It was good to be home.
He turned and walked up the drive toward the sagging gate with the familiar plank sign that read CARDWELL in faded gray letters. But as he drew closer, he slowed to a stop and stared.
On the tilting post that anchored the gate was another sign. Smaller. Not familiar. Made of cardboard and carrying a single word in bold back script.
SOLD.
CHAPTER 2
“You’re leaving?” four high-pitched female voices cried in unison.
So much for minimizing drama, Coralee thought.
Dinner was over and they were on the veranda. Coralee had turned on the gas fireplace, as much for ambience as warmth. She’d already poured the first bottle of wine—another two were at the ready—and everyone was settled comfortably into the plush patio furniture overlooking the long, gently sloping lawn down to the rippling waters of Rough Creek. A lovely, relaxing scene.
Except for the astonished faces gaping at her. It was apparent Coralee’s carefully worded announcement had not been accepted as calmly as she’d hoped.
“Just to travel a bit,” she explained. “Walk the sands of Tahiti, as it were. Zip-line through a rain forest. Cruise past glaciers in Alaska. Whatever. Sixty isn’t too old to do that, you know.”
“Not alone, I hope.” Thirty-three-year-old Lennox gave her a look of concern. Living an insulated, wealthy, country club life in Dallas with her surgeon husband and two busy school-age children, Len thought dining alone—much less traveling unaccompanied—smacked of lonely desperation.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Tahiti,” Josslyn of the wandering feet said, surprising no one. Free-spirited Joss would go anywhere with anyone, as long it furthered her dream of becoming a country music star.
“Tahiti’s a fifteen-hour flight,” practical KD informed them. “With stops. Hawaii would be closer. They have nice beaches, and you wouldn’t have to take as many shots as you would if you went to a rain forest.”
Coralee battled a sense of loss. She still couldn’t believe her baby, Katherine Dianne—or KD, as she had renamed herself in high school—was now Second Lieutenant Whitcomb, recent West Point graduate, soon off to Lord knows where for who knew how long. Coralee might not see her for months. Years, even. It was too upsetting to consider.
“I think she should go,” Raney said. “Take as long a trip as she wants.”
“Naturally, you’d say that,” Joss muttered. “Then you’d have this big house all to yourself.”
Raney grinned and nodded.
“Oh, God!” Lennox bolted upright, eyes brimming. “It’s cancer, isn’t it? You have cancer and you’re trying not to tell us!”
“Cancer? You have cancer?”
“Cancer of what?”
“Hush! All of you!” From drama to hysteria. And Coralee thought the evening had been going so well. “Of course I don’t have cancer! I don’t have anything but a need for change. Good Lord!”
“Oh my God!” Joss clapped her hands in delight. “It’s a man! You’ve met someone, haven’t you?”
“Why is it always about men with you, Joss?” KD muttered.
“Who is it?” Len demanded. “Do we know him? Is he safe?”
“Lord have mercy.” With a weary sigh, Coralee rose. “Anybody else want a refill?” Amid a chorus of yeses, she uncorked another bottle of pinot noir, split it between four goblets—Joss still abstained, making Coralee wonder if she was planning a quick escape later—all the while assuring them that she wasn’t suffering Alzheimer’s, cancer, MS, ALS, or any other terrible disease, and had not turned into the town pump at the ripe old age of sixty—not in those words, of course. “I just want to have some fun,” she said, sinking back into her chair. “Try something different. Is that so hard to understand?”
“But what about the ranch?” Raney asked.
And there it was. The question Coralee had been dreading. She fervently hoped they would be reasonable and listen to what she had to say before they started overreacting. “That depends on what you decide.” Seeing their confusion, she explained their options. “We could sell it and put the proceeds into the family trust, rent it out, or keep it and let your sister continue to run it as she has for the last nine years.” She smiled at Raney, hoping to ease her anxious expression. “And doing an excellent job of it, I might add.”
Len frowned in thought. “Since I’m married, if we did sell and split the proceeds, would my share become community property?”
Coralee gave her eldest a sharp look. She knew that like most marriages, Len and Ryan’s had its ups and downs, but they’d always muddled through. That her daughter was voicing concerns about community property made Coralee wonder if she was contemplating divorce. “We wouldn’t pocket the proceeds,” Coralee explained. “Since the family trust owns the ranch, as well as the various accounts and funds that your father set up, the money would go back into the trust. And the only names on the trust are mine and you girls’. So, no, it wouldn’t become community property. All of us are paid a monthly allowance from the trust. Raney, you’re paid an additional salary as manager of the ranch.”
“In other words,” Raney said, frowning, “we couldn’t sell the ranch without breaking the trust?”
“I’m not sure. If you’re worried about it, Raney, check with the accountants and lawyers next time you meet with them. I’m as confused as you are.”
“But I don’t want to sell it,” Raney argued. “None of us needs the money, so why sell and risk having it broken up or subdivided? And what would we do with the horses?” How like Raney to worry most about her beloved horses.
“The ranch might not sell that easily, anyway,” KD argued. “Not on a cashout. Unless a big corporation bought it for development.”
“I’d hate that,” Raney said.
Lennox nodded. “Me, too. I may not ever want to live here permanently, but I like knowing it’s here, in case we need it.”
“For what?” KD asked.
“Financial security. Emotional security. It’s our childhood home, KD. Mama was born and raised here. We were raised here. Ryan and I got married out there on the back lawn. Losing it would be like losing part of our lives.”
Coralee watched them talk it over, hearing her own argument in their voices. She didn’t want to sell, either, and selfishly hoped they wouldn’t. But she couldn’t deny them that option if they chose to move on, too, so she remained silent.