Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“Maybe. But I think what is more likely is she inherited the estate.”
“Wait. What?”
“Her grandfather seemed to get something degenerative. Can’t find a lot about it. But he was sick for a while. And he died two years back.”
“They’ve been looking for her for two years?”
“Seems like it. Actively.”
I racked my brain, trying to figure out if it was two years back that the guys went from watching Runa to trying to kill her. If so, why?
“Who is the beneficiary if she doesn’t claim it?”
“If they’re still looking, I’d think there is none. It’s Runa, then Runa’s children, most likely. But I can’t find the actual records. I can try to see if someone will click a link that will let me into their system.”
“Yeah, do that. And can you give me the information for the lawyer?”
When I made my way back to the clubhouse, I found Runa sitting beside the pool, her legs in the water. In the pool, a vest-clad Denali was lounged on top of a giant float with a hat, sunglasses, a drink in the cupholder, and eating a multicolor ice pop.
“She looks like a movie star on vacation,” I said as I walked up.
“I know, right? Little diva over there.”
“You guys been in here all this time?” They’d been in the pool for an hour before I’d left. And I’d been gone for nearly three.
“She’s a water bug. Can’t convince her to come out and do anything. Everything alright?” she asked, looking over at me, sensing something off.
“When we can get her occupied, we need to talk.”
“Uh-oh.”
It was right then that Eddie came walking around the back of the house, bags in his hands.
“Eddie!” Denali yelled.
“Easy!” Runa called back as our daughter rocked her float a little too hard.
“Hey, lil’ pip, wanna make tamales with me?”
“Mama?” Denali asked, digging at the water with her little hands, trying to get over to the side.
“Sure,” Runa said as I got the skimmer and used it to pull Denali close so I could lift her out.
Runa pulled off her vest, hat, and sunglasses, and pulled her shorts up her legs.
“You can go get started, but you’ll have to take a break to get changed in a few minutes, okay? Daddy and I just need to talk for a few minutes.”
“Okay!”
Cooking was her new favorite hobby. Eddie was thrilled to have a little protégé.
“God, I love Eddie,” Runa said as we watched Denali run into the house.
“How could you not?” I asked.
“You went to see Arty about Amanda, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Did he get anything?”
“Not on Amanda, no. Can you come over here?” I asked, waving toward the chaise lounges under a large umbrella.
She pulled herself up, and I tried my best not to ogle her when I was about to give her some pretty horrific news. And potentially amazing news.
But, fuck, it had been days since we’d been together. I couldn’t tell if her guards were up and she was purposely using our daughter as a way not to be alone with me, or if Denali was just more around than usual.
Either way, I was dying to get alone time with her again.
But this was not the time.
She tensed as she came over to sit off the side of the chaise, knees nearly brushing mine.
“This is bad, isn’t it?”
“I’m not gonna be good at this. So I’m going to blurt it out.”
“Okay.”
“Your parents and your grandfather have died.”
For a long moment, her face was completely blank, like the information hadn’t quite sunk in yet. Then she blinked. Her brows furrowed.
“What?” She exhaled hard.
“Your parents took a hobby plane up and crashed. A year ago. I’m sorry.”
“A hobby plane? How… how could they afford a hobby plane?”
“That leads me to your grandfather.”
“He’s dead too.” Her tone was stretched tight.
“Two years ago, passed of something that he was sick with for a while.”
“Okay.” She nodded, processing. “Okay,” she said, running her hands over her face and into her hair. “Well, that’s… a closed chapter, I guess.”
“Not quite.”
“How not quite?”
“Arty found most of this out because your name flagged some shit online.”
“What kind of shit?”
“A lawyer looking for you.”
She straightened at that. “From Philly?”
“No, no, babe. From Wyoming. They’re looking for you. Arty is going to try to get more information. But it seems like maybe it has to do with the estate.”
“The ranch?”
“No. Well, yes. But no. I’m not sure it’s still operating as a cattle ranch. Four years back, it seems that rare minerals were found on the property.”
Her eyes widened at that.
“I’m assuming you know what that means? I was pretty in the dark.”
“Yeah, no. I remember when I was young, some guy my grandfather knew found rare earth minerals on his property. Something they used for tech, I think. He built this monstrosity of a home with seventeen bedrooms, even though he lived alone.” She paused. “You think some of his estate might go to me? Because my parents are gone?”