Navy Seal Protector. Bonnie Vanak

she knew. But Silas also liked to handle the family’s personal bills himself and there was the matter of the ranch mortgage.

      He’d never let her know the exact amount, only muttered that he’d take care of it.

      “How much in debt?” Nick demanded.

      Dan stiffened. “That’s not for public knowledge.”

      Without his gaze leaving the attorney’s face, Nick snapped, “I’m not the public.”

      “All parties in this room need to know what liabilities Silas faced, as well as the assets he owned,” Kurt assured him. “It’s why I asked all of you here.”

      The attorney looked at Nick. “Silas took out an equity loan on the house to pay for repairs, using the ranch as collateral. His estate owes the bank two hundred and fifty thousand dollars on the mortgage. I’m afraid he fell behind in payments.”

      Dread curled through her. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars! She’d known it was bad, but not that bad. Silas had been nonchalant when he’d mentioned he owed money. No wonder he always looked so pinched and worried.

      “What about the assets?” Felicity asked.

      The woman had a poker face. If she had shed a single tear, Shelby hadn’t seen it. Felicity hadn’t always been this cold and brittle. Not until all the mysterious incidents started around the ranch, and Silas had mentioned that money was tight.

      Secretly Shelby wondered about the odd coincidence of the sabotage happening concurrently with Silas’s announcement. Dan managed the ranch. He knew Silas owed money, and maybe he’d mentioned it to his wife. Felicity had high standards. She’d insisted on the elaborate renovations to the house. Was she also behind the vandalism as well, acts designed to make Silas sell the ranch?

      “The assets are the ranch and the house and all the outbuildings, a life insurance policy, a policy to pay for the funeral and all associated costs only, and a very small investment account.” Kurt stooped and looked at them grimly. “There is a very good offer on the table for the ranch, and the house, from Chuck Beaufort. More than enough to pay off the loan, with a nice sum to purchase a new house in a good part of town.”

      Dan looked uncertain. Felicity reached over and squeezed her husband’s hand. “What does Mr. Beaufort plan to do with the ranch? He’s a developer, not a farmer.”

      Kurt’s gaze was impassive. “He has plans for a theme park, which will bring in plenty of tourists and new business to town. The view of the mountains is splendid from the pasture.”

      Clenching her teeth, Shelby fisted her hands in her lap. Chuck Beaufort would take the serene pastures and the wild, overgrown forest, with its tangle of brush, and bulldoze everything. The Belle Creek had been in the family for generations. Maybe she didn’t have any kind of family connection to the place, but it had been the only real home she’d ever had.

      How could the lawyer propose they sell? Had he ever ridden over the lush pastures at dawn in spring, fresh dew beading the grass, the leaden sky bursting into gold as the sun peaked over the mountaintops of the Smokies?

      Had he ever hung on a fence railing, listening to the wind sweep over the hills, watching the children play in the yard as the horses peacefully cropped the grass? The air was so pure and fresh here, it hurt her heart to think of the ranch turning into a concrete playground for wealthy people.

      Her hands clenched tighter. Barlow was a sleepy community, a typical small town, except for when the country-music convention came to town. It offered nothing to her. She planned to leave for the bright lights of Nashville when Heather and Steve returned from Iraq. Heather promised they’d all get a place in the city big enough for Shelby while she pursued her dream of traveling to Paris to learn art.

      But she’d always imagined the Belle Creek would be here if she ever wanted to visit. She couldn’t imagine Barlow without the sprawling ranch.

      She also couldn’t imagine it without Silas. He was the heart of this place. Fresh grief made it hard to swallow past the thick lump in her throat.

      A deep frown touched Nick’s face. “The ranch always made money in the past. What happened that the old man got into such debt?”

      The question was directed at Dan, who avoided looking at Nick. When Nick swept his gaze around the room, the lawyer also didn’t meet his eyes.

      “This is a good working ranch with a reputation for producing excellent studs and show horses.” Nick leaned forward, his gaze hard. “The Belle Creek always had at least two dozen horses boarded here to provide a steady monthly income and we won hard cash in equestrian jumping competitions. Silas was a hardheaded businessman who pinched pennies. There’s no reason for it to be operating that much in the red.”

      Silence draped the room. Jake grinned, but it looked forced. “We have only three boarders left, Nick. Things are not always as they seem, cuz.”

      His brother ignored the statement and gestured to the room. “Mr. Mohler, I’m not selling the Belle Creek. Uncle Silas told me five years ago when he named me as his trustee that I should never sell the ranch, no matter what. It had to stay in the family.”

      Relief swept through Shelby. She found it oddly appealing that Dan was a champion of the old man, when they’d clashed over managing the ranch in the past.

      Nick rubbed a hand over his chin. He looked uncomfortable. Shelby felt a dash of pity for him. Even though he had abandoned his family, it had to hurt, knowing his father had overlooked him in favor of a cousin.

      The lawyer cleared his throat. “I have here a letter from Silas to you, Nick.”

      As he handed over the envelope, Nick looked at the letter as if it was a snake.

      “I suggest you read it in private, when we are done here. I’ll want to meet with you soon in my office downtown, Nick.”

      Felicity frowned. “What does Nick have to do with any of this? We know Dan is the trustee. Silas told us he was leaving everything to Dan, with provisions for Jake.”

      Kurt looked uncomfortable. “Silas came to me six months ago to update his trust and his will. There is a small provision for Dan and Jake, amounting to a total of twenty thousand dollars to be divided evenly. That provision comes from the life insurance policy, so that is solid cash. Both of you will also receive a few acres of land each.”

      Shelby’s stomach did a flip-flop. She had a bad feeling about this.

      “Then who gets the house and the ranch?” Jake demanded.

      Kurt looked right at Nick, the man who couldn’t care less about any of this, who hadn’t been home in ten years. “The will states that Silas left almost everything to Nick. The house, the ranch, the horses, all the assets. It is his to do with as he pleases. Including the investment account, which I’m afraid only amounts to ten thousand dollars.”

      “What?” Felicity shrieked.

      Dan looked pale and Jake laughed. Nick said nothing, but went very still, his hands curling around the letter, as if he wanted to crush it.

      Or crush Silas.

      “Well, at least the old man’s funeral is paid for,” Jake joked.

      “That isn’t funny,” Felicity snapped.

      She didn’t dare breathe. She wasn’t mentioned at all in this family drama. For a moment she wondered why the lawyer wanted her here.

      Didn’t Silas remember her at all?

      As if he’d heard her thoughts, Kurt turned to Shelby. “Miss Stillwater, there is also a provision in the will for you.”

      She waited, nails digging into her palms.

      “Silas arranged to give you the apartment over the garage. It’s yours to occupy as long as the ranch remains in the family. You can’t sell it, of course, but you’re free to live there and he made it clear no rent will be charged