Mist on the Meadow Read Online Free Page A

gone?”
    Ralph nodded. “The patient dies, but
friendships last forever.” He smiled. “I’ll keep in touch,
Wolf.”
    The front door swung open and Uncle Pete
appeared in the foyer. He scowled at Ralph and then turned his
attention on Wolf. “I heard you met with a lawyer?”
    Here it comes , Wolf thought. No escape
for the inevitable. “He called me .”
    “You’re the grandson. You’d do well to
remember the pecking order around here.”
    “I have no control over her wishes,” Wolf
replied.
    “Meaning what?”
    “Just what I said.”
    Uncle Pete scanned the room. “Where’s the
cat?”
    Wolf considered another scotch, but exhaled a
sigh instead. “He’s gone.”
    “What do you mean ‘gone’?”
    Wolf looked up at his uncle. “Did you want
him?”
    Uncle Pete took a step closer. “What do you
mean he’s gone?”
    Wolf rose from his chair to use his height
advantage. “He has a new home with someone who will take care of
him.”
    “You gave him away?” Uncle Pete shot a glare
at Ralph. “You’re excused. This is a private conversation, unless,
of course, you advised him to give away my grandmother’s show
cat.”
    Ralph raised one eyebrow before he excused
himself.
    “He was pet quality,” Wolf said.
    “The breeders didn’t know that.”
    “The cat had six toes on both its front paws.
Not to mention he was fixed. The breeders would know.”
    “He was still worth some money, even as pet
quality. Am I to understand you gave him away? Free to a good
home?”
    Wolf clenched his jaw. “If you want the money
for him, I’ll pay it. What’s he worth? A hundred dollars?”
    “That’s not the point,” Uncle Pete shouted.
“What else are you going to give away? I’m not sure I trust you to
stay in the house until we can have an estate sale. How do I know
you won’t rob me of my inheritance? Next thing you’ll be telling me
you’ve given that nurse all the silver.” He leaned toward Wolf. “I
think you should run along home now, Wolfie. Leave my mother’s
house to my care.”
    Wolf cringed. “I promised her I’d take care
of things.”
    “Like you took care of her cat?”
    Wolf raised an eyebrow. “Did you want Hex?”
he repeated.
    “I would have sold him back to one of her
breeder friends. The cat was worth money. You can’t hand money away
like that.”
    “Speaking of which, have you scheduled the
inventories at the warehouse?”
    Uncle Pete took two steps closer, his hands
tightened into fists before he stopped. His face turned an
unhealthy shade of red and the set of his jaw told Wolf he held
something back. What could he say?
    “If you want to worry about the family
fortune, I’d suggest you start with the family business,” Wolf
said.
    “As her only living child, I’m sure I will be
the executor of this estate, and as such, I’m asking you to leave
my mother’s house now.”
    “One big, happy family, eh?” Wolf relaxed
into a lazy smile. “The lawyer who called me? Yeah. Grandma made me
the executor. That means I’m not going anywhere.”
    Uncle Pete’s eyes grew large. “You’re
lying.”
    “Why would I do that?”
    “There must be a mistake.”
    And you made it , Wolf thought. He
produced the card the slimy lawyer had handed him. “Call him. Ethan
Wilder, III, Esquire.”
    His uncle grabbed the card from Wolf’s hand.
The pulse in Uncle Pete’s temple throbbed and Wolf pictured his
uncle clutching his chest and keeling over. Uncle Pete was at least
fifty pounds overweight, all of it around his middle. He narrowed
his eyes at Wolf once more. “Don’t give anything else away without
asking me first, do you understand?”
    Wolf raised his hands. “I’m not interested in
the money, Uncle Pete.”
    “She wouldn’t do this. Not to her only living
son,” Uncle Pete muttered. “I’ll contest the will.”
    “We can settle the estate long before you get
to court.” Wolf grabbed one of Uncle Pete’s shoulders and commanded
his attention. “I’m not