Читать книгу The Arizona Lawman - Stella Bagwell - Страница 9

Prologue

“Tessa, you are now an heiress.”

The legal document Tessa Parker gripped with both hands looked real enough, and Orin Calhoun was the closest thing she had to a father. He would never lie to her. But the words he’d just spoken didn’t make sense.

Staring at the rancher, she asked in an incredulous voice, “Are you making some sort of joke?”

Orin glanced over to Jett Sundell, longtime attorney for the Calhoun family and the Silver Horn Ranch.

“Help me out here, Jett.”

The younger man left his comfortable seat in an armchair to walk over to Tessa.

“The document is genuine, Tessa. I’ve already read the will in its entirety and talked at length with the deceased man’s attorney. He assures me his client had full control of his faculties at the time he made out this bequest.” Jett placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. “In short, a man by the name of Ray Maddox has willed you a sizable piece of property in southern Arizona. Along with a very tidy amount of money, which is already waiting for you in a bank account with your name. Congratulations, Tessa.”

Her hands began to tremble violently, causing the document to fall unheeded to her lap.

“That can’t be!” She stared wildly up at Jett then swung her gaze over to Orin. “I don’t know anyone in Arizona! This has to be some crazy mistaken identity!”

Orin held up a hand to calm her escalating doubts. “According to the attorney in Prescott, your identity has been verified several times over. He’s assured Jett that you are the correct beneficiary.”

“So the next step we need to discuss is what you want to do with this windfall,” Jett continued while directing a meaningful glance at Orin. “If it were me, Tessa, I’d want to take a look at the property before I made the decision.”

“Yes, but Tessa isn’t you,” Orin retorted. “She hardly needs to go traipsing off to Arizona to look at a piece of land she doesn’t need. Her home is here on the Silver Horn with us. It won’t be difficult to locate a trustworthy real-estate agent to handle all the details of selling it.”

Frowning, Jett walked over to his father-in-law’s desk. “Orin, I understand that Tessa is like your daughter but—”

“Like a daughter! Hell, as far as I’m concerned, she is my daughter! And as such—”

“You want her to have every opportunity to be happy. She’s been willed a small fortune by someone who obviously cared a great deal for her. It would hardly be in her benefit to get hasty and dump the property before making an effort to see the place.”

Orin rose from his chair and began to pace around the large, plush study. “It’s not like I’m a pauper, Jett,” he argued. “I can give Tessa whatever she needs. And, frankly, she’s too young and inexperienced to go off to Arizona alone!”

The idea of Orin as a pauper was just as laughable as Tessa being an heiress. Orin and his father, Bart, owned the Silver Horn Ranch, one of the largest, most profitable spreads in the whole state of Nevada. The family possessed holdings in gold and silver mines, oil and gas companies, along with other lucrative stocks. To say that Orin could supply her with whatever she needed was very true, but she would never accept wealthy gifts from him, or anyone in the Calhoun family. She was a Parker and possessed her own brand of pride.

“Tessa is twenty-four years old. She’s just acquired a college degree,” Jett reminded him. “She’s certainly capable of making a trip to Arizona. And making decisions about her own future.”

The arguing between the two men pushed Tessa to her feet. “Orin, you’ve given me a home here on the Silver Horn for the past eleven years. As much as I love you, Jett is right. I’m not about to make a hasty decision about something so—life-changing. Anyway, right now I... I’m so shaken I can hardly think! But I can tell you one thing. If a person cared enough about me to leave me a small fortune, then I’m going to make the effort to travel to Arizona. To see the place and find the reason behind this.”

Jett gave her a thumbs-up. “Atta girl, Tessa. Now you’re talking.”

Orin stopped his pacing to glare at the both of them. “Go ahead, encourage her,” he goaded Jett. “For all we know there could be something sinister behind this whole thing.”

Jett rolled his eyes. “Orin, the man has passed away. And, according to Mr. Maddox’s attorney, he had no family to speak of. On top of that, he was a decorated sheriff of the area. I hardly read sinister in the will.”

Relenting somewhat, Orin walked over to where Tessa stood near his desk. “Tessa, are you sure your mother never talked about this man before?”

If Monica Parker had still been living, she might’ve been able to explain this sudden and unexplainable inheritance. But her mother’s life had ended eleven years ago in a traffic accident.

Tessa’s mind spun crazily as she tried to recall, to make any sort of connection to Ray Maddox. “I never heard Mom say that name. Or mention she was acquainted with anyone in Arizona. This man...he must have known me—somehow. I won’t rest until I find the connection.”

Orin’s stern expression softened to a wry smile. “I imagine I’d feel the same way. It’s just that I’ve always had you close and under my wing.” Lifting her hand, he patted the back of it. “And I guess a part of me is afraid you won’t come back. That you’ll find something down there in Arizona we can’t give you.”

Her heart full of mixed emotions, she gave the big rancher a reassuring hug. “You’ve already given me so much, Orin. There’s nothing else I need.”

His smile turned knowing as he stroked the top of her head. “Oh, yes, Tessa, darlin’. There are plenty more things you need. Like a good man to love. Children to raise. A home to keep.”

“Stop it.” She sniffed. “You’re going to make me cry all over your white shirt.”

He squeezed her tight. “Damn the white shirt,” he said gruffly. “I have plenty of them. I just have one of you.”

“I won’t be gone forever, Orin. Just long enough to find out why Ray Maddox wanted to give me his home and money.”