Much Ado About Mavericks Read Online Free Page B

her?”
    “Mrs. Lawrence must not marry or consort with any man for five years.”
    “Five years!”  She shot to her feet.  “Clean up those crumbs, little man.  And remove your person from my home.”
    Suzanne hurried out of the room and returned with the carpet sweeper.  “I’ll clean it up.  He can leave now.”
    Ben held up his hand, palm out.  “Now, ladies, let me deal with this.  Everyone sit down.”  He waited until they had complied, all three women looking armed and dangerous.  He felt the same way, but Callison was only a pawn in his father’s plans.  “Let me read the document myself.”
    The lawyer handed the will to Ben.  He studied it a few minutes, then gave it back.  “So Harley Blacker inherits the Bar El and the Circle J if all these stipulations aren’t met?”
    Callison nodded, still trembling.  “That’s right.”
    Ben knew something was amiss because his father hated Harley Blacker.  Blacker’s son, Peter, was the same age as Ben and they’d gone through grammar school together.
    “How much schooling have you had, Callison?”
    “I went through the tenth grade.”
    “And how many times have you read the Idaho Territorial Estate Law?”
    “Enough.”
    “Not enough.  This thing is such a joke, any judge would laugh himself to death.”  He turned his attention to Jake, who looked fit to kill.  “I’ll see that you get the title to your ranch.  You worked for it, you should have it.”
    “Thanks.”  She stood.  “If you don’t mind, I’m getting back to my chores.”  It wouldn’t have mattered if they did mind, because she’d loped halfway out the door before she finished her sentence.
    Ben patted his mother on the shoulder.  “Ma, Suzanne, I’m going to challenge this will.  When we win, we’ll sell off and you two can split the money.  If you want, I can invest it for you.  Meantime, as I already said, I’m taking you both to Boston .”
    His mother had a pained expression on her face.  “Suzanne can go, but I have all my friends here.  I’ll stay.”
    “I’m staying, too!” Suzanne said, jamming her hands on her hips.
    He saw that he had some convincing to do, but when they got to Boston , they’d have a good life.  “We’ll work that out in private.”  He turned to the lawyer, who busily crammed papers in his satchel.  “I’ll take a copy of all those.  You did bring copies, didn’t you?”
    “Uh, no.”
    “Then I’ll take the originals and have copies made for you.  Suzanne has excellent handwriting.”
    “I, uh, can’t release these documents until the terms of the will are met.  Ezra, er, Mr. Lawrence stipulated that.”
    “So, he expects you to break the law for him, does he, even after he’s dead?”
    “Break the law?”
    “Go ask the district judge.  Meantime, we’ll be bringing proceedings against you.”  He handed Callison his hat.  “Goodbye, Mr. Callison.”
    The lawyer scurried out, leaving Ben with one teary-eyed young woman, and one middle-aged woman angry enough to melt rock. 
    He patted his mother on the shoulder.  “Let’s not get too worried.  I’ve won cases much more complicated than this.  Anyone who knows how to read and write can call himself an attorney.  Callison might be able to read but he sure can’t write and he most certainly doesn’t understand the intricacies of estate law—none of these stipulations are allowable.  That’s why we’re working on establishing a bar.  Shysters like him won’t be able to take money from naïve clients anymore.”
    Frowning, Suzanne asked, “So you won’t work the ranch?”
    He shook his head, exasperated.  “Now, why would I want to do that?  I spent four years at Harvard reading the law and now I enjoy a large and profitable practice in Boston .  I don’t have time to play cowhand.” 
    She didn’t look the least bit convinced, so he gave her a hug and explained, “Working a ranch doesn’t fit into my plans professionally