The Bride (The Bride #1)(5)

Mick and I didn’t last very long.

When the last guest left, it was me, Jake, and Howard. I called him Howard like I used to call Jake’s dad Ernie. Because they were part of the family. Like Ernie, Howard had grown up with my dad. They had been a posse for a long time. Howard had tried to save Ernie too, only he stopped trying long before my father gave up.

I don’t know if Jake resented him for that or not.

We made our way to my dad’s study. It was a typical man cave, with a lot of brown leather and a big old cherry wood desk. There was a bar in the corner and Howard helped himself.

“Make mine a double,” I said, and Howard turned to glare at me disapprovingly. “What? I’m kidding.”

I sat on the couch and Jake sat next to me. Not close, but close enough I knew he was ready to act in case of emergency. If he needed to hold me or catch me if I fainted.

Not that I had ever fainted in my life, but who knew what was coming next. I guess I felt slightly lightheaded.

Although thinking about it, that was actually kind of sexist of me. I mean, his whole life was possibly about to be upturned too. What if Jake fainted?

“I just want you to know, I’ll catch if you faint,” I told him.

“Ellie, this is serious,” he replied as if I had been making a joke.

Right. He was probably too heavy for me to catch.

“Okay,” Howard started. “Let’s cover the basics. Obviously the ranch and all its property goes to you, Ellie. The will is very straightforward. There is a provision to continue leasing the Talley property until such time that Jake can afford to buy it back. To that end, Sam bequeathed you twenty thousand dollars, Jake.”

Jake let out a whoosh of breath.

“Is that good?”

I mean, I knew what the ranch was worth generally. Which was weird. We weren’t rich people. We certainly didn’t live like it. However, the ranch itself if we were going to sell it would be listed for about two million dollars. That was the thing about ranches though. You only got that money if you sold it. No one I knew would ever choose to give up land for money.

Jake was nodding. “It’s a lot. Especially in cash. Your dad knows… knew… how much I had saved already. That plus the twenty thousand and I can put a down payment on my land.”

Then why did he sound so weird? Tight or angry. It was hard to tell. I only knew that the muscle in his cheek was twitching and his hands were locked together.

“Now we need to talk about what happens with you, Ellie,” Howard said.

Yep. The part about me. That’s what I wanted to hear. Not that I wasn’t happy for Jake. Being able to get his land back was huge. But you know…

WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME?

“There is your aunt in Florida…”

“Not going to happen,” I said quickly.

“Ellie,” Jake said softly, “let Howard finish.”

“Okay. He can finish but I’m not going to Florida.”

Howard sighed. “I don’t think it’s an option anyway. I’ve been working on this problem since your father passed. After your mother passed away he made Ernie your legal guardian, but he never updated the will after Ernie died. I blame myself for not pressing him to fix that... but that’s spilt milk. Anyway I managed to track your aunt down, but she’s currently in a rehab facility. She also has a criminal record for possession of drugs.”

Right. Not going to the druggie. “That means I can stay here?”

Sure it might be scary and yes I would have to lock the doors. But as long as Jake stayed nearby in the bunk house then I would be fine.

Except Howard was shaking his head. “You can’t. You’re a minor and legally you have to have guardianship. In the absence of any family there is a foster family in Paradise…”

“Paradise!” Yep, still not letting Howard finish. “Foster family! No way. Paradise is like a three-hour drive. How would I get to school and back? And I would have to stay with some strange family? Definitely not happening.”

“I know this frightening for you, Ellie,” Howard said calmly.

“Why can’t Sheriff Barling… you know, forget about me? I mean, we’re talking about a year and a few months. What is the freaking big deal?”

“It’s the law. He can’t ignore it. Everyone in town knows your situation.”

“Then fine. I’ll stay with my friends. I’ll bounce around between them until they get sick of me.”

Again with the head shake. “That’s not sustainable. Not for over a year. Also those families would have to be cleared by the State Child Protective Agency as foster parents.”

“Couldn’t Jake do that?”

“Jake is not eligible. As a single man, he would not be qualified to be your guardian.”

This time Jake had his hand on my knee to steady me. Except I had already crossed my arms over my chest and shut up. I started running through the scenarios as fast as I could. I needed to run away. I needed to take all the cash we had in the bank and run away for a year and four months. Jake could run the ranch while I was gone and then once I was eighteen I could come back and take over.

“The foster family really is the best option, and as you said it’s only a year and a few months.”

I shook my head. Remember that stubborn part about me? When something counted. “I’m not going to Paradise.”