He turned his attention back to Clark. “Any ideas on where I should look?”
Clark raised his gaze slowly to stare at Blake, and he didn’t answer for a long moment. He exhaled. “You might check the hayloft in the big barn.”
The bottom dropped out of Blake’s stomach. “You found it?”
Clark’s jaw flexed. “I don’t like anything going on here that I don’t know about, so I started paying attention to everywhere I went in the park. I was stacking hay bales in the loft, and there was a board sticking up under a layer of loose hay. I moved everything out of the way to repair it and realized it was hollow underneath. Several boards weren’t nailed, so I lifted them up and checked it out. A metal box was screwed under the boards, and several things were inside, including the will.”
Blake’s mouth went dry and he swallowed hard. Paradise shut off the grill and closed the lid. She carried her plate of food toward him, and her amber eyes widened when she took in his face. He should have tried to control his expression better. He gave a jerky nod. “Did you read it?”
“Yeah. Not good. I wish I’d burned it.”
Blake set his food aside. He wouldn’t be able to eat until he’d faced this. Feeling as decrepit as an old man, he rose and headed for the deck stairs.
Paradise was beside him a moment later. “What’s happened?”
“It feels like the world just ended, but I know it didn’t.” He told her about Clark’s find.
She took his hand. “Oh, Blake. I—I can’t quite believe it.”
“Me neither.” He clung to her fingers as they followed the oyster shell path that wound through the yard to the large barn by the Serengeti acreage. With every step his heart grew heavier. This would be so hard on his mom and brothers. On Paradise. On everyone.
The comforting press of her fingers clutched tightly to his steadied him. Was this the worst thing that had ever happened to him and Mom? No. They’d weathered worse when his dad died, when Kent had lost his life because of Blake’s inattention, andwhen the boys had lost their dad. God had been their comfort in those times, and he’d see them through this too.
But there was no denying it would be hard. He tried not to think about losing the animals they loved. He’d find homes for them, good homes.
They reached the barn, and he led her inside to the sweet scent of fresh hay. The haymow was in the left back area, and he steadied the ladder for Paradise to go up. Once she reached the top, he put a boot on the first rung and forced himself to climb to face the doom of the dream his family had held on to for so many years.
Paradise had the box open and the will in her hands by the time he got to her. The document was in a small brown file, the kind a trifold paper would fit. He slid out the sheaf of papers and unfolded it.
Last Will and Testament
He skimmed it and handed it to Paradise. “Allen left everything to Dean, just like he said.”
Paradise’s thoughts were so jumbled she couldn’t discern how to move forward. Jenna had realized something was wrong and had taken the boys inside to put them to bed a little early. Blake sat beside Paradise on the sofa with his head down as they waited for his mom to come back and hear the news.
How would they explain it to the boys? Her eyes burned at the thought of the little guys she loved so much facing such a huge upheaval. Wasn’t it enough that they’d lost their dad? Did they have to lose their home now too?
It’s not right, God!
Her faith was still too young and feeble to try to reason out why God would allow this. She’d felt this place was a sanctuary for all of them, not just the animals. To know it was about to be ripped away from them in such a horrible way was more than she could wrap her head around. Blake’s mention of how gruesome the land would look made her wince. Would Dean even be allowed to sell it to a mining company? That was a question that hadn’t been fully explored.
Jenna, blue eyes serene and expression calm, entered the room. “You found the will, didn’t you?”
Blake raised his head and nodded. At his miserable expression, Paradise reached for his hand again, and his fingers gripped hers. He cared so much about his family. So did she, and she’d give all she had to make this better for Jenna and the boys.
Jenna walked closer and put her hand on Blake’s dark hair. “It’s all right, son. God is faithful, and if we lose this, he has something else for us.”
Blake’s face contorted. “I keep telling myself that, Mom, but it’s not just us. It’s the boys and our employees. It’s the animals too. I can’t see a way forward through the trees.”
“I can’t either,” she admitted. “But let’s take one thing at a time. The will leaves everything to Dean?”
“Yeah.”
“I think we need to tell Hez first and learn the next step. Do we tell Mary or the court? Do we call Dean? I have no idea, but Hez will know.” Jenna gave Blake’s head a final pat. “Do you want me to call him?”
Blake reached for his phone. “I’ll do it. We can all talk to him on speaker.” He gave a few swipes to the phone and Hez’s voice answered.
“Hey, Blake, everything okay?”
