquired. “The least I can do for him is respect his final wishes now that he’s passed on. I’m touched he thought of me.”
“He had to leave you something in case you challenged his will,” her grandson, the cynic, pointed out. “Now a judge will look at it, see he left you fair market value for Hart family land, and decide he could do as he pleased with the rest.”
“Otto was smart,” Olive said, smiling and nodding with pride and approval. “After more than sixty years, he could have done what he pleased with the land, too.”
George cleared his throat. “I’m confident the will is valid, but the conditions on the three parties involved are restrictive and the situation might well change in six months. You’re welcome to consult with your own lawyer. In fact, I recommend it.”
Dana did want to consult with a lawyer. She didn’t have one of her own, but she trusted George. If there was a loophole that might get her out of this, he’d find it.
She stopped him as they filed out of the boardroom.
“Could I speak with you for a moment?” she said.