Hudson 02 Lightning Strikes

by V. C. Andrews

  "Disgusting," I said. I turned on him. "Whatever makes you think my relationship with my grandmother could have some price tag put on it? What right do you have to assume things about me? What do you know about my dreams, my sense of responsibility and love toward this woman who has given me so much? I'm not some sort of blemish you heave makeup over and forget."

  He stared at me. Despite his purpose, he looked like he appreciated me.

  "I'm just trying to make things right." "For whom?"

  "Everyone," he insisted.

  "Grandmother Hudson," I replied, "has already done that."

  He nodded, saw he could get no further, shrugged and left me.

  Grandmother Hudson's attorney, Roger Sanger, a man in his late fifties, called me to personally tell me he would be conducting the reading of the will the next day. I told him about Victoria's objections and how she might be taking it all to court.

  "I know all about it," he said. "I spent a lot of time with Mrs. Hudson, and Victoria knows I was a witness to the will. There was nothing wrong with Mrs. Hudson's mind and she knew exactly what she wanted to do. Victoria has spoken to me a number of times about this. I think she finally understands."

  "We'll see," I said. I knew Victoria was not the sort of person you could read and then predict what she would do. To me, after what she had tried to do with the letter she had sent to my great-uncle, she was a viper.

  Brody and Alison weren't at the lawyer's office, as my mother had said. She and Grant had sent them home. It was a very dry and official meeting. Victoria grimaced with pain every time my name was mentioned.

  When it ended, my great-uncle and great-aunt were the most shocked. They had yet to be told all the details. Perhaps Grant still had hoped to clear it up beforehand. Except for their astonishment, very little was said and it felt like another funeral. Mr. Sanger spent time afterward with me, discussing some of the legal paperwork.

  Great-uncle Richard and Great-aunt Leonora had booked themselves on a flight back to London immediately afterward. They said good-bye to everyone and Jake took them to the airport. By this time Great-aunt Lenora seemed quite dazed and confused by all the events and every time she looked at me, her eyes widened. Before they left, she did come to me to say, "You're almost richer than we are."

  "I always was," I told her. She had no idea what I meant. Great-uncle Richard didn't even try to say goodbye to me.

  My mother came to see me before she and Grant started back home.

  "I really don't know how all this will come out, Rain," she said. "What are you going to do now?"

  "I'm going to stay here for a while," I said. "I will probably return to England for the next semester and continue pursuing my dramatics career."

  "You want to stay in this big house by yourself?"

  "It was home to you once, wasn't it?"

  "Yes," she said, nodding. "Though it seems like that was another life now. I'll call you," she promised. She attempted to hug and kiss me. I stood like stone and she turned and left.

  I went out front and watched Jake drive them off. The sky had become quite overcast. Low clouds rolled in from the east and the wind grew stronger and stronger. I could see how it made the water ripple on the lake. I wasn't chilled, however. It all smelled fresh and made me feel good. I was even looking forward to the downpour that the clouds promised. I expected it would wash away the sadness and the sorrow and make tomorrow look even brighter. I was thinking I would return to the cemetery myself when the weather cleared and say my own final good-bye to

  Grandmother Hudson.

  Just then a door slammed on the side of the house and Victoria came around the corner, her arms full of folders. She stopped when she saw me.

  "These are mine," she said. "They have to do with my business."

  "Don't you mean our business?" I asked.

  She glared at me and stepped closer.

  "What do you think you will get out of all this defiance?" she demanded.

  I looked away and smiled.

  "My name," I said, turning back to her. "Nothing more and nothing less."

  "We'll see," she said.

  She walked away.

  The two crows I had often seen before soared over the lake and toward the house, veering to the right, toward the sea.

  They flew as if they believed the future always held promise for them, I thought.

  I hoped and prayed I was right in thinking it did for me, too.