Mistletoe Rodeo by Renee Amanda

Author:Renee, Amanda [Renee, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“He’s after the ranch, isn’t he?” Cole perched on the edge of his chair in attorney Jon Reese’s office, flanked by Chase, Shane and their mother. “Why else would he ask for a hundred million dollars?”

“No judge in this state will award him that. He’s on a fishing expedition to see if you’ll bite.” Jon leaned forward on his desk and tapped his fingertips together. “I’m waiting for Kenny Gilbert to join us. He personally handled the financial aspects of every one of Joe’s land acquisitions.”

“A judge could award him something and eventually bankrupt us.” Shane paced the law office like a caged lion.

“Only if he could prove that Joe knowingly took advantage of other people,” Jon said. “He’d need a court order to have access to Bridle Dance’s financial records or to Joe’s personal files, and that would never happen. Only the state could prosecute that type of case, and Scott David would need a mountain of evidence against Joe even to get his foot in the door. There are too many factors involved for it ever to materialize.”

“If he can’t get any money out of us and doesn’t have any evidence, then what’s the point?” Chase couldn’t understand how a man could appear out of nowhere and make false claims against his father without any proof to back them up.

“I never said he couldn’t get any money from you. Since Joe is no longer alive, and none of you were involved in the running of the ranch back in 2008, the only thing I can foresee him getting are the mineral rights. Other than that, I believe Scott David is making these threats in the hopes that you’ll make him an offer to shut him up.”

“Shut up about what?” Kay rose from her chair in front of Jon’s desk. “Joe acquired those mineral rights legally. I refuse to stand by and watch some jackass come into my town and tarnish my husband’s good name. Over my dead body.”

“Mom.” Chase reached for Kay only to be swatted away. “You need to calm down.”

“Don’t you tell me to calm down.” Kay’s face reddened, worrying Chase that her blood pressure was spiking out of control.

Afraid to anger her further, he leaned back in his chair and tried to wrap his head around the situation. “If Scott David’s grandfather still owns the surface rights to the land, why does it matter if we own the mineral rights?”

“Because the mineral estate becomes the dominant estate,” Jon said. “That means the surface estate exists for the benefit of the mineral owner—in this case, Bridle Dance—and grants them certain entitlements.”

“In layman’s terms, if Scott wants to run cattle on that land and we want to mine it, we could essentially halt his operation,” Cole explained.

“I don’t think you’d be doing any mining,” Jon said. “Those fifty thousand acres are on the outskirts of the Eagle Ford Shale. If you were doing anything, you’d be fracking for natural gas or oil.”

“That would explain why Dad bought land that wasn’t anywhere near Bridle Dance.

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