Who was that man? A nice-looking older man, black hair going white at the temples, loitered around the buffet table in the dining room. Angie didn’t recall seeing him at the memorial service. Course she hadn’t been overly aware of her surroundings. Saying goodbye to her father had taken all her strength. Part of her still couldn’t quite grasp that he was gone.

The man looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t say how.

Her mother swayed next to her. “Good Lord.”

“Who is it, Mama?”

“I’m not quite sure. But I think it’s your uncle.”

“I have an uncle?”

“Yes. Your father’s brother.”

“I never knew Daddy had a brother.”

“He never spoke of him. He forbade mention of his name. They had a huge falling out when they were young. Jeff got into big trouble with the law and went to prison. Your great-grandfather disinherited him.”

“Why is he here now?”

“I don’t have any idea. I sincerely don’t.” She leaned onto Angie. “I need to sit down.”

“Of course.” She turned to Harper. “Take Mama out of here. She’s had enough. I need to see what this man wants.”

“I’ll come with you. Wait just a minute.” Harper ushered Maria out of the living room and up the stairs. Five minutes later, he returned.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s see what this guy wants.”

They approached the strange man who was helping himself to some honey ham from the buffet table.

“Good afternoon, I’m Harper Bay.” Harper held out his hand.

“Jefferson Bay,” the man said, “and this must be the lovely Angelina?”

Angie nodded. “What are you doing here?”

“Why, I’ve come to pay my respects to my brother and his family, of course. I’m your uncle.”

“So our mother informed us,” Harper said. “Any reason you can think of why our father neglected to mention you all these years?”

“It’s a long story. I need to sit down with you two and your mother. Where’s the other sister?”

“She’s over there.” Harper pointed to Catie. “That’s her husband, Chad McCray.”

“Yeah, I heard she married pretty young. Too bad for me. But you’re still single, right?” he asked Angie.

Why on earth would he care if Catie was married? “I’m not sure what business it could possibly be of yours, but yes, I’m single.”

Rafe approached them, Amber and Tom on his heels. “You okay, Angie?” he asked. “You look a little pale.”

“I just buried my daddy.”

“I know. Just…you look like you could use some sittin’ time.” He took her arm. “Excuse us please.”

“Wait a minute. I’d like to meet your friends, Angelina,” Jefferson said.

Rafe stuck out his hand. “I’m Rafe Grayhawk. This is my brother, Tom, and this is Amber Cross. We’re friends of Angie’s.”

“A pleasure. I’m Angelina’s uncle, Jefferson Bay.”

“Nice to meet you. But Angie really needs to sit down. Come on, honey.”

Rafe led her to a sofa in the hallway where, thank the lord, no one was loitering.

“I don’t want to insult your family on such a sad day but your uncle could use some manners. He didn’t seem concerned about your well-being at all.”

“Why should he? He just met me today.”

“What?”

“Seriously. Till today, I never knew he existed. My daddy never mentioned a brother. I thought he was an only child.”

Rafe’s eyebrows rose. “Interesting time for him to show up.”

“I know. He says he needs to talk to us. I have no idea what it could be about.”

“Probably just wants to make amends.”

“Hopefully. But wouldn’t it have made more sense for him to come around while Daddy was alive?” She massaged her temples and closed her eyes.

Rafe’s fingers softly drifted over her forearm. “You want to go upstairs and lie down? Get on out of here for a little while?”

His touch was soothing. Felt so nice.

“You have no idea how much I want to do that, but I can’t. Mama’s already gone upstairs, so I have to play hostess.”

“A lady who just lost her father doesn’t have to stand on ceremony, baby. Let’s get you upstairs.”

She relented. What the heck? Harper and Catie could take care of things. And mama’s sister, Aunt Meghan, was here to assist. Catie’s two sisters-in-law, Dusty and Annie, were helping too. She took Rafe’s arm and let him lead her upstairs.

“Which room?”

“First one the right,” she said. “That was my room as a kid.”

She grimaced as her pink canopy bed came into view. But she was too sad and tired to care what Rafe might think of her childhood tastes, though she did wonder for a moment why Maria had never changed any of their rooms. Catie’s still had stuffed horses strewn all over.

Rafe seemed undaunted, though, and helped her lie down amid the fluff. “You stay here for a while. If you’re needed downstairs, I’ll come get you.” He gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead, shut the blinds on the windows, and left quietly.

Angie slept until morning.

---

She woke to her blinds opened. “Wake up, sleepyhead,” Harper said, shoving her blinds up. “Our esteemed uncle’s coming in an hour to talk to us about God knows what.”

“Harp, geez! I have to go home and shower and change.”

“Hurry it up then. Be back here by two o’clock.”

“Two o’clock? It can’t possibly be one.”

“It is, Sis. You’ve been up here twenty hours or so, give or take a minute or two.”

“Can’t this wait? We just buried our father, for God’s sake.”

“Believe me, I told him that. He says he has to talk to us now. That it’s urgent.”

“Is Catie coming over?”

“She and Chad are already here, downstairs.”

Angie looked down at her wrinkled black suit. “I can’t wear this. Tell you what, go get something out of Mama’s closet for me, will you? Nothing too frumpy.”

“Since when does our mother dress like a frump? I’ll have Catie pick something. You get in the shower and get cleaned up.”

Thank goodness her bathroom was still fully stocked. The shower warmed and massaged her aching body.

She dressed in a beige pantsuit that Catie must have set on her bed while she was showering and then walked downstairs. She found her mother, brother, sister, Chad, and Uncle Jefferson in the room that had been her father’s office. Jefferson sat behind her father’s desk.

A shiver niggled at the back of her neck. This felt all wrong.

“Ah, the lovely Angelina,” Uncle Jefferson said, “my mother’s namesake.”

“Yes. Uh…hello.”

“Sit down. You of all people will be the most interested in what I have to say.”

Angie gulped. What on earth did he mean?

“Have a seat, my dear.” Jefferson pointed to an empty chair.

Angie sat, still in a daze from the memorial. “What’s this all about?”

“We have no idea,” Harper said. “He wouldn’t tell us till we were all here.” He turned to his uncle. “We’re all here now. Let’s get on with it.”

“Of course.” Jefferson set a document on the desk. “You might be wondering what this is.”

“Not really,” Harper said.

“You will in a minute. Before I read it to you, I want to tell you all a little story.”

“How about you tell us why none of us knew you existed till now?” Harper said, his voice not happy.

“You knew I existed, didn’t you, Mia?”

Mia? Angie had never heard anyone but her father refer to her mother as Mia.

Maria Bay rose. “We’ve all been through the wringer, Jeff. Please just tell us why you’re here.”

“Simmer down and I’ll get to that.”

Maria sat back down and sighed. Angie regarded her mother’s pale cheeks. None of them needed this stress, especially Maria.

“Now, for my tale of two brothers. Once there were two brothers, the good son and the bad son. I think you know who the good son was. The esteemed Wayne Alan Bay. As you know, Wayne and I were orphaned when he was ten and I was eight. We were raised by our grandfather, Norman Bay, on the western slope ranch that your father now owns, Bay Crossing. This”—he held up the document again—“is the last will and testament of Norman Bay.”

“So what?” Harper said.

“You’ll see its importance momentarily,” Jeff said. “Grandpa ruled us with an iron hand, and Wayne, the good son, was held in high favor. Jeff, the bad son, was a rebel. He shirked his duties around the ranch, got in trouble with the law on more than one occasion, but finally found the will to turn his life around when he met the woman of his dreams.”

A choking sob came from her mother’s throat. Angie looked over, and Maria had buried her face in her hands.

“Mama? What is it?” she asked.

Maria shook her head.

“Our mother’s been through hell,” Harper said. “Now what is this all about?”

“Alas,” Jeff continued, “the woman betrayed him in the worst possible way.”

Maria lifted her head. “Please, Jeff. Don’t do this.”

“His sweet angel betrayed him by sleeping with his own brother!”

Angie gasped. She looked at her brother and her sister and Chad. All looked equally shocked.

“Mama?” Catie’s soft voice echoed through the room.

“Why? Why now, Jeff? We thought you were long gone. No one has heard from you in decades. We assumed you’d died in prison.”

“Prison?” Harper’s voice was shaky.

“Yes, prison,” Jeff said. “I was sentenced to life in prison for a crime I did not commit.”

“Then why did you plead guilty?” Maria shook her head. “You mean you didn’t murder that man?”

Jeff shook his head. “Of course I didn’t. I’m not a killer. I pleaded guilty because I had nothing left to live for. The evidence against me was overwhelming, and my own grandfather had already disinherited me. He had already tried and convicted me. When I found out you had slept with Wayne and were carrying his child, I had nothing left at all.”

“Then what happened? How did you get out?”

“Three years ago, a man approached me in prison. Said he could no longer live with the lies. He told the truth, and DNA evidence further proved my innocence.”

“Hold on, hold on,” Harper said. “There’s a whole lot to this story you’re not telling us.”

“Go to the library and look it up,” Jeff said. “It’s a chapter in my life I’d rather forget, and it has little to do with why I’m here.”

“Then let’s get to that, please.” Harper stood. “Why are you here?”

“Sit your ass down, young man. This has little to do with you. We are here because of this document.” He rustled the papers. “Grandpa Norman’s will.”

“Your grandfather’s been dead for over twenty years,” Maria said. “You said yourself he disinherited you. Bay Crossing went to Wayne, and now it belongs to Angelina and Caitlyn. You can look at Wayne’s will.”

“Only the girls? What about your handsome son, there?” He motioned to Harper who was still standing, gripping the back of his chair, his knuckles white.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Maria said, “but I inherited this ranch from a childless relative. I transferred it to Wayne, and he made the decision to bequeath it to Harper and Bay Crossing to the girls. He felt a man should have his own ranch, and this ranch is roughly equal to half of what the other is worth, so it all came out fairly.”

“Ah, yes, dear old Wayne, always fair.”

“I’m sure I sound like an echo in here,” Harper said, “but your point?”

“My point, dear nephew, is that my grandfather was not only an arrogant bastard, he was also one of the premier male chauvinist pigs of our time.” He laughed. “I confess I never thought his old school sexism would work in my favor, but I’m happy to tell you I was wrong.” He stood and handed the will to Harper. “I hear you’re an attorney.”

Harper took the paper. “Yes, I am.”

“Then I refer you to section thirteen B of the document.”

Harper rustled the papers, his eyes scanning the document. His eyebrows shot up. “Oh, shit.”

“What is it, Harper?” Maria asked.

“It seems there’s a section here that may supersede Dad’s intentions. Norman Bay did grant Bay Crossing to Dad, but left a limitation on his ownership and ability to bequeath it to his own heirs.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” Maria said.

“Jefferson is right. Norman was a chauvinist.” Harper cleared his throat. “Dad can only bequeath the property on the western slope to sons or married daughters. Any daughter who is not yet married can’t inherit, and that portion reverts to any other living issue of Norman’s body, by representation, which is, in this case, Jefferson.”

Angie’s stomach plummeted.

She was the problem. The unmarried daughter. Harper got Cha Cha. Catie got half of Bay Crossing.

Angie got nothing.