Life After Wife (Three Magic Words Trilogy, #3)(3)

“Elijah? How do you know he is insufferable? Maybe when he finds out just how determined you are, he’ll take your money, and you’ll never hear from him again,” Kate said.

“Oh, he’s insufferable all right. Can you believe that he had the audacity to say those things to me before Aunt Maud was even in the grave?”

Kate bit her lip to keep from grinning. Aunt Maud had known exactly how abrasive Elijah could be and probably told him to show up at the graveside service on that big cycle just to make Sophie angry. She could believe anything concerning Elijah Jones. He was simply doing what he’d been told to do, and Maud was down on her knees, peeping through the holes in heaven’s floor, giggling at the chaos she’d created by dying.

“He’s going to wish he’d stayed wherever he came from before the week is out,” Fancy assured her.

“Where did he come from?” Kate asked.

“From the pits of Hades. When Aunt Maud told me she’d only willed me half the ranch, she said he was a military man. Maybe he still is, and he’ll take my offer pretty quick. She said that Uncle Jesse had always favored Elijah over his other relatives and wanted his half left to him upon Maud’s death. She abided by his wishes. I was hoping he’d be off somewhere fighting a war in the desert or jungle and would just sign the papers to get his half of the money,” Sophie said.

“Guess the wish fairy was tied up,” Kate said.

Sophie cut her gray eyes over at her friend. “What?”

“You said you were hoping blah, blah, blah. The wish fairy evidently didn’t hear you,” Kate said.

“Don’t make fun of me today,” Sophie whined.

“I’m not, and don’t take it out on me. I didn’t ask that a member of the Hells Angels show up, but I can and will help get rid of him. You just say the word, darlin’, and he’ll be coyote bait,” Kate said.

“Sell your half to him and get on with your life,” Layla said from the seat on the other side of the limo. At twenty-eight, she was three years younger than Sophie and married with three children. She and Sophie looked nothing alike. Layla had dark hair like their father, brown eyes, and a round face.

Sophie shot her a dirty look, and Layla threw up her palms to fend it off. “Hey, I’m just stating my opinion. You don’t have to tie yourself down out here in the middle of nowhere. You could live anywhere with the money you have, and, if you sell your half, then that’ll make you even richer. You’re still young enough to find a husband.”

“That’s the last thing I want,” Sophie said through clenched teeth.

Sandy tilted her head up and looked down her slender nose at Sophie. She was a younger version of Layla, with short, dark hair, brown eyes, a black suit, and high heels. “I understand. Matt treated you so special. It would be hard to ever find someone to replace him.”

Kate almost choked on the words trying to escape from her mouth. “Don’t they know?” she whispered so low that only Sophie could hear it.

Sophie barely shook her head.

“Sophie is young. She needs a helpmate. It’s a long time from thirty-one to death,” Layla said.

“Yes, but Matt was such a godly man. It’ll be hard to find someone like him,” Sandy argued.

Sophie almost bit the tip of her tongue off.

“You two leave her alone. She’ll find someone if it’s meant to be. If not, then it’s her life,” Donnie said.

“Thanks, Dad,” Sophie smiled.

He reached across the space and patted her on the knee. “Sell it to the man. He wants it. You don’t know a thing about ranching or cows. That’s my advice. But you do whatever you want with it. I was afraid when Matt died you’d become a recluse, but these past few months you’ve been happy. Maybe it’s the ranch that does that for you.”

The smile faded. “I realize y’all want me to be happy. Right now the ranch makes me happy. The day it doesn’t, I’ll take Elijah’s offer to buy me out. Until then, I’m not selling him one cow or chicken.”

The limo came to a stop in front of the house, and the driver opened the door for the ladies. Kate slung a long leg out. Hart had already parked the truck and was beside her, hand outstretched to lead her into the house.

“How’s she holdin’ up?” he asked.

“Madder ’n hell. Her family doesn’t understand what this place means to her,” Kate whispered.

“Who was the motorcycle dude?”

“The other half of Maud’s ranch. That was Elijah Jones.”

“You’re kiddin’ me. The Elijah Jones? I didn’t recognize him in that do-rag and a ponytail. He’s aged.”

“You know him?” Kate asked.

“Used to when he was a teenager and I was just a kid.”

Sophie’s family surrounded her when she got out of the limo. Her father looped her arm through his right one and Ellen’s through his left. Layla and Sandy followed a few steps behind.

Seeing them all together, it was easy to see where Sophie got her height. She and her mother were both tall. But that’s where the resemblance ended. Ellen had brown hair, green eyes, thin lips, and a weak chin.

“Where on earth did you get that red hair?” Hart asked Sophie. “No one else in your family has it.”