The Barefoot Summer(25)

I love you, Darcy, and I’m very sorry for this terrible mistake I have made. There is a will in a sealed envelope. From what I found out, it had to be signed in front of two witnesses and the seal unbroken to be valid. Take it to our lawyer. He knows my handwriting and my signature. And the key taped to the bottom of this letter is to my deposit box at the bank. Conrad does not know about the box. What’s in it belongs to you as well as this cabin where you grew up and whatever money that Conrad has not blown through.



Love you,



Mama



Kate laid the envelope with WILL written on the outside on the dresser and opened the next one in the stack. When she’d read through half of them, she lay back on the bed. Her heart weighed heavy for Iris, but why hadn’t the woman mailed the letters and the will? Why had she left them hidden to be found after her death?

The next one answered her question. If Darcy knew what was going on, she’d do something about it, and Conrad had promised retribution. Evidently he’d convinced Iris that he would hurt her daughter, or worse yet, seduce her, if she breathed a word of what was happening, so she wrote letters with the hopes that Darcy would find them as soon as she was dead. She would be warned about what kind of man he was and she’d fight him for the property.

Kate laid the letters aside when she’d read them all. Iris damn sure had some grit. What should she do now? Darcy was dead, and if she had a will, how would it affect the cabin? If she didn’t have one, what then? Should she share them with Amanda and Jamie? Should she give them to Waylon?

“I’ll call the lawyers at the company first,” she said. “But first I’ve got to think.”

According to a report from a private investigator Iris had hired after she and Conrad had married, he’d been married twice under a different name, Swanson. One of those women died in a suspicious car wreck, and Kate would bet dollars to doughnuts that he got insurance money on the death as well as a settlement with the divorce. A copy of the full report was there. Conrad’s birth certificate name was Cain Smith and he was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mother was listed as Linda Smith. Father was unknown. He was raised in foster homes because his mother had been an alcoholic—or maybe still was, if she was still living, but the detective could not find her.

Kate’s blood ran cold in her veins. Maybe none of the three of them were married to him, since there wasn’t anything in the report about him legally changing his name. Now wouldn’t that be a royal kick in the butt?

She heard the crunch of gravel and then a vehicle door slam. She hurriedly gathered all the letters, plus the will, into a pile and shoved them into her suitcase.

Waylon was in the living room when Kate arrived. His biceps filled out every bit of the sleeves of a blue chambray work shirt, and bits of straw and hay stuck to his jeans. His sunglasses had slipped down on his nose, probably due to the sweat she could see at his hatband. He removed them and hung a stem in his shirt pocket.

“What are you doing here?” Kate asked.

“My partner called from Dallas. Do any of y’all know an Estrella Gonzales?”

Kate shook her head. “Is that who killed him?”

“Name sounds familiar. Does she live in Wichita Falls?” Amanda asked.

“There’s a little girl in Gracie’s class room named Estrella Gonzales. That’s a really common name,” Jamie said.

“Why are you asking?” Kate asked Waylon. “It must be important for you to leave the farm and come here to ask us when you could have called.”

“I wanted to see your expressions, and I was coming through town on my way to Seymour for a load of feed anyway,” Waylon answered. “The name Estrella Gonzales came up in the investigation when my partner went back to talk to the florist again. I thought he was holding something back, and he finally confessed that Conrad sent flowers to the woman at least once. I wanted to know if she might be a friend, especially of yours, Jamie.”

“Why?” Jamie narrowed her eyes. “Because of the Hispanic name? You think all Mexicans know one another?”

Waylon took a couple of steps backward. “Just puttin’ together a case. Y’all have a nice day.”

Victor and Hattie stepped up on the porch with Gracie between them at the same time that Waylon opened it to go outside.

“Hello, Waylon,” Victor said. “Looks like you been hard at work on the ranch today.”

Hattie gave him a smile and a nod.

“Mama, guess what?” Gracie skipped across the room. “I got a new friend and her name is Lisa and guess what, I got a mommy and she’s got a daddy. My daddy is dead and her mommy is dead. And guess what? Her house burned down. She lost all her Barbies and it made her sad, so I told her that she could come and play with mine anytime she wants to. Is that all right?”

“Of course it is, sweetie. I’m glad you made a new friend, but I’m sorry she’s lost her house and her mommy.” Jamie pulled Gracie close for a hug.

Gracie giggled. “And guess what else, Mama. Lisa is the same age as me.”

“That’s wonderful.” Jamie beamed.

“I’ve got to go tell Snugglies all about my friends.” Gracie danced down the hallway.

“Snugglies?” Amanda raised an eyebrow.

“The teddy bear that she’s slept with since she was a tiny baby,” Jamie explained.