Chapter 14

Colt drove back to Charlene's rental. He parked then walked down to the beach when he realized he didn't have a key to the house.

"Mama, I don't know what to do?" Colt muttered to no one. The wind almost took his hat off, so he did and held it in his hands rather than have to chase it the way Sam chased steers.

Sitting there and staring at the waves, he dwelled about all the desperate months spent searching for Meri. Remembering how it felt to arrive at her building only to find out she left without leaving a forwarding address. The restaurant she worked at had changed ownership and Chef Carl threatened to serve him for the main course if he ever returned. On the long drive back to Texas, he ached because he loved her, knowing it was more than lust as Cody suggested. It was during that long dark drive home, he admitted to himself that they didn't know each other well enough to have gotten married and vowed to remedy it before signing those damned divorce papers.

"You okay, Colt?" Troy's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"No, I ain't," Colt admitted, then said, "Thanks for saving Meri and the baby."

The tall, lean sailor squatted beside him. "She's a good friend and I love her sister." He picked a few pieces of plastic out of the sand. "Has... Has Meri ever talked to you about Winston?"

"Is he her Uncle or..."

"No." Troy cut off his question, then he swallowed and admitted, "I don't want Charlene to go back to Veil Falls. It's too traumatic for the three of them."

"What do you mean?" Colt turned toward him.

"I should not be telling you this but I can't go with her and I am counting on you to watch over them." Troy stood, then insisted, "Let's go back to my place. I have a lot to tell you before you go with the girls to bury their parents."

"What makes you think I'm going?" Colt rose and dusted the sand off his jeans.

Chuckling, Troy smirked, "Because, like me, you can't help it. You love a DuBois woman. They are amazing and strong,and you'd be a fool to let her go without a fight... Come on. I have cold beer."

~~~~~

When Colt came back to the hospital, Meri noticed that he looked and smelled like he had been sitting on the beach. He didn't say anything as she ate. When she finished, he set her tray aside and took her hand. With his other, he pulled his mother's ring out of his pocket. "Please put this back on and let me come with you. There's a small ranch outside of Valleyview that will board Sam, and I can find some kind of work while you settle up things with your family's estate."

"I don't want you to give up your dream; it's cost us so much already." Meri didn't want to be selfish, so she made herself say those words. She hoped Trina was right and he would always come back, but she knew they had a lot of work to do if they were going to try to work things out.

"It cost me the only things of real value. I chased a buckle and a dream, when I should have stayed to make a life for us." He kissed her hand, then begged, "Please. I don't want us to end like this."

Meri reached out and took the ring from his hand, trying to slip it on her pinky because her hands were swollen. "Take Sam and chase steak tar-tar and I'll be waiting at home with a plate of warm cookies."

"Maybe next year." Colt kissed her, and she felt like her whole body was going to melt into a puddle. "You are all that matters to me right now."

~~~~

"Damn!" Colt gaped at the house and Trina laughed at his expression after he parked. "What's the matter, cowboy, didn't realize you married money?"

"How big is this house?" He demanded. Leighanne got out first and ran to the edge of the drive to look at the falls.

Trina helped Meri out of the truck as Meri listed the assets of her parent's home in her mother's best realtor spiel. "The DuBois Estate features a home of eight thousand square feet. A master suite wing with sitting area, two closets, parent's retreat and double master bath with adjoining closets. Three are five bedrooms and three full baths upstairs. A servant's room with three-quarter turned guestroom downstairs by the kitchen. In addition, there is theoffice, family room, formal living room and dining room, fully finished man-cave in the basement, and a gourmet kitchen that probably hasn't been used since I moved out." She waved her hand to another building. "That is the four-car garage with small shop and storage area, and it has a snow machine bay on the back. There is also a hot tub, steam room, and indoor lap pool in the adjacent building in back, and a mother-in-law cabin that my mother would never let Granny Nina stay in. In the backyard, there is a custom deck with natural stone firepit, grilling area, and path leading to the cross-country skiing trails belonging to the Veil Falls Private Ski Resort."

Colt took her arm and walked with her up the steps, while he gazed out at the view Meri had barely glanced at for her whole life. Coming back toward them, Leighanne gasped, "Holey moley, this place is so beautiful. It's awesome!"

"Now, you know why we couldn't just let it go. It's worth too much. The view of the valley and the falls alone is worth ten million dollars." Meri murmured to Colt. The sisters turned together, watching Catherine Richmond pulling into the driveway in a sportscar.

"Great," Trina muttered as she and Leighanne got their luggage out of Colt's truck.

"Don't get sucked in by the natural beauty. This town is evil," Char muttered as she walked toward the woman she had hated since she was a teenager.

"Hello Charlene, welcome home."

"Thanks for bringing us the keys, Mrs. Richmond."

"And who are that young man and girl?" Catherine asked with suspicion.

Char smirked as she revealed, "That's Meri's husband and sister-in-law."

"When did your sister get married? Are you going to introduce me?"

"Last December and no... Please excuse us. We are going to settle in and get some sleep before the funeral. We'll see you tomorrow," Char practically growled her words at the woman.

"Welcome to Veil Falls, I hope you like our little town," Catherine called out, pretending she was congenial.

Going inside, the three women looked around then Char muttered, "Someone's been in the house and looked through things." Meri move a picture above the foyer table to hang straighter.

"How do you know?" Colt looked around at the immaculate house.

"Trust us, we know," Trina said as she went upstairs and the sisters walked to other rooms.

Meri went straight to their mother's office then walked back to the living room. "The papers on her desk aren't straight and one of the file drawers was cracked open," Meri revealed.

"They've searched the upstairs bedrooms too." Trina's voice echoed from above.

Char came from the back of the house. "Mom and Dad's clothes were pushed together in the closets," Char answered. "The corners of the sheets aren't tucked and the bed skirt's crooked too."

"Maybe the housekeeper quit?" Leighanne asked nervously.

"We were the housekeepers," Char revealed.

"Chuck said that after we left, Dad wouldn't let her have a day maid in except when there was going to be a party," Meri revealed. "Mom wouldn't have let the house get this way."

Coming downstairs, Trina nodded, "Aunt Miranda believed in perfect corners and perfect spacing. My mom said she got a little OCD after she became an alcoholic."

Going into their father's office, Meri opened a panel then tapped in a code. The safe still had money and documents in it. "It's all still here."

Following Char, they went downstairs where she opened the gun safe. They looked at it then each other before Char said what they were all thinking. "I wonder what they were looking for. Nothing seems to be missing."

~~~~

Sitting in the front pew of the church, they had attended their whole lives, Meri, Char, and Trina had never felt less welcome. Three caskets stood together in the front surrounded by flowers. Colt kept his arm around Meri's shoulders. The look on the minister's face and surprised statement when he introduced himself as Meri's husband made Colt want to punch a preacher for the first time in his life. Trina squeezed Meri's hand, sitting on the other side from Colt as they wept silently. Meri dabbed her eyes as Charlene spoke about their little brother with a loving older sister's annoyance and those who knew Chuck laughed sadly.

The drive out to the cemetery was short and Colt admired the view as a few more words were said graveside. Expensive granite headstones for the whole family were already in place, but he scowled at the ones that had his wife and sister-in-law's names and dates of birth on them. Meri's phone beeped and she looked at it before handing it to Trina.

Colt glimpsed a number that was lower than it should be and pulled a protein bar from his suit coat pocket. "Here, darlin'. Eat this."

"Thank you," Meri murmured.

"Do you need to sit down?" Trina asked.

Mrs. Richmond walked toward them with a glare. "Girls, don't eat in the cemetery. There is a dinner at the..."

"Ma'am, my wife," interrupting harshly, Colt emphasized the word wife, "Has gestational diabetes. When her monitor beeps, she must eat. No disrespect to the dead here, but she and our son aren't going to join them here, ever."

Trina stared wide-eyed between the cowboy and the mayor's wife, sucking in her lips to keep from laughing, but Meri apologized, "Colt, it's okay. My apologies, my husband is very protective. My pregnancy is going just like Mom's did when she was pregnant with Chuck. I have to be careful."

"I see. Forgive me. Miranda was my best friend, and she knew nothing about your pregnancy or marriage until Charles' graduation," Mrs. Richmond reminded haughtily.

"Miranda wasn't invited to the wedding, and our lives are none of her or Louis' business and you know why," Char snarled as she walked up with Hank Richmond wearing a deputy uniform.

"Do you have no respect for the dead?" Mrs. Richmond demanded. "You ungrateful..."

"Mother, don't start," Hank warned.

"I will not let them disparage two of the best people in our community on the day of their funeral," his mother snapped at him then walked away.

Murmuring condolences for their little brother, Hank shook his head and hugged each of the DuBois daughters before turning to Colt and holding out his hand, "Hank Richmond."

"Colt King." They shook hands with a firm grip.

"Hank, this is my husband," Meri said softly.

"I know... Mother and Heather were quite put out by the knowledge that Miranda had been misinformed as to your relationship status," Hank revealed as he smirked. "Especially after they went to so much trouble to gossip about it after Chuck's graduation." He shook his head. "I'm really sorry. He was going into the program I just graduated from. We had spent a lot of time together. He was always so happy when one of you called."

"We missed him," Meri admitted as Char and Trina nodded.

They stood in silence as the men started filling in the three graves.

"Are you coming to the ski lodge for the memorial meal?" Hank asked. "Your dad's lawyer, Mr. Pearson will be there."

"Meri needs to go back to the house and rest," Trina insisted.

"We have a meeting with the lawyer tomorrow and then we are selling out and leaving," Char answered hostilely, "So no, we aren't coming to the memorial meal. Your parents are just putting it on for their group."

He scowled but nodded. "I understand. Maybe I'll see you before you leave town. Nice to meet you, Colt. I hope you and Meri are very happy... It's good to see you, Katrina."

"Let's get you back to the truck," Colt insisted as he put his arm around Meri.

"I'm going to put these by Mom's stone," Trina announced, she held the bouquet labeled Layne DuBois.

As they watched them walk away, Trina sighed and looked back toward the valley below then she walked over to put the flowers on her mother's grave. There was a wilted identical bouquet lying in front of the stone.

"Who do you think put that there?" Trina asked in confusion. "Or sent them for the funeral?"

Char picked it up and stared at it. "It's from Blooms & Baubles too. We could ask." She turned it over in her hands. "They're the only florist shop in the valley. It's a block from the police station and city hall so it might have been my dad."

"Why would Uncle Louis do that?" Trina wiped away a tear as she put the bunch of cut calla lilies on the gravestone. "And he couldn't send them after he was dead."

Char shook her head, puzzled. Her father had let his sister's murder go free then had the death declared an accidental overdose. Char knew he was protecting someone, just like he protected Winston. Looking between the wilted lilies and the identical fresh ones, she narrowed her eyes. "Let's go to the memorial dinner after we drop Meri and Colt at home with Leighanne."

"Char, just let it go."

"No... You're right, it wasn't my dad. Someone has a guilty conscience if they sent the same flowers to my dad and mom's funeral with Aunt Layne's name on them." Charlene tore the corners of the papers wrapping the flowers with the florist's sticker on them. "And I am going to find out who."

~~~~

"Hey guys, welcome... home?" Leighanne stared at four angry faces.

"I can't believe they screwed us like that!" Charlene slammed her purse on the counter. "We don't even have access to the money to pay the probate taxes unless one of us stays."

Colt held a bar-height chair for Meri to sit in as Trina went to the bathroom. Meri groaned then reminded, "It's exactly the kind of petty thing Mom would do."

"Five years... fuk!" Char ranted.

"What's going on?" Leighanne murmured to her brother but Colt scowled, "The will reading... Where's Dad today?"

"Abeline, at the sale," she whispered back.

Muttering and shaking her head, Trina came back to the kitchen, having also changed clothes, and began pulling food from the refrigerator and pantry. She started thick rice noodles to boil before violently chopping vegetables as she complained, "I can't believe the witch tied up all of my mom's stuff with it. I can't even sell the bakery to cover the taxes!"

"Are you sure that lawyer Pearson is on the level? This just doesn't seem legal," Colt asked.

"Oh, it's legal, but that doesn't make it right. I know Miranda, she made certain we couldn't sue to overturn it, and that if we just walked away from the house because of the stipulation to not rent it out, we'd all end up bankrupt," Char snarled as she pulled an IPA craft brew from the fridge and handed one to Coltbefore opening one for her and one for Trina. She set a glass of ice and flavored tonic water in front of Meri and a soda for Leighanne.

Leighanne whispered to her brother, and Colt frowned as he offered, "I could call my dad and see how much we have in the hell or high water account."

"Is it enough to pay twenty-eight to forty percent of the value of a twelve and a half million-dollar estate?" Char snapped then at his look, said, "I didn't think so."

"What are we going to do?" Trina bemoaned as she grated ginger, and lemon zest.

"We stay, or rather I stay," Meri announced as she slid off the stool and lifted the wok off the pot rack hook. Going to the sink, she rinsed the dust away as they protested.

"Listen! I am the only one who can. Trina has to get back to school. Char, the Navy. And Colt, you can't miss a year, let alone five, and Leighanne, I love you, but you are not going to high school here. I have nothing, no classes, no job, no life. I'll stay."

"You can't stay by yourself!" Colt argued, "I ain't leaving ya."

"I'll stay with her," Trina offered. "I don't have to get my PhD right away. I can work at the Valley View Clinic, or after the baby comes, Meri and I can reopen the bakery until after then we can sell everything."

"No!" Char slammed her hand on the counter. "This is just another one of Miranda and Louis' fuking games!"

"You know there is no other way," Meri pointed out and Trina nodded as she strained and chilled the rice noodles.

Meri put the wok ring around one burner and turned it on. The wok heated and she began to make Lo Mein for their lunch.

Colt hugged her from behind. "Darlin'?"

"There's no other way," Meri repeated then added, "I won't let my petty parents bankrupt the Lazy K or my sister, cousin, and me. I know we're all pissed, but there's no choice."

~~~~

Meri shifted around trying to get comfortable as Colt drove. She wished Leighanne hadn't had to go back to Texas for the start of school. She hoped the youngest King would be safe driving the twelve hours home.

"We always buy trucks with the biggest passenger cab available, and they are more comfortable than this moving truck." He was tired and worried, Meri could see it.

"Maybe we should have stayed another night in Pueblo," Meri groaned. She regretted insisting they drive immediately back to Veil Falls after picking up Trina's things from Granny Nina's house, but she just wanted to get the move over with. Trina had gone ahead with Char to California for Meri's things from Char's rental.

"We can stop again, if you need to."

"No, I just want to get there," Meri complained. When Colt reached for the radio, she slapped at his hand, "Stop fidgeting with it, you're annoying me. There's no radio stations that work in the mountains."

"I cain't help it. I need music to drive," Colt snarled back. His knee bounced and his grip on the wheel left him white knuckled.

Meri stared out the window for a few minutes before she started squirming again. Her back hurt so much, but his agitation was making her anxiety worse. "Spit it out, Colt."

"Do you think it's okay for Trina to live there? I mean after everything she and your sister went through; I'm surprised she didn't kill herself." Colt sounded worried.

Meri scowled and answered, "Trina is a lot stronger than anyone thinks. She really struggled after Aunt Layne died but she went on to be top of her class. I wonder if Mom and Dad ever figured out we were funneling money from our college accounts to help her so she wouldn't have to work so much."

"What about that boy that was stalking her? Char told Troy who told me how they found Trina's mama. Troy said that your dad was covering up for someone wealthy."

"We think he was." Meri nodded her head. "Seriously Colt, Trina can protect herself and it isn't like Hank was really her stalker, but that's not why we are worried about living at home. There is something wrong in that town. Trust me, it will be worth it if we just wait it out and sell off the house and leave, but I don't want to have anything to do with the people in Veil Falls."

"If you think that's best, darlin'. But... Don't you want to make things better in your hometown?" Colt had that tone he got when he saw injustice. It was something she loved about him, but she knew that community in a way he never would.

"Colt, there's no point. Veil Falls is a lost cause. Those people aren't like others you know." Meri wished she could put the seat flat, instead she turned away from him to stare out the window. It would be almost dinner time when they arrived home. "We can stop and get some groceries before we go to the house. Most of the restaurants are closed on Tuesdays. What do you want for dinner?" Meri tried to change the subject.

"I always like those grilled burgers with queso." Colt reached across and took her hand. "I missed you, Meri."

She blinked back her tears and swallowed angry comment about him leaving her, but she didn't pull her hand away. "I missed you too."

"Get some sleep, darlin'." The tone of his affection made her want to cry or maybe it was just the pregnancy horrormones, or just the horror of having to live in the place she hated most in the world for the next five years.