Page 5 of The Fugitive Cowboy's Baby
Her mom had always been the type of woman to pretend she was fine even when she wasn’t. It was the armor she wore, so Kat didn’t dare call her out on it.We all have our coping mechanisms, she thought. “Where are Judd and Travis?” Kat asked.
“Oh, they’re around here somewhere.” Her mom glanced around the sanctuary as though she could barely believe her own words. “If they aren’t here, they’re probably helping to set up the reception. Oh, you are staying for the reception, aren’t you?”
“I am,” Kat said with a warm smile.
Her mom sighed, obviously relieved. “Thank goodness. I thought you’d take off before I got to really talk to you. I miss you so much, honey. We all do.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ve missed you guys, too.”
“Oh!” Her mom perked up as though she’d just thought of something. “I’ll be right back.” Kat knew she probably wouldn’t be, but that was all right. Things were clearly crazy right now, and Kat had never expected to be the center of anyone’s attention. In fact, her whole job was making sure someone else was the center of everyone’s attention. It didn’t bother her at all.
As expected, before her mom found her way back around to Kat, the ceremony had already begun. Kat spied her brothers across the sanctuary. Judd gave her a playful secret wave, and Kat shook her head. He had always been the uncontrollable one. Travis was more reserved and sat dutifully beside their mother, holding tight to her hand.
Their Uncle Roy was their father’s brother, and while they weren’t super close anymore, Kat assumed they all had fond memories of him. Losing family was never easy, but at least they could come together like this to get each other through. She was grateful for that, and she couldn’t believe she’d almost missed it for work. She really did have to get a handle on her work-life balance.
After the funeral, everyone moved to another building on the property, where food and drink had been laid out over long tables for the family to gather around. As receptions went, this one was not even a little bit formal. Uncle Roy had hated formality anyway. In keeping with the tradition of Uncle Roy’s preferences, Kat’s brothers had some choice things to say about the way she was dressed.
“Are you off to force the sale of a struggling mom-and-pop business in favor of an evil corporation after this?” Judd asked with a wink and a chuckle.
It was exactly like him, and under any other circumstances, Kat would have laughed even harder than him at his jokes. In all likelihood, he was only trying to cheer her up the way he always had. But right now, all he’d succeeded in doing was making her feel more out of place than ever. She tried to smile and then deadpanned, “I work in advertising.”
Travis grinned at his brother’s failed attempt. Then he apparently decided to try his own hand. “Yeah, Judd. She works in advertising, which means she’s going to a meeting to make commercials for the evil corporation that wants to force the sale of the struggling mom-and-pop business.” He nudged his sister on the elbow. “Right, Kat?”
She shook her head and nudged him back. As much as their words were niggling at her current insecurities, it was obvious that they were only using their old techniques to get her smiling again, and she really did appreciate it.
After an hour or so, she was laughing with them, but she still didn’t feel like she belonged. Her mother asked her, “You’re coming to the will reading, right? It’s tomorrow. I’d love it if you could come home for the night.”
She looked so hopeful that Kat almost gave in and said yes, but the thought of spending the night in that house, feeling as alien as she did now and having to pretend she didn’t, made her stomach start to twist into knots. She needed to process everything that had happened in the last couple days, and she needed to do it alone, without the pressure that came with familyreunions. “I booked another night at the B&B,” she said with an apologetic tone. “I didn’t want to put you out or anything.”
“Oh, you’re never putting me out, honey,” her mother said. “We love having you visit.”
Kat sighed. “I know that. I do, but I don’t want to waste the room or insult the owner. She’s been so welcoming.”
“Oh, it’s just Mandy,” her mother said, and Kat cringed. She’d forgotten that everyone knew everyone in this town. “I’ll explain to her that you don’t mean anything by it.”
“No, don’t.” Kat leaned across the table and laid a hand over her mother’s arm. “Thank you, but please don’t. I’ll see you tomorrow. I promise. We can do lunch after the reading, OK?”
Her mom narrowed her eyes and finally shook her head in surrender. “All right. Just… don’t be a stranger.”
“Next time I visit, I’ll stay at yours,” Kat said, hoping to soften the blow. “It’ll be a visit just for fun, too, just to see you with no other baggage.”
Her mother seemed satisfied with that, even though Kat felt she probably shouldn’t be. Kat felt bad about letting her mother down, but visiting while she felt as alienated as she did would only make things awkward, and that was the last thing everyone needed right now. So, when Kat left the funeral, she went straight back to the B&B, spent the evening editing the follow-up emails she intended to send the next day, and finally went to bed early for the first time in days.
CHAPTER 3
KAT
There were only about ten people present at the will reading the next morning. Kat expected more, but while her uncle was a friendly man, he wasn’t a man with reach. He had a small circle, and everyone he had a close relationship with was there. The more she thought about it, the more Kat realized that her own circle wasn’t much bigger in the end.
They were sitting in a private room at a law firm, which seemed to be decorated especially for the purpose of looking more successful than they likely were. Although there was a chance they were the only law firm in town, so maybe they weren’t doing too badly. The room was peppered with leather furniture, mahogany bookshelves, and framed certificates in place of expensive artwork. The smell of the place reminded Kat of cigars and whisky, although she saw neither anywhere in the room. She briefly wondered whether the law office had a scented plug-in that dispersed the perfume of cliché masculine wealth. What would one call such a scent, she wondered, and how would it be marketed?
She was shuffling through ideas when the lawyers finally entered the room and their audience grew quiet. Kat had never been to one of these things before. There had never been the need. She’d certainly never been the recipient of any kind of inheritance. Even in this case, she didn’t expect to receive a significant share. Sure, she was fond of her uncle, and she got the impression he liked her well enough. But her brothers had always been the pride and joy of their family, and she had no reason to believe that was going to change any time soon. She wasn’t sore about it, but she wasn’t unrealistic either.
It is what it is, she thought.Whatever I am given, it will be more than I had before, and I’ll be grateful for it.
The first part of the will that was read detailed how the liquid assets were to be dispersed. Her parents and brothers got about an equal share, as expected. And, as expected, her share was significantly less. Then, the lawyers started reading about the rest of Uncle Roy’s estate. Kat tuned much of it out, thinking it wouldn’t have anything to do with her. She was busy messaging influencers when she heard her name and perked up.
“To my niece, Katherine Naylor, I leave the entirety of my ranch,” the lawyer who was reading the will said before pushing his glasses up his nose. His overly serious voice reading Uncle Roy’s last message, when Uncle Roy was anything but serious, was probably funnier than it should have been under the circumstances. “I can see all your faces now,” the lawyer read, “but trust me. I know what I’m doing. My niece is one of the few people who has kept up with the times. The rest of us lagged behind because we wanted to, and good for us, I say. But she bore the weight of modern nonsense so we didn’t have to, and now she’s the only one who can bring my ranch into the future, which it needs because it’s failing.”
