A Brother's Honor (Grangers) - By Brenda Jackson Page 0,16
the pockets of his jeans while he continued to scan the area. “Just wondering.”
* * *
There were no surprises with the reading of the will. Everything Richard owned he bequeathed to his son, Sheppard. However, Jace, Caden and Dalton shared the handling of those properties and shared the inheritance in case of Sheppard’s death. Since Jace was the oldest, he received a higher percentage than the others, which everyone thought was fair.
Hannah received the deed to her small cottage on Sutton Hills as well as papers to the car she was driving and a horse she’d grown fond of over the years. And she got a very generous monetary gift that would take care of her for life should she choose never to work again. No one said anything while Joe read through Richard’s requests. On occasion, the sound of Hannah’s sniffing was heard. Richard had been generous to his favorite charities, including the wing at the hospital that bore his deceased wife’s name.
Joe had barely left when Vidal arrived. The two men were different in looks and stature, but both were born to be attorneys. They had that “this is the way Richard wanted it, so this is the way it is going to be” air about them.
“So, as you can see from the way your grandfather set things up, Freeman is to step down as vice president the moment you arrive in the office tomorrow.”
Jace jerked his head around. “Tomorrow?”
“Yes, the sooner you take over the better.”
Jace lifted a brow. “What’s the hurry? The company isn’t going anywhere, is it?”
“No, but it needs your leadership. Granger Aeronautics has been operating in the red over the past year.”
Jace frowned. His grandfather hadn’t mentioned anything like that to him. “Red? But why?”
“Richard didn’t know why,” Vidal said, shaking his head. “He wasn’t getting contracts like he used to and was being outbid on a number of projects.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Caden said. “I’m no business brain, but I would think someone as astute as Granddad would have found the problem and—”
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Dalton said, leaning closer to the table where they were sitting. “Are you saying that Granger Aeronautics is going under?”
“It’s headed that way unless the three of you can find a way to stop it from happening.”
Caden looked pissed. “And how are we supposed to do that?”
Jace heard the anger in his brother’s voice. Although they hadn’t said it, they were wondering the same thing. Had their grandfather made them promise to try to achieve the impossible? Try to save a company that was already failing?
“I say the three of us vote to get rid of it. Stuart may know someone who might be interested in a merger and—”
“No!” Jace said, turning on Dalton, with nostrils flaring and his gaze resembling a glacier. “Damn it, we gave our word, and we’re going to keep it.”
“By doing what?” Dalton stormed back. “Making things worse? What did a few summers teach us at that place? Not jack shit.”
Dalton drew in a deep breath and made an attempt to cool his anger before adding, “You’re talking about a corporation with close to a thousand employees, Jace. Last I heard, Granger Aeronautics was the fourth leading employer in Charlottesville. We owe it to those employees to do right by them and not screw up any pensions they have coming. If we don’t make things right, they lose it all. Do you want that?”
No, that wasn’t what Jace wanted, but he couldn’t understand how easily Dalton could give up without trying. “Granddad was right about you, Dalton. Things did come too easy for you, and you do act entitled. Now you’ve made your billions, but even with that, you didn’t work hard. It was through investments. I think you’re afraid of a little hard work.”
Dalton was out of his chair in a flash, knocking it over in the process. He got in Jace’s face. “I happen to believe in working smarter, not harder.”
Vidal moved forward to intervene before words were replaced with fists. However, Caden touched Vidal’s arm and shook his head. As far as Caden was concerned, if it came to Jace knocking some sense into their baby brother, then so be it. It was probably about time someone did. Apparently, Dalton’s billions had gone to his damn head.
“For once, will you think of someone other than yourself?” Jace asked. He was so angry he felt fury race through his bloodstream.
“And just who are you thinking about, Jace?” Dalton