Chapter Thirty-Two
When Anna opened her eyes, it had taken her a moment to realize where she was.
She tried to remember what happened. Edwin had taunted her, and then he practically admitted that he’d be responsible for everything going wrong.
Overwhelmed, Anna had broken down in Travis’s arms. Her husband had carried her upstairs and laid her on the bed before sitting in a chair, urging her to sleep.
Anna hadn’t wanted to, but eventually she’d slipped away into a restless slumber.
She loved him. It had crept up on her without realizing it. Or maybe she truly had been in love long before then, but she didn’t recognize it. She hadn’t had much experience with love, or even courtship. It was completely new to her.
It should’ve scared her. But instead, it made her feel settled. Anna never thought it possible to feel love that would help her rest.
Sitting up slowly, she looked around. There was no sign of Travis, but she could hear voices outside.
Slipping off the bed, she went over and looked out.
Travis and Connor were approaching Edwin, who was leaning on the newly built well, a bottle in his hand.
They looked like they were having an argument.
Anna sighed heavily. She didn’t want to deal with any of this.
Edwin needed to leave. Period. Leaving her room, she headed downstairs and through the kitchen, ignoring the bemused look from Mrs. Mason as she worked at the kitchen table.
She rounded the porch and was about to join the others when she heard what Edwin said.
And that made her stop dead.
“It should’ve been so easy. I would just slide the fake will in with my uncle’s possessions, and then it would be all mine. I knew Anna wouldn’t be able to find a husband given her aversion to marriage, so I thought I was home and dry…”
“Wait a minute.” Anna heard Travis and saw him hold up a hand. “Am I hearing this correctly? Was the will that Anna would have to marry to keep the ranch a fake? Montgomery didn’t really write that?”
Edwin laughed.
“Of course not. He didn’t care if it wasn’t conventional. In his will, the original, he declared that Anna was to inherit the ranch and take it over. He was giving everything to her.”
Anna felt like she was still dreaming. Was she actually hearing this? It didn’t make sense. Her legs trembled, and she felt for a nearby chair, sagging into it as the news crashed around her. It was
Anna had heard enough. She stood up, knocking the chair back and letting it clatter on the floor.
She jumped off the porch, flinching as she hurt her bad ankle again, and stumbled a little before she stormed toward Edwin.
She sidestepped Connor, knocking his arms aside as he tried to stop her, and stood before Edwin.
“You are such a pathetic, useless man,” she hissed.
“You think I’m useless and pathetic?” Edwin shouted back.
He didn’t seem too upset that he’d gotten caught.
If anything, he was talking freely, without any remorse.
“What about you? You ended up marrying a total stranger to get something back that wasn’t meant to be yours! I’d say that’s useless and pathetic.”
“It would never have happened if you’d left the will as it was!”
Edwin shrugged. “I was just trying to remind you who had the upper hand.”
Anna barked out a harsh laugh. “You’ve never had the upper hand.
And with your attitude, you could never keep this going.
We all knew that except you. That’s why Pa wrote to you that you had nothing and had to leave.
You’re not cut out for this type of work, and you’ve been mooching off us for years.
He wanted you to strike out on your own instead of riding on his coattails. ”
Edwin’s eyes widened, his eyeballs red with drink as dark as the color of his cheeks.
“You got everything, you spoiled little brat,” he snarled, practically spitting in her face.
“I wasn’t about to let that happen when I found the will.
That was the last straw. So I forged it and took it in to get it signed by your solicitor.
He thought he was signing documents for your father, and he never even noticed that he was signing as a witness to a new will. ”
Anna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Edwin had been bitter for so long, but to be bitter enough to fake something to get his own way was shocking. She swallowed, refusing to back down.
“So when Pa died, you thought you were going to get everything,” she croaked. “Him dying so soon after you made that will was lucky for you, wasn’t it? He was healthy, and he wasn’t about to die anytime soon.”
“Yes, he was healthy, wasn’t he?” Edwin pondered, smirking as he stepped back, taking a swig from the bottle. “I suppose it was lucky he succumbed as quickly as he did.”
It took a moment for Anna to realize what he’d just said. But Travis spoke before she could get the words out.
“Are you saying you had something to do with your uncle’s death?” Travis asked.
Edwin shrugged. “I do think that it was incredibly easy for someone to poison him with his food, especially as he lay dying. Nobody can cope with that amount of poison in their system.”
Anna felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. She felt nauseous as she clutched her belly. This couldn’t be happening. Edwin wasn’t saying…
“You killed him,” she whispered. “You murdered Pa.”
“I never said that, but that would be one way to kill a normally healthy man, wouldn’t it?”
Anna heard someone moving behind her, and she tensed. Then she heard Travis’s voice again, this time closer.
“You do realize you’re not going to get away with this, right?”
“As if I’m going to be arrested!” Edwin snorted.
“One of my contacts is a deputy sheriff. He’ll be able to make sure that none of it comes back to me, and it points at someone else.
Someone like Anna, for example.” He sniggered.
“She was the dutiful daughter who desperately wanted to be in charge. So she got rid of him.”
“But why would I do that and put myself through marrying someone I didn’t know?” Anna pointed out.
“Because you assumed that the will would give everything to you. And nobody would complain about it. So you had to think on your feet when you were thrown up an obstacle.” Edwin gave a half-hearted shrug.
“I’d admire you for that if you hadn’t gotten in my way.
And you’re still in my way. You took what should’ve been mine, and I’m not allowing it. ”
“You were trying to steal what wasn’t yours in the first place,” Anna shot back.
Edwin launched himself at her, grabbing her around the throat.
Anna barely had time to react before she tripped over her own feet and started to fall.
Then Travis and Connor tackled Edwin to the ground.
Edwin’s grip loosened on her throat, and Anna dropped to the ground, the air rushing out of her body and her head exploding with pain.
She lay staring at the sky for a while, wondering if the world was going to stop spinning.
She rolled onto her side and caught sight of Travis and Connor on top of Edwin, pinning him down and trying to twist his arms behind his back. Connor had Edwin’s gun, which he tucked into the back of his belt. Anna wanted to get up and help them, but she hurt so much.
Travis glanced back at her, and then he moved back to let Connor take the weight. Edwin tried bucking him off, but Connor kept him pinned down. Travis hurried over to Anna and leaned over.
“Anna? Anna, are you all right?”
“Travis…”
Anna couldn’t get any further than that before she burst into tears. She felt Travis gently lifting her up and cradling her against his chest. And she kept her eyes closed throughout, clutching onto him as if she thought he would disappear and never come back.