“So, when did it all change?”

“When Connie changed,” he said, shaking his head. “That damned will of her father’s. Why that man cut his other children out of the estate has always been a mystery to me. But the even bigger mystery was why Connie went along with it. That was the fight that ended us.”

“What do you mean?”

“When the old man died, and the others found out about the will, they were not happy, to say the least. The way they turned on her? After all she had done for them?”

“How exactly did they turn on her?”

He rapped the table with his knuckles. “They accused her of horrible things. They said she tricked her father into writing that new will. But she had nothing to do with it. I can’t prove it, but Beatty knows the truth. Those siblings of hers though—led by Rip—accused her of using the time she spent caring for her father to whisper poison in his ear. But she never said one unkind word about any of them.”

“I can’t imagine how that made her feel.”

“It nearly killed her.” Ben frowned, anger creasing his face.

“That’s truly awful.”

“And, unfortunately, that’s not the worst of it. I think Connie could have gotten past those first accusations, but what Rip accused her of next?”

I didn’t prod. Ben was clearly building himself up to what was coming.

“He accused Connie of more than just getting their father to change the will.” He pinned his lips together. “He implied she helped the old man along.”

A chill ran over me. “He accused Constance of killing their father?”

He nodded. “After Connie told me that, I went out looking for Rip. Found him in the town square. Laid him out flat. I’m not proud of it. But boy did it feel good.” Ben’s fist clenched with the memory. “You know what really burns me?”

I shook my head.

“I doubt Rip ever believed any of it. He was just so angry about being cut out of the will. He lashed out in the worst way possible.”

“It sounds like you loved Constance a lot.”

He smiled and the anger drained from his face. “Do you believe in soul mates?”

I nodded.

“Connie was mine.”

“So, what happened?” My words came out almost sounding like a plea.

Ben sighed. “Connie was so torn up by everything that had happened. I just wanted to make it better, so I went to her with an idea.” He shrugged. “Why not just split up the estate? Rip wanted the house. Give him the house. John wanted the land. Let him have it. Mary didn’t want anything, but that first husband of hers, he sure wanted cash. So, give it to him. We didn’t need it. We could make it on our own.”

“What did she think of that?”

“At first, she thought it was sweet. She liked that I didn’t care about any of it. She said she wanted to respect her father’s wishes though. That never sat well with me. Her father had never been fair with those kids when he was alive, and he wasn’t being fair now that he was dead. Connie asked me to drop it, but I couldn’t. I didn’t understand. I knew as long as she lived in that house, on that property, her siblings would never let it go. I couldn’t understand why she’d want to live with that kind of bitterness directed toward her. But the truth was, the bitterness was already spreading to Connie. The way those kids turned on her after she had devoted so much of her life to them? That kind of hurt cuts to the bone. I think it got away from her.”