Montana Sky

oddly exotic face set like stone.
    And since she’d yet to see a single tear squeeze its wayout of the dark eyes, Tess assumed Willa had no more love for Jack Mercy than she herself did.
    Just business, she thought, tapping her fingers impatiently on the arm of her chair. Let’s get down to it.
    Even as she had the thought, Nate lifted his eyes, met hers. For one uncomfortable moment, she felt he knew exactly what was going through her mind. And his disapproval of her, of everything about her, was as clear as the sky spread in the window behind him.
    Think what you want, she decided, and kept her eyes cool on his. Just give me the cash.
    “There’s a couple ways we can do this,” Nate began. “There’s formal. I can read Jack’s will word for word, then explain what the hell all that legal talk means. Or I can give you the meaning, the terms, the options first.” Deliberately he looked at Willa. She was the one who mattered most, to him. “Up to you.”
    “Do it the easy way, Nate.”
    “All right, then. Bess, he left you a thousand dollars for every year you’ve been at Mercy. That’s thirty-four thousand.”
    “Thirty-four thousand.” Bess’s eyes popped wide. “Good Lord, Nate, what am I supposed to do with a fat lot of money like that?”
    He smiled. “Well, you spend it, Bess. If you want to invest some, I can give you a hand with it.”
    “Goodness.” Overwhelmed at the thought of it, she looked at Willa, back at her hands, and at Nate again. “Goodness.”
    And Tess thought: If the housekeeper gets thirty grand, I ought to get double. She knew just what she ’d do with a fat lot of money.
    “Adam, in accordance with an agreement Jack made with your mother when they married, you’re to receive a lump sum of twenty thousand, or a two percent interest in Mercy Ranch, whichever you prefer. I can tell you the percentage is worth more than the cash, but the decision remains yours.”
    “It’s not enough.” Willa’s voice snapped out, makingLily jump and Tess raise an eyebrow. “It’s not right. Two percent? Adam’s worked this ranch since he was eight years old. He’s—”
    “Willa.” From his position behind her chair, Adam laid a hand on her shoulder. “It’s right enough.”
    “The hell it is.” Fury for him, the injustice of it, had her shoving the hand away. “We’ve got one of the finest strings of horses in the state. That’s Adam’s doing. The horses should be his now—and the house where he lives. He should have been given land, and the money to work it.”
    “Willa.” Patient, Adam put his hand on her again, held it there. “It’s what our mother asked for. It’s what he gave.”
    She subsided because there were strangers’ eyes watching. And because she would fix the wrongness of it. She’d have Nate draw up papers before the end of the day. “Sorry.” She laid her hands calmly on the wide arms of the chair. “Go on, Nate.”
    “The ranch and its holdings,” Nate began again, “the stock, the equipment, vehicles, the timber rights . . .” He paused, and prepared himself for the unhappy job of destroying hopes. “Mercy Ranch business is to continue as usual, expenses drawn, salaries paid, profits banked or reinvested with you as operator, Will, under the executor’s supervision for a period of one year.”
    “Wait.” Willa held up a hand. “He wanted you to supervise the running of the ranch for a year?”
    “Under certain conditions,” Nate added, and his eyes were already full of apology. “If those conditions are met for the course of a year, beginning no later than fourteen days from the reading of the will, the ranch and all its holdings will become the sole property and sole interest of the beneficiaries.”
    “What conditions?” Willa demanded. “What beneficiaries? What the hell is going on, Nate?”
    “He’s left each one of his daughters a one-third interest in the ranch.” He watched the color drain from Willa’s face and, cursing Jack Mercy, continued with the rest. “In order to inherit, the three of you must live on the ranch, leaving the property for no longer than a one-week period, for onefull year. At the end of that time, if conditions are met, each beneficiary will have a one-third interest. This interest cannot be sold or transferred to anyone other than one of the other beneficiaries for a period of ten years.”
    “Hold on a minute.” Tess set her drink aside. “You’re saying I’ve got a third