The Black Sheep's Inheritance(14)

Sage stared at her for a long minute as he tried to figure out what she  was up to. But damned if he could see signs of manipulation on her  features.

So he started talking, grateful to be in comfortable territory. He  watched her face as she listened to him, and enjoyed the shift and play  of emotions she made no attempt to hide. But as he told her about his  place, Sage realized something. He wasn't going to be getting the  information he needed tonight. She was either really skillful at turning  the conversation away from her-or she was as sweet and innocent as she  appeared to be. But either way, it was going to take longer than he'd  thought to find out exactly what she knew.

Oddly enough, that thought didn't bother him at all.

* * *

"You can't be serious." Laura Falkner dropped into her favorite chair  and stared up at her daughter as if she'd just sprouted another head.  "Three million dollars?"                       
       
           



       

Colleen drew a deep breath and realized that over the past few days,  she had actually gotten used to the idea of having three million  dollars. Okay, it was still a little weird to know that she wasn't going  to have to worry about paying her cable bill-or anything else. But  she'd finally come to grips with the idea that J.D. had meant for her to  have this. That he'd wanted to help her reach her dreams, and she only  wished that she could look him in the eye and say thank you.

Now, seeing her mother's reaction to her news made Colleen excited all  over again. She was so glad she'd waited a few days to tell her mom.  Colleen had wanted to get everything in order, have her plan set in  stone so her mom couldn't argue with her over any of it. It hadn't been  easy to wait. The past three days had been a whirlwind of activity.  She'd hardly had a chance to really sit down and appreciate just how  much her life had changed.

And thanks to J.D.'s generosity, her mother's life was about to change, too.

Looking around the apartment she and her mom had shared when they first  moved to Cheyenne, Colleen smiled. There were good memories here, but  soon her mother would be making new memories. Enjoying the dreams she'd  always tucked aside. And that pleased her, even though she knew she  would miss her mom being so close by.

"I'm completely serious," Colleen replied, sitting in the chair  opposite her mother. She reached out and took her mom's hands in hers.  "It's all true. I'm going to get my nurse practitioner's license and buy  myself a cabin in the mountains as soon as possible."

"Honey, that's wonderful." Laura pulled her hands free of her  daughter's grasp, then cupped Colleen's face between her palms. "It's  been your dream for so long, having a rural practice." Leaning back in  her chair, she smiled even more broadly. "I'm delighted for you. Of  course I was so sad to hear that Mr. Lassiter had died, but it was so  good of him to remember you."

"It really was." She could see that now and accept J.D.'s bequest for  the gift it was. She didn't care anymore if people talked. As Sage had  pointed out, either way, she couldn't stop them, so why shouldn't she be  grateful to J.D. and enjoy what he'd tried to give her?

Sage.

Just the thought of his name sent ripples of anticipation racing  through her. It had been three days since their dinner together, and the  one-time-only night to talk about J.D. had turned into something more.  Sage had taken her to a movie two nights ago, and last night to a  country-western club for dancing. She still didn't understand why he  wanted to spend so much time with her, but she was enjoying herself more  than she would have thought possible.

Dragging herself away from thoughts of Sage, Colleen focused on what she'd come to tell her mother. "There's more, Mom."

"More?" Laura just blinked at her. "You have financial security. You're about to make your dream job a reality. What's left?"

"Your dreams."

"What?" Her mother had the wary look in her eyes that she used to get when Colleen was a child and up to something.

"You know how you're always talking about moving to Florida to live with Aunt Donna?"

The two sisters were both widows now, and they'd discussed for years  how much fun it would be if they could live together. But neither of  them had been able to afford the move, so it just hadn't been possible.  Until now.

"Yessss..."

"Well, you're going to."

"I'm-" Her mother's mouth snapped shut. "Don't be silly."

"It's not silly." Colleen had it all worked out in her mind. In fact,  since the reading of the will three days before, she'd spent a lot of  time on the phone, talking to lawyers, bankers, real estate agents and  travel agencies. She had wanted every detail clear in her mind before  broaching the subject to her mother. It had all been worth it, too,  because as she started laying out her plans, Laura was dumbstruck.

"I've found a perfect house for you and Aunt Donna. It's gorgeous and  it's in this lovely retirement community outside Orlando."

"You can't do that, you don't have the money yet and-"

Colleen cut her off quickly. "It's amazing how willing banks are to  give you a line of credit based on a lawyer's sworn affidavit that a  will's bequest is coming."                       
       
           



       

"You didn't."

"Oh, yes, I did." Walter Drake wasn't the easiest lawyer to talk to,  but he had assured Colleen that she would be able to draw on her bequest  almost immediately. And he'd gone out of his way to set up the line of  credit with a local bank.

Laura pushed out of the chair and walked the few steps to the narrow,  galley-style kitchen. Busily, she filled a teakettle with water and set  it on the stove, all the while shaking her head and muttering.

"Mom-"

"You shouldn't have done that, Colleen," her mother said, not even  looking at her. She turned the fire on under the kettle, then grabbed  two mugs from a cupboard and dropped a tea bag into each of them. "I  don't want you spending money on me. I want you to have that money to  keep you safe."

Colleen's heart turned over. Her mom was the most unselfish person  she'd ever known in her life. She always gave and never once had she  done anything purely for herself. Well, that was about to change,  whether she liked it or not.

Joining her mother in the kitchen, Colleen gave her a hard hug, then  said, "I couldn't spend all of that money if I tried and you know it."

"Just the same-"

"Mom." Colleen tried another tack. "Getting a house for you and Donna,  so you can live without the snow making your arthritis worse, that makes  me feel great. And, I only put a down payment on it. I would never buy  you a house you haven't even seen."

"I don't like this..."

"You will," Colleen said, hugging her again. "And anyway, if you don't  like the house, we'll find something else. I just thought it would be a  good idea because this community has people to take care of your yard  and watch over your house while you're traveling-"

"Traveling?"

This was so much fun, it was like Christmas morning. Colleen grinned.  "Yes. You're going to travel. Just like you always wanted to."

"Honey, enough. You know I can't let you do this. Any of it." Laura  finally found her voice and naturally she was using it to try to turn  down her daughter's generosity.

"Too late, it's already done." Colleen hurried back into the living  room, grabbed her purse and carried it back to the kitchen. She set it  onto the small round table, slid one hand inside and came back up with a  batch of cruise brochures. Handing them over to her mother, she tapped  her index finger on the top one.

"A world cruise?" Laura dropped into one of the kitchen chairs as if she'd suddenly gone boneless.

"Yes." Colleen really did feel like Santa. A tall, busty Santa with big  feet. "It doesn't leave for another three months, though, so you and  Aunt Donna have plenty of time to get your passports and shopping done,  and I thought we could talk about your moving to Florida as soon as you  get back. Of course, if you'd rather move right away, I understand, but I  don't know that I'm ready to have you leave just yet and..."

She stopped talking when she saw the tears spill from her mother's eyes  and run down her cheeks. "Don't cry. You're supposed to be happy! Did I  mention that you and Aunt Donna are going to be sharing the  presidential suite on your cruise? There are pictures in the brochure.  You have a full balcony. And butler service and twenty-four-hour room  service and-"

Laura choked out a laugh, then lifted one hand to her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief.