Promise Canyon by Robyn Carr

River. Have no idea where he got his money, but it seems it was a long time ago and construction started on this house when he was a young man. Took three years to build and was finished in 1921. Whew. It looks like Hope started selling off the land in parcels right after he died. How old is this town anyway?”
    “Was all of it his?” Jack asked, pulling the map closer. It had been divvied up in different colors andsome of the names printed on the map he recognized. Bristol, Anderson, Givens, Fishburn. “Holy cow,” he said.
    “Looks like there were some homesteaders back a long time ago,” Preacher said. “But whatever wasn’t homesteaded, old Percival bought up. Then he shared it with his sixteen-year-old bride. Then she disposed of it. I’ll have to research a little, see what the land values were when she did these deed transfers, but it kinda looks like she let ’em go cheap. Hope built a town. Cool.”
    “Jack?” Noah said. “Here it is, Jack. She’s left everything to the town. Her husband left her everything he had, and she left it all to the town.” He passed the document to Mike, who passed it to Preacher.
    “No surprise there,” Jack said. “According to Hope, she didn’t have anyone else.”
    “And you’re in charge of it. You were named the executor.”
    “Me? Why me?” he asked.
    “You probably seemed the obvious choice.” Noah flipped through the pages a bit. “Looks like it was Doc Mullins until you came to town. So, how about that? We don’t have to start calling you sir or anything, do we?”
    “When you say everything… ” Jack said hesitantly.
    Preacher was the one to answer. “House, contents, land… I wonder if there’s something like a bank account. Knowing Hope, I wouldn’t be surprised if the mattresses and cubbyholes were stuffed with bills.”
    “No,” Noah said. “Remember, this is the woman who was auctioning the church on eBay. She’s computer savvy. I bet half the stuff she bought she got offthe Internet. I bet she has accounts on the computer. It’s in the kitchen. We might have a challenge figuring out passwords, that sort of thing.”
    Jack leafed through her files. “Could it be filed under Passwords? ” he asked, pulling out a file. He took on a decidedly superior air.
    “Nicely done,” Noah said with a grin.
    “This is making me very uncomfortable,” Jack said with a shudder. “I don’t want to be in charge of Hope’s stuff. I don’t want to be the town manager, either.”
    “Take it easy. You start by going to see her lawyer. If there’s any money—like after land sales and such—you’re probably empowered to get a little help. You know—hire people.”
    “Really, I don’t have time for this,” he grumbled. “I don’t want to be responsible for how it’s used….”
    The sound of Paul’s heavy footfalls coming down three flights of stairs caused all the men to turn toward the staircase. He stopped at the bottom and smiled at them. “This is a great old house,” he said. “Studs every twelve inches, fire walls, top-quality oak, marble and granite, tongue-and-groove hardwood floors… I couldn’t build this house today for three million. It’s old and it’s awesome. I hope whoever gets it wants some help putting it right.”
    “And there is my first potential employee,” Jack said.
     
    Delivering feed to smaller ranches and stables was a job that Lilly had volunteered to do—she considered it as adding weight lifting to her exercise regimen. That, combined with yoga, kept her in shape. Plus, it was very important to Yaz that his only family stay involved inhis business; it was to be hers one day. Lilly hoped Yaz would live a very long time because even though she knew all the details of the operation, she had trouble seeing herself as the owner of a feed store.
    For the past three weeks, since the changes at the Jensen clinic, this menial part of her job had become infinitely more interesting. It was now a priority. She