The Widow and the Will

by J. Thomas-Like

  “Nope,” Hudson hurried to reassure her. “I don’t have a lot of experience with that kind of thing, but I’d take it as no news is good news. May I ask a few more questions?”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “Are you aware that Jack was adopted?”

  Harry and Ruth gasped and their eyes grew wide as they looked from Tess to Hudson and Tess cringed.

  “Y-yes. I found a letter that Jack wrote to me,” she whispered. “And I also heard it from his parents. I’m coming from there, actually.”

  “Is that why you’re so upset?” Ruth demanded. “What happened? Jack was adopted?”

  “You’ve just been with them?” Hudson scribbled furiously on the pad but then his green eyes met hers. They were piercing and forced her to pay attention. There was something oddly familiar about them, but she couldn’t place it.

  “Yeah. After I got the letter from the insurance company, and I didn’t reach you right away, I went to them first. I figured they would know something about it.” Tess looked at Hudson and then at Sexy Guy, watching for more reactions. That was when it hit her. She pointed to him and then looked back at Hudson.

  “Are you two related?” Tess asked, immediately snapping her lips shut as she realized how rude that must have sounded.

  Hudson chuckled. “Yeah. Ford is my brother. He’s my private investigator and partner.”

  “Our parents loved cars, if you couldn’t tell,” Ford said quietly, raising an eyebrow at her, winking.

  Tess smiled at them both and Ford nodded. Now that she’d put two and two together, the resemblance was remarkable. Even though Hudson’s face was clean shaven, she could see the same shape in their eyes and nose. She had no doubt that Ford had the same strong chin beneath his facial hair and that one day Hudson would have the beginning streaks of gray at his temples and through his brown hair too. Snap out of it, you twit! She needed to be concentrating on what the lawyer was telling her, not comparing their cuteness.

  Hudson rifled through some pages on his legal pad. “From this point forward, Mrs. Kingston–”

  “Tess, just call me Tess.”

  Looking directly at her, Hudson spoke in a deliberate tone. “Alright, Tess. From this point forward, I wouldn’t suggest any further contact with Jack’s family. He left everything to you and that will not make them happy, to say the least.”

  Tess frowned, because she already knew she didn’t want to be around the Kingstons after her unceremonious eviction. It hurt hearing it spoken out loud by a stranger. “I sort of figured that out already. They weren’t too pleased with my visit. David said he already opened a probate estate.”

  “David Kingston?” Hudson’s eyes never left her.

  “Yeah, that’s Jack’s brother.”

  “Tell me what else he said.”

  Tess recounted everything from the time she arrived at the Kingston home until the moment she left. “I’m pretty confused right now. I know they lost their son and they’re grieving, but why would they accuse me of anything? They all looked like I’d done something wrong.” Tess could feel her heart aching with grief and regret, feeling the loss of not only her husband and best friend, but an extension of her own family. Her second family.

  “You did. You threatened their ability to keep Jack’s inheritance for themselves.”

  “But that’s not my fault!” Tess shouted. Ruth grimaced and Tess apologized. “I didn’t know anything about any of this. I can’t help it if Jack gave it all to me. If that’s what this is about, then they can keep it.”

  “Oh no they can’t!” It was Harry’s turn to get loud. “Something stinks here. Until it’s all figured out–”

  “You’re right, Mr. Langford,” Hudson interrupted, holding his hand up. Turning back to Tess, he lowered his voice. “Jack must have had a good reason to do what he did. I can’t lie; I’m quite suspicious of it all. But he didn’t confide in me his reasons, only his instructions.”

  Tess bit her bottom lip and crossed her arms in front of her, wishing for the bazillionth time she could turn back the clock. “Jack never said a word to me about being adopted or the money. I know he found out a few weeks before the wedding, but I swear I didn’t see any signs.” The stone of guilt got heavier. “I was, uh, too busy with the wedding.”

  Taking a deep breath, Tess reached for her mother’s hand. After a good firm squeeze, Tess nodded and was able to let go. Part of her still wanted to bolt from the room, the house, the whole world.

  “Everything will be all right,” Ruth said, breaking the silence that filled the room like a noxious gas.

  Hudson chewed on the end of his pen for a few moments before writing more notes. Ford drank his coffee and kept his eyes focused on the diminishing liquid in the cup. Tess fidgeted and cracked her knuckles, waiting for whatever would happen next.

  She wished she could just give the money to Jack’s family; let them have it all. She knew she couldn’t travel back in time to change anything, but going forward, she wanted nothing more than to just be left alone. Judging by the look on Hudson’s face as he pondered the situation, Tess didn’t think that was going to happen. Not at all.

  * * * * *

  Hudson flipped through some pages of notes in the file folder containing an original of Jack Kingston’s will. He hadn’t liked taking on the estate planning job on such a hurried basis, but Jack had been a kind of a friend in college. They’d had a few undergrad classes together and when he’d called Hudson up out of the blue, Hudson couldn’t say no.

  Only now he wished he had. Then he wouldn’t have to be sitting in this kitchen with Jack’s beautiful widow, trying to hash out what was becoming a mystery. Tess Langford Kingston was a woman with dark honey hair and bright blue eyes. She reminded him of Emma Stone as a blond. He had no other recollection of her from college because his own focus had been getting to class and then getting to whatever part-time job he had to pay for school. The sadness locked on her face made Hudson feel a sense of responsibility to make sure things turned out right for her.

  Hudson watched as the soft waves of Tess’s hair framed her face. Clearing his throat, he looked back to his pen. “I’m sorry to hammer you, Tess. But I need as much information as possible in order to get a handle on all this.”

  “I know, but if I don’t understand it, how will you?”

  Hudson was instantly awash in sympathy for her. “Well, I’m a lawyer. It’s what I do. You give me the puzzle pieces and I put them together. You said David has already opened a probate estate for Jack?”

  “Yes.”

  Hudson looked at Ford then down at his legal pad. “We need to get those documents.”

  “On it,” Ford replied.

  “We also need to make sure we have a copy of the autopsy report and the toxicology report.”

  Ford only nodded, and Hudson trusted that his brother was committing everything to memory.

  “Were you able to sign the Certificate of Marriage before Jack died?” He hated asking questions that brought up such difficult memories, but if he was going to figure out what he was in for, Hudson had to gut it out and ask them.

  “Yeah.” Tess was smiling wistfully and it gave her an ethereal look. “We did it right in the ceremony. I stole the idea from my friend Natalie. I swear, I think I heard her laugh when we did it.”

  Hudson smiled as he wrote, glad that he didn’t have to look at Tess while she spoke. A twenty-five year old woman had no business being this sad or embroiled in such a mess. Fate had not dealt her a good set of cards. “That’s good, then. I’ll submit a petition in the case David filed as soon as possible. The Court will know that Jack created an estate plan and that the Court should close the case without making any kind of award to anyone. The whole point was to avoid probate altogether.”

  “Oh, that’s not going to go well,” Ruth muttered. “I can just hear Roger Kingston now.”

  “Hell,” Tess snorted, “wait till David finds out. We’ll feel the earth shaking from the tantrum
he’ll throw.” Her words were filled with fear and anxiety, not the satisfaction at thwarting David that Hudson thought she might feel.

  “You do know you’re entitled to Jack’s estate, right?” he asked, ducking his head to put himself into her field of vision.

  “David said–”

  “I don’t care what David said.” Hudson stared at her hard to make her understand. “You and Jack were legally married. He drew up documents naming you as his sole beneficiary. You have every legal right to every cent that was his.”

  “Okay.”

  “You are not doing anything wrong.”

  Hudson followed his gut and reached out to pat her on the arm hoping it lent more credence to his statement.

  “What if…” Tess hesitated.

  “What?”

  “What if I didn’t want to contest it though?”

  Harry and Ruth opened their mouths to protest, but Tess held up her hand.

  “What if I just wanted to keep the insurance payout and let them keep the rest? Could I do that?”

  Hudson shrugged. “Yes, I suppose you could. We would have to draw up a detailed settlement agreement and meet with the Kingstons to hash everything out, but in theory you can do anything you want with the estate. It’s legally yours.”

  “I need to think about it then.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Hudson could see her parents struggling to contain themselves. They wanted to argue with their daughter, but kept a hold of their tongues. He found that very encouraging and felt better. Tess obviously had a good support system around her.

  “Have you spoken with the insurance company yet?”

  Tess pulled EJR’s letter from her purse and gave it to Hudson. “I talked to them this morning. They’re going to call me when a check is ready.”

  Hudson read the letter and all the notes Tess had written on the back. He appreciated her neat and tidy handwriting, wishing his own chicken scratch was as legible. He took a moment to look at Tess, trying to determine how much more she could take in the way of questioning and decided it was time to call it quits. She looked pained and exhausted. There were dark shadows marring the fair skin below her eyes. The corners of her mouth were turned down, as if pulled by the weight of all the news she’d gotten. It wouldn’t do any good to push her too far, especially when he had a shitload of investigating to do before he could begin to even assimilate all the information.

  “I think we should leave this for the time being.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Ruth said softly, catching Hudson’s eye.

  “But I’ll need to meet with you again very soon.”

  “Okay.” Tess’s lower lip quivered as she spoke, but her voice was stronger than he expected.

  “Ford and I will get as much together on our own before we set up another meeting. I’ll be in touch in the next day or two, if that’s all right.”

  Tess nibbled on her thumbnail and closed her eyes. “Sure.”

  Hudson gave her a smile he hoped was reassuring and kind. He pulled a business card from the inside of his suit coat and placed it on the table. He jotted another couple of numbers on the back. “Here’s another card with my cell number and Ford’s. If anything comes up in the meantime, or you need to reach us, don’t hesitate to call or text.”

  “Yeah, okay.” She tried to return his smile and let out a shuddery breath as she did.

  Hudson nodded his head and turned back to the table. As he gathered his paperwork and stuffed it into the briefcase, he nodded to both Harry and Ruth, hoping they felt some modicum of peace.

  After shaking hands with all three Langfords, Harry led Hudson and Ford out of the house. Feeling their eyes on him, Hudson gave them one final wave where the little family stood on the front porch watching their departure. When the doors were closed and they were alone, Hudson snorted. “This is a load of shit, brother.”

  “I would agree,” Ford replied.

  “Harry Langford got it right when he said something smelled foul.” Hudson started the engine and put the truck in gear. As they drove through the circular driveway, he pounded the steering wheel with his fist. “The problem is, do we dig deeper or just coast and let trouble find us?”

  “Couldn’t say.” Ford was a man of few words. Hudson knew he was only waiting until his opinion was truly required and not just subject to rhetorical questions.

  “It remains to be seen.”

  * * * * *

  Ford stared out the window of the truck and smoked, still a little stunned about meeting Tess Kingston. He was pretty thankful for his poker face when she walked into the dining room of her parents’ house, recognizing her instantly as the pretty girl from the post office earlier. No one in that room could have ever known how truly shocked he was to see her again.

  It had been a long time since Ford thought about a woman as anything other than a bedroom partner. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any respect for women. Quite the opposite, actually. He had little respect for himself. He was a felon and an ex-con with the beginnings of a fairly serious drinking problem. He had no business thinking about having a girlfriend or, God forbid, a family. The fact that Tess had given him such pause was tickling his brain in a way he didn’t particularly care for.

  Hudson was prattling on about things to be done for her case, and Ford tried to pay attention so he could get the pretty widow out of his mind.

  “Are you listening to me?” Hudson asked as he flicked his cigarette out the window.

  “Yep. All ears.”

  Hudson frowned and looked back to the road. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

  “Sorry, I wandered for a minute. Don’t worry.”

  “Well, I do. I need you to have your shit together, brother. This is going to be a pretty convoluted case with a lot of balls in the air. I can’t afford to drop any of them.”

  Ford smiled and nodded. “No worries. I’ve got your back.”

  Hudson dipped his chin and gave him another sideways glance. “Where were you when I called?”

  Ford kept his face bland with a great deal of effort. “Doing laundry.”

  “For four hours?”

  “Yep. I had a lot.”

  Ford hated lying to his brother, but it was a necessary evil. Hudson had no idea Ford had been in jail and he intended to keep it that way. The summer after his graduation from high school, Hudson had been obsessed with worry over how he would pay for college. He’d had no idea his big brother was working on that by running drugs and guns for a couple of local gangs. Ford was able to get away with it long enough to present his little brother with the money for the first year, claiming it was an inheritance from their long dead father. Shortly after that, his luck ran out and he got busted. Instead of telling Hudson the truth, Ford managed to send him a letter saying he was going to take off for a while and good luck in school. Four years later, out on parole, he’d shown back up.

  It had taken almost a year for them to patch things up. There was no way in hell Ford was going to tell Hudson the truth after this many years. Besides, they both needed to focus on their newest client and her case, not something that happened over a decade ago.

  Chapter 10

  By the time Hudson Marks left her parents’ home, Tess was as exhausted as the day she buried Jack. Emotionally, physically and mentally. Her mother started to fix dinner as soon as the Marks’s left and did her best to convince Tess to stay, but she refused. Tess wanted to go home and think. No distractions, no questions, and no long-faced, sad-eyed stares from loved ones hoping to take all her pain away, but knowing they couldn’t.

  Harry walked Tess to her car. Giving her a monstrous hug, he kissed the top of her head. “You know you can stay. For dinner, the night, whatever you need.”

  “I know, Daddy,” Tess snuffled, trying hard not to cry. Again. “But I need to think and I’ll be able to do that better by myself.”

  “Come back if you need to.”

  “I will, I promise.”

  Te
ss extricated herself from his arms and climbed into her car. She saw him in her rear view mirror as he stood in the driveway watching her pull away.

  “Dammit,” she swore, as the wetness on her cheeks grew more pronounced. She was glad Harry couldn’t see her losing her shit again. It would just make him feel worse. She felt bad enough, and hated the fact that everyone around her felt almost as sad. Pulling into her assigned parking space at home, Tess jammed the car in park and reached for her phone. She created a new text message to Lilly: My house later?

  The response came quick: Sure. U ok?

  No.

  What’s wrong?

  The usual. Just come by.

  Tess felt bad always running to her sister with every bit of tragedy, but she was the only person she had to rely on. Jack had been her whole life, and she’d never made that many girlfriends. Instead, she and Lilly had been each other’s best friend.

  Tess climbed wearily out of her car and trudged to the door. Once inside, two anxious cats charged her. “Babies!” she called out, reaching down to pet them both with vigor. She plopped to the floor on her butt and let both felines walk over her lap as she scratched one behind the ears and the other on its exposed tummy.

  Memories of the day she and Jack went to the shelter to choose the kittens bubbled into her mind, like a pot of water boiling over on the stove. “He never was a cat person,” Tess whispered, as she picked up Spencer and snuggled him against her chest. “But he loved you best. You guys had a bond, Pence.” Never liking to be held all that much, the inky, twenty pound feline struggled to get down. “Oh, he loved you too, Timmy,” Tess sniffed, reaching for Timothy who didn’t mind being cradled in her arms like a baby, as long as his tummy got rubbed.

  Tears were unavoidable as images of Jack’s face floated through her mind. The harder she cried, the more attention the cats seemed to want. The more she stroked their silky bodies, the faster the tears fell. Flashes of the day Jack proposed. Memories of getting ready for the wedding. The nightmarish recollection of Jack’s body on the gurney in the hospital. Realizing that no matter how many doubts she’d had before the wedding, she loved Jack very much and she desperately missed him.