Page 33 of Between a Rock and a Hard Cowboy

The kitchen exploded with a riot of conversation. There were plenty of questions and an equal amount of cussing, even with Darcy and her delicate five-year old ears in the room. What they were short on was answers.

Emmet Wilder. The cousin who had proven himself to be a lazy, no-good, lying, cheating scumbag was technically half owner of the house and the surrounding acreage plus the hotel.

Linc couldn’t wrap his head around it. As Eva took her cell out of his hand and moved to stand with Poppy, he could only imagine the three women weren’t taking it too well either. It was Emmet who had catfished all three of them online. Stealing their hearts and their money before they realized and came to Bitter End looking for him and revenge.

Of course his messing around with their love lives was a lot less devastating than the thought of losing half of the family’s legacy and livelihood to him.

Through all of this, his father had been silent. Linc glanced over at him now and saw him refolding the will.

“Dad?” he asked.

The older man cleared his throat. “I’m going to take this and look into the legalities of it.”

“Yeah. It might not even be legal,” Ethan agreed. “I mean maybe John T changed his mind and that’s why the lawyer had a different will that left everything to John S. I mean, it happens. Maybe Dora cheated on him. Hell, maybe he found out the baby wasn’t even his.”

And maybe Ethan was grasping at straws because he couldn’t imagine being business partners with Emmett—or having him move in here—anymore than Linc could.

But no, Emmett would want the money. Quick cash. He wouldn’t stick around long enough to be a thorn in their side. He’d try to force them to sell it all so he could cash out on his half of the inheritance.

Could they afford to buy him out for fair market value? There was money in the Wilder Brothers LLC bank accounts but after the major renovations Wyatt had done on the hotel, there had to be a lot less ready cash than there had been.

Linc’s father glanced around at them. “I’m going to ask you all something.” The room became silent at his words. “I know I have no right to, some of you aren’t even family, but I’m requesting that we keep this to ourselves for now. At least until I can figure things out.”

“Of course,” Poppy agreed. “We hung up the call with Olivia but I’ll tell her when I go upstairs that we’re keeping quiet for now.”

“What do you all meanfor now?” Eva frowned, her gaze sweeping everyone in the room. “I say we burn that damn thing and never breathe another word about it to anyone. Ever. It’s your stewardship which has built what you have today. Your dedication and skills and hard work. Who’s to say the family would even still own this house or the hotel if John S hadn’t taken over when John T died.”

No one spoke a word.

Eva let out a huff. “You know I’m right.”

Grabbing her laptop and shoving it in the bag, she moved to the doorway. There, she stopped short and pivoted back.

With a sigh, her gaze met Linc’s. “I need a ride back to my car.”

He nodded but looked toward his father before leaving. “Dad?”

“Go. This isn’t going to be resolved today,” his father told him.

He had a feeling this mess wasn’t going to be resolved for a long time, and that might be a good thing. Of course, that also meant they were all going to have to learn to live with the threat of losing everything hanging over their head.

His eyes hit on the now empty box he’d been so eager to bring into this house and share with his family. Little did he know it could be their ruin.

Some boxes shouldn’t be opened.

He turned and found Eva waiting for him by the front door.

She shook her head. “Linc. I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

“That damn key. If I’d left it alone, none of this would have happened.”

He sniffed out a laugh that was devoid of humor. “You couldn’t have guessed any of this.”

None of them could have known that one innocent-looking key would turn a whole family upside down.

But now it made sense why the key was so important to their grandfather James that he’d carried it for a lifetime. It was because it had been important to James’s father. If Linc had to guess what had happened, it would be that John Stewart had realized his father had written a new will that was not in his favor and, probably disapproving of the marriage to the much younger Dora, had hidden that newer version. That way only the prior version naming him and him alone would be found upon John T’s death.

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