“Sure.”
Alex moved back to her desk, and Mac came through the door, a smile on his face.
Until he saw Katherine.
“Uh-oh.”
Even Alex seemed surprised by his reaction. “You know why Katherine is here?”
Mac sat on the edge of Alex’s desk, facing Katherine. “I assume it has something to do with Mrs. Dawson’s will. Right?”
Katherine nodded. “I don’t want to take—how can I get my name out of it?”
“You can’t.”
His simple answer, without any legal mumbo jumbo, was what made Mac Gibbons such a popular lawyer. People wanted to hear the bottom line, without all the reasons.
“But there must be some way. He won’t—a marriage between us is preposterous. He shouldn’t have to give up his grandmother’s estate because—surely, she didn’t intend to harm Gabe.” Katherine couldn’t imagine the sweet woman she’d known doing anything to negatively affect her beloved Gabe.
“No, I don’t think she did.” Mac shot a look at Alex and rubbed the back of his neck before he said anything else. “Look, Katie, when our mothers did their matchmaking, a lot of ladies in town got the idea to follow in their footsteps. I tried to warn Mrs. Dawson that her idea would backfire on her…and Gabe. But she wouldn’t listen.”
“That’s what the will says, that she has to marry Gabe? Or what happens?” Alex asked.
“If they don’t marry, half the estate goes to Katie and the other half goes to charity. Unless Katie marries someone else before the year is up. You seeing anyone?” he suddenly asked, slewing around to face Katherine again.
“No! I’m not.”
“I heard Jack Ledbetter was hanging around your house a lot,” Mac said, a speculative look on his face.
Alex frowned. “But Jack’s over fifty, maybe older. He’s too old for you, Katherine.”
“He’s fifty-six,” she said calmly. “And he is hanging around our house. But it’s not me he’s interested in.”
Mac frowned. “Then who—your mother?” He grinned. “If you need any advice about this situation, let me know. Aunt Florence and Doc got married a year ago, you know.”
Katherine grinned. “Thanks, but they’re managing just fine without any assistance on my part.” In fact, her mother’s romance was one of the best things going in her life right now.
Alex brought them back to the topic at hand. “So, if you’re not seeing anyone, and you won’t marry Gabe—”
“As if he’d ask,” Katherine muttered, interrupting.
Alex looked at Mac for confirmation. “Then there’s nothing to be done?”
“I’m afraid that’s true, Katie,” Mac concurred. “Gabe said something about trying to prove his grandmother was incompetent when she made these arrangements, but I don’t think he can.”
“But if half of the estate comes to me, can I give it back to Gabe? Just return it?”
“Not without paying some taxes.”
“But I can’t afford that!” She was doing well with her shop, but there were a lot of demands on her income.
“What size estate are we talking about?” Alex asked quietly.
“She and her husband owned about a hundred and fifty acres and several wells were drilled on her property. The total, with land value and everything else, is around ten million,” Mac said calmly.
Katherine almost fell out of her chair. “Good heavens! Taxes on half of that would bankrupt me for life.”
Mac nodded, though he added, “If you inherited it, of course, you could pay the taxes out of what you inherited.”
“I can’t,” Katherine said firmly. The money didn’t matter. Taking his heritage from Gabe was the issue. And she couldn’t do that.
Shaking his head, Mac said, “Well, I’m not sure how this is going to work out. You sure you don’t want to marry him?”
The way he asked his question made Katherine’s heart ache. And made an answer impossible. What she wanted didn’t matter. She’d rejected his marriage proposal when she was eighteen. He wouldn’t ask again.
Standing, she offered her hand to Alex first and then Mac. “Thanks for your help. Will you send me a bill? Or shall I leave you a check?”
Alex smiled. “I’ll send you a bill. If there’s anything else I can do, let me know.”
“I will, thanks.” Then she left their offices, still with no answers. And a lot of fears.
“What are you doing here?” Gabe growled, moving in front of her as she stepped outside.
She jumped, surprised by his sudden appearance.
“Well?” he demanded, his hands on his hips, glaring at her.
She had no intention of explaining what she’d been doing, and she knew Mac and Alex would be discreet. “Excuse me,” she murmured, and tried to step around him.
He reached out and grabbed her arm.
She thought she’d forgotten how her body responded to his touch. She thought the shivers that had coursed through her body the first time he’d touched his lips to hers, many years ago, couldn’t possibly reoccur. She thought that part of her life was over.
Someone forgot to tell her body.
Jerking away, she retreated, her back coming up against the door she’d just closed. She lifted her chin and glared at him. “I have to go.”
“You got someone waiting for you? Someone you’re planning on marrying? Maybe you’ve promised some man a cushy life if he hangs around until the year is over.”
She knew of only one way to escape him. And she was angry and scared enough to lie. “Yes, I have a man. What’s it to you?”
“So marry him! That would solve my problem.”
With sarcasm dripping from her words, she said, “Of course, solving your problem would be my first concern.”
“It should be, since you caused it.”
As he spoke, the door behind Katherine opened and Mac reached out to steady her as she almost lost her balance.
“Hi, there, Gabe. You’re early.”
Neither of them spoke, and Mac moved to Katherine’s side and looked at them. “Everything okay?”
“Sure, everything’s fine. I was trying
