But it was still fact that Brett had, in one fell swoop, doomed the ranch, and likely this wasn’t going to be something you fixed with a phone call and the assurances of the sole inheritor that he didn’t want it.
“I know, son. But there are goddamned clauses in the damned thing. If you try to give it back to Tanner, Brady, or Peony, the entire operation goes on the market for a charity, for a buck. He was pretty clear.”
“Is this even legal?” Brady asked, looking up at Frank. “I mean, real estate law, next of kin, and all that. Plus, Jake’s not even Canadian!”
“Actually, I am,” Jake muttered. “I was born right here in Brightside, and I still carry dual citizenship. I kept it to make travel easier.”
“Fuck,” Brady muttered, and turned away, obviously upset.
“It is legal, Brady. Brett has every right to disperse his assets to whomever he wants no matter who is the next of kin,” Frank interjected. “Now, I’m going to look into some things, so nobody panic. For now, we have to assume that this place will run as normal. Brady, you may want to go find your brother before he beats something to a pulp and hurts himself.”
Brady nodded and left the room, the front door slamming for the second time in as many minutes.
Liz felt the loss for her stepbrothers. All the time and work and sweat they had poured into this place beside their father, and it had been taken away with the stroke of a pen. Salt in the wound from his death. A spit in their face from the grave. Why? What had they done to make him so angry? What in god’s name would have made Brett snub the only sons he’d raised and who’d dedicated their lives to this place?
Liz stood up and motioned to Jake to give her the papers. He did without a word, an apologetic look in his eyes, and she again was taken aback at him and the situation. He was much more even-keeled right at this moment than his brothers were.
She looked over the tight, spiky scrawl that was Brett’s signature, and scanned the first page. Just like Frank had said, he’d left the entire place to Jake. Lock, stock, and frickin’ barrel. He was to be the sole owner and was required to live there and to operate the ranch. If he tried to sell it, live off property, or revert ownership to either of his half brothers, the executor was to immediately put the ranch on the market for a dollar.
Not one mention of her in any of the confusing language, which, for a moment, irked her, but she let it go. She wasn’t a West. Brett would often remind her of that when they argued about some decision she’d made in the stables without his approval.
She scanned farther, but there was no mention of anything for her mother either. There had to be something for her in here. Money, some way to live.
“Frank, my mother isn’t mentioned,” she said, flipping the pages.
“No, she isn’t,” Jake replied. “At all.”
Frank motioned for her to give him the will, and he took his time to read through it while they waited. Her mother had leaned back on the couch, her eyes closed again.
“Mom?” Liz asked. “You okay?”
“I’ll be fine, dear. Just letting it all sink in. This has become quite an eventful day.”
Liz swallowed the lump forming in her throat and looked out the window at the far side of the room. This place was her mother’s home,herhome, and her job. What was going to happen now?
Frank shuffled some additional papers in the sheaf from the envelope. He sighed and opened his briefcase.
“Okay. There’s a copy of the deed in here, as well as some inheritance-law paperwork. I have to draw up further papers and talk to our real estate lawyer about this.”
“What happens if I take ownership for one year, enough to thwart the inheritance taxes, and then sell? There’s nothing in there about doing that,” Jake said quickly. “And when I do put it up for sale, they buy it back for that dollar. Or I could sell it to Liz now, she’s not related to me, my brothers, or Brett by blood, it would be aboveboard, too, yeah?”
“That is an avenue I will pursue, yes, but let’s not be hasty, there might be another way around all this. It also says here the buyers, should you decide to sell, must be a registered animal charity, which, well, Liz isn’t.”
“Easy enough to set up,” Jake snapped back, seemingly grasping at straws, thinking out loud.
“What in hell was he thinking?” Liz blurted, more to herself, but Frank answered with a sound that was half exasperation and half annoyance.
“I don’t know, my dear. He never once clued me in to what he was thinking. I kind of feel—”
“Cheated,” Jake finished for him, and the two nodded at one another. Everyone was silent for a moment, the only sound the ticking clock on the far wall. Cheated? This was beyond that.
“Yes. Okay. Jake, you need to move here ASAP to meet conditions of the will. Until we get this sorted out, stick close,” Frank finally said, as he gathered everything up.
“Frank, how can I—” Jake started, then stopped. He looked frustrated. She watched him thinking, looking for the words, the furrow in his brow identical to Tanner’s. The enormity of how many lives had just been completely screwed over hit her, and the anxious lump in her stomach turned into tears behind her eyes. She needed to leave, right now. It was too much, and it was overwhelming her.
She took one more look at her mother, who nodded silently, and then stormed out of the room, taking her turn to slam the front door.
* * *
