Montana Sky

interest in some cattle ranch in Nowhere, Montana, and to collect, I’ve got to move here? Live here? Give up a year of my life? No way in hell.” She rose, gracefully unfolding her long legs. “I don’t want your ranch, kid,” she told Willa. “You’re welcome to every dusty acre and cow. This’ll never stick. Give me my share in cash, and I’m out of your way.”
    “Excuse me, Ms. Mercy.” Nate sized her up from his seat behind the desk. Mad as a two-headed hen, he thought, and cool enough to hide it. “It will stick. His terms and wishes were very well thought out, very well presented. If you don’t agree to the terms, the ranch will be donated, in its entirety, to the Nature Conservancy.”
    “Donated?” Staggered, Willa pressed her fingers to her temple. There was hurt and rage and a terrible dread curling and spreading inside her gut. Somehow she had to get beyond the feelings and think.
    She understood the ten-year stipulation. That was to keep the land from being tax-assessed at the market price instead of the farm rate. Jack had hated the government like poison and wouldn’t have wanted to give up a penny to it. But to threaten to take it all away and give it to the type of organization he liked to call tree huggers or whale kissers didn’t make sense.
    “If we don’t do this,” she continued, struggling for calm, “he can just give it away? Just give away what’s been Mercy land for more than a century if these two don’t do what it says on that paper? If I don’t?”
    Nate exhaled deeply, hating himself. “I’m sorry, Willa. There was no reasoning with him. This is the way he set it up. Any one of the three of you leaves, it breaks the conditions, and the ranch is forfeited. You’ll each get one hundred dollars. That’s it.”
    “A hundred dollars?” The absurdity of it struck Tessstraight in the heart, flopped her back into her chair laughing. “That son of a bitch.”
    “Shut up.” Willa’s voice whipped out as she got to her feet. “Just shut the hell up. Can we fight it, Nate? Is there any point in trying to fight it?”
    “You want my legal opinion, no. It’d take years and a lot of money, and odds are you’d lose.”
    “I’ll stay.” Lily fought to regulate her breathing. Home, safety, security. It was all here, just at her fingertips, like a shiny gift. “I’m sorry.” She got to her feet when Willa rounded on her. “It’s not fair to you. It’s not right. I don’t know why he did this, but I’ll stay. When the year’s over, I’ll sell you my share for whatever you say is fair and right. It’s a beautiful ranch,” she added, trying to smile as Willa only continued to stare at her. “Everyone here knows it’s already yours. It’s only a year, after all.”
    “That’s very sweet,” Tess spoke up. “But I’m damned if I’m staying here for a year. I’m going back to LA in the morning.”
    With her mind whirling, Willa sent her a considering look. However much she wanted both of them gone, she wanted the ranch more. Much more. “Nate, what happens if one of the three of us dies suddenly?”
    “Funny.” Tess picked up her brandy again. “Is that Montana humor?”
    “In the event one of the beneficiaries dies within the transitory year, the remaining beneficiaries will be granted half shares of Mercy Ranch, under the same conditions.”
    “So what are you going to do, kill me in my sleep? Bury me on the prairie?” Tess flicked her fingers in dismissal. “You can’t threaten me into staying here, living like this.”
    Maybe not, Willa thought, but money talked to certain types of people. “I don’t want you here. I don’t want either one of you, but I’ll do what has to be done to keep this ranch. Miss Hollywood might be interested to know just how much her dusty acres are worth, Nate.”
    “At an estimate, current market value for the land and buildings alone, not including stock . . . between eighteen and twenty million.”
    Brandy slopped toward the rim of the snifter as Tess’s hand jerked. “Jesus Christ.”
    The outburst earned Tess a hiss from Bess and a sneer from Willa. “I thought that would get through,” Willa murmured. “When’s the last time you earned six million in a year . . . sis?”
    “Could I have some water?” Lily managed, and drew Willa’s gaze.
    “Sit down before you fall down.” She gave Lily a careless nudge into a chair as she began to pace. “I’m going to want you to read the