Page 29 of Tempest

“Thanks, Tyrone,” Garret called as the door closed. “Went better than I expected,” he said as he sat in his chair.

“At least Daddy was consistent. He had a string of them for the last ten years,” Ivy said, as she straightened her dress.

“Bill had a soft spot for that one. Not sure why. When he came in to add her to his will, I was surprised. Maybe he had a premonition that he was mortal. He’d never done it with any of the others,” Garret said, as he restacked the papers in front of him. “Are you kids ready to hear your daddy’s last words?”

Colin slumped in the chair and shrugged. “Sure, why not? It’s not like I heard a lot from him in the last couple of years. Though he did call me when I was signed with the Rangers. Apparently, having a son who was about to play professional baseball finally made him take notice.”

Ivy patted his hand. “Eventually, you and I are going to learn that we don’t have to earn love and affection. Our daddy was a failure in the parenting department, but we were lucky that we had good mamas.”

“What he couldn’t do in life, he did in death,” Garret said, as he slipped his glasses on. “Not that money makes up for being a crappy parent, but it was all he knew how to do.”

Ryan cleared his throat and stood up. “Should I stay for the reading of the rest of the will?”

“It’s up to Ivy and Colin. I have no objections.”

Ivy glanced at Colin. “Do you mind?”

Colin shrugged. “It’s fine by me. Maybe we’re going to hear something that’s going to give us a clue about who took a shot at you.”

Garret sat up and studied Ivy. “Darlin’, what happened? I hadn’t heard anything about it.”

“I only got grazed by the bullet. After the funeral last week, I went over to Daddy’s house in Austin, and as I stood inside the gate, someone took a shot. The place is surrounded by trees, so the person could’ve been anywhere. I’m guessing someone followed me from the reception and decided to try to get rid of me. Or warn me away. There were a lot of people at the funeral who reminded me of sharks.”

“Have the authorities come up with anything?” Garret asked.

“I haven’t heard anything, so I think whoever did it is long gone.”

“Unfortunately, the disposition of your daddy’s company is going to make the list of suspects a long one. Oil in Texas isn’t something to fool with.”

“Based on the house in Austin, I’m guessing that Daddy was on the high part of the oil roller coaster. I didn’t go inside the house, but the place looked like it was worth a lot of money.”

“I was there about six months ago,” Colin said. “It sits on Lake Austin, and it’s about the nicest place he’s ever had. It made the house he had up in Fort Worth look like a shack.”

Ivy whistled. “Damn.”

Garret sat back and shook his head. “He didn’t tell either one of you how good things have been going for him down in Midland?”

“No!” Colin laughed. “He never talked about business. The only way I could tell how well things were going was by the car he was driving. He’d show up every once in a while with one of his gals and take me to dinner, but that was it.”

“Sorry son of a bitch,” Garret said. “Your daddy was a friend, but I never understood the way he treated the people in his life.”

“It’s old news,” Ivy stated with little emotion.

Shoving his glasses on his face, Garret cleared his throat. “Let me tell you what you two were left.” He spread several papers out and then glanced up. “I’m not going to read this word for word. I’ll give you the highlights now. Once you’ve both absorbed the information, we can go over the details.”

Ivy and Colin nodded and Garret began. “Bellows Energy Resource has land rights to over forty-two thousand acres in the Barnett Shale Field. The drilling is all but done up there, and your daddy got out in time. He made enough to retire, but he decided to invest in drilling new rigs in the Permian Oil Basin down in Midland. He’s got about three hundred fifty thousand acres down there with around twenty wells. What he learned up in Denton has served him well down in Midland. All those lean years taught your daddy a lot, and he made the most of those lessons. He was conservative with the drills he put into play up in Denton, so when prices dropped, he didn’t get caught with a lot of debt. He learned to start small and not mortgage his future, and it’s paid off. Your father bought out his partner a year ago, and Bellows Energy is now solely owned by the two of you.”

“What does that mean?” Colin asked quietly.

“It means that the two of you are in the energy business and filthy rich.”

“Fried potatoes,” Ivy muttered.

Ryan leaned over and asked, “How are you doing?”

She stared at him with big eyes and shrugged. “He never paid Mama any support after he left, and she quit chasing him for child support after a couple of years. Bea Bellows took care of me from the moment he walked out of the door. Mama and I paid for college and graduate school. All of this now…feels…I don’t know.”

“Shitty,” Colin said, as he bounced his foot and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I have the same story. His decision to leave all of this to us feels like a last shot at trying to do the right thing.”

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