Chapter 30
Cal shut the door to his truck and looked at the front of Hank’s house.
He still remembered the first time he’d visited.
At thirteen, he hadn’t grown into his long legs yet, and his voice kept breaking, making those already awkward years even more embarrassing.
But he’d been awed by everything at Ivy Ridge.
“You came.”
Cal blinked and found Hank standing in the open front entrance. “I was remembering the first time you invited me.”
Hank’s face split into a wide grin. “You were all legs. Kept tripping over everything.”
“Don’t remind me,” Cal said, chuckling at the memory.
“We had a good time that week. I could barely get you off the horse at the end of every day.”
Cal shook his head. How could he have forgotten how much he enjoyed working the ranch? He’d talked about it endlessly to his mother. “It was a good week. I didn’t want to leave.”
“I offered for you to stay permanently.”
“My place was with my mother.”
Hank nodded. “Whether you believe it or not, I looked forward to your visits. I hated when they stopped. I never wanted to marry. I never liked kids. Until I spent time with you.”
“You should’ve married and had children of your own.”
“Couldn’t find the right woman.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
Hank lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “There’s the kind you fuck, and there’s the kind you raise a family with.”
“There’s no reason a woman can’t be both.”
“I suppose I’m just picky.” Hank motioned Cal to the house. “Come in. Please.”
He walked to the door as Hank stepped aside so he could enter. Once Cal was inside, Hank closed the door behind them. Cal waited for Hank to move around him and lead the way. Somehow, Cal wasn’t surprised when Hank brought him to his office. The view out the windows was second to none.
Hank had built the house atop one of the impressive hills that gave the area its name. From the vantage point five hundred feet above, Cal looked down at the awe-inspiring scenery. The barns and stables were off to the side so Hank could look at his livestock grazing in the pastures.
“You once told me you’d have an office like this,” Hank said from behind him.
Cal chuckled. “Who wouldn’t want this view?”
“I’ve worked hard for what I have, Cal. Nothing was given to me.”
Cal wasn’t sure if that was a dig at Dillon inheriting the Bar 4 Ranch from her aunt or not. Either way, he decided not to comment.
“I dreamed about owning the biggest ranch in Texas since I was five years old,” Hank continued. “Every decision I’ve made, every action I took, was done to bring me closer to fulfilling that dream.”
There was a creak of a chair. Out of the corner of his eye, Cal saw Hank sit in the large, leather chair at his desk. Cal watched a couple of horses running through a pasture. “You’ve achieved a great deal.”
“I’m not the biggest in Texas. Yet.” Hank’s voice held a smile.
“When is enough, enough?”
“You’re a smart man. You know the answer to that.”
Cal turned to him. “Do I?”
“You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”
Ah. Back to Dillon’s ranch again. Cal should’ve known. He wanted to ask his questions, but he suspected that Hank would clam up and refuse to answer anything. So, Cal had to play the game—regardless of how much he hated it.
But if he had to play, he was playing to win.
“I don’t remember much of the night I got drunk. I was hoping you’d fill in the gaps.”
Hank studied him. “What do you remember?”
“I recollect agreeing to help once they mentioned your name. After everything you’ve done for me, how could I refuse?”
A muscle clenched in Hank’s jaw. “First, I want you to know that I never wanted you involved. It was done without my knowledge. Had they informed me, I would’ve refused.”
“Why? Don’t you want my help?”
“Because you’re moral. You’re here, saying all the right things, but I can see you’re struggling with it.”
At least he no longer had to hide that. “I am. But, like I said, you’re a long-time family friend. I couldn’t refuse.”
“Shit,” Hank bit out as he slammed his hand on the desk. “I’m sorry, son. Real sorry.”
“I think it’s time you filled me in on the missing pieces of my memory. Things with Dillon are finished. She knows I’m working with you, which means I won’t get any more out of her.”
Hank stared at him for a long moment. “You care for her. Don’t try to deny it. I saw you two at the dance.”
“Whether I do or not is irrelevant. I gave my promise to help you.”
“And you never go back on your word. Just like your daddy.” Hank smiled sadly. “Your father was the best friend I ever had. His word was his bond, and I know he raised you right. If you were anyone else, I’d think you were here to double-cross me. But I know you too well.”
Cal smiled, praying Hank didn’t see the wobble in his lips.
“You’d better sit down. There’s a lot to go over.”
The last part of him that had prayed his friend wasn’t a part of anything to harm Dillon shriveled and died.
Cal hadn’t wanted to believe, even when all the evidence pointed to Hank.
But here was the proof. It gutted Cal. He looked at his friend, a man who had taken the place of his father and who had been a mentor to Cal in his formative years.
He didn’t know the man before him. In fact, he might never have truly known him.
“I want to start off by saying that I tried to do this the right way. The honest way,” Hank said. “But she was stubborn.”
The joy Dillon had once gotten out of the ranch was gone. And she feared she might never get it back. It was Cal’s fault. All of it. He had to be charismatic and gorgeous. She had thought he was too good to be true—and she’d been right.
“Want to talk about it?” Emmett asked.
Dillon jerked her head to him as they moved a herd of cattle to another pasture to graze for a while. “No,” she stated and nudged her mare into a canter.
“You can’t keep things bottled up. It’s not good for you or anyone else,” Emmett replied as he caught up to her.
Dillon slowed her horse to a walk once more. “Talking about it doesn’t help.”
“It’s part of the healing process.”
“Drop it,” she snapped. She instantly regretted her harsh tone when Emmett’s expression fell. Dillon sighed. “I know you’re trying to help, but please, leave it alone.”
Emmett nodded. “I just want what’s best for you.”
“I appreciate that. Right now, I want to be able to move about my ranch without fear that I’m going to be killed.”
“On the bright side, no one has tried to shoot you in almost a week.”
She forced a smile at his teasing tone because she knew that’s what he wanted to see. The one person she’d always been able to count on had been Emmett. He’d been there for her aunt, and he’d been there for her. “Thank you for all you do.”
“It’s my pleasure. Besides, I’m getting paid rather well,” he replied with a chuckle.
“Can I ask something personal?”
“Shoot.”
She halted her horse and dismounted as she closed and locked the gate they’d just passed through. “I always thought you and Dolly had something between you. Did y’all?”
A slow smile spread over his face, widening his full, thick mustache as he looked into the distance dreamily.
“That woman was something else. She defied everybody, determined to do things her way. I loved working with her. She was as stubborn as they came, but I’d never known anyone more loyal or kind. ”
“Is that a yes, then?” Dillon got back on her mare and gathered the reins in her hand as she waited for his answer.
Emmett blinked and focused on her. “There was something between us briefly, but we both realized that it wouldn’t work.”
“But . . . why?” she asked in confusion. “You two were made for each other.”
Emmett ran his thumb and forefinger along the right side of his handlebar mustache, twisting the end. “We were better in the roles we originally had.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It all turned out as it should. Your aunt had many men chasing her, but she was smart enough to realize they wanted the ranch, not her. It made it easy for her to keep them at arm’s length.”
Dillon had never heard this before. “You mean, she didn’t trust anyone? She trusted you.”
“To an extent, yes. It was clear that she cared for me, but there would never have been a true partnership between us. She would always run the ranch the way she wanted.”
“You were her ranch manager. She took your advice all the time.”
Emmett snorted. “She rarely took my advice. She asked for it, then did her own research and made decisions.”
“I never knew. She always told me how important you were to the ranch.”
Sadness filled his eyes. “Just never important to her, though. Right?”
Dillon parted her lips but was unsure of how to respond.
“It’s all right,” he said with a wave of his gloved hand.
She watched him turn his horse and nudge the animal into a trot.
Dillon wished she had asked Emmett those questions long ago instead of waiting.
She really wished she would’ve asked her aunt.
Then again, there was a lot she would’ve asked her aunt, had she known their time was limited.
Just as she started to click to her mare, her phone rang.
Dillon saw Les’s name pop up on the screen and immediately answered. “Hey. Is the new will finalized?”
“It is, but that’s not why I’m calling.”
“What’s going on?”
Les released a long breath. “Remember when I told you I’d do some digging to see if your aunt used a local attorney?”
Her stomach clenched with dread. “You found one, didn’t you?”
“Pamela Stokes.”
“I don’t recognize that name.”
“You wouldn’t,” Les said. “She worked for a small firm in Fredericksburg called Taylor, Otis, & Gorski. She specialized in family law but did a few things for your aunt. Apparently, she and Dolly went to school together.”
Dillon thought back to all the legal papers she’d seen in the office. “I can’t remember letterhead with that law firm’s name.”
“Dolly did business with several firms. Maybe because she didn’t want one place to know all her business. I really can’t guess.”
“What did Pamela do for Dolly, exactly?”
Dillon heard some keystrokes. “She wrote up Dolly’s first two wills. She also drafted the estate documents for your aunt. I got copies from the court.”
“You make that sound ominous.”
“You weren’t always the one designated to inherit the ranch.”
Dillon glanced to see where Emmett was. “I never thought I would get it. She didn’t have kids of her own, but there were plenty of nieces and nephews to choose from. She always spoke about keeping it in the family.”
“You told me that before. So, imagine my surprise when I read who had power of attorney and would own half the ranch in those documents.”
She swallowed, the sound loud. “Who?”
“Emmett Perkins.”
“That makes sense. He’s worked this ranch all of his life, and he and Dolly had an affair.”
Silence met her words.
Apprehension made her heart race. “You’re freaking me out. Just tell me whatever it is.”
“Those estate forms were created fifteen years ago. She had new ones drawn up two months later with no mention of Emmett anywhere.”
“Coincidentally, I asked him today if he and Dolly were ever together. He said they were, but that it didn’t last. He said they were better suited to their original roles.
That Dolly didn’t trust any man interested in her because she knew they wanted the ranch, not her.
I’ve long thought there had been something between them.
It wouldn’t surprise me if she wanted to leave him a portion of the ranch. ”
Les made an indeterminable sound on the other end of the line. “That does shed some light on things. It could be that Dolly believed she had found someone to spend her life with and drew up the documents. Then realized she didn’t want a relationship and had new ones done. Is Emmett bitter?”
“Not at all,” Dillon said. “He was Dolly’s closest friend. She counted on him tremendously. If he had been upset by the change, he would’ve left long ago.”
“That’s certainly true.”
“Do you think he knew about the estate forms?”
“I can’t answer that. His signature doesn’t have to be on the forms. Dolly might have kept it a secret.”
Dillon felt her body loosen from the tension. “That’s more likely. Dolly never told anyone anything. I had no idea she’d named me in her will for anything.”
“You know Emmett better than I do. Just thought I’d give you this information. Someone has to look out for your stubborn ass.”
She smiled despite the situation. “Thanks, Les.”
“You’re not leaving the ranch, are you?”
“Talk to you soon,” she said and hung up.