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“You’re not wrong. Our meeting was tomorrow, but circumstances caused me to move up the timetable. I’m sorry, Harry. I really am. What I’m about to say next won’t be easy to hear.” Despite his unreasonable demands, I’d grown to respect Harry. It hurt me to break his heart.
“Ward,” Dennis said in a low voice. “I think it might be best for us to have a discussion outside first.”
“And had you not trespassed on my land last night and threatened my wife, I might have agreed to that,” I said mildly. “What were your intentions, Dennis? Were you planning on breaking into my office to see what our investigation turned up?”
He turned red with anger. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he sputtered.
“Does it surprise you to learn that my wife is loyal to me?”
“You’re lying,” he hissed.
“I’m not, and after the string of horse thefts last year, I had security cameras installed. This is my first stop. If you don’t cease harassing my wife, the police will be my next.”
A look of confusion crossed Harry’s face as he turned and looked up at his son. “Dennis? What is he talking about?”
“We’re talking about this,” Gordon interrupted, tapping the desk to retrieve the older man’s attention. “Mr. Blackwell, I’m not sure you remember me. I’m Gordon Silverman. I grew up just down the street. I act as Brendan’s attorney now. You may not be aware, but your son’s interest in your land isn’t about expanding this ranch as much as it’s about profiting from the ranch in ways I don’t think you’d approve. Brendan was concerned about what your son might do if he inherited the land, and it turns out, his fears were valid. I know that family is important to you, but in this case, if you pass your land down to your son, you’ll be destroying the ranch that you worked so hard to build.”
“Now see here,” Dennis interjected, sweat forming on his brow.
“I hired an investigator to look through Dennis’s financials,” Gordon went on, ignoring the son. “I assure you that everything we’ve done is perfectly legal. All the paperwork we’ve turned up has been made public, but it’s been buried under different corporate names.” Gordon was all business as he slid several pieces of paper across the desk. “I’ve ordered them and highlighted the trail from Dennis Blackwell to a small LLC by the name of Argo.”
Dennis was turning purple. He grabbed for the papers, but his father, even in his sickness, was quicker. After a few quiet minutes of reading, he nodded stiffly. “Fine. What does all of this have to do with my ranch?”
“Nothing,” Dennis said quickly. He was starting to sweat now.
“This is the paperwork that Argo LLC has filed with the county. They’re preliminary plans to turn the ranch into a resort in three years,” Gordon said quietly.
“Father, really.” Dennis forced a laugh. “It’s just one idea. Nothing is set in stone yet.”
“Is this true?” Harry demanded. “I’m not even in my grave yet, and you’re already planning on turning our ranch into some ridiculous theme park?”
“It’s not ridiculous,” Dennis snapped. The pretense was up. “We own this county, and all you can do is play with your stupid horses. We have a chance to put Springs County on the map. To build on it so that it can join the rest of the twenty-first century. And of course I was moving quickly. You were going to sell to Brendan. Sell! I am your son!”
“In blood but not in spirit,” Harry said in a hard voice. “You have no idea what the Blackwell name means. I didn’t raise you to be soft, but I didn’t want this. I wanted callouses on your hands boy, not on your heart. You’ve disappointed me.” I held my breath as Harry looked at his son, disappointment written on his features. “I’m signing the paperwork to start the sale to Brendan. Dennis, you’ll still get your monetary inheritance, but the land will never be yours.”
No amount of violence would have been worth missing the moment when I got to see Dennis Blackwell lose. All of his threats had been for nothing.
I’d won.
His eyes practically bulged out of his head, and he snarled empty threats before walking out and slamming the door shut. Harry put a hand over his heart and closed his eyes. Uncomfortable, I tried to give the old man a few minutes to adjust to his new reality.
“I’m sorry that you had to see that,” he said finally. A gentleman to the very end.
“It’s not your fault,” I said softly. “You and I have been neighbors for a long time. I’ve respected you and what you’ve done with your ranch. If I thought even for a moment that Dennis was capable of walking in your shoes, I would have left well-enough alone.” I thought of my father. “I know what it’s like to be disappointed by family.”
