LITMIR.BIZ

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Blackwood was pissed.

      His father, Buckley Blackwood, was dead and gone and yet the old man was still pulling strings. Only Buck could manage that from the grave.

      Kel glanced at his brother and sister and silently admitted they didn’t look any happier than he felt. Vaughn’s intense green eyes were narrowed thoughtfully and he was half-sprawled in his chair. Sophie, their baby sister, wore black, and her long auburn hair was pulled back from her pretty face. Her brown eyes were teary, but she still looked as if she were torn between sorrow and anger.

      Kel couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t easy on any of them, but there was no way to avoid what was coming. But at least they had each other to lean on. All three of them had had complicated “relationships” with their father. Buck had never been concerned with his kids or what they were doing. So the three of them, as children, had formed a tight bond that held strong today.

      Kace LeBlanc, Buck’s lawyer, walked into the office and stopped. “Kel,” he said and nodded. “Vaughn. Sophie. Thanks for coming.”

      “Not like we had much choice, Kace.” Vaughn sat up straight and tugged at the edges of his jacket.

      “Right.” Kace looked uncomfortable and Kel could understand it. As Buck’s lawyer, Kace knew as well as they did that Buck hadn’t given a good damn about his children—it was his businesses that had demanded his attention.

      “Where’s Miranda?” Kace glanced around the room as if expecting her to stand up from behind a chair.

      “She hasn’t managed to come downstairs yet,” Kel explained, and his tone said exactly what he thought of the woman who had married and divorced his father.

      Miranda Dupree was thirty-six years old. Same age as Kellan. A hell of a thing for your father to marry a woman the same age as his oldest child. But Buck had been a wealthy, lonely old man and she’d swooped in on his checkbook so fast, she’d been nothing but a redheaded blur. Sophie had given Miranda the nickname Step-witch, and Kel had to say it suited the grasping, greedy—

      “Hello, everyone.”

      Speak of the devil, Kel thought. He stood because his mother had drilled manners into him from the time he was a child. Then he surreptitiously slapped Vaughn’s shoulder to get him on his feet, as well. The one thing Kel couldn’t manage was making his voice sound welcoming. “Miranda. Surprised to see you back in Royal.”

      The woman was beautiful, he’d give her that. Bright red hair, brilliant blue eyes and a figure that would bring some men—including his father—to their knees. But when Kel looked at her all he saw was the woman who’d driven another wedge between Buck and his family.

      “Buck sent me a letter asking me to be here—along with a few other things.” Miranda gave him a slow smile that he was willing to bet she practiced in front of a mirror. “From what I hear, you’re not here all that often, either, Kellan. You live in Nashville now, don’t you?”

      He gritted his teeth to keep what he wanted to say to the woman locked inside. There were plenty of reasons for his move to Nashville several years ago. And not one of them was any of Miranda’s business.

      “Why are you even here?” Vaughn demanded. “Not like Buck’s alive enough for you to seduce again.”

      “Like I said, Buck wanted me here,” she said simply and took a seat, smoothing her tight black skirt over her thighs. Glancing over to Sophie and ignoring the men, she said, “I’m sorry about your father, Sophie.”

      “I am, too,” she said and turned to look at Kace, in effect dismissing Miranda entirely.

      “Can everyone just sit down?” Kace asked, his voice cool but clear.

      “Yes,” Sophie said, tugging on Vaughn’s hand to get him back in his chair. “Come on, you guys, sit down and let’s get this over with.”

      “Right,” Kel agreed. No point in dragging this out. He wanted to settle his business and get out of Royal fast enough that he wouldn’t run into—he cut that thought off because he couldn’t afford to think about her. Not now. Not ever.

      He scrubbed one hand across his whiskered jaw and told himself that raking up the past wouldn’t serve anyone.

      “Buck wanted all of you present to hear his will,” Kace said from behind Buckley’s desk. Instantly, Kel focused on the present.

      “But it won’t take long.” Kace looked at each of them in turn, then zeroed in on Kellan. “I can give you all the legalese or just say it straight. Which do you want?”

      Kel gave his siblings a quick look and nodded. They were clearly of a mind with him. He didn’t give a damn what Miranda wanted. So he said, “Just say it, Kace.”

      Sympathy shone briefly in Kace’s eyes and Kel knew he wasn’t going to like whatever was coming before the man even said, “Basically, Buck left everything to Miranda.”

      “What?” Kellan was up and out of his chair in a blink. Vaughn was just a second or two behind him, and Sophie… Well, she sat there looking stunned as if she’d hit her head.

      “You can’t be serious.” Kel glared at Kace.

      “Yeah, I am.” Kace didn’t look happy about this. “He knew what he wanted and he laid it all out pretty clearly. And before you ask, your dad was of sound mind, Kellan,” Kace said.

      “You call this ‘sound mind’?”

      “Legally, yeah,” Kace said. “I know this is hard—”

      It was unthinkable. Buckley Blackwood hadn’t been much of a father, but damned if Kellan could understand the old man leaving the family ranch to his ex-wife instead of his children. Slowly, he swiveled his head to stare at her. She didn’t look surprised at all. Now, why was that? Had Kace told her what to expect? Had Buck?

      “What the hell, Miranda?”

      She shrugged and gave him that smile again. “I don’t know why he did it, Kellan. All I know is he had a letter delivered to me after his death, telling me to be here for the will reading.” She shrugged. “Your father was a generous man.”

      Not how Kellan remembered him.

      “You know what? I didn’t want his money or his property anyway,” Vaughn said. “I don’t need anything from him at this point. But there is no way Dad would do this,” Vaughn argued, glaring at their ex-stepmother.

      “Yeah, well, he did,” Kace said simply.

      “He must have hated us,” Sophie whispered.

      “No,” Kellan assured her. “He didn’t.” Hell, Buck hadn’t noticed any of them enough to instill any real emotion—love or hate. Besides, no one could hate Sophie. “I don’t know what the hell is going on,” he said, giving Kace a hard glare before turning to Miranda. “But I will find out. For now, all I’ll say is this isn’t over.”

       One

      Kel was still riding a tidal wave of righteous anger when he pulled up in front of the ranch house. Blackwood Hollow was a six-hundred-acre working ranch but the main building looked like a five-star luxury hotel. Sprawling twin wings spread out across the land and climbed to two stories. Lights shone in every window, making the whole place sparkle in the darkness. And with the white Christmas lights strung along the outline of the ranch house, it looked magical.

      It was a mammoth place. His little sister, Sophie, sometimes stayed there, but they’d all gotten into the habit of avoiding Blackwood Hollow because they hadn’t wanted to see Buck. A part of him wondered if that would change now that Buck was gone.

      For Kellan, the memories in Royal were too hard, too painful to welcome him back for anything longer than a short visit to see his siblings even

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