AllFreeNovel
Share Us
7
After taking breakfast in her room, Isabella joined her parents in the library for the reading of her aunt’s will. She was strangely relieved that neither Diego nor Aaron Bailey was present. She wasn’t sure why, but this seemed like much too private and personal a matter to share with them.
Throughout the night, she’d tossed and turned, thinking of how it was all her fault that Aunt Josephina was dead. She should have made her go to the doctor at the very first spell. If only she’d done that, her aunt might still be alive.
Isabella took a seat at the large worktable in the middle of the library. It was solid oak and so well polished that she could see her reflection in the wood. Once they were all assembled, Mr. Williams began.
“Miss Garcia made her wishes quite clear, and her will is very simple. She wished that her few personal belongings, artwork, and jewelry be given to Isabella, her niece.” He looked up and nodded at Isabella. “The large oil paintings of her mother and other family oil paintings will go to Isabella as well.” He turned to her. “Those things, as well as your own, are even now being prepared to ship here.”
“Ship here? But the rancho is my home.” Isabella looked at her father. “Surely you will need someone to stay on to manage it and see to the livestock. I intended to return as soon as possible.”
The lawyer spoke before her father could say a word. “The rancho was sold last year to Mr. Morales.”
Isabella startled. “Diego?”
“No,” the lawyer replied. “His father.”
She looked to her father for an explanation. Words wouldn’t even form in her mouth. How could they have done this? That was Garcia family land. It was the home of her childhood.
“Josephina sent word to me of his offer last year,” her father explained gently, “and we thought it would be good for us to take advantage of it, since neither of us could manage such a large estate anymore. Mr. Morales agreed to let Josephina live there for as long as she desired while he took over the horses. In fact, the groomsmen and stable workers are all under his employ.”
“I don’t believe this,” Isabella said. “How can it be true? You know how much that place means to me. It’s my home, and I want no other.”
“I am sorry, Isabella. I fully intended to discuss it with you while you were here visiting. Josephina had been talking about taking an apartment in town and knew we would have to arrange for you.”
What a betrayal. Her aunt had said nothing—not even a hint. They all knew the California estate was home to Isabella. They had ripped her away from it when she was but a child, and although she had done everything in her power to get back to her home, they were once again tearing her away. This sorrow, on top of losing her aunt, was more than Isabella could bear.
Of course, if she married Diego, there was a possibility hisfather might let them have the rancho or at least the house as a wedding present. She almost smiled at the thought. Surely that was why it had been allowed in the first place. Her father would never have sought to keep it from her if there was a way to preserve it. No wonder Diego had come. No doubt they were working out the details.
She drew a deep breath and forced her body to relax. “Well, perhaps there is still no reason to hurry with the shipment. Perhaps Mr. Morales would allow me to stay there as he did Aunt Josephina.” She gave the lawyer and her father a hopeful look.
“I’m sorry, my dear child. That isn’t possible. Mr. Morales’s son Miguel is going to build a better racetrack. The house will be used as a hotel for those coming to do business with the horses. He plans to turn it into quite the operation.”
“No! This isn’t possible. That is my home.”
“I’m sorry, Isabella.” Her father’s voice was soft, almost inaudible. “But it is already done. The arrangement has been made, and the work is already in the process. Surely you saw the men clearing the land around the old racetrack.”
“I did, but Auntie told me it was...” Isabella tried to remember what her aunt had said. It had been rather confusing. Something about a place to train the horses. She hadn’t lied to Isabella. She just hadn’t told the whole truth.
“If I might return to the will itself,” the lawyer interjected, “there is only one small portion left to discuss.”
“Please, Mr. Williams, continue,” Isabella’s father said.
“For the rest of Josephina Garcia’s monies, investments, and bonds, they are to be equally divided between her brother and her niece. Mr. Garcia, you will receive this immediately. Miss Garcia, your money will be put in trust until your thirtieth birthday or your marriage to a man of your father’s approval, whichever comes first.”
“What?” She shook her head. “What if my father doesn’t approve?”
“Then you will wait until your thirtieth birthday to receive the money. I believe your aunt saw this as a safety to protect you from men who might seek to take advantage of your fortune. She trusted her brother to know whether your intended was simply after your fortune, hence the clause of his approval being necessary.”
“That’s completely unfair. I’m twenty-five and fully capable of minding my own affairs.” She looked to her father. “I don’t think this is right. You have always tried to deny me what makes me happy.”
“Isabella, you know that isn’t true,” her mother protested.
“That is hardly the case.” Her father looked hurt, but Isabella didn’t care. God knew he’d hurt her with all of this nonsense.
Isabella pounded her fists on the table. “All of my life you have sought to make me miserable. You forced me here, and now it seems you will strive to keep me here by taking away my home. Why? Why have you done this? Why have you sold our family lands?”
Her father looked momentarily to Mama and then back to Isabella. “Because I am dying.”
