Raining In My Heart (Book One of the McKay's) (6 page)

"
Mary
was sick though
by that time, a cancer was growing
, and
she
died not more than a year after I got her out here. Thank God, I had
Julie
, and Letty.
And thank God I legally adopted
Julie
so she would have my name. She deserved it, she was my daughter.
I met
Sandy
's mom some time later at a school function of all places.
Sandy
's mom was a good woman and tried to be a good mother to you all.
I'd known
Helen
for years and she knew all along that Georgina wouldn't stay.

"
At
Mary
's funeral,
Helen
comforted me. But
Helen
tended to be jealous and she couldn't live with the fact that there had already been two women in my life
. I was more than grateful that she had enough sense to let me raise
Sandy
when we parted
.
She met a man not long after we divorced and married and moved away, giving me full custody of Sandy, as Georgina did with Letty.
This might sound a little strange, since they were the mothers, but they knew I had the means to support you and that I loved you dearly.

"
Naturally
,
there was no fight between any of your mothers.
Wendy
's mother you all know and loved.
Lisa
was mother to you all, and she did a great job of it to
o
, and I loved her in my fashion.
If she hadn't tried to jump that fence with Lancer, she'd still be alive today, but she had such a spirit.
So, you are all my children.
And you are all sisters, you are
McKay
's and you should be proud of the name.
Julie
was my first born, my secret real child. I thanked God that I had a
remembrance
from
Mary
.
Julie
is your real sister.
"

Julie
jumped to her feet
.
"
Wha
t?"
S
he gulped, she was sure her face was on fire
.

Everyone stared at her.
Shock, surprise, indignation all surrounded them.

"He got my mother pregnan
t? I was his child all along?
"

"That's how it reads, yes."

"You mean…
Julie
…
is a blood relative?" Let
ty's brow knitted in disbelief
.

"According to your father…"
Rams
e
y
was saying.

"But…why would he…wait…so long to tell us?
Why did he bother adopting her?
"
Wendy
questioned,
and
then glanced guiltily at Letty and
Sandy
.

"As the letter states, to give her his name. Officially, you see
,
Mary
didn't put his name on the birth certificate, so legally she wasn't his child at the time. By adopting her, she was a
McKay
and she could
bear
the name."

Mr.
Wymer
stood up now and came around to stand in front of
Julie
.
She was visibly
shaking from this news.
He laid a comforting hand on
Julie
's shoulder.
"When a man knows he's going to die, he usually tells things that he did, in his earlier life.
It's quite normal.
George
wanted you all to know that
Julie
is very much his daughter and always was.
She truly is your sister.
"

"But…my mother, she never said a word?"
Julie
frowned.

"At the time, they weren't sure how to handle that part of it. All
George
knew was that you had to have his name, one way or another. So he adopted you, but if you will let him go on, I think you will understand it better."

"But that's ridiculous, for him to adopt his own child…."
Wendy
began.

"Let
Rams
e
y
continue."
Mr.
Wymer
cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.

Rams
e
y
glanced at them all and continued
,
"
By now I'm sure there are some raised eyebrows. So let me continue.
If any of you have any doubts, I've
had a DNA test done and it was
done by the lab in
Dallas
, not far from where
Julie
works now.
It was secretly ordered by her employer at the time so she wouldn't even know about it.
Mr.
Wymer
will have this in his records for you all to see and believe.
In case there is any doubt in your minds.
There never was in mine.
Mary
was a
n
honest woman, and she loved me with all her heart. Our last year together, although physically hard on her, was the most enjoyable time of my life.
We did so many things together and I treasure the time we had.
"

Julie
's mouth was open but nothing came out.
She remembered that blood test and thought it odd that the company had ordered it.
Had her dad been more in touch with her than she thought?
She felt all the blood leave her face
now
and she knew everyone was staring at her.

"I had no idea
.
"
H
er voice didn't sound real to her.

"Well
,
the old rascal had himself some women, now didn't he?" Letty's brow lifted.
A smile broke across her face
.
"All four of us
from
different Mama's.
What a record.
But there was never a doubt as
to
the father, except for
Julie
.
I guess he wanted to put the last piece of the puzzle together.
I'm surprised, but then I'm not.
"

"Perhaps, but he was our fa
ther, he did take care of us
,
"
Wendy
inserted.

Even Letty acknowledged that.
"Don't get so hostile,
Wendy
, I'm not attacking him. Despite what you may all think, I loved him too.
I think we all did in our own way.
And we need to give each other that, if nothing else.
"
Letty glanced at
Julie
and smiled.
"The thing we have to remember is that we are all different and we have different ways of looking at things. But we are all
McKay
's too."

"Of course you loved him
,
dear
.
"
Sandy
reached for Letty.

Wade
stood in the background
,
yet
even he was staring at them
as though he knew nothing about all of this
.
Although
,
her fathe
r tended to confide in
Wade
,
Julie
was secretly glad that
Wade
hadn't known about this either.
Strange but the only person
Wade
seemed concerned with was
Wendy
,
Julie
noted quietly.

Rams
e
y
studied
Julie
a moment then went on, "So Julie
is my first born child, named after my mother,
Julia
Lidia
Roberts
.
How
Mary
could have remembered that particular fact, I'll never know, but she told me of it, later.
One of the things l loved so much about
Mary
was how she listened to my rantings and ravings.
She never raised her voice at me, her eyebrow, but not her voice.
I'm only sorry none of you got to know
Mary
very well, as she was so sick.

"
So, now that I have established for you all, proof that you are all my children, it is time to sort
through my holdings with you
.
Needless to say, I knew this day would come and have prepared for it. I only hope you all have.
It is quite possible none of you are going to like what I'm about to say.
But nonetheless, you must hear me out.
I'm dead now, I can't argue with you about it.
In a way, that's in my favor.
It is my last wish.
I have quite a value
accumulated over the years, that much I can tell you, enough to make each
of you rich beyond your dreams.
More than even I realized at the time.

"
I was too busy making it, to count it, so to speak.
Enough so no one will see a need to fight over the money.
And I will do this, but first I have one condition you must adhere to.
And I realize that this might interfere with your lives, since all of you, save one, have gone about your lives elsewhere.
Not that
you
regret this one bit, you are all independent women and head-strong to say the least. You wouldn't be
McKay
's if you weren't.
But my condition will make you all richer than you ever imagined.

"
Now…t
he condit
i
on being I want you all living here, on the ranch for one year, to this date.
I fully realize this could cause
a hardship. So think about what you might be giving up, if you chose not to do this. Because once the condition is met, you may all go about your lives as you please and will be protected knowing you have enough money for a lifetime. It is the only condition I make.
And there is a reason…which on completion of the cond
i
tion will be explained. If you chose
not to do this, then you forfei
t your part of your inheritance entirely, and I do this knowing full w
ell I have provided for
all of your tender years. So
,
now as you lay me down to rest, do not think too unkindly of me, as I have a reason. And remember no matter what you chose to do, I loved you all, and still do.
"

Everyone's mouth flew open now, a
nd everyone was staring at
Rams
e
y
as though he had written it himself
.

"I…
I don't believe this!
"
Letty didn't bother hiding her irritation. But then she never minded her own tirades.
"Why wo
uld he keep that secret so long? And why this ridiculous idea of moving home for a year
?
Wh
at can be accomplished by it
?
"

Rams
e
y
turned to look at
Wade
now
.
"
I do not pretend to understand your father's thinking, I only respect it. Now,
I think you might want to hear this, sir."

Wade
came just a bit clos
er, but continued to watch
Wendy
.
Julie
began to see what was going on, only she was sure neither of them understood
.

"The
only other stipulation being that,
this ranch and all it includes must be managed by
Wade
and Cade Weston
.
Unless they so decide to leave this employment.
Cade
's
more than
earned the right as ramrod now and he needs an equal share.
Their
salary will be
increased as I would have done, had I been there
.
These two gentlemen will be wealthy from this increase, and justly so. Do not begrudge them
,
they have both earned it.
And that each hand that I'v
e
listed on this will has full retirement benefits coming to them at age
sixty-five
. The ones listed have been loyal to me, and have earned it.
There will be no arguments over this.
This is something I have been adamant about all my life, taking care of the people who have shown their loyalties to me over the years.
I expect this to be carried out to the letter.
"