“That’s a lot to ask of you, isn’t it?” Donovan asked quietly.
Bas shook his head. “Not when I think about what Jim did for me that summer.”
For a long moment the room was quiet and then Morgan said, “Talk about perfect timing. At least now you know what you’ll be doing for the next three months.”
Bas met the gazes of his three brothers. “Yes, it most certainly looks that way, doesn’t it?”
Chapter 1
“And there’s absolutely nothing that can be done to overturn Dad’s request, Jason?”
Jason Kilgore wiped the sweat from his brow. Over the years his office had survived many things. There’d been that fist fight between a couple who’d been married less than five minutes, and that throwing match between two land owners who couldn’t agree on the location of the boundary lines that separated their properties.
But nothing, Jason quickly concluded, would remotely compare if Jocelyn Mason took a mind to show how mad she was. Oh, she was pretty upset; there was no doubt about it. She had already worn a path in his carpet and the toe of her booted foot seemed to give the bottom of his wingback chair an unconscious kick each time she passed it.
“There isn’t anything you can do other than to offer to buy out your sister and Mr. Steele,” he finally said. “Have you spoken to Leah about it?”
“No.”
Jason knew that in itself said it all. Jocelyn and Leah had always been as different as night and day. Jocelyn, at twenty-seven, was the oldest by four years and had always been considered a caregiver, someone who was quick to place everyone else’s needs before her own. She also believed in taking time out and having fun, which was why her name always came up to spearhead different committees around town.
Responsible Jocelyn eventually became the son Jim Mason never had, although he had tried to balance that fact by sending her each summer to visit an aunt in Florida whose job was to train her how to comport herself like a lady. Jason had seen her dressed to the nines in satin and sequins at several social functions in town, and then on occasion, he would run into her in Home Depot wearing jeans and a flannel shirt with a construction work belt around her waist. Jocelyn had managed to play both roles—lady and builder—while working alongside her father in the family business, Mason Construction Company.
Then there was Leah.
Jason readily remembered Leah as being one rebellious teenager. After her mother had died when she’d turned thirteen, Leah had become a handful and had given Jim plenty of sleepless nights. She had hated living in Newton Grove and as soon as she turned eighteen, she couldn’t wait to leave home and abandon what she perceived as a dominating father, an overprotective and bossy older sister, and a boyfriend who evidently had been too country to suit her taste. Her return visits over the years had been short and as infrequent as possible. But she had come for the funeral and it was a surprise to everyone that she hadn’t left town yet.
“Do you know of Leah’s plans? Do you think she’s going to stay?”
Jocelyn shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows? She’s welcome to stay as long as she wants. This is her home, too, although she’s never liked it here. You know that. But Leah is the least of my worries now since I believe I can buy her out. What I want to know is why Dad thought this Sebastian Steele deserved a fourth of the company.”
It was Jason’s turn to shrug. “I told you what your father said to me, Jocelyn. One summer this guy Steele worked for him. They became close, and leaving him a part of the company was a way to let Steele know how much your father thought of him.”
Jocelyn turned with fire in her eyes, placed her hands palm down on Jason’s desk and stared at him. “Why this Steele guy and not Reese? If anyone deserved a part of the company it’s Reese,” she said, speaking up for her father’s foreman.
Jason blew out a breath. Jocelyn had finally gone into a rant, and was definitely in fighting mode now. “He did leave Reese Singleton a substantial amount in his will,” Jason reminded her.
“Yes, but it wasn’t part of the company.”
“Jim had his reasons. He thought a lot of Reese and hoped the money he left him would set him up in his own business.”