Page 67 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
Carly looks up at me and gives me a reassuring smile. It doesn’t solve anything, but it sure as fuck feels good.
I notice Chance on his cell now, pacing the length of the room.
“I’ll come back,” I say to Mom. “I’ll fly them.”
“What? No. You can’t. The will says—”
“Jonathan Bridger can’t keep controlling our lives, Mom.”
“It’s a billion dollars,” she counters. “Even if the company goes under—”
“It won’t.”
“But with that money, does it matter?”
I stiffen and Carly steps back.
“Mom, do you want Sea-Air to win? Do you want the company you started to fail now because Jonathan Bridger, the guy who abandoned you when you were pregnant, dictates me being here even when he’s dead?”
“When you put it that way,” she says with a forced laugh.
“There’s got to be a way.”
“There is,” Chance interrupts. He’s done with his phone call and comes over.
I look to him, but I speak into the cell. “Hang on a sec, Mom.”
“Shankle says you can’t go back to Seattle,” he replies. “It’ll break the will.”
I’m not sure how this is remotely helpful and I’m about to say that, but he continues.
“But we can. Remember he said there were stipulations about us leaving? You, me, and Miles. Together.” He points between the three of us. “I know it’s ridiculous, but apparently our esteemed father said we can leave in the case of an emergency, though he didn’t define what an emergency was. Shankle says as far as he’s concerned this qualifies, but we have to go together, and only for a week at a time.”
Miles widens his eyes, and he smiles. “Fuck, yeah.”
I frown at both of them. “Can either of you fly a plane?”
Chance looks at me as if I asked him if he works for a circus. “Hell, no.”
Miles shakes his head.
“But you can,” Chance adds.
Miles steps closer. “Yeah. If what we’re hearing is all of it, we can help you find a new pilot while you’re taking those trips. One who isn’t a thieving dick.”
Chance’s smile spreads. “I’m happy to track down this Greg asshole and let him know there’s more than one Bridger now.”
I think Chance has a need to beat the shit out of someone. I’m glad it’s moved on from me to someone more… deserving.
“You two want to move to Seattle? I thought we’re supposed to run the ranch together. That we have to stay in Montana.”
“I didn’t say move,” Chance says. “Per Shankle, all we get is a week. Then we have to be back here to continue to meet the rules of the will.”
Carly nods. Doing this means a week away from her, but I don’t have much choice.
“You hear all that, Mom?”
“I did. It’s a start.”
