“But could he even do that? Didn’t you own the property jointly?”
Mary wiped condensation from the glass. “Allen inherited it from his parents free and clear, and we never bothered adding me to the title. I never dreamed...” She broke off and shook her head. “And maybe it’s not true.” She lifted her gaze to Paradise’s. “But itfeelstrue.”
“Dean just told you this out of the blue?”
“He was drunk, raging around and yelling at me that I needed to hand over the will. That it was all my fault he didn’t get the money he’d expected, and he had to have it. I think he’s in trouble with gambling, but I’m not sure.”
“What about Allen’s death?”
Mary took another gulp of tea. “He said something like, ‘If I’d known the will would be missing, I never would have—’ He broke off and didn’t say the rest, but I—I could fill in the rest of it. He never would have run Allen off the road and injected him with meth.”
That was a stretch. He could have finished that sentence variousways. Maybe he wouldn’t have gambled if he didn’t know he was getting the money. Still, Mary might have a point.
“I can see you’re not sure if Dean is capable of murder, but you don’t know what else he’s done. He’s convinced that Allen hid the will on Sanctuary property for safekeeping and told me he’s been searching the property to try to find the will. I shudder to think what he would do to the boys if they walked in on him. You have to be careful!”
Paradise swallowed down a bitter taste in her mouth and followed it with a gulp of sweet tea. “But you already sold the refuge property. What can he do now?”
“He can submit the will within five years of probate and it could reverse everything. If he can find the will in the next month, we’re all in trouble.”
“B-but what about the money Jenna paid you for it?”
“I don’t know how it all works, but the refuge would be gone. Maybe I’d have to pay back the money, but it’s gone, so I wouldn’t be able to.” Mary wrung her hands. “I don’t know what to do.”
Neither did Paradise. She glanced at the clock on the wall. In another two hours she could take it to Blake.
Blake pulled the door shut as he backed out of the boys’ bedroom. It hadn’t taken long to get them to sleep. They’d been tuckered out from miniature golf, pizza, and go-carts. He yawned himself. It had been a full day, but he grabbed his phone to call Paradise. He’d missed her tonight.
Lights swept across the picture window, and a vehicle parked in front of the cottage. Paradise’s green Kia. He smiled. Maybeshe’d missed him as much as he’d missed her. Mom wouldn’t be home for at least a couple of hours.
He opened the door before she could ring the bell. His welcoming smile faded at the worry on her face. He reached out to take her hand. “What’s wrong?”
She raked her hand through her mane of hair and went past him to the small living room, leaving her plumeria scent behind. “It’s crazy. I need coffee.”
“I’ll make it. Come with me and tell me what’s going on.” Blake went to the kitchen and tossed beans into the grinder.
“The park is in serious jeopardy,” she began.
Over the sound of the grinder, he listened to her story of Mary’s visit and Dean’s obsession with a will. He punched on the coffeepot. “That sounds unbelievable. You can’t roll back the clock on a sale when the will wasn’t found at the right time.”
She hugged herself. “Call Hez and find out.”
He’d do it to appease her, but it didn’t make sense. His chest was tight when he placed the call to Hez. This had to be wrong. He hated to bother him while he was still recovering, especially when he was dealing with some issues at TGU for Savannah, but his cousin would know whether the law was on the park’s side or not. Blake turned on the speakerphone.
Hez answered on the first ring. “Hey, Blake.”
“How you doing, buddy?”
“Pretty well. The headaches are improving, so that’s good. I can’t drive for a while, so that’s bad. You sound upset.”
“Can a sale of property be invalidated if an unknown will is found after the place is sold?”
“Whoa, that’s a loaded question. What’s going on?”
Blake spilled out everything he’d heard. “That can’t be true, right?”
“It’s not an easy question to answer since there are some layers to it. Alabama law says a good faith purchaser is protected after a year, and you’ve had it longer than that. But if the will is found within five years and your mom knew there was a will, the purchase could be invalidated. Mary Steerforth would be required to pay back the money. If she doesn’t have it, which seems likely, you guys might be out of luck. You could sue, but it could take a long time to be repaid, and you’d still lose the property.”
“I’m sure Mom didn’t know anything about a will, but I’ll ask her and find out for sure.” Blake poured two mugs of coffee and handed one to Paradise. They both sat at the table with the phone between them still on speakerphone. “I was told he has a month to find the will or it’ll be too late. In a month it will be five years since we bought it.”
