“I have been through every inheritance and property lawyer here in Calgary and that will is ironclad, folks. But I did some thinking on some of those clauses,” Frank said, and they heard the rustling of paper on the other end of the line.
“Remember that loophole you mentioned about makin’ someone an animal charity so they could buy the place, which was the stipulation if you tried to sell it? Why not do that?”
“That would change the business to a nonprofit, wouldn’t it? This place runs incorporated right now, Frank. Not sure how we’d be able to make a living and have staff the way we do if we can’t make money,” Jake answered automatically.
“Uh-huh,” Tanner grunted. “Be a might difficult to untangle the business the way it runs now.”
“Now, hold on, not done here,” Frank interjected. “We could set Tanner up as the nonprofit, and he buys it back, runs as that for a bit and then folds, renewing the business. It’s been done before. As long as you report up and up to the government, it should be fine.”
Jake tensed, sensing everyone else in the room doing the same. That would be a huge change, one his brother would likely veto outright. He cleared his throat, and Peony interjected before he could say anything.
“Let’s think about it. That line from that damned will stated that if one of the boys did try to buy it, it would go on the market for charity, for a buck. There’s nothing in there that says they can’t buy it then, is there?” Peony said, immediately picking up on Frank’s idea, surprising Jake. She must have been looking into things on her own, because she winked at Jake and took a sip of her tea.
“No, ma’am,” Frank said curtly.
“So they do that, and Tanner can buy it for that loonie, providing he’s set up as an animal rescue, not a nonprofit. Seems simple enough,” she added.
“Right,” Frank replied. “That’s a whole different thing—”
“I know you can make that work. Tanner could revert to a full-on business after a certain amount of time, or not, depending on how the rescue is set up,” Peony interrupted, her eyes sharpening, leaning forward toward the phone.
“What do you mean, or not?” Jake asked curiously. He and Liz shared a look, but she shrugged, obviously not in on what her mother had been looking into.
“I was thinking this. There is nothing saying that the charity has to be a nonprofit. You can run charities as a corporation. Look at all those racehorse rescues. They make a killing bringing in stock and reselling as riding horses. As long as you can prove you’re doing the work and can show capital expenditures, it’s all above board,” Peony stated, her eyes roving to each of them in turn.
“Peony, you’ve been busy! I hadn’t thought of that.” Frank chuckled. “I knew Brett married a smart woman. I’ll look into that, too, see what I can dig up.”
Peony laughed, leaning back into her chair, her eyes sparkling, and Jake unclenched his jaw. It wouldn’t be easy—the paperwork alone would bury them—and it seemed a little harebrained, but it might just work.
If everyone agreed to it.
“All right then. An interesting idea. Might just be the ticket to solve this mess and revert it back to Tanner, and Brady, too, of course?” Jake asked.
Brady sighed and leaned back, furrowing his forehead as his name was spoken.
No one had brought up who they thought his father was, but Jake had an inkling Peony and Liz knew and were staying mum. Eventually they would have to figure that dilemma out, but he was in no hurry to add new drama when things were just starting to settle.
Brady had sworn up and down that he didn’t want to be on the paperwork when the ranch was handed back over. He and Tanner had yelled at one another for a while about that one. But in the end, Brady had backed down from Tanner’s stubborn refusal to consider him any less of a West than before the paternity tests.
“Unless Brett had some other paperwork stashed away in his files or personal belongings, it would be more of a headache than it was worth. Has anyone looked?”
“We checked his personal study and found nothing. Maybe we’ll do another pass through the house just in case, but we’ve already been at this for weeks, it probably isn’t anything that would help even if we did find something,” Jake replied, and Frankhmmed on the other end of the phone.
“Fair enough. Let me know if you find anything, I can vet it to see, like life insurance policies or deeds. Otherwise, this is it. If this idea of Peony’s doesn’t work, there would have to be lawsuits brought against you and the ranch if you wanted to contest it, and that could get expensive. You’ve all had enough stress, especially with the mess of those thieves you caught on top of all this. I would advise against it. Could mire the ranch in liens and such for years,” Frank added.
“What do I have to do to do all this rescue bullshit?” Tanner blurted suddenly.
“Not sure. I’ll investigate that, of course,” Frank replied. “Don’t worry about it on your end yet. Decide first if this is in the best interest of the family, then we’ll dive into the details.”
Jake could sense his brother was struggling with that the entire notion. It would shutter the generational business, but it would keep the ranch in the hands of who was supposed to run it, which was Tanner. That Tanner had asked meant he was considering it despite his reluctance.
“We’ll figure it out, but let’s decide if that is the best thing first,” Jake replied, catching Tanner’s eye as he looked up. “We’ll make sure the ranch transfers back into the hands of a West.”
Tanner let out a big huff, shook his head and glared at Jake. “It already is,” he growled, and then paced out of the room, shoving his hat back on his head.
“Tan, hold on, you—” Brady shouted at his brother’s retreating back and then let out a resigned sigh. “He’s so fucking stubborn.”
“I take it you folks need some time to think this through,” Frank interrupted. “I’ll send you some of the reading I’ve done, Jake. Peony, can you share what you’ve found with me?”
