Lace & Lassos Read online

  Wayne glanced at Kaitlyn and she gave a nod. “Come on up,” Wayne said as they stepped aside so that the sheriff and Harold could join them on the porch.

  “Sheriff Cooper, this is Kaitlyn Barrett.” Wayne introduced them. “Kaitlyn, Sheriff Dan Cooper.”

  The sheriff took off his western hat and held it under the clipboard under his arm so that he could offer his hand to Kaitlyn. “Ms. Barrett,” he said.

  Kaitlyn took his hand. He had a firm handshake and nice green eyes.

  Harold stood back a ways, a self-satisfied smirk on his face, and the dread in Kaitlyn’s belly grew.

  “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances,” Sheriff Cooper said. “But unfortunately this isn’t a social call.”

  Kaitlyn managed to stand still, her chin tilted up. “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”

  The sheriff took the clipboard and removed the rain protection then handed the clipboard to Kaitlyn.

  “This is the deed showing that John Barrett owns this house and all of the lands it’s on,” the sheriff said. “When your father died, everything reverted back to John. You can petition a court if you want, but I’ve seen these before.”

  “No.” Kaitlyn shook her head as she looked at the deed, but it was there in black and white. George H. Barrett and John J. Barrett, with right of survivorship. “This can’t be right.” Kaitlyn looked at the sheriff. “I know that everything was divided up between them.”

  “I’m sorry.” The sheriff took back the document. “But I have to ask you to be out of the house in the next five days. Unless I see something different from a court, I have to enforce the trespassing laws.”

  “But don’t you take any of our grandma’s things.” The look in Harold’s eyes was hateful. “Like I told you before, none of it is yours.”

  This couldn’t be real. It was a dream. An awful, awful dream.

  “The fact is,” Kaitlyn said, her hands clenched at her sides, “I have the will. You can say what you want about the house and you haven’t heard the last word on that. But the fact is everything in that house was my daddy’s and he left it to me. You try to take any of it and I will have you arrested.”

  Wayne took the clipboard with the deed from Kaitlyn’s hands and looked it over. His expression was grim as he handed it back to the sheriff.

  “Five days.” Harold spit over the side railing before he looked back at Kaitlyn. “You’ve got five days to get out.”

  It was obvious that the sheriff felt for Kaitlyn. “I am sorry ma’am, but I have to enforce the law. I hope you understand.” Then he looked over at Harold. “I will warn you right here and now, Mr. Barrett. Unless you have something proving what’s in that house is rightfully yours, I will arrest you for theft.”

  The sheriff put his hat back on, touched the brim as he acknowledged Kaitlyn again then shook Wayne’s hand before he turned and walked back down the front porch steps.

  Harold sidled after him, giving one more hateful look to Kaitlyn and Wayne before he headed down the stairs after the sheriff.

  Nearly numb with shock, she turned around and walked back into the house.

  Wayne followed her and when the door was closed he took her in his arms.

  She tried to step away but he held her too tight. “I will deal with this.” Her voice sounded strained. A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. “You needn’t be bothered with it.”

  “I will be with you.” He ran his thumb along her wet cheek. “You had better get used to me because I’m here to stay.”

  She rested her face against his chest. She hadn’t wanted to admit it, but she needed him. The fact that he would be there for her helped lighten the weight on her shoulders.

  “I’ll call our family’s attorney.” Wayne pushed her hair behind her ear. “He’s a good man. Sharp. He can help us.”

  “What if he can’t?” She could barely speak above a whisper. “What if there’s no way to prove that this house and the property belonged to Daddy and now belongs to me?”

  “We’ll figure something out.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Just know that I’m here for you, every step of the way.”

  Chapter 7

  The rain-washed sky greeted Kaitlyn the next morning along with a sense of dread. She was losing the house. She had just over four days to move out of her home unless she could prove that it belonged completely to her father.

  Yesterday afternoon Wayne had called his family’s attorney but the attorney had been in court and couldn’t meet with her until this morning.

  Just as she was ready to go to town, Wayne’s truck came up her driveway and her heart seemed to skip a beat as he pulled up. She grabbed her purse, stepped out on the porch, locked the door behind her, and then went down the stairs to meet him.

  The ground was soft from the rain, but at least it wasn’t raining any longer. She wore a flowing skirt of metallic browns and greens and a brown blouse that went with it along with flat shoes.

  When she reached Wayne, he brought her into his arms for a kiss. His lips were warm and she inhaled his masculine scent. A thrill went through her belly.

  “Ready to see the lawyer?” He took her by the elbow and guided her to the passenger side.

  It felt good to have someone with her, supporting her, taking care of her even. Over the years she had always been the one to support and take care of others. She had never minded. But now she needed to be able to rely on someone and she was grateful for Wayne.

  She climbed in, arranged her skirt, and then he closed the door. “I keep thinking that I’m going to wake up and this will all have been a dream,” she said after he climbed in on the driver’s side. “That I’m not about to lose my home.”

  He reached over and squeezed her hand as he gave her a smile of support. “The lawyer will help us figure things out.”

  She nodded and clasped her hands in her lap to give them something to do.

  Now she recognized that a part of her had thought that going back home would be good for her. The part of her that remembered the good times and the family that had taken her under their wings, the Camerons. All of the good feelings from her childhood had been wrapped around her life with the people who had treated her like she was part of their family.

  The depression had told her otherwise, but now she knew better. Home was the place she’d known deep inside that she needed to be.

  But she was losing her home and that would take away her happy place…

  “What are you thinking about?” Wayne asked as she looked out the passenger side window.

  She brought her gaze to him. “Mostly how different this is turning out than I’d hoped it would. I thought this would be a place to heal. A place to come back to and learn to live again.” A heavy sadness settled on her shoulders. “But now… All of that is being ripped away from me.”

  “Hey.” He reached across the seats and grabbed her hand. “No matter what, you have me and you have the rest of the family behind you. You will never be alone or without a home as long as we are here. The Cameron family has been here since this valley was first settled. We’re not going anywhere.”

  The conviction and determination in his tone gave her a comforting feeling she hadn’t had before.

  “Thank you.” She smiled. “For everything.”

  “Aunt Grace wants to know when you’re coming for a visit like you’d talked about with her at the party.”

  “I’ve missed her.” Kaitlyn smiled. “She was like a mother to me after my own mama died.” It had been when they were almost out of grade school.

  “Remember first grade?” He gave her a quick grin. “In those days you wouldn’t have anything to do with me.”

  She sniffed. “What do you expect when you put grasshoppers down my shirt and mud pies decorated with worms in my lunchbox?”

  “Just wanted your attention.” He winked. “You were so damned cute.”

  “You sure had a way of showing it.” She sh
ook her head but couldn’t hold back a smile. “Of course I always got even.”

  “But then it would be my turn to trump you,” he said.

  She laughed. “But I always came out on top.”

  He grinned. “Those are fightin’ words.”

  “Truce.” She held up her hands. “No grasshoppers and no mud pies.”

  “All right.” He laughed. “For now.”

  “Just remember that I don’t just get mad, I get even.” She gave him a devious smile. “Ever have grasshopper pie? I think I have a recipe.”

  He made a face. “Okay, okay. You win this round.”

  “Ha.”

  He looked like he was deep in thought for a moment before he spoke. “You used to help Aunt Grace with Danica when she was a baby, after our parents died.”

  “Danica wasn’t even born when I started hanging around you Camerons.” Kaitlyn smiled. “Your parents died right after Danica was born, didn’t they?” She tilted her head to the side. “Aunt Grace moved in with you all and she let me play with the baby. She was like a little doll I was allowed to play with. She was so cute.” She narrowed her eyes at Wayne. “Unlike the rest of you.”

  Wayne laughed. “Hard to compete with a cute little doll like Danica.”

  The drive was about forty minutes and it went by quickly enough as they talked.

  When they reached the lawyer’s office, they didn’t have to wait too long until they were ushered in to meet with Mr. Drake. They shook hands with him then seated themselves in front of his desk.

  “Nice to meet you, young lady,” Mr. Drake took off his glasses as he looked at Kaitlyn. “My assistant explained to me that there is an issue of ownership of the ranch you inherited from your father, George Barrett.”

  “Yes.” Kaitlyn nodded. “My cousin claims that the house belongs to his father, John Barrett.”

  “I had my assistant pull the public record on the property in question.” Mr. Drake sighed as he put on his glasses and picked up a piece of paper. “This is a copy of the recorded documents I had her pull. I’m afraid that it does show the property is to go to John Barrett should George Barrett pass on.”

  A cold chill passed through Kaitlyn and she shook her head. “Something’s wrong. I remember clearly when everything was divided up between my daddy and Uncle John when grandma passed on. They made a deal between themselves that the house and the ranch lands belonging to the Rocking B went to my daddy. Other ranchlands and a greater portion of cash went to Uncle John.”

  “If they did sign an agreement dividing the property, it was never recorded.” Mr. Drake took off his glasses again and studied Kaitlyn. “If you can locate legal documentation that shows what you’re saying is true, then this problem will all go away.”

  Kaitlyn bit the inside of her lip, trying to digest what the lawyer was saying.

  “What is your Uncle John saying about this?” Mr. Drake asked.

  “Nothing. He’s in a nursing home with dementia, I’m told.” She swallowed. “I don’t know where to start.”

  Mr. Drake looked thoughtful. “Do you know who the attorney was who worked with your father in the past?”

  “No.” Kaitlyn shook her head. “But if he used one, he would probably have that information in his files. Though it has been, it appears, almost twenty-five years.”

  “Where are the other parcels that your uncle kept?” Drake asked as he brought out a large map. “Here are land plats of the area. Are you able to point out the parcels?”

  Wayne pulled his chair closer to the desk and looked at the plat. “I believe that I can do so more easily than Kaitlyn can, sir.”

  The attorney pushed the plat map across the desk for Wayne to study.

  Drake spread his hands out in front of him as he looked at Kaitlyn. “Did your father have a safe?”

  Kaitlyn frowned as she considered his question. “I didn’t run across one when I moved in and I don’t remember ever seeing one in the house over the years. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one, I suppose.”

  “Yes,” the attorney said. “Search and maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

  Wayne pointed to the maps. “Kaitlyn’s uncle’s property includes this small tract of five acres where the ranch house is and it’s surrounded by the large tract.”

  Drake looked over the map as he spoke to Kaitlyn. “So your daddy’s property and this property were not joined, is that correct?”

  “That’s true.” She gave a nod. “There was a ranch in between the properties that my grandfather always wanted that he was never able to get, so they were not joined. When Daddy and my uncle made their deal, my uncle built a house on his property. He got the larger property from my dad—that was in part because my dad got the nice house.”

  “Just a minute.” The attorney stood and began to walk out of the office. “I want my assistant to look up these parcels you pointed out.”

  Wayne put his hand on Kaitlyn’s which were clenched in her lap. “It will all work out, Kait, honey.”

  Kaitlyn was holding back tears and looking out the window, and she shook her head. “Nothing is going right. Nothing.”

  The lawyer returned and seated himself. “She will have that record in a few minutes.” The lawyer studied Kaitlyn. “How much time before you are forced to move out?”

  “Four more days.” She pushed hair out of her face. “Only four days to get my belongings out and find someplace else to live.”

  “Don’t worry.” Wayne put his hand over hers. “You have options.”

  She didn’t say anything. He was telling her without actually saying it that she could move in with him.

  Moving in with Wayne wouldn’t be right for any number of reasons including her depression and her independence. When she’d left her ex, she’d promised herself she wouldn’t be financially or otherwise dependent on any man again. When she had inherited her father’s property, she knew it would be the right thing, to move back to the San Rafael Valley and take over the ranch.

  But here she was, close to losing everything.

  “Also, here is the will my father left.” Kaitlyn pulled the document out of her purse. “You can see where my daddy gave the house to me. Clearly, he thought the house was his.”

  Drake took the pages and studied them.

  “Also,” Kaitlyn continued, “in the will my father left all furniture and other effects in the home to me. My cousin, who’s challenging me on the property, believes that he’s entitled to my grandmother’s things that are in my father’s home.”

  “There’s an easy answer to that,” Drake said. “The fact that the items were in your father’s possession tells the world that legally those things belong to you.”

  After a few minutes, Drake’s assistant, a large woman in a black business skirt and animal print blouse, walked into the room. She handed some papers to the attorney.

  “Thank you, Barbara,” Drake said.

  Barbara turned and left the office as Drake studied the papers she’d handed to him. After a moment, he looked up and said, “It appears the change of ownership was made, as your uncle’s property is titled to him only. It will take some time to order a full title report and get the chain of title, but for whatever reason, it appears that your father’s tract was never recorded. You need to search and try to find any documents which might not have been recorded. Do you have the original will from your grandfather, leaving the land to both your uncle and your father?”

  “I don’t know.” Kaitlyn frowned. “I’ll look through his papers. He had files that I will go through.”

  “Yes,” Drake said, “You must do that. It might be your only chance at keeping your father’s property. There are some things we can do to go in and fight it, but without your uncle able to tell us anything and your father gone and no documents to the contrary, you will not be able to keep the property.”

  Drake continued, “I would like to file an immediate injunction to delay the eviction. It will give you time to find
papers if they are there, and if necessary it will give you time to move,” he said. “I know the right people and can get this done right away. I believe I will have an answer by Friday and I will try to get a hearing on this, which will allow you to live there until the matter is heard.” He shook his head. “Without further documentation, however, you really don’t have a chance. We can only try and delay the process.”

  “I would like to do that,” Kaitlyn said.

  “All right. This is the business side of it. I will need a retainer of two thousand today. My fees are $375 per hour,” Drake said. “I have an appointment that I must get to however, but if that works for you, I will have you sign some papers that Barbara will have for you in a few minutes.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Drake. That sounds fine.” Kaitlyn pushed back her chair and stood. Both men stood with her. She held out her hand to the attorney and he took it. “I will look until I find whatever it is that proves the ranch belongs to me.”

  She said the words as if positive she would find what she’d be looking for. Inside she wasn’t so positive at all.

  After he shook hands with the lawyer again, Wayne stayed close to Kaitlyn as they walked out of the lawyer’s office and into the waiting room.

  Once they had signed the necessary papers with Barbara, Wayne escorted Kaitlyn from the building. He kept his palm at her lower back as they walked out of the building and headed toward his truck, and then he helped her up before going to the driver’s side and climbing in.

  “There has to be something.” Kaitlyn clenched her hand on her knee as he started the truck. “They wouldn’t have made that kind of deal without something in writing, would they?” She asked the question more to herself than Wayne.

  She frowned then continued. “My daddy was a smart man. He wouldn’t have done anything based on a few words and a handshake, even with his brother. The fact that Uncle John’s parcel was transferred correctly, and that Daddy’s wasn’t, tell me it was a mistake. Uncle John would not have done anything devious.”

  Wayne put the truck into gear and backed up. “Something doesn’t sound right.”