Colton Christmas Protector (The Coltons of Texas #12)(81)

Exhausted from her lengthy pondering, she bent her head to look down at the article again, not really seeing it as her long blond hair fell forward in its confined ponytail. She had contemplated cutting it into a shorter style, but liked letting it down every once in a while. She retained her feminine side while satisfying a more aggressive one that way. Her best friend in school had called her Cinderella, with her brandy-colored eyes, thick wavy hair, tiny waist and shapely breasts. She had fond memories of her friend’s well-meant teasing. And her friend hadn’t exactly been frumpy. More men went after her than Reese. Probably because Reese had always been more interested in school and her career than boys or men.

The noise stopped and the sound of excited male voices pulled her attention back to the renovation. All the carpenters were in what would soon be her finished bedroom. What were they all in a fuss over?

Reese stood and went down the freshly drywalled hallway. Stopping at her bedroom door, she saw three carpenters hunched over pried-up old floorboards. She moved closer until she saw a faded 1970s tin Star Wars lunchbox that had been removed from beneath the flooring. When the carpenter opened the metal latch to reveal stacks of hundred-dollar bills inside, Reese drew in a startled breath.

A buried treasure? In her house? Nothing this exciting ever happened to her. She was just a small-town girl who’d gone to college and came back to get a job at the sheriff’s office.

“Jeffrey Neville lived here before you,” one of the carpenters said.

She’d discovered that when she’d bought the house. Jeffrey had died and had no family. The home had been escheated to the state and finally sold. He was the last of his line. Thinking about all the losing lottery tickets she’d bought, never in a million lightning strikes guessing she’d stumble upon someone’s primitive retirement fund, she took the lunchbox from the one who’d dug it up.

“How did it get here?” she asked aloud, not expecting any of them to know. Life had certainly stirred up some surprises lately.

“Maybe somebody used the house to deposit their savings,” another one of the carpenters said.

“Jeffrey must not have known about this,” she said.

He lived in this house for more than forty years. Why would he not have used the money for something if he’d known about it? He had no family to pass it on to. He had lived modestly up until the day he died. The way the money had been hidden suggested it hadn’t been meant to be found, and then something had happened to the person who’d put it here. Had it been stolen or otherwise obtained in some other nefarious fashion? Had Jeffrey known the person? A wife, perhaps? Strange, after living in this town her whole life, she didn’t really know much about one of its residents. She’d never thought to ask, either.

“What are you going to do with it?” one of the carpenters asked.

She looked down at the man who’d discovered it, realizing that they were hoping she’d be generous.

“I don’t know, but a small thank-you for finding it is in order.” She tipped the carpenters handsomely and received a thank-you from each. She’d like to find out where the money came from, but first she’d put it somewhere safe.

She looked at each of the carpenters’ excited faces. Nothing productive would get done after this today.

“Why don’t you all take the rest of the day off?” In a couple of hours, it would be five, anyway. And she needed to be alone.

They thanked her again and began to gather their tools.

Reese returned to the kitchen, putting the tin lunchbox on the table, her gaze landing on the news article. Even finding the money didn’t overshadow the significance of what she contemplated regarding Kadin. Maybe his fame intrigued her. Maybe his love of law did more, lending a kind of a connection to him. Even though she’d never met him and he’d never seen her or known of her existence, she’d gone into the same type of work. How amazing was that? She’d like to know more about her biological father.

How would he react to learning he had a daughter?

*

The next morning, bags packed and in the car, Reese stopped at the bank on her way to the Durango airport a county over. She’d fly to Rock Springs, Wyoming, later today. She’d made reservations after the carpenters had gone and she’d thought for a while about the consequences of her making contact with Kadin Tandy. Good and bad. First and foremost, he deserved to know he had a living daughter. Even though she was incredibly nervous and had serious reservations about how it would change her life, she felt morally obligated to tell him. She’d deal with the fallout as it hit her.

“Hello, Candace.” Reese put the lunchbox down on the counter in front of the redheaded teller. “I’d like to open a safe-deposit box.”

“Reese. Congratulations on your windfall!” Candace’s green eyes danced with enthusiasm. Not much over five feet tall, her elbows rested easily on the counter.

Reese laughed a little. “Thanks. I won’t even ask how you found out.”

“The whole town is talking about it.” The teller gave her a form to fill out and then eyed the tin lunchbox as though it was a relic. “One of your carpenters told me. He made a deposit of his own yesterday. That was awfully nice of you to give them money.”

“It’s what I would have wanted.” Reese handed the form to Candace. “And I’ll never get used to the rapid lines of communications in this town.”