mighty neighbor.”
“In what way?” Jenny knew very little of what Eli was telling her. Years ago, her dad had simply told her Hawk had needed a mentor and a safe harbor.
“Judge Caldwell was using his juvenile court to staff his ranch, and some of the kids were getting a little too beaten up working for him.”
“He was abusing them?”
“That was never said, but Tom believed he was staging fights between the boys to toughen ‘em up, or some such load of bull. Judge Caldwell was an asshole.”
“That’s terrible!”
“Yeah— your dad didn’t like it, either. He helped Hawk get out of there, then threatened to go to the authorities if George didn’t stop using the boys that came through his juvenile court that way.”
“So what’s the problem now?”
Eli stared out the front window of the truck at Hawk and Brad. “Been some problems at the ranch lately, and Hawk thinks Brad has something to do with them.”
“Problems? What kind of problems?” Tom hadn’t ever mentioned problems.
“The kind that cost money and time,” Eli gave her a grimace. “Hell, honey, you need to talk to Hawk ‘bout this. I’m not the one to tell ya.”
∞∞∞
J ack Higgins had been her father’s attorney and friend for as long as Jenny could remember. He’d been at the funeral, and Jenny had talked to him briefly then. In the her father’s study, the lawyer sat behind Tom Fletcher’s big oak desk, while Jenny sat in one of the leather arm chairs in front of the desk. The one beside her was empty for the moment as Hawk paced restlessly behind it.
It quickly became apparent that their attorney was familiar with the will. Jenny watched both Mr. Higgins and Hawk. While listening to the legal introduction, she again wondered if Tom had known of his heart condition when he had the will drawn up. Why else would he have it created so close to his death? It grieved her enormously to think he had borne the knowledge, the fear, and probably the pain alone, instead of letting her share it with him.
Sadly, t here was no way to really know under what circumstances it had been written. Nor did it really matter now. What was done was done. There was no reversing time, and at this point, speculation was useless.
But he had made his final wishes known. Tom had left half of the ranch to her and half to Hawk, but he wanted them to establish a new partnership, patterned off of the one Tom and Hawk had shared.
In accordance with that, Jack Higgins went over the terms of Tom’s partnership agreement with Hawk. The attorney explained there had been an equal division of all the Bar F/Bar L’s land, livestock, outbuildings, machinery, crop production, and breeding program. Everything that had to do with the ranch’s operation and function had been equally shared. All expenses and profits were equally shared. All management and most of the labor had been equally shared, although as Tom got older, Hawk had taken over nearly all of the hard physical labor.
The exemptions to that agreement, made six years ago between the two men, had been the main house, which had been paid off by then and had remained solely in Tom’s name, personal vehicles, which included Hawk’s truck, horse trailer, and airplane, and any personal property, such as Hawk’s horse. The partnership had been straight forward and fairly simple; essentially a fifty-fifty split of most everything.
But all of that had been dissolved by Tom’s death. The attorney went on to explain that the law gave Jenny, as Tom’s heir, and Hawk, as the surviving partner, ninety days to make arrangements with one another before it came in and formally dissolved the partnership.
Tom left his daughter his interest in the partnership, the house, and any of his personal belongings she wanted. The attorney further explained that her interest in the partnership amounted to the monetary value of Tom’s half of the business as determined by what he would have received for it had he
“In what way?” Jenny knew very little of what Eli was telling her. Years ago, her dad had simply told her Hawk had needed a mentor and a safe harbor.
“Judge Caldwell was using his juvenile court to staff his ranch, and some of the kids were getting a little too beaten up working for him.”
“He was abusing them?”
“That was never said, but Tom believed he was staging fights between the boys to toughen ‘em up, or some such load of bull. Judge Caldwell was an asshole.”
“That’s terrible!”
“Yeah— your dad didn’t like it, either. He helped Hawk get out of there, then threatened to go to the authorities if George didn’t stop using the boys that came through his juvenile court that way.”
“So what’s the problem now?”
Eli stared out the front window of the truck at Hawk and Brad. “Been some problems at the ranch lately, and Hawk thinks Brad has something to do with them.”
“Problems? What kind of problems?” Tom hadn’t ever mentioned problems.
“The kind that cost money and time,” Eli gave her a grimace. “Hell, honey, you need to talk to Hawk ‘bout this. I’m not the one to tell ya.”
∞∞∞
J ack Higgins had been her father’s attorney and friend for as long as Jenny could remember. He’d been at the funeral, and Jenny had talked to him briefly then. In the her father’s study, the lawyer sat behind Tom Fletcher’s big oak desk, while Jenny sat in one of the leather arm chairs in front of the desk. The one beside her was empty for the moment as Hawk paced restlessly behind it.
It quickly became apparent that their attorney was familiar with the will. Jenny watched both Mr. Higgins and Hawk. While listening to the legal introduction, she again wondered if Tom had known of his heart condition when he had the will drawn up. Why else would he have it created so close to his death? It grieved her enormously to think he had borne the knowledge, the fear, and probably the pain alone, instead of letting her share it with him.
Sadly, t here was no way to really know under what circumstances it had been written. Nor did it really matter now. What was done was done. There was no reversing time, and at this point, speculation was useless.
But he had made his final wishes known. Tom had left half of the ranch to her and half to Hawk, but he wanted them to establish a new partnership, patterned off of the one Tom and Hawk had shared.
In accordance with that, Jack Higgins went over the terms of Tom’s partnership agreement with Hawk. The attorney explained there had been an equal division of all the Bar F/Bar L’s land, livestock, outbuildings, machinery, crop production, and breeding program. Everything that had to do with the ranch’s operation and function had been equally shared. All expenses and profits were equally shared. All management and most of the labor had been equally shared, although as Tom got older, Hawk had taken over nearly all of the hard physical labor.
The exemptions to that agreement, made six years ago between the two men, had been the main house, which had been paid off by then and had remained solely in Tom’s name, personal vehicles, which included Hawk’s truck, horse trailer, and airplane, and any personal property, such as Hawk’s horse. The partnership had been straight forward and fairly simple; essentially a fifty-fifty split of most everything.
But all of that had been dissolved by Tom’s death. The attorney went on to explain that the law gave Jenny, as Tom’s heir, and Hawk, as the surviving partner, ninety days to make arrangements with one another before it came in and formally dissolved the partnership.
Tom left his daughter his interest in the partnership, the house, and any of his personal belongings she wanted. The attorney further explained that her interest in the partnership amounted to the monetary value of Tom’s half of the business as determined by what he would have received for it had he
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