Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Shelby
I Think We’re Alone Now
Shelby didn’t know why she thought coming back to Pops’s was a good idea.
And now her father, uncle, and brother were arguing with Declan on the front porch.
Standing just inside the foyer, she watched and listened as Declan explained how he’d had the locks changed per Pops’s direction, that the deed was transferred to her, and they needed to wait until tomorrow for the entirety of the will to be read.
Her father’s voice got louder as he argued and the only thing that could make this worse was if someone called the cops, again.
Then Wes’s truck with flashing blue and red lights came barreling down the driveway and she couldn’t help but laugh.
Once Wes was on the porch the voices got even louder.
He spotted her watching and his frown increased, but she couldn’t make out what he said next.
There was some discussion and then Declan turned toward the front door, and she stepped away from the window.
His knock was tentative, but she opened up.
“Ms. Shepherd, it seems your family are having a hard time believing your grandfather meant to sign the house over to you, and are insistent on hearing what else he did. Now Sheriff Hart can escort them, by force if needed, off your property or he suggested we just do the reading of the will now.”
“Here?” Shelby asked.
Declan shrugged. “I know it’s not ideal, but the four of you are the only named family. We’re all here, and then maybe we can avoid a second dramatic scene tomorrow?”
She had to lean to the side to look at her brother, dad, and uncle standing on the porch with their arms crossed, both scowling at her.
“Fine, then they can disown me and leave me alone.”
She opened the door wider, and Declan stepped back for her family to walk in.
Neither of them spoke to her, just stomped into the living room and took a seat, while glaring at her. If how they treated her before was tolerating her, that was gone now. She couldn’t help but notice her mother wasn’t with them.
“Where’s Mom?”
“Your mother was so upset she didn’t want to be here. She can’t believe you tricked your grandfather into changing his will the week he died.”
Before Shelby could refute the accusation, Wes closed the front door with enough force to get everyone’s attention.
“Since Ms. Shepherd agreed to allow you into her home, I’m going to need you to keep your slanderous accusations to yourselves, or I’ll remove you from the property for trespassing,” Wes said with such conviction it made her straighten her shoulders and lift her head higher.
“In truth Mr. Zeke Francis Shepherd signed this version of his will twelve years ago. There have been no changes since,” Declan stated as he sat down in the wingback chair next to Shelby.
“You’re welcome to hire your lawyers to attempt to challenge this, but I’m not exaggerating when I say the deceased went to great lengths to ensure this will would be ironclad and withstand any challenges, to include undertaking a rigorous mental and physical assessment prior to signing the will,” Declan said.
The earth seemed to freeze, and the only movement was her father’s mouth opening and closing. Her brother’s eyes were open wide, and her uncle just stared at Declan.
Next Declan pulled his laptop out of his bag and typed in some passwords.
“I can provide a notarized copy of the original document; however, since I wasn’t planning on reading the will here, I only have a digital copy.”
Shelby nodded and avoided looking at her father and brother.
As each second passed she realized they not only didn’t care about her, but they also didn’t seem to think she belonged in the family, and that Pops shouldn’t have left her anything.
How could a father dislike his own child so much?
She felt the pinprick of tears but bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying.
“Why are you still here, Hart? You don’t need to hear the reading of the will. Get out,” Samuel said.
“It is customary for only family to be present,” Declan said. “Unless a family member requests you stay. In this case, I can confirm Shelby will be safe if you want to wait in the kitchen,” Declan suggested.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to stay for her, but she knew it would only bring more scrutiny on Wes if she spoke up. He didn’t deserve her father’s wrath because of her. Now that she was enemy number one, any ties to her would get him in more trouble than she was worth.
“I’ll just be in the kitchen then, if you need me, Ms. Shepherd,” Wes said.
It pained her not to look at him, but she couldn’t risk it and just nodded. If she looked at him, the tears she was holding back would escape.
“Very well, here we go.”
In less than two minutes, Declan read Pops’s last will and testament.
Everything Pops achieved was left to a few line items: the house, the marina, the boats, his investment portfolio, and all worldly possessions.
Everything left to Shelby. He didn’t berate her father or uncle, but it was clear he found them lacking and had every right and reason to leave them nothing.
They had taken little interest in his boating business that had brought him so much wealth and success, and even less interest in him or his beloved wife over the years.
“You mean to tell me, Shelby is his sole heir? I don’t believe you,” her uncle said, blustering and standing to pace. “You most certainly will hear from my lawyer.” Then he opened the front door and stormed out, leaving it wide open.
“It’s a con. If Shelby is involved it’s definitely not legit,” Sam growled then headed for the door, leaving it wide open after he stomped out.
Her father stood silently but she could feel his eyes on her as she looked down at her nails, the chipped black nail polish mocking her attempt to sit properly and project the fact that she belonged in this beautiful home.
Her family didn’t believe she had just as much right as them to inherit the one place in the world she ever felt safe and loved.
“The magnitude of your selfish, ungratefulness is shocking,” her father said, before walking past them. “You will hear from our lawyer as well, Shaw.”
Then they were gone. And it wasn’t until Wes scooped her up into his arms that she realized she had tears streaming down her face.
He pulled her into his chest, and she took a deep inhalation.
The mix of his scent and strength unleashed the emotions enveloping her, knowing she would never see her grandfather again.
And now every other man in her family would forever treat her like the enemy.
She vaguely heard Declan say goodbye and then Wes was whispering words of comfort in her ear and kissing her face.
“That was the worst of it. You don’t have to put up with them challenging you at your house anymore. I’ll sleep in my truck outside if I have to, to make sure they got the message.”
She took a deep breath and pictured that. “I don’t think having the town sheriff as my personal security will help you win the election or discourage them from challenging Pops’s will. If anything, it may only make them more vindictive.”
Wes pulled back and wiped at her tears with his thumbs. “I don’t care, do you?”
She shouldn’t care. She was never close with her brother or uncle, but seeing the disbelief and venom from her father was worse than when she was a child, and she disappointed him with poor grades.
“I don’t know. I mean I don’t want my dad to hate me. And yet, everything about me always seems to set him off. He’s always been disappointed, cold, indifferent, but now…” She trailed off. “You didn’t see the look on his face when he heard Pops left me everything.
“Everything?”
She saw his surprise and remembered he’d been in the kitchen.
“They said they thought it was a fake will and that they’d be calling their lawyers to fight me.”
“I’m sorry. Did you know that was what Pops’s will said?”
“No, I had no clue. He never said a thing, only that I would always be able to use his library. He would say, ‘It’s yours too, Shelby Bell’.” Fresh tears sprang in her eyes, and she frustratedly wiped at them.
“I think I should go back to Atlanta for a bit after the funeral and get some space from all of this.”
He nodded. “Okay. But what about the house? You’ll need to find someone to manage it if you’re not going to stay here. And the marina, the boats?”
“I need to go there and figure out how it’s been running, how much oversight Pops even had anymore.”
“But tonight you don’t have to worry about any of it.” He kissed her lips lightly.
“No, I don’t.” She craved his touch and couldn’t deny herself. Even when she was sad, and unsure of her place, her desire for Wes was like a constant certainty. Like gravity, or the sun rising in the morning, it was just a fact of life.
She ran her hands up around his neck as his lips crushed hers and she pulled him closer. His hands gripped her hips, hiking her up to straddle his waist, and she wrapped her legs around him.
“I don’t think I can let you leave if you’re going to keep kissing me like this,” Wes breathed into her throat as he walked them toward the wall and pressed her body against it.
“Are you going to put me on house arrest?”
“Maybe.” He kept her pinned to the wall with his hips and she could feel his bulge of desire for her.
Then leaning back he began to unbutton her shirt, until he could see her simple pink bra and his large hand palmed one of her breasts, running his thumb over her nipple.
She held on to his broad shoulders and bucked into him, earning a deep roar from him.
Then his mouth was kissing her chest and he pulled the fabric of her bra down so he could have better access to take her nipple in his hot mouth.
“I’d like to keep you here locked away from the rest of the world.”
His mouth was on her throat but he pulled back to let her wobbly feet sink to the floor.
Next, he unbuttoned her jeans and slowly pulled them down her legs.
His warm, rough hands pushed the material over her hips, her thighs, and down her calves.
He helped her step out of them but then lingered there on his knees.
She watched as he leaned forward, kissing her upper thighs and guiding her legs shoulder-length apart while she leaned with her back against the wall.
Next he buried his face in her panties, inhaling deeply and sending a surge of red-hot need through her.
“I need to be inside you Shelby, I want you every second of every day. Ever since I brought you back to my place, I have needed more and more of you.”
Her gasp was the only sound and she watched as he pulled her panties down, then licked her seam. His eyes met hers as he continued his slow exploration. “You’re mine.”
She nodded, because she knew that she not only belonged here in this moment with him, but she wanted to be his, in every way.
Her legs were shaking but his tongue dove deeper, stroking and coaxing the release she chased. Leaning her head against the wall she closed her eyes, but then he stopped.
“Look at me, baby, I want to see you come undone.”
She did as he asked and watched as he took her lips into his mouth and sucked, his tongue flicking her clit before pushing inside her, and she fell apart.
Barely able to stay standing. His eyes were dark but he smiled as he stood in front of her.
She could hear him unbuckling his pants and she reached out to grip his hard length.
A second wave of desire coursed through her.
How would she walk away from him? In this moment she couldn’t even fathom it.
Wes gripped her hips again and hiked her back up to straddle him, his cock pressed between them. Her back was against the wall again, and all she had to do was buck her hips to take him in.
“If I’m yours, then you’re mine,” she said, unsure how he would react.
He pulled his hips back and the tip of his cock pressed at her opening.
“Agreed,” he said through gritted teeth. “What do you want?”
In one swift move she sank her hips down on his thick length, taking all of him.
“All of you,” she breathed.
And neither of them spoke as he thrust in and out of her, while holding her against the wall.
His biceps flexed, his shoulders strained, and she had never seen a more beautiful man.
She did want all of him, and it was terrifying.
She couldn’t let herself think what it would be like to have Wesley Hart forever, because that would mean staying in Sandy Point.
And her family made it clear she was not welcome.