"When I thought I could take no more, you boys were there, giving me strength. I have loved you three with all my heart. That's why I couldn't choose one of you, and that's why I still can't. All I can do is say thank you for loving me back. Don't mourn me. Just remember me. Good-bye, boys. Have a grand life."
Chapter Eight
The television screen wentto snow.
Ben stood and walked to the office window, his shoulders stiff. Jesse stayed seated, his elbows on his knees as he stared down at the floor. Willa remained utterly still, tears running down her face. Sam pulled the knot of his tie apart and slipped the confining silk free of his neck. He rolled it up with slow deliberation, until he'd formed a neat coil that he placed in his jacket pocket.
"He can't really do what he's done, can he?" Willa asked, her stilted voice intruding into the silence.
"He has," Sam said, washing a worried gaze over her. He reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "It will be okay, honey. We'll work it out together."
"I can't get married, Sam. And I can't ever have children."
"You can't let Warren Cobb have Tidewater, Willa," Ben said from the window, not turning around.
"I'd rather destroy it myself than give Cobb the pleasure." He turned to her. "Which is what he'll do. Tidewater will be likeCarthage , with not a stone left standing when he's done."
"Warrenhates Abram that much?"
"He apparently loved Rose that much."
"And thus makes a sixty-year war between friends," Ben said tonelessly, looking at the snowy television.
"Now it's up to us to end the war by winning it."
Spencer cleared his throat and stood up. "I have some papers that need to be signed. I'm sorry to have to do this now, but they're important."
"What are they?" Sam asked.
"Legal transfers of ownership for Rosebriar, the bankbook, and Bram's stocks in Tidewater for Willa to sign."
"What happens if I don't sign them?" she asked, hope in her voice. Spencer appeared startled. "Well, I guess things will sit in limbo for three months. Bills won't get paid, people won't get their salaries, and Tidewater International will erupt into chaos."
"I see."
"Everything's yours, Willa, whether you want it or not," the lawyer explained. "Bram's will is sound. If you're not married to a Sinclair in three months, Bram's shares in Tidewater get sold to Warren Cobb."
"And what about Rosebriar and the bankbook?" she asked, frowning at the stack of papers on the desk Spencer had been sitting at.
"Everything else is yours to keep."
Willa took a shuddering breath. "And mine to give away?"
"That's complicated," Spencer cautioned. "Bram's will specifically states that you may not turn anything over to his grandsons. Not unless you're married to one of them. And you must get pregnant. Only then can you do whatever you want with everything."
"Is that legal? Can Abram bequeath me a gift and then still control it?"
"He can entail the inheritance. You could try breaking it in court, but it would probably stand. Tying legacies to lineage, thus making it contingent on your conceiving, is a time-honored tradition based in ancient law. Families have been doing it for centuries."
"What happens to all of this if something happens to me in the next three months?" Willa asked.
"Nothing's going to happen," Sam snapped.
"But what if it does?" she shot back, raising her chin.
"There are provisions," Spencer quickly replied. "Legally, Bram had to consider that possibility. If something happens to you, Rosebriar and the money will be equally divided among the three grandsons. But the Tidewater shares will still be sold to Warren Cobb."
Sam gave her a lopsided smile. "You're a wealthy woman now. And would marriage really be so bad?"
"My last one was!" she snapped, glaring at him and then turning her glare on Spencer. "Give me the damn papers to sign. I wouldn't want the electricity cut off for nonpayment of the bill."
"Uh-oh. She's mad now," Jesse chirped, walking to the desk. "We'd better be nice to her, guys, or we're liable to be looking for a place to sleep tonight." He gave Willa a daring grin. "You gonna kick us out of your home, little partridge?"
"What is it with this partridge thing?"
Sam shot a warning glare at Jesse.
"It's just something … um, Bram said in one of his memos to the office. He mentioned seeing a partridge where he was staying," Jesse quickly prevaricated.
Willa snorted. "Well, Bram still owes me for the casket."
"I think he's paid you in full, Willa," Ben said with a chuckle, holding the open bankbook out to her. Sam watched Willa read the numbers. "I can't even count all the zeros!"
"Enough to cover the cost of his casket?" Jesse grinned.
Willa slapped the bankbook onto the desk with a crack. "Each and every one of you can go straight to hell." She spun on her heel and stalked away. "And join your grandfather!"
The windows rattled with the force of the slammed door.
"She's in a bit of a snit," Jesse said, picking up the bankbook and letting out a soft whistle. "Most women would be rather pleased right about now." He waved the book at his brothers. "She could buy a small nation with this kind of money."
"Or a husband," Ben speculated. He looked at the door. "Was her first marriage that bad, do you suppose?"
"I don't think marriage is the problem," Sam offered. "Remember last night, when she told us how she was responsible for maiming her niece? She's scared to have children, because she's afraid she might harm them."
"That's right," Spencer added. "Bram saw it. Willamina does have a tendency to … find trouble."
"Only because she's so busy trying to save the world," Sam explained. "She was so worried about doing well for Bram at the board meeting she couldn't even get off the elevator without causing a commotion." Sam turned serious. "Does Warren Cobb know the specifics of the will? Did either you or Bram consider all of the different scenarios?"
"We did. And Warren Cobb is a smart man," Spencer answered softly. "He'll figure it out."
"Then we may have a problem."
"What?" Ben asked, stiffening.
"If Willa doesn't get married in three months to one of us, or if she doesn't get pregnant within fifteen months, or if she dies,Warren wins."
"Cobb wouldn't do anything drastic," Jesse said.
"Sixty years is a long time for hate to fester."
Ben cursed. "Then you shouldn't wait three months to marry her. Unless you'd rather one of us gets the partridge pregnant? I suppose I could volunteer."
"For the good of Tidewater?" Sam asked, stepping toward his brother.
"Tidewater can go straight to hell with Bram, for all I care," Ben said with a laugh. "Just as long as Cobb doesn't get it, I don't care if the whole damn business explodes."
"You seem to be the only one of us kissing Willa," Jesse said, moving between his brothers. "So, what's the problem?"
"There is none!" Sam snapped. "Maybe I'll just ask her to marry me right now. ‘And while you're
signing the marriage license, would you please sign over the Tidewater shares while you're at it?'" he finished scathingly.
"But that's the plan," Spencer piped up.
Sam growled, "Did you or Bram consider how Willa will feel, thinking she's merely a prize? She's going to think I'm marrying her only to get Tidewater."
"But you will be," Spencer pointed out.
"Dammit! It's not the business I want!"
"You'll be getting Willa, too!" Spencer shouted.
"That's enough. Calm down, both of you," Ben said. "We'll figure something out. Together we'll find a way to convince Willa it's her you want."
"You really want her?" Spencer had the nerve to ask.
"Yes," Sam snapped. "And like my brothers, I don't care if Tidewater rots."
"But Bram worked his whole life to build that company."
"He needed it. We don't."