Surprise Inheritance by Charlotte Douglas

Author:Charlotte Douglas
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE MORNING AFTER her trip to Pine Run dawned bright and clear and thirty degrees warmer, but Jennifer’s mind was still fogged with questions. Questions about Luke, and questions about her grandfather’s estate. As she dressed for breakfast, she ran through yesterday’s meeting with Hank Durham, wishing he’d had more answers about Grandpa Henry’s affairs.

She had arrived at Durham’s office preoccupied with thoughts of Luke. During what had seemed an interminably long drive to Pine Run, Jennifer had found Luke’s following behind her in his marked sheriff’s vehicle both reassuring and unnerving. Reassuring because he could give her a lift if her car broke down. Unnerving because of the powerful emotions he generated in her, feelings that ran the gamut from anger and hurt to love and desire. With relief, she’d waved him away after pulling in front of the car dealership, hoping she’d have a few hours without emotional turmoil before she’d have to face him again on the ride home.

Durham’s office was on the second floor of the building overlooking the courthouse, and reached by a steep set of interior stairs whose treads were scooped with wear. Not surprising, since the plaque on the corner of the building indicated the clapboard structure had been erected in 1903. The stairway opened onto an upstairs hall, with Durham’s office on the right behind an opaque glass door with his name and Attorney at Law in gilded letters.

Jennifer entered the reception room, where an attractive blond woman with ringlets massed atop her head pecked at a computer keyboard. A glance at the stack of bridal magazines on the corner of her desk clued Jennifer to the fact that the typist must be Cassie Lou Carwise, the woman rumored to be engaged to Luke.

Jennifer’s heart sank at the woman’s attractiveness, before she reminded herself she wasn’t in competition with Cassie Lou. She had lost that contest years ago.

She scrutinized the paralegal carefully, searching for some imperfection in the blonde’s appearance, but found none. No wonder Luke was interested. When Cassie Lou lifted her head and greeted Jennifer, her voice and smile were friendly and seemingly genuine. She ushered Jennifer into Durham’s office and closed the door behind them.

Durham, a short, squat man looking nothing like the rodeo rider she had imagined, except for his craggy, sun-weathered face, came from behind his massive oak desk to shake her hand and wave her into a seat.

When he returned to his own chair, Jennifer noted the wall behind the desk, filled with Durham’s law degree, membership certificates for the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce, and a graphic painting depicting the massacre at the Little Big Horn, with George Armstrong Custer crouched beneath the standard of the Seventh Cavalry, surrounded by fallen troops and rampaging warriors, pistol drawn in futile self-defense.

“The will is straightforward,” Durham said, handing her a copy. “You are the only beneficiary to the trust. Everything is in order.”

“Is this all?” she asked, staring at the single sheet of paper in dismay.

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