“I can’t tell you who,” Kyle said and hung up.
His next call was to Stephen.
“Tell me my uncle is going to be locked up for good,” he demanded.
“We’re working on it,” Stephen said.
“Damn it, can’t you just let me know about my father’s wishes?” he growled.
Stephen was silent. “Not until…” The man sighed heavily. “Your father’s wishes are clear. I’m not allowed to read the will until certain criteria are met or until Christmas morning.”
“Fine.” Nick stood up and started pacing. “What happens if my uncle gets control of this place and then goes to jail?”
Stephen was quiet for a moment. “The property would default to his son.”
“What happens if I gain control of the property, and something were to happen to me? Like… I get shot in the town square.”
“The property would default to your uncle, unless you have a will in place that says differently,” Stephen answered.
“Can I draw up a will without knowing the outcome of my father’s will?” Nick asked.
“You can draw up a will anytime you want,” Stephen answered.
“Then do it,” Nick said.
“I’ll draw it up after you answer a few standard questions. I can head out your way in about an hour for you to sign it. I’ll bring a notary.”
“Fine,” he said and then answered all of his lawyer’s questions as he paced the floor of his father’s office.
After getting off the phone with Stephen, he left the dogs in the house and finished his errands around his property.
When Stephen and the notary showed up, he went over the paperwork and signed what he needed before heading over to check on Kara’s animals.
He’d finished mucking out the stalls and had let most of the animals back into the barn. He was working with Wilbur when he heard a noise behind him.
Before he had a chance to spin around, something heavy hit him just behind his left ear, causing his world to go dark.
He woke in the darkness to the sound of screaming. The high-pitched sound pierced his ears and caused everything to spin as he threw up the lunch he’d eaten earlier. When his throat was clear, the smell of smoke suddenly hit him.
His vision was blurry as he reached around, trying to figure out where he was. The screaming continued and he realized it was Wilbur, the pig. His high-pitched squeals caused Nick’s head to hurt so much, he had to cover his ears as he stumbled around in the darkness.
There was a wall of fire behind him and to one side, so he turned away from it and walked into the darkness of the smoke on the other side of the room.
The smoke had grown so thick, he couldn’t tell where he was. When he reached out, trying to find a wall, his hands came away from his head soaked with blood. He stared down at it as if it was the strangest thing he’d ever seen.
Then, suddenly, the squealing stopped, and he jerked his head in the direction he’d last heard it. “Wilbur?” he called out, wincing as the sound of his own voice caused his head to spin. The loud ringing in his ears drowned everything else out after that.
He moved slowly through the smoke and almost fell down the ladder that led up to the hay loft. When he noticed a pillar of smoke rising through the barn roof, he slowed down even further.
He was in the loft. How had he gotten up there?
He took each rung slowly, afraid he’d fall or the flames he’d just left would follow him.
When his feet hit the ground, he saw a dark figure standing just inside the barn doors. Smoke billowed around her as she held the reins to a spooked horse who was fighting her and standing on its back legs. Her jacket was wrapped around the horses’ face, shielding its eyes from the smoke and flames. The horse had to trust and rely solely on its human.
Kara. Kara was risking her life for the animals.
Then Wilbur’s loud squealing started up again. He was standing just outside the door of the pig’s pen. He looked over and could just make out the large pig. He reached out and yanked open the gate. The pig didn’t need any encouragement and bolted towards freedom, almost causing Nick to topple over.