More from Hedge House, a paranormal/urban fantasy that I hope to have out later this year.

Jacob and Cara are discussing Belle’s will. (Belle was Cara’s grandmother.) Cara has been comparing the one she got from the attorney handling the estate with one kept in a safe at the house.

Talk turned to lighter things as they ate, and as they washed the dishes Jacob nodded toward the table. “What are you going to do about that?”

She sighed. “In the morning I’m calling the state’s Bar Association and asking for an investigation. And I’m going to go to the courthouse, to the Registrar of Wills and have them check to see which one they have on file.”

“And if they have the second one?”

“If they have the second one they had better produce the first one,” she replied, her voice cold. “I don’t think they’re going to stick their necks out and lose their cushy jobs to protect an unethical lawyer.”

“Probably not,” he agreed. “But they all pretty much owe their jobs to Jonas.”

“Is he likely to admit that he even had knowledge of the changes to the will?”

Jacob’s answer was a slow chuckle. “No, not likely. Not if he wants to hold onto the good will of the people. See, the Blackthorns settled this town. There’s been a Blackthorn as mayor ever since… well, since before it was officially incorporated as a town.”   

Tentative Blurb:

When Cara Hawthorne returns to the childhood home she had been torn away from twenty years earlier, she thinks it will be to do nothing more than settle her grandmother’s estate and return to her job as a junior lawyer at a prestigious law firm in Tulsa.

But every nook and cranny of the house and gardens unearths long-buried memories, and when the town’s mayor sets his sights on her and the property she finds herself caught up in a centuries old battle with powers she has only barely begun to understand

Find more great reading
at the Sunday Snippet group.

More from Hedge House, a paranormal/urban fantasy that I hope to have out later this year.

Jacob and Cara are discussing Belle’s will. (Belle was Cara’s grandmother.) Cara has been comparing the one she got from the attorney handling the estate with one kept in a safe at the house.

“Is there anyone in this town who isn’t?” [In Jonas’s pocket.]

“A few. You. Me. Tamira. [Belle’s original lawyer]. Belle wasn’t. There are a few others in town that aren’t, but mostly because he hasn’t deemed them important enough to try to buy. Trouble is, they aren’t strong enough to cross him – if he wants them to look the other way they won’t see anything.”

Cara nodded, suddenly weary.

“Don’t worry,” Jacob told her. “We can handle anything he throws at us. He knows we can’t be bought. And he has no power here, or at the shop. And he won’t interfere. Belle was too well liked in this town – he knows he has to move carefully where things that involve her are concerned. He might have money and the power that it brings, but he also knows that he needs the goodwill of the people. Most don’t know what he’s really like, and he needs to keep it that way.”

She nodded, slightly relieved, but the coincidence of her grandmother’s death and the attorney’s attack by yellow jackets was just too much to ignore, although she couldn’t quite figure out how they were related or how Jonas was involved. 

Tentative Blurb:

When Cara Hawthorne returns to the childhood home she had been torn away from twenty years earlier, she thinks it will be to do nothing more than settle her grandmother’s estate and return to her job as a junior lawyer at a prestigious law firm in Tulsa.

But every nook and cranny of the house and gardens unearths long-buried memories, and when the town’s mayor sets his sights on her and the property she finds herself caught up in a centuries old battle with powers she has only barely begun to understand

Find more great reading
at the Sunday Snippet group.

More from Hedge House, a paranormal/urban fantasy that I hope to have out later this year.

Jacob and Cara are discussing Belle’s will. (Belle was Cara’s grandmother.) Cara has been comparing the one she got from the attorney handling the estate with one kept in a safe at the house.

“The will was tampered with. And her signature was so badly forged a third grader could tell the difference.”

Jacob nodded. “Once she was gone they figured no one would know – Tamira and I wouldn’t be likely to see the new one and they figured you wouldn’t be familiar with her handwriting. They didn’t figure on you reading everything over – or comparing it to the original.”

“I don’t think he even knew I had the original.” She sat down and rubbed her forehead. “Even if they thought there was a copy here they wouldn’t have thought I’d have had time to find it.” She sighed and stared at the papers and computer. 

“How bad were the changes?”        

She shrugged. “The main part wasn’t touched. It was just the rider about what was to happen if I didn’t want to take possession, or if something happened to me before I created a will of my own. In the original, the shop and everything associated with it was to go to Tamira in the case of my turning it down, and the estate and everything associated with it was to go to you. In the revised version, if I don’t take control it all goes into a trust organization – one headed by Jonas Blackthorn.”

Jacob nodded, seemingly unperturbed by the news – and certainly not surprised. “I kinda suspected that Henry Rupert was in Jonas’ pocket,” he said.   

“Is there anyone in this town who isn’t?”

“A few. You. Me. Tamira. [Belle’s original lawyer*]. Belle wasn’t. There are a few others in town that aren’t, but mostly because he hasn’t deemed them important enough to try to buy. Trouble is, they aren’t strong enough to cross him – if he wants them to look the other way they won’t see anything.”

*I still haven’t named her.

Tentative Blurb:

When Cara Hawthorne returns to the childhood home she had been torn away from twenty years earlier, she thinks it will be to do nothing more than settle her grandmother’s estate and return to her job as a junior lawyer at a prestigious law firm in Tulsa.

But every nook and cranny of the house and gardens unearths long-buried memories, and when the town’s mayor sets his sights on her and the property she finds herself caught up in a centuries old battle with powers she has only barely begun to understand

Find more great reading
at the Sunday Snippet group.

More from Hedge House, a paranormal/urban fantasy that I hope to have out later this year.

Jacob and Cara are back from Cara’s meeting with the lawyer that was handling her grandmother’s estate. (The “it” that Cara is referring to is a copy of the will that Henry Rupert gave her at their meeting.)

(Please note, this is still a rough draft. And, yes, I’m aware they nod a lot. All my characters nod a lot in the first draft; they’re worse than those bobble-headed dogs you used to get to put on your car’s dash.)

 “You look a little unnerved,” he said as he walked her to the door. “You going to be all right tonight?”

She nodded. “I think so. I’m going to compare what Henry Rupert gave me with what’s in the safe, lock them both up, and go to bed.” She frowned, glancing at the sky. It wasn’t even dusk yet. “Okay, I won’t go to bed right away. It just feels later than it is.”

Jacob nodded. “It’s been a long rough day for you, and tomorrow might not be any easier.” He hesitated, then nodded at her case. “What are you going to do if they don’t match up?”

“If they don’t match up I’ll be going to the courthouse first thing in the morning, to the Registrar of Wills. And if necessary I’ll go above that, too. And I’ll be contacting the Bar.”

Jacob nodded. “Just be careful, Cara. You’re on the brink of making some powerful enemies.”

She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded wearily and he gave her shoulders a squeeze. “But you also have powerful friends, and are safe here in this house. Don’t ever back down from what you know is right.”

Tentative Blurb:

When Cara Hawthorne returns to the childhood home she had been torn away from twenty years earlier, she thinks it will be to do nothing more than settle her grandmother’s estate and return to her job as a junior lawyer at a prestigious law firm in Tulsa.

But every nook and cranny of the house and gardens unearths long-buried memories, and when the town’s mayor sets his sights on her and the property she finds herself caught up in a centuries old battle with powers she has only barely begun to understand

Find more great reading
at the Sunday Snippet group.