Page 2 of Wrong Number, Right Cougar

My mind went to the cougars and hoped they were okay but braced myself in case they weren’t.

“Your uncle, Brett Taylor, passed away.”

“I don’t have an uncle Brett,” I blurted out.

There was a rustling of papers on the other end. “Your alpha father was Dylan Taylor, correct?” He rattled off my late father’s birth date and place of birth.

“Yes.” This had to be a scam, and I was about to tell the guy my next call would be to the police to report him. But I opened a new tab on my computer browser and googled his firm’s name. Up it popped, and the address was Cougar Lake. I clicked on the lawyers and there was a Noah Whitmore listed. But again, that didn’t prove that this guy was Noah.

“Noah, I’m in the middle of a meeting,” I fibbed. “I’ll call you back in thirty minutes.”

I ended the call before he could reply, but using my mobile phone, I texted my omega dad, asking about a Brett Taylor. My alpha father, Dylan, died when I was young.

Wondered when he’d resurface. We all thought he was dead or in jail.He was the black sheep of your father’s siblings.What did he want?

I studied Dad’s reply. Brett did exist and the law firm did too, but even so, Noah might’ve been a scammer who read obituaries and then swindled the family.

Brett is dead.

Dad replied with!!!!!!!and said he’d call this evening.

I did a search for Brett Taylor, but it was a common name and nothing much came up. Nothing in Cougar Lake.

I dialed the number listed for the firm, expecting to be connected to the real Noah Whitmore who had never heard of me.

“Thorn, glad you called back. Did you check out me and the firm?”

Ouch! I’d done my due diligence, and there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

“I did, but I had no idea Brett existed.”

“He was a wily old so-and-so. Went by the name of Alexei Blaze here, though he never legally changed his name.” Noah rushed on to tell me I was the recipient of Brett’s will.

Alexei Blaze. My stomach sank, thinking a guy who lived under an assumed name might have had debts. I didn’t want them and wondered what the legal position would be.

“He left you his resort.”

Resort? To me a resort was by the beach surrounded by palm trees. But Cougar Lake was surrounded by mountains and nowhere near the ocean.

“Come again? Did you say resort?”

“Yes, it’s a mountain lodge. Very popular in the winter but is also over seventy percent occupied in the summer months. Your uncle had a big personality, and his charm was part of the reason why the place was so profitable. Or it had been until he got sick.”

“How did he die?” I hoped the cougars weren’t responsible.

“His heart. He loved food and alcohol and never monitored what he ate. Said life was too short to cut out fat and whiskey. So I’m hoping you can make it up here next week and sign the papers so we can get this wrapped up.”

“Just to be clear, I have been bequeathed a tiny mountain lodge.”

“Small, yes. There are ten rooms. Your uncle wasn’t one for delegating, and so when he got sick, he closed it, and now it’s just sitting there, sad and forlorn.But the sooner you get here the better.”

He made it sound like a real person.

But I had a job, a career, and a plan, and the plan didn’t include racing off to Cougar Lake and running a resort. I’d have to sell it.

“Tell me, Noah, why is it called Cougar Lake?”

There was silence at the other end. He cleared his throat. “There used to be cougars in the area and there were regular sightings of them. Not so much anymore.”

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