Page 21 of Inheriting Miss Fortune

“Take that and multiply it. They’re also big clients of my firm, which means my boss is keeping a close eye on this situation.” I hesitated. “I represent Katie, which includes Lellie now, but the managing partner, my boss, represents Pastor and Mrs. Scott. Needless to say, it’s a little… tricky.”

Before I could explain further, Lellie began fussing and wriggling to get out of the swing. Dev stopped its motion, allowing me to lean over and pull her out. “She’s probably hungry,” I said. “We should head back and feed her and then see if she’ll nap.”

While I was secretly enjoying playing happy family with Dev, I knew my time in Wyoming was short, and we needed to have some serious conversations about Lellie’s future. Whoever ended up with custody would have to decide what to do with Katie’s house and set up a new will for themselves stipulatingcustody of Lellie in case of their own death. I owed it to Katie to make sure her daughter’s future was fully protected, but those conversations wouldn’t be easy… and I wouldn’t attempt them while Dev was distracted with his vigilante toddler surveillance.

We loaded her up in the car and made our way back to the ranch. When we pulled up outside the barn, I heard a muffled curse come from Dev and noticed several unfamiliar vehicles parked out front. I glanced at him, but before I could ask what was going on, he threw the rental into Park and hopped out.

When I got Lellie out of the car seat, she immediately fussed to be put down so she could walk on her own. By the time we approached the barn doors at toddler pace, two of the men from last night were heading in our direction with a frustrated Dev in their wake. Thankfully, the sheriff wasn’t one of them.

“I’ll explain later,” Dev called to them, but it was clear no one was listening.

“Hey, sweetie,” a friendly-looking blond cowboy said, squatting down to meet Lellie on her level. “How’re you doing? I’m Uncle Waylon.”

A gorgeous man with short brown hair and an intense vibe gazed at the cowboy fondly. “Don’t get too close in case fatherhood is contagious, baby. First your sister, and now this.”

Lellie’s arm wrapped around my leg as she moved closer to me.

“You’re scaring her,” Dev said, shoving the brown-haired man back and nudging the cowboy. “She’s not fond of strangers.”

“Then introduce us,” the brown-haired man said, but he was looking at me instead of Lellie.

Dev’s annoyance was palpable. “Tully, this is Silas Concannon and Waylon Fletcher. Silas and Way, Tully Bowman. He’s… ah…”

“The attorney,” I said, holding out my hand to shake.

Dev let out a breath and looked up at the sky as if praying for patience. What had he expected me to say, exactly?I’m a onetime hookup and the man who’s never forgotten the taste of your friend’s skin…

“Attorney,” Silas repeated, as if trying to decide what exactly that meant.

I bit my lip against giving him a snarky response. For some reason, the idea that Dev was surrounded by beautiful gay men at this ranch made me want to punch something. Hard.

Dev’s eyes flicked between me and Silas before settling on the latter. “Can you please back off? I don’t have the energy to explain this right now.”

“Do you want me to call Kenji?”

Dev took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That’s… probably not a bad idea.”

“Who’s Kenji?” I asked.

The cowboy,Waylon, crouched back down and asked Lellie about the halter she was still holding. “Looks like you have Buttercup’s halter. Do you like horses? She’s right over there. Can you see her?” He gestured to a paddock off to the side of the barn, where a mare was standing.

“Foss!” She let go of my leg a little and pointed with her other hand. “Foss!”

Waylon held out his arms. “Want to go meet her?”

Dev shifted on his feet. I couldn’t interpret the expression on his face, but I could tell something was bothering him. Silas noticed also, reaching out to put a staying hand on the man’s shoulder. “Way, baby. Let Dev take her.”

Dev crouched down next to Lellie. “Do you want to see the horse? Can D-Dev take you?”

We all stood and watched as Lellie reached her arms up for Dev to pick her up. Something tightened in my chest as I noticedthe relief on his face. He carried her over to the paddock, out of earshot from the rest of us.

Silas turned back to me. “What’s the deal with the kid?”

Waylon rolled his eyes. “Easy, tiger.”

Silas ignored him and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s clear she’s Dev’s daughter. And if he’d known he had a daughter,Iwould have known, too.”

“Not my story to tell,” I said. “You’ll have to ask him.”

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