Chapter Thirteen
Edwin picked up his glass and finished it in one go, barely tasting it.
It made him cough as it burned his chest, and he slapped himself across the ribcage to try to ease it.
He needed to slow down; he was going to end up feeling like he was on fire, but he didn’t care.
Just as long as he got so drunk he didn’t know what he was doing.
It was preferable to being sober and knowing that he’d lost everything.
How could Uncle Edgar do this to him? The will stated that the ranch would be given to him and would revert to Anna only should she marry.
Edwin had never seen her with any man and knew she preferred to work rather than play house with one.
He thought it was an easy win for him. For the first time in his life, he would have something his younger cousin couldn’t.
But then she pulled the rug out from under him at the last minute and married a complete stranger. Edwin didn’t think his cousin would be that desperate to marry someone she didn’t know to get what she believed was hers.
He wished that Uncle Edgar hadn’t put that clause in. It was easier to contest the will than have a condition in it. But what could he do? The lawyer said that it was clear what Uncle Edgar wanted, and it had been followed.
And that left Edwin with nothing.
He was a member of the same family as Anna, and yet the way they were treated was vastly different.
It was shocking that anyone could behave in such a manner toward him.
Anna was a good worker, he had to admit that much, but he didn’t think she was anything special.
Yet she was treated with respect, seen as the leader, and Connor was protective of her.
Edwin wouldn’t be surprised if there had been an affair between the two of them at some point.
He was likely not enjoying the fact that Anna now had a husband. Edwin had witnessed the foreman's treatment of Travis, the interloper. He didn’t seem to have much respect for the man, either.
Maybe he could use that to his advantage. Perhaps he could get Connor to see that this was not how things were meant to be, and they could take a stand against Anna. Would Connor go for it, knowing he could have the woman he wanted if he drove Travis out?
Even as he thought it, Edwin knew it would be practically impossible. No matter what Anna did, Connor would always be on her side. He was like a loyal dog, and it was nauseating.
He was going to have to find another way around it.
“Edwin!” Someone slapped him hard on the shoulder, almost knocking him forward. “Long time no see! How have you been?”
It took him a moment to realize it was Victor Deayton, one of his old friends. Victor had been traveling, looking for work after being fired from a neighboring ranch. It had been months since they last saw each other. Edwin had missed his old drinking buddy.
Seeing Victor again lifted his spirits, and he clasped the man’s arm in response.
“Victor! When did you get back?”
“Just a short while ago. I thought I’d treat myself to a drink, and now I’ve run into you.” Victor grinned, his teeth yellow through his thick black beard. “You look like you’ve gotten close to oblivion already. Are you missing me?”
“Always.” Edwin gestured to a table in the corner. “Come and sit down. I think we should talk.”
“I’ll get the drinks then.”
Edwin wasn’t going to argue with that. He half-walked, half-staggered to the table and slumped in one of the chairs, which creaked under his weight. He was looking forward to getting drunk with his friend. It was better than reminding himself that someone had what was rightfully his.
It wasn’t long before Victor had joined him, placing two large glasses in the middle of the table and sitting across from him.
“Now, are you going to tell me what’s been happening? You look as if you’re fit to burst.”
“You know me so well, Victor.”
“Of course I do. We’re not close for nothing.” Victor beckoned with his hands. “Come on, then. Talk to me. What’s gotten you like this?”
Edwin told him everything, from the death of Uncle Edgar to the will, and then to Anna’s marriage. When he finished, Victor was staring at him in stunned amazement.
“Are you telling me that you were cheated out of your inheritance?”
“Pretty much. She got a stranger from somewhere to marry her and help her claim her inheritance.” Edwin scowled. “She did it all at the last minute. I was ready to throw her out and take what was mine, and she gets married.”
“I didn’t expect Anna to do something like that,” Victor said, sitting back and shaking his head. “I remember when I tried to tip my cap at her, so to speak. She turned me away before I’d even finished, said that she wouldn’t choose anyone like me as her husband if she was even looking for one.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She didn’t think I’d be right for her.”
Edwin nodded and finished his drink in one go again.
“I think you would’ve been perfect. If you’d married her and she tried to take the ranch back, you’d be on my side, and we’d chase her out.”
“Do you think that would’ve worked?”
“I don’t know, but at least I’d know her husband wasn’t going to turn on me.”
Victor shrugged.
“I was considering trying again when I got back, but seeing as she’s married now…”
“You’d be better than the hulk she married.”
“What’s he like?”
“A lumberjack, apparently. He looks like one, too.” Edwin ran a finger around the rim of his glass. “Connor’s giving him a hard time, and he doesn’t bat an eye. I even split his lip at one point when he attacked me.”
Victor nodded approvingly.
“That’s good. At least you got something in, even if it didn’t make him leave.”
“I doubt he’s going to leave. He’s got his boots firmly under the table now.” Edwin picked up the glass and slammed it onto the table. “That ranch was supposed to be mine. I should’ve gotten it. Now I’ve lost to Anna, yet again.”
He slammed the glass down again and felt a sting of pain in his palm. He let go and looked at his hand. The glass had cracked and cut his palm. Edwin thrust a hand into his pocket and brought out his handkerchief, which he used to stem the flow of blood.
“Why am I always second to her? She’s younger than me, and a woman as well, so why am I always put behind her?”
“She was Edgar Montgomery’s daughter,” Victor pointed out. “He would put his own child first.”
“But over me? He said I was like the son he never had, and he treats me like this?”
“He must have had his reasons…”
“He decided his child, a girl, is more important than me?” Edwin clenched his fist around his handkerchief. The cut was starting to throb now. “Anna might think she can handle the ranch on her own, but I know she’s going to run that place into the ground. She’s not a business person.”
Victor nodded along, sipping at his drink.
“She won’t be able to handle the hard work. It’s not for women, working with cattle and horses. And nobody’s going to respect her now that her father isn’t around anymore. She would be destitute within a year.”
“I think it would be sooner than that,” Edwin declared.
“Well, you might be able to get what you want. If Anna can’t cope with the ranch and needs someone better to run it, she’ll come begging to you to take over. Then you’ll get what you want.”
Edwin doubted that would happen. Anna was stubborn, and she knew exactly what she was doing. If she were struggling, she certainly wouldn’t come to him. Anything but turn to Edwin. Their relationship hadn’t been good over the years, but it had fractured since Uncle Edgar’s death.
He couldn’t let her get everything. He couldn’t sit there and wait for Anna to mess everything up. If she ran the ranch into the ground, then there would be barely anything for him to get going again. He would have to start from scratch, and Edwin didn’t like the sound of that.
“I’m sure it’ll come your way sooner than you think,” Victor said confidently. “You’re far better off being in charge than she is. Shall we have another one? Preferably in a glass you’re not going to break?”
Edwin nodded, and Victor went back to the bar. He slumped back in his chair and looked through the window, watching the world go by outside. People were carrying on their business as if they hadn’t got a care in the world. None of them were dealing with his problems.
And he couldn’t seem to get Anna to wobble.
He’d managed to get the snake into the field when she was there, knowing her fear of them, but Travis had thwarted him.
And then he’d spooked the cattle during the storm, and that hadn’t worked, either.
Anna just seemed to bounce back without any problems.
It didn’t help that her new husband seemed to be close to her side now. He might not be one of them, but he wasn’t stupid. Edwin knew he had to tread carefully if he wanted his ranch back in his hands.
Anna was not going to hold onto it for much longer.