Charlotte smiled at Ellie’s soft order. “I’ll work on it.” She glanced back at the admin building and the still nearly full parking lot. The days lately had been so full there shouldn’t be time to think. “I’m going to miss the guys more than I expected, and the job.”
Charlotte carefully placed the farewell gift from Henrietta in her tote—Henrietta had given her a beautiful scarf and a framed photo of Fred from back when he was a young man. The older woman had become a true friend, and Charlotte would miss her even more than the guys. Charlotte knew Henrietta would keep the company running smoothly through the transition.
“They did a nice farewell party for you and for John.”
“They did.” Charlotte watched the traffic. She’d concluded the sale of the rest of Graham Enterprises to the employees that morning as planned, with John’s resignation as head of security effective with the sale.
The guys who worked for Graham Enterprises had packed the admin building and the break room, told stories about her and her grandfather, had her run the Number Nine Graham Express for the last time around the model tracks, hauled out a massive sheet cake decorated with icing versions of catfish bait balls. She’d battled the need to cry even as she shared their laughter. “How ’bout one more forklift run?” one of them shouted, which got another round of laughter and eased her emotions.
Bryce had offered to be here, but there was only so much she could handle in this day. Saying goodbyes while handling questions about her upcoming wedding with Bryce was more than she’d be up for, so she had waved him off.
And the goodbyes had been very hard. Charlotte sighed, forced herself to close the door on what was now the past, and concentrate instead on the coming week. Only a few remaining items were in flux. She looked over at Ellie. “Are you going to accept Fred’s house?”
“I think you should give it to John,” Ellie replied, slowing to let a truck pass. “Guys who work with him will enjoy Shadow Lake. Give him Shadow Lake and the family land, Fred’s home. The place would be ideal if he needs to tuck a client’s family away from trouble for a month.”
“Will you help him with the remodel job it needs?”
“I could do that.”
Charlotte watched the warehouses as they passed, wondering if she’d be seeing them again. “I wish you’d accept the house, Ellie. John loves you. You’d enjoy being up here at Shadow Lake, riding the trails John is talking about cutting through the woods, fishing with him on occasion, sitting on that patio watching Shadow Lake through the seasons of a year. I think you need to move up here, be near John, and seriously consider marrying him.”
“You know it’s not a simple decision.”
“Neither was mine, but I accepted that a yes needed to be the answer. You can always give the house to John in a few years if you can’t open that door. At least put yourself enough into his world so you can make a decision after seeing how it could be.”
“You’re tossing my own counsel to you back at me,” Ellie mentioned, offering a smile.
“It was good advice,” Charlotte replied. “Trust me on this, at least enough to let me give you the house.”
Ellie finally nodded. “Deed it to me, and I’ll see how much time I want to spend up here. You know John’s not going to be around here much, not with you in Chicago, not with the job offers that are going to come his way. John is viewing Shadow Lake as a vacation property, a stopping-off point between jobs. He loves it here, but he’s not inclined to stop working. Until you need him full time, he’s going to be coming up with interesting things to do.”
“The man doesn’t know how not to work,” Charlotte agreed. “But I think Shadow Lake is something fairly permanent he’s ready for. He can handle Chicago for Bryce and me and be up here working on the land, be out on the lake, part of the week. He may surprise us both by picking up weekend assignments as part of someone else’s security plan for a concert or a speech. Whatever it is, I do think he’s going to base it around being back here at Shadow Lake during his downtime. I’ve watched him the last few years and seen the pleasure he gets being out on the water. He’s ready to settle down, Ellie. That’s the thing I’ve noticed the most. He really wants you to say yes, so he can build a life with you. The two of you would love living up here, and it’s not so far from Chicago that you can’t be back in the city whenever you want to be.”
Ellie slowed as the Graham Enterprises security gate came into sight. Charlotte could feel one chapter in her life end as Ellie handed over their credentials and they drove through the gate, possibly for the last time. Life had just transitioned again in a major way, and this time it was her own decision. She was going to marry Bryce Bishop and accept the Legacy Trust as her future. The decision was made. She just hoped neither she nor Bryce regretted it in a few years.
Charlotte glanced at her friend. “Thanks for all your help with the wedding plans. I know you’ve been carrying more than your share of the details.”
Ellie smiled. “What are friends for? I do think you’re going to be glad you’re marrying Bryce. But I want to say one thing, as your friend. You get cold feet two minutes before you say ‘I do,’ if you change your mind, my guest room has your name on it. You’ll come stay with me. I promise I won’t question why you changed your mind. I’ll understand, and I’ll be there. John will be too.”
“I won’t change my mind. But it means a lot that you’ve offered.”
Bryce walked into his house, skirted two boxes in the entryway, tennis shoes by the stairs. “Charlotte,” he called, “I’ve got pizza if you’re interested.”
“Be down in a minute.”
He slid the pizza in the oven to keep warm and went to find her upstairs. New art hung on the staircase wall, intricate watercolors, and he slowed to admire them. His home was filling with her collection of art to meld in with his furniture. He loved the results.
He found her unpacking. The bedroom suite she had chosen had good northern light, and the furniture she’d brought from her Silverton home fit it nicely. The door to the room’s adjoining bathroom was open, the counter was cluttered with her things, and she’d changed the floor rugs. The closet was open and three-quarters full of T-shirts and jeans, the occasional really nice dress, an assortment of shoes. A line of porcelain figures followed the mirror of her dresser, and a new thriller was on the bedside table. Tomorrow this would be her home as well as his. His bedroom suite was two doors down on the other side of the hall. He found it notable—comforting too—that she hadn’t chosen the opposite end of the house.
“Ellie said two locks on the inside of the door.”
“I noticed. I won’t often need to use them.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “It’s been eight years since the last serious crisis, but the locks are a nice safety blanket.”
“What triggered it that time?”
“A party, loud music, a guy came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder, shouted a question I didn’t understand—just heard as a memory echo. Spent the next four weeks huddled at Ellie’s trying to remember how to breathe.”
“I don’t raise my voice, never have, will be careful never to.”
She nodded. “I noticed. I don’t shake easily, Bryce. I’m not going to care if I hear footsteps in the hall, doors being closed, water running, voices on the phone. I’m too accustomed to Ellie and John being around. Noise isn’t the problem. Startling me with a touch is.
“If I can’t sleep, I’ll throw the locks and try again to sleep. Sometimes my mind just needs that layer of control, of knowing my hand pushed the locks. I don’t dream. I’m told I don’t even snore. I sleep. But sometimes my mind is remembering without telling me what it’s remembering. So I lock the door.”
“I appreciate you telling me.”
“Boxes downstairs are the last of my books if you’ve got room on your shelves.”
“I’ll make space. The sunroom—it will work as a studio?”
“It’s perfect. It’s one of the items that
went in the reason-to-get-married column. I love that room and that fabulous expanse of wall. Good lighting, a beautiful view, and I can push open the French doors and step outside anytime I want. That’s ideal.” She closed the suitcase and slid it into the closet.
“Do you have more items you want to bring over today?”
“This is the last of what I think I’ll need. I told Ellie I’d be back to her place around eight tonight. She’s out with John pretending like it’s a date when I know for a fact she’s got him helping her decorate the church for tomorrow.”
“He’ll enjoy being with her,” Bryce said. “Ellie’s enjoying this too.”
“And I’m letting her. She loves to organize things.”
Bryce carried the pizza box and paper plates to the back patio so they could enjoy the comfortable evening. Charlotte followed him with their drinks and napkins.
“Our last meal together before the wedding. What else do we need to talk about?” Bryce asked.
“I’m talked out, I think.” Charlotte settled into a chair at the table and helped herself to a piece of the pizza. “But there are a few things left on the list. We need to talk about the money—the details and logistics of it. But while I know the information, Ellie is better at explaining it. Would it be all right if she came over sometime and walked you through it?”
“Sure.”
Charlotte reached for a napkin. “She said the lawyer sent over the text formalizing what you and I discussed. Should something happen to both of us, the responsibility of the Legacy Trust will flow to your younger brother. Our estate outside the Legacy Trust will flow to your older brother, and my art will fall to Ellie. Should one of the three we’ve named be temporarily unable to serve, John will take the responsibility until they can do so. If the person we’ve named needs to permanently step aside, John will appoint someone from your family to take the role. And if John isn’t available, your oldest sister takes his place.”
“I’m still not entirely comfortable not naming your sister somewhere in the document.”
Charlotte shook her head. “Tabitha can’t handle the stress of it, Bryce. Nor can her husband. Your family is going to be fair to mine, I’m not worried about that.”
Bryce considered that, and nodded. “I’ll write a letter to be given to my family in case something happens. Something that will lay out my thoughts on the matter and your concerns, so they’ll have our wishes spelled out. But I agree. They would take good care of your family, Charlotte, no matter what we said or arranged. It would be an honor thing, as well as simply the right thing to do.”
Charlotte caught her napkin before the breeze carried it away. “I assume you’ve been thinking some more about the days after the wedding.”
He nodded. “On the practical side of it, I’ll be working from home, you’ll have a studio here. I don’t want to have an office someplace else unless it turns out to be absolutely necessary. I don’t want our life to be one where I see you for breakfast and again at dinner. I’d like to be able to share our days if it’s not going to disturb your work too much.”
“I’d like that,” Charlotte replied. “I’ll be away from the house at times, wandering around to see what I find interesting to sketch, but when I’m in the studio I’m mostly sitting at the drawing board working on a detailed image. I don’t mind interruptions. I can do eight to ten hours straight at the drawing board when I’m focused on something, so I need a reminder to get up and move around occasionally. I’ll enjoy having you around.” She reached for her drink, tilted her head as she studied him. “You’re going to need a secretary or assistant.”
“I need to give away a million dollars a day just to stay ahead of the dividends, two million a day if I want to get through giving away the money in thirty years, so probably sooner versus later on the assistant. But I’m hoping I can recruit Ellie to help in the office when she has a few minutes to spare.”
“It would be a nice gesture if you asked.”
“I admire Ellie. She’s incredibly good at what she does. Charlotte—” he waited until she looked over—“consider it a standing request that we have John and Ellie over as much as we can arrange this next year. We need friends who know what’s going on, and John and Ellie are in that circle. I want the two of them comfortable walking in and out of our house without needing an invitation. It’s important that they be part of discussions and decisions about what to do, that they become as integral to our lives as they have been to yours. They visit us or we go visit them. I don’t want significant time gaps between times we see them.”
“I appreciate that, Bryce. And I’ve been thinking we really should consider telling Ann and Paul about the Legacy Trust, along with your immediate family. You’re going to continually feel the weight of the fact they don’t know. It’s not fair to you.”
Bryce shook his head. “It’s best if it stays with Ellie and John, at least for now. I can ask advice from my family about the giving without discussing our specific circumstances. The fact others in my family, other friends, don’t know about the trust is something I’m going to learn to live with. It’s easier if none of them knows. I’m not playing favorites that way on who we decide to tell, not tell.”
She thought about it and nodded her agreement. He reached for his drink. “What else is on your mind?”
“The Silverton house,” she said. “There was an offer on it this morning. I faxed my acceptance.”
“Someone got a good deal with the price you put on it.”
“They did. A family with two girls. They’ll like the house, and the girls will love that yard.”
“I’m glad.” He thought through their to-do list. The coins had been cleared from the vaults, the last of the family-owned items emptied from the berm storage units. Charlotte had sold Graham Enterprises to the employees, and he had sold controlling interest in Bishop Chicago to Devon and Sharon. Charlotte had found buyers for three of her stores and finished up the final matters with the New York lawyers. “That leaves the storefront next to Bishop Chicago as all that’s left to deal with.”
“Yes. It feels nice knowing we’ll start with close to a clean slate,” she said. “At least for one day, the weight of the estate is gone.”
Bryce smiled. “Enjoy the hours while you have them. You did a good job with what Fred entrusted to you.”
“Thanks, I appreciate you saying that.” Charlotte reached for another piece of pizza. “We haven’t talked about the dogs, but I would like John and me to go on sharing them. They deserve to have the freedom to run around Shadow Lake.”
“Princess and Duchess will be welcome in this house, Charlotte, whenever you want to have them here. I love your dogs.”
“They aren’t city dogs. Life for them is so much better when it doesn’t have to be lived on a leash. Shadow Lake is where they belong most of the time.”
He understood her decision, and decided not to press it. “Would you like apple pie for dessert? Mom brought it over.”
“Sure.”
He came back with a piece of pie for them both.
She considered him as she took the first bite. “How is your family handling the fact they won’t be at the wedding?”
“Mom and Dad understand. Mom especially. She said to tell you it was a wise choice. The others are disappointed, mainly puzzled. The current reasoning is you don’t want to invite your sister to the wedding for some reason, but can’t say that, so we’re making it a private wedding with no family from either side to avoid creating problems.”
“An elegant conclusion.”
“I’ve neither confirmed nor denied the idea. My family will be fine.” Bryce toyed with his glass. “Is Ellie throwing you a last-night-single party?”
Charlotte blushed and dropped her gaze.
Bryce laughed. “I see it’s been rumored.”
“Our idea is more along the lines of ice cream and girl talk. What about you?”
“I was able to successfully fend off most of it with a p
romise of a guys’ weekend barbecue at a later time. Devon will be by later, Paul and Dad will call.”
“That sounds nice.”
She reached over and turned his wrist so she could see the time. “I should probably get going.”
Bryce rose to walk with her through the house. “Enjoy tonight. Try to get some sleep.”
“You too. I’ll see you at the church, Bryce.”
They both paused at the door, and she was the first to move, catching his hand to avoid a hug, then turning away even more quickly to head to her truck.
Bryce took his position at the front of the church near his pastor, John by his side. Four minutes early, the music Charlotte had selected filled the sanctuary. Ellie appeared first, stunning in a simple short white dress, carrying white roses. She walked the aisle looking both relieved and happy. John met her to escort her the last few steps.
Charlotte then appeared in the doorway, and Bryce took a deep breath and slowly let it out. For the first time that day he felt himself relax.
She was an absolutely lovely bride. She’d laughed about choosing a train that went on forever, and wanting the longest church aisle so she could enjoy it. She caught his gaze and they shared a smile. The gown was perfect.
The music changed. Charlotte began the slow walk down the aisle, carrying a bouquet of white roses wrapped in a red ribbon. Bryce took four steps into the aisle and met her to offer his arm.
TWENTY-FOUR
Turn a little more to the left, Mrs. Bishop. That’s it. Perfect.”
Bryce didn’t let himself look over to see Charlotte making the minor adjustments the photographer requested. They were forty minutes into the session he had hoped would take half that time, but it didn’t seem to be the photographer. He and Charlotte were simply having a hard time getting in sync for the wedding pictures.
“Now can I have a smile?” The photographer went still to take the shot, hesitated, faltered, and finally lowered the camera. “You seriously don’t like to have your picture taken, do you?”
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