Page 30 of Honoring Freedom
“I’m just saying that I’ve noticed that Liberty hasn’t been coming to any of the staff meetings. Is that what this is about?" Justice asked Sam. "I think if one person has to do something, then everyone should have to do something."
“I’m glad you feel that way, Justice, because this will involve each of you.” Sam suddenly seemed interested in a paper clip. “I’ve had Joseph Render draw up a new will.”
“You must keep your attorney busy if you have him draw up a new document every time you purchase a new property. We all know how detailed you are,” Hope said flippantly.
He grinned wryly as he rolled the paper clip between his fingers, hesitating. “I had him adjust the terms slightly. If something would happen to me, or within a year, whichever comes first, any of my unmarried daughters will not receive their one-fifth share of Sagebrush Rose Ranch.”
Freedom blinked. Obviously, she hadn’t heard him correctly. Clearing her throat, she chose that moment to speak up because the cat had carried away her sisters’ voices. “Excuse me. I must have misunderstood. Did you say that we will be excluded from the will?”
“No,” he muttered.
She smiled. “Oh, so I misunderstood?”
“I said, any of you that are not married within a year, or upon the occurrence of my death, you will not be given any part of my ranch,” he said it with clarity that it sounded bitter.
Freedom bit the inside of her cheek. She glanced at her sisters, and they were stunned into silence, even Liberty. Freedom, who’d never had a voice before, stood up. “Wait. Isn’t this a bit underhanded to make this move without speaking to us first?”
“I’m speaking to you now.” Sam didn’t appear the least bit ruffled.
“This is ludicrous. You can’t do this.”
“I can and I did,” he said willfully.
“Aren’t any of you going to say something?” Freedom said to her sisters.
“This can’t possibly come as that big of a surprise,” Sam said. “I’ve been a broken record for years asking you girls to follow the ranch rules and you repeatedly continued to do as you please with no thought as to the consequences of your actions. Well, now I’m going to enforce my rights as your father. Seeing that I might never have grandchildren I’m going to make some demands.”
“You can’t force us to marry, or have children,” Justice whined. Her skin color turned from olive to fair, almost matching her silver-blonde hair. “That’s…this…this is cruel.”
He rubbed his eyelids, but the creases remained. “I’m not forcing you to do anything. You still have a choice. I’m not stripping you of that. But if you choose to stay single then you lose any right to the ranch—the very ranch that I’ve dedicated myself to all my life. I’ve had to do things I never wanted to do. Gave up countless vacations. Lost out on celebrations. This place means something to me. It’s not a playground.”
“It means something to me, to all of us,” Hope added.
He swept his gaze from each of them, a frown surfacing on his thin lips. “I can’t say that you each haven’t contributed, but lately some things have been brought to my attention and I have no choice but to draw a line.” He lowered his attention to his hands and when he looked back up his jaw was tight—determined. “You’ll still have the property that your mother left to each of you, the investment properties, money, but notmyranch. It’s my fault as much as it is yours. I see that now. I’ve not been firm enough. There will come a time when I’m no longer here and who will clean up the messes you make?” He must have realized how severe his words sounded because he retreated. “Point is, it’s time each of you started looking toward your future. Find yourselves someone who appreciates you the way that I appreciated your mother.”
“Mom wasn’t forced to marry you. She loved you,” Honor said with a loud groan.
He was quiet for a moment. “It’s not as clear cut as you might think.”
“Then make it clear for us,” Liberty finally said.
His sigh came from deep within his chest. Years of imprisonment. “Your mom was seventeen and I had just turned nineteen. When I saw her, I was infatuated. She had long hair that was so tightly wound into curls she reminded me of a goddess. Yet, I was still thinking like a boy who was so busy searching for the stars that he missed the moon. Your mother got pregnant right after we started seeing each other.”
“Mom got pregnant before you were married?” Freedom said. It wasn’t a big deal, but hearing her father divulge the history caught her by surprise.
After a pause, he nodded. “Her father, as firm as a new leather saddle, came to my house and looked me dead in the eyes. He said, ‘Son, marry my daughter or pick the hole you’d like to be buried in.’ You know which choice I made. Hell, I’m not saying that I didn’t love your mother. Like I said, she was the moon that shaped my tides. But I wasn’t a saint, and I had no desire to settle down. I had life by the horns. I learned though that your grandpa was a smart man. He saw something in me, in your mother and I together, that it took some time for me to appreciate. With patience and kindness, I fell for your mother so hard I never had to search for another star because she was the brightest light. There was never anyone who compared or captured my attention after I grew brains. I vowed that I’d love her until the end…” there was a hitch in his voice. “and I did. Still do.”
“That’s a romantic story, but not everyone is as lucky as you and Mom were,” Honor said in a lighter tone. “Marriage doesn’t make all people happy.”
“Do you think that’s the moral of the story?” he huffed.
“Yes,” Freedom and Liberty answered at the same time.
“Too bad. One day you’ll understand. That’s what I’m relying on. You girls have made your beds now lie in them,” he said with a snort, his expression hard again.
“Daddy, this is a different time. Women are allowed to sleep around and not commit,” Liberty said solemnly.
Wrong thing to say to a protective father.