After the Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page A

grandfather’s lawyer, joined them, acting as if nothing were amiss. He was barely five feet, with a receding hairline and sharp, intelligent eyes behind his wire-framed eyeglasses. “I was hoping that was you.” He stuck out his hand. The handshakes were brief.
    Samantha noted Dillon smirking at her uncle. Her uncle glowered back.
    â€œPlease follow me so we can begin,” the lawyer said.
    Evan caught the lawyer’s arm. “Why are they here? I know what’s in Dad’s will, and they’re not in it.”
    The man shifted uncomfortably in his shiny wing tips. “All your questions will be answered momentarily. Let’s go in.”
    *   *   *
    Ignoring Evan, Dillon caught his mother’s arm and Samantha’s without thinking. She looked as if she were at her breaking point. Living with her contentious uncle and aunt, Dillon understood why.
    He found he wanted to comfort her as much as he did his mother. She had grown into a beautiful woman and was just as tempting now as she had been twelve years ago.
    And just as off-limits. He never dated women from Elms Fork anymore. In the small town, people were too nosy and into everyone else’s business. Besides, there were only so many free women to choose from. He’d never traveled the same path, dated friends or their relatives. Plus, he didn’t want the woman bothering his mother when he moved on—and he always would.
    Inside the study, Samantha stepped away from him, then she introduced him and his mother to those already seated. “This is Ms. Montgomery and her son, Dillon. Granddad wanted them here. This is my aunt Janice, and my cousins, Shelby and Ronald.”
    Dillon nodded. His mother spoke, but the only response she got was a hostile glare from Janice and bored looks from Shelby and Ronald. Dillon ignored the speculative once-over from Shelby. He’d steered clear of her in high school for good reason. Too much drama and possessiveness for his taste.
    Samantha flushed and turned to them again. “Can I get you anything?”
    â€œThey aren’t guests,” Evan snapped. “Sit down so we can get this over with.”
    Dillon stiffened and was moving before he realized it. Someone needed to put a muzzle on Evan’s loud mouth. His mother’s hand on his arm stopped him.
    â€œThank you, Samantha. We’re fine.” His mother sank gracefully into a love seat, pulling a taut Dillon down next to her.
    Twisting the handkerchief in her hand, Samantha took a seat in a high-backed chair near them. Dillon noted she hadn’t sat with her family. His mother had been right. She had no one.
    â€œNow that everyone is here, we can proceed.” Samuel Boswell picked up several sheets of paper, adjusted his eyeglasses. “I had hoped, as we all did, that this day was many years away. Abe Collins was a good man.”
    Marlene nodded. Samantha bit her lower lip. Dillon noted that no reaction came from the other family members.
    â€œAbe made an unusual request in the reading of his will. There will be two readings with only the people involved. I’m meeting later with the house staff, several lifelong employees of Collins Industry, and the pastor of his church. He wanted family matters kept private.”
    Translation. The shit was about to hit the fan, Dillon thought. Apparently Evan had the same thought. He glared at Samantha, then at Dillon and his mother.
    Dillon grinned. This was about to get very interesting.
    â€œâ€˜I, Abraham Lincoln Collins, being of sound mind, do bequeath my home located at 1927 Pecan Place in Elms Fork to be equally divided between my son, Evan Emerson Collins, and my granddaughter Samantha Ann Collins.’”
    Evan jerked upright and glared at Samantha. Since she was looking at the lawyer with a shocked expression on her face, she missed it entirely.
    â€œMe?”
    Boswell smiled kindly at her. “You. I believe his next