“He is a not a sleazeball,” Trish said, automatically coming to Nolan’s defense.
But it was Sue’s reaction that stunned her. All the color drained from the woman’s face as she stared at the man who’d walked into the kitchen.
He was staring back at her—at her and at Bob. Nolan’s eyes weren’t just similar to Sue’s; they were exactly the same. They had to be related.
“Oh, no…” Sue whispered.
Trish found herself touching the woman’s arm, steadying her like Sue had done for her when she’d tried to get dressed at the hospital. The poor woman looked like she was about to pass out from shock.
But how was seeing Nolan Stokes a shock to her?
* * *
Nolan had bracedhimself for this, for all eyes to focus on him the minute he walked into the house of the formidable Sadie Haven. He was used to that kind of attention. Sometimes he even commanded it. At least in a courtroom.
But one gaze unsettled him.
Or maybe two.
Frankie Dempsey stared at him with her usual contempt, and for some reason that bugged him. It bugged him how little she thought of him, and maybe that bugged him because for some strange reason he found himself thinking about her. All too often.
But the gaze that unsettled him the most came from eyes that looked exactly like his and like his children’s eyes. He was glad that he hadn’t brought the kids like Sadie had urged him to.
He didn’t want his children here for this, though he would have to explain everything to them soon. But first, he had to explain it to everyone else.
Trish was his client, and hopefully also a friend since he had so few. So he addressed her first, “Welcome back to Willow Creek, Trish.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. And both Frankie Dempsey and Brett Lemmon sucked in a breath like he’d slapped them.
So Brett was jealous.
He grinned.
And Frankie?
She certainly wasn’t jealous of him. She couldn’t stand him. But she had no idea…
Nobody did.
“I’d like to speak with you,” Trish said softly, “with my partners…like I told you on the phone a few days ago.”
He nodded. “Looks like your partners are all here.” Sticking close to her like Brett and Frankie were. There was a crowd of people around them, too.
Including the woman with his eyes and the man who stood just behind her looking confused.
Did he really not know?
“As I told you on the phone, Trish, you don’t have to worry,” he said. “Your mother signed away her claim to the ranch long ago in exchange for a big check from your father. She can’t touch the Four Corners.”
“And Harold?”
He shook his head. “He can’t either. Even if you hadn’t been divorced before you claimed your inheritance, a spouse doesn’t automatically share an inheritance. Your share of the ranch is yours alone. So you don’t have to sign away or give up your inheritance to protect the ranch and your—” he stared at all of them “—partners.”
Frankie and Brett whirled toward her. “You were willing to do that?” Frankie asked while Brett just looked stunned and something else.
In love…?
Nolan actually felt a flash of pity for him. Love had brought Nolan nothing but pain.
He turned back to that other couple now, the woman with his eyes and the man standing behind her. “Hey, Mom, Dad,” he greeted them.
