Their gazes locked for a tense moment, until the lawyer turned to Rae again. “Your father wanted this, Rae. I know it’s hard to believe, but these are his last wishes. If you like, you can contest this will. But it could take years to resolve, and the court could order you to sell the land and split the money.”
Gripping the edge of the table, she pushed back her chair and stood. “Sell? Benton Woodworking has been in my family for a hundred years. Dad wanted it to stay in the family, no matter what.” To sell off Dad’s pride and joy would be heartless, as if she was…well, somehow killing him herself.
She sagged back in her seat. The very fact that her father had willed half of all he owned to Hunter Gordon proved he couldn’t have cared that much for Benton Woodworking. Should she contest it? Could she even afford to?
Mr. LeBlanc spoke. “Rae, do you want to contest this will?”
Finally, she shook her head. With the stroke of a pen, her father had condemned her to share everything she valued with the man who’d destroyed her life.
TWO
Again, Mr. LeBlanc asked, “Do you want to contest the will?”
Hunter watched Rae. Guessing her thoughts was easy: If only she had the money to buy him out.
Her eyes lingered on her father’s signature. Was she thinking of Benton’s life insurance? There should be enough remaining after the funeral expenses to buy out Hunter’s share of the estate. Then she would own it all.
The thought caused something to lurch within him. He’d have money and freedom. He could leave, go somewhere to start again.
What about Benton’s warning?
She stood. “No, I won’t contest it. Do all the necessary paperwork, please. There’s no hurry. I know there will be things like income tax, and any liens to be sorted out.”
Hunter rose in turn as she reached across the table to shake Mr. LeBlanc’s hand.
“Call us when you have the papers ready,” she said, and walked past them both, out of the office and into the brilliant fall sunshine. Hunter shook the lawyer’s hand, then followed her out.
She said nothing all the way home. As soon as she’d parked the truck, she hurried into the workshop. A few minutes later, Hunter found her scribbling notes on a pad at the desk there. He hesitated. It had been nearly an hour since the lawyer had dropped his bomb, and Hunter still hadn’t absorbed it all.
Rae looked up as he walked toward her desk. “I guess I can’t tell you what to do, now that you own half of everything.”
Stolen from Rae, a voice inside him whispered, because you and Benton dabbled on the wrong side of the law before Benton panicked when another man—what was his name?—began to threaten him.
Was that the danger Benton had mentioned? Hunter pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the desk. “Rae,” he began, “we need to talk. I wasn’t completely truthful with you earlier.”
“How so?” She looked up from her writing.
“You asked when your father talked to me about violence, and I let you believe it was before I went to prison. I’m sorry. He did talk to me in prison, about violence and about something else. He visited with me in jail.”
She set down her pen and seemed to freeze there, waiting for him to continue. He went on. “Your father told me that you’re in danger.”
Her gaze pinned him. “In danger? How so?”
Here came the difficult part. How was he supposed to warn her, yet not tell her everything? Though Benton had wanted to confess his crime to his daughter, Hunter had no desire to tarnish his mentor’s memory. It didn’t feel right. For all Benton’s faults, he’d been a good father. And God knew that Hunter hadn’t been perfect, either. Enough reason not to defame the man.
Hunter leaned forward. “He didn’t go into detail, probably because he knew someone could be listening.”
“Why would he be concerned by that?” she asked innocently.
“All I know is he warned me that both of you were in danger, and that I needed to make sure you were all right.”
She bristled. “I’m as fine as I can be right now. Are you sure he wasn’t just asking you to check in on me occasionally?”
“If I were to just drop by to see if you’re all right, why give me half the estate, knowing that would make me stay?”
Her lips tightened. “There is no danger here.”
He scrubbed his face. “There is. Your father found gas-soaked rags here once, and thought he saw someone lurking around.”
She perked up. “That was only a few weeks ago. This is a woodworking shop. Sometimes we use solvents. He probably smelled them. And as for someone lurking around, this is an attractive area. I own—we own nearly half of this mountain. There’s public property all around here and people are bound to accidentally cross onto our land.”
“Your father wouldn’t warn me for nothing.” Even as he said that, Hunter wondered again if Benton’s mind had been ravaged by the cancer. “This is serious, Rae. You’re vulnerable right now, and your father was concerned enough to ask me to make sure that you’re safe.”
She waved her hand. “As you can see, I’m safe.”
He pressed on. “We should contact the police. They can step up patrols in this area, check out who might be using the land around you.” As the words left his mouth, he knew he was being hypocritical. Ten years ago, he and Benton had stolen valuable wood from government land.
No. Even though he’d gone to prison for arson—not theft—he’d learned his lesson.
Leaning back, Rae shook her head. “The police won’t do anything. They’re too busy.”
“Just go to them, Rae, or I will.”
Her brows shot up. “They won’t believe you.”
“Then listen to your father one last time.”
Rae pursed her lips. “We need proof. Did Dad write anything down?”
He sighed. “No.”
“And you want me to go to the police anyway?”
“Your father was more than just concerned. Your safety meant more to him than anything. That’s why he asked me to help. If you ignore his warning now, it’ll be as if he meant nothing to you.”
She sat a moment in silence. Hunter prayed for her to listen to reason.
Finally, she shrugged. “All right. We’ll go, but I honestly don’t think they can or will do anything.”
Rae didn’t want to go to the police, but even more, she didn’t want anyone to think her father’s love meant nothing to her. She was gathering up the papers on the desk, readying them for filing, when a sudden noise made her lift her head.
