Page 20 of Inheriting Miss Fortune

“But you trust this wealth manager? The money is in good hands?”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and tried to keep my tone neutral. “If I had any wealth to speak of, I’d hire him.”

He scoffed. “You’re an attorney at the same firm where Katie worked. You can’t tell me you’re not raking in some cash.”

His words and tone set my back teeth on edge. “And you’re a Yale graduate. Should I make assumptions about how much money you have?”

Dev’s eyes widened. “You saying you don’t make a good living on the partnership track at one of Dallas’s most prestigious firms?”

“I’m saying I’ll be paying off school debt until I retire regardless of how well I’m paid, and I have… things… I need to pay for.”

He looked me up and down, from my high-end haircut to my brand-name clothes. “I see.”

Dev didn’t see, not at all, but I wasn’t going to explain that I was paying for my brother Nolan’s college tuition or that my father’s greatest talent was his ability to misspend and/or drink away every dollar he earned. It was none of Dev’s business how I spent my salary, and I didn’t care what he thought of me.

At least, Ishouldn’t.

I set my jaw. “Can we stop talking about money, please?”

He shrugged and continued to push Lellie. “You’re the one who brought it up.”

“Because I wanted to explain Katie’s estate and Lellie’s trusts, not because I wanted your commentary on my life.”

Dev was silent for a moment. “I’m glad Lellie’s protected financially,” he said finally. He turned to me. “Do you think that’s why the Scotts want custody? For the money?”

I shook my head. “Definitely not. They have more money than god, for one. And secondly, they were demanding custody before they learned about her wealth.”

“But they did learn about her wealth?”

I started to nod but hesitated. “Well, they don’t know how much she’s worth, but the will obviously revealed Lellie as the sole beneficiary of Katie’s estate. Which I’m sure most people would have assumed anyway. And the Scotts most likely knew Katie still had a good portion of her own trust fund. They…” I thought back to the meeting. “They did express a desire to try and reclaim her trust fund money. But it’s not something they’ll ever accomplish.”

“Assholes,” Dev muttered.

“Yeah.” I reached out to touch his arm but stopped before making contact. “But they really seemed to care about their granddaughter, Dev. I don’t think that was fake. They seemedto want to raise her and make sure she was loved and cared for properly. If you don’t plan on keeping her…”

He didn’t say anything for a little while. I thought he might be done with the conversation, but then he spoke up again, surprising me.

“Did you know that Katie tried to tell them she was asexual in high school, and they sat her down and explained there was no such thing? And then they actually worried that the purity pledge she’d taken in middle school had somehow caused her to fear relationships?”

I hesitated but nodded.

“So then they pressured her to date, and she ended up with a string of total assholes.” Dev pushed Lellie through a few more swings before continuing. “She tried telling them again in college after she joined an LGBTQ student group, but her parents said she just hadn’t met the right man yet. They tried to get her to change colleges to get away from that ‘woke propaganda.’” He shook his head. “Thank god she had a strong personality.”

I knew how much her parents’ rejection had pained Katie. But I also knew she’d been rock solid about her own sexuality by the time she’d decided to become a single mom. “When she told them she was pregnant, they freaked,” I said with a grin. “She said it was kinda fun, actually. She told them in a coffee shop near their church where there were people from the congregation around.”

The edges of Dev’s lips turned up. “I would have liked to have seen that.”

“At first, she said she’d gotten drunk on a trip to Miami for a friend’s bachelorette party and slept with several men in the same night. She told them she had no idea the names of any of them and wouldn’t even know where to start searching for the father. They lost their minds. Then she admitted that it hadactually been a very planned and careful decision made over the course of two years, which had included extensive counseling. She’d selected the kindest, smartest man she knew to donate his sperm, and then she’d used artificial insemination in a well-respected clinic. Pastor and Mrs. Scott calmed down a little, but not by much. I, ah, don’t know if they entirely believed the Miami thing was a lie,” I said, thinking of their reactions earlier this week.

He glanced at me. “Did she tell them it was me?”

I shook my head. “No. They didn’t find out until they learned you’d been given custody of Lellie.”

“They must have flipped.”

I gave him a look, confirming his assumption. “They remembered you as a ranch hand.”

He scoffed. “Hell, I’m still a ranch hand. They’d love that. I can’t imagine them allowing someone like me to raise their precious grandchild. Their only grandchild. I can guess how upset they are.”

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