by Zoe York
“Then you stole the whipped cream gun?” Ava asked.
“Of course not. I bought it from the guy.” She was aware that the man at the end of the table was watching her with a bemused expression, but he hadn’t moved or said a word.
“Why?” Brynn asked.
“Because if I’d added the whipped cream to our drinks there, it would have melted by the time I got up here,” Cori said. She removed the lid from the mocha latte she’d gotten Brynn and added a tall swirl of whipped cream. Then she chose another of the plastic bottles she’d brought and shook chocolate sprinkles over the top. She handed it to her sister. “I hate that.”
Brynn took it, almost as if she was at a loss for words. She dipped her finger into the whipped cream, catching a few sprinkles with it, and stuck her fingertip in her mouth. And smiled. And that was all Cori needed to see. She took a deep, satisfied breath.
“You brought a lot of coffee,” Ava commented.
She was already sipping her chai and Cori hid her smile. She might frustrate her sister, but Ava needed her. In the midst of a very not-fun meeting like this, Ava needed a latte with little cookie crumbs on top. She just didn’t know it until Cori showed up.
“Sure. For the lawyers. It’s all just black though,” she said with a shrug. “Figured boring was probably the way to go with lawyers, right?”
“Actually, I love a good caramel macchiato.”
Cori’s gaze went to the only guy in the room again. “Do you?”
“Definitely.”
“Cori, this is Evan Stone. He’s the attorney from Kansas,” Ava said. “Mr. Stone, our sister, Cori. And now that we’re all here, let’s continue. I’m sure we all have other places to be.”
Well, that wasn’t untrue. Cori didn’t have anywhere else specific to be, but she could think of at least twenty places she’d rather be.
“Please call me Evan,” the lawyer said.
The lawyer. Of course he was. But he liked caramel. And his eyes were definitely blue.
The only thing that matters is the lawyer part. Knock it off.
“It’s nice to meet you, Cori,” Evan said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Yeah, she couldn’t deal with that right now. Cori looked at Ava. “The attorney. As in, just one?”
“Just one,” Evan confirmed. “But don’t worry, I did have my assistant spell-check everything.”
She’d pictured a room full of lawyers, some for her father, some for Ava, talking through multiple points regarding the transition of power of Carmichael Enterprises. Ad nauseum. She’d downloaded a new romance novel onto her phone just for the occasion. She wasn’t going to get to start that today either.
Cori resisted sighing. Why was it when she prepared for something, actually spent time thinking it through and making a plan, it never turned out the way she’d imagined it anyway? Oh yeah, because plans sucked. She was much better at spontaneity and going with the flow.
Fine. There was one lawyer. Maybe that would mean the meeting would be shorter. And hey, he was wearing blue jeans. For some reason that made her like him a little bit. Sure, maybe in small-town Kansas that was typical dress code for lawyers, but she doubted very much that Ava had ever met with an attorney wearing denim before.
Feeling a little happier at the thought that even Ava couldn’t have been fully prepared for this meeting, Cori took another of the cups from the tray and removed the lid. She swirled whipped cream on the top, picked up another bottle, squeezed a drizzle of caramel over the top, and took it to the end of the table.
“Caramel macchiato,” she said, handing it to Evan.
He took it, one eyebrow arched. “You had a caramel macchiato?”
“My favorite,” she said with a nod.
She headed back to her collection of cups that held only straight-up black coffee now. She took one and began doctoring it with sugar packets and creamer tubs that she also pulled from her jacket pockets. Then she squirted a copious amount of caramel syrup into the cup, stirred, added whipped cream, and drank.
It was only as that first swallow passed her tongue that she realized the room was quiet and that her sisters and Evan were all watching her.
She swallowed and asked, “What?”
“If you’re finished?” Ava asked. “We can continue.”
Cori dropped into the chair next to where she’d been standing. “Yes. Oh my God, please continue. Does that mean you’ve already started?”
“We did,” Ava said.
Yes! Maybe not every one of her plans was going to crap.
“When you didn’t answer my texts asking where you were,” Ava added.
“My hands were full,” Cori said. She’d felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, but she’d known it was Ava and exactly what Ava was asking. “But you can just fill me in on whatever pertains to me later.”
She swiveled the chair, which was more comfortable and cost more than many beds she’d slept in over the past few years, so that she could prop her feet on the chair next to her. She cradled her cup in both hands and rested it on her stomach, settling in to pretend to listen, but to actually just enjoy watching Evan Stone. She could happily ogle his firm jawline and his broad shoulders and the long, thick fingers that wrapped around the coffee cup while he went over…whatever he was going to go over.
“Well, there are several things that pertain to you,” Ava said.
There were? “Like what?” Maybe they just needed her to sign something that said she understood she didn’t get anything. That was cool. She was all over that.
“Like going to Bliss,” Ava said.
That little crease between Ava’s eyebrows is getting deeper, Cori thought distractedly. Good thing for Botox. Then Ava’s words sank in. That wasn’t legalese. And it wasn’t “sign here and move on with your life.”
“What?”
Ava sighed. “You missed a lot, Cori. There are some…stipulations in the trust. Things we have to do to inherit.”
Oh, well, that was no big deal. “I don’t want to inherit,” Cori said, waving that away with one hand. “None of that matters to me.”
Ava crossed her arms, that forehead crease deepening again. “We all have to meet all of the conditions.”
Cori frowned and shook her head.
“The company is being divided into three equal shares,” Brynn said from across the table. “And we each have to follow the stipulations to inherit our third or none of us inherit anything.”
The sip of coffee in her mouth turned bitter and Cori struggled to swallow it. “But I don’t want a third of the company,” she finally managed. She looked at Evan. “Can’t I just give my part to Ava and Brynn?”
“You can do what you want with your third,” he said. “After you inherit it. Which won’t happen until the conditions of the trust are met.”
Cori opened her mouth, but had no idea what to say. She was going to be forced to inherit part of her father’s company? There was no way that was right. It was totally unfair to Ava and Brynn, for one thing. Ava had worked her ass off for the company since she’d been sixteen. Brynn had no interest in the business beyond the research and development branch where she worked as the lead scientist for their pharmaceutical companies, but she could at least fund her research with her third. But Cori…well, Cori not only had no interest in Carmichael Enterprises, but she had no talent, skill, or knowledge to bring to the company, and she didn’t have any world-changing projects that she’d earmarked a few billion for.
Ava took a deep breath. “This is all or nothing, Cori. We all have to do it or it doesn’t matter.”
Cori focused on Evan instead, hoping he could make some sense out of this. Surely Ava was misunderstanding. Or overreacting. Or something. Because if that was true, then Cori was stuck. She’d do anything for her sisters. Which Rudy had, of course, known. And would have used if needed. She narrowed her eyes. “Can Dad actually make us do a bunch of stuff we don’t want to do?”
Evan nodded and Cori f
elt her heart drop.
“It’s perfectly legal for him to put any stipulations on the distribution of his assets that he wanted to.” Evan paused and looked at each of them. “You don’t have to do any of it, of course. But,” he continued just as Cori tried to take a deep breath, “you then all give up all stake in the company and have nothing more to do with Carmichael Enterprises.”
Which was exactly what Cori wanted. But that didn’t matter. If she had to jump through a couple of hoops for Ava to inherit, she’d jump. And she’d freaking smile while she did it too. So there, Dad.
Cori practiced one of those I’m-totally-good-with-whatever smiles right then. “Okay, fine. I’m always up for anything. What are these stipulations?”
“Here.” Brynn slid a piece of paper toward Cori.
For a second, Cori flashed back to calculus class in high school. Brynn was a master note taker. And Cori…wasn’t. But it took only a quick glance to show that the handwriting on the paper was not Brynn’s. It was their father’s.
Instantly, Cori’s throat got tight. That was stupid. It wasn’t like he’d written her lots of—or really any—cards and letters over the years. But maybe that’s why seeing his handwriting hurt now—because she hadn’t seen a lot of it over the years. And now she wouldn’t be seeing it again. She cleared her throat and shook that off. “What’s this?”
“Dad’s note,” Brynn said. “The way this all got started. It’s actually a pretty good summary.”
It was a fairly small piece of paper, and Cori felt a little better. He couldn’t have fit too many demands on something that size.
“There are a lot more details and, of course, it’s written more…officially…in the trust,” Evan said. “But yeah, that’s the first note your dad made about all of this. And it does cover the basics.”
Cori looked up, hearing a gruffness in Evan’s voice. He seemed a little choked up. Okay, that was unexpected. She hadn’t realized that the attorney had been close to Rudy personally, but it seemed clear that Evan was feeling sentimental about the note.
She swallowed hard and made herself focus on the paper.
It was definitely Rudy’s handwriting. But there wasn’t anything like “My dearest Ava” or “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was sick” or “I wish we’d had more time.” It was, more or less, a list. There were five main numbered points. Then there were some small notes written around each. Some words had been underlined or crossed out in red and other words were highlighted in yellow.
It took only a few seconds to read. And then a few seconds more for her to realize that she’d been wrong. He’d fit a lot onto that four-by-six-inch piece of paper.
Move to Bliss. 1 year. Live in house together.
Run pie shop. Profit by year end.
AVA- kitchen, baking, all products. NO business! Date a guy from Bliss. Give it 6 mos. Have fun. No checklists!
BRYNN- customers/waitress. Time with people, get to know them. No kitchen, no business. Date 6 guys from Bliss.
CORI- books/accounting. No baking. Leave customers to B. Make a commitment. But NO DATING for 6 mos.!
Cori read it three times. Finally, she looked up. She had no idea which thing to focus on first. It was all equally bizarre.
Except…it wasn’t.
Not completely. Not the part about Ava having fun. And the part about Brynn spending time with people. And, yeah, even the part about Cori making a commitment. None of that was bizarre. It was all stuff that she and her sisters were not so great at.
The only thing that made it weird was that Rudy had realized it.
“You’re telling me that this is what Dad said we had to do before we can inherit?” she asked the room.
“Yes. Basically,” Evan confirmed. “Like I mentioned, there are a few more details in the trust itself, but…yeah.”
Cori looked at her sisters. Ava looked pissed and Brynn looked worried. Dammit, she’d brought whipped cream and sprinkles to avoid those looks today. She glanced at Evan. He looked concerned and maybe just a little…curious. About her reaction? She wondered what he’d expected.
“You actually put all of this—” She pointed to the note. “—into a legal document?”
Evan glanced at Ava, then back at Cori. “Um. Yeah.”
“And we have to do all of this or we lose the company.”
“Yes.”
Cori looked at the note again. Rudy wanted her to do accounting and not date? She wasn’t really the sit-at-a-desk-with-spreadsheets type. And she definitely wasn’t the sit-at-home-with-Netflix-on-a-Saturday-night type. She had a tendency to, well, not stick. Not to jobs, not to places, not to relationships. She kind of understood why a typical, concerned father might feel the need to do something drastic to change all that. Like tie her sisters’ happiness…and twelve and a half billion dollars…to her settling down for a year.
Then again, Rudy had never been a typical father.
Her gaze settled on the yellow highlighted part under her name. Make a commitment. Since that was followed immediately by BUT NO DATING! she had to assume that he didn’t mean to a guy. Which left her sisters. Or a job. Or both.
Had Rudy known that when she saw her sisters, it was for forty-eight hours or less and involved doing something fun and ridiculous that neither Ava nor Brynn would ever do with anyone else? Cori blew into town, usually without much notice, dragged her sisters out for a fun, extravagant weekend, and then left before they got sick of her. And stayed away for at least a couple of months so they had a little time to miss her. But that wouldn’t be possible in Bliss, Kansas. Living in the same house. Working in the same pie shop. That would require her to get serious. And stick around.
But make a commitment were not the only highlighted words on the page. Have fun was highlighted for Ava and time with people was in yellow after Brynn’s name. Rudy wasn’t wrong about those either. Ava did need to relax and have more fun, and Brynn needed to spend more time with people than with microbes and bacteria—or whatever she had in her lab. Her sisters were brilliant and successful and could do or have anything that they wanted. The fact that they chose to spend all of their time working was a concern of Cori’s as well.
Dammit, Rudy, now we have something in common? Now that you’re dead?
Cori felt tears pricking at her eyes again and she quickly blinked. Nope, there was not going to be any crying here today. She also couldn’t be pissed off or worried. Ava and Brynn had those covered. Cori was the girl with the whipped cream gun. As always. Of course, usually that whipped cream gun was figurative.
“Okay, well, I guess it goes without saying that I can be ready to go first thing in the morning,” Cori said.
“You…can?” Ava asked, clearly stunned that was Cori’s answer.
She gave Ava a look. “I can always be ready to go first thing in the morning.”
She didn’t typically just pick up and go. She gave notice at work and let her landlords know when she was leaving town. Usually. But she could just decide to take off. She made sure she took jobs that were fun and different…and where it didn’t matter if she screwed something up or decided to suddenly quit. At least, that it didn’t matter in a cosmic, people-truly-depending-on-her way like her sisters’ jobs did. She supposed there were some irritated restaurant and clothing boutique managers here and there, but overall, Cori’s absence didn’t change the course of history or leave any gaping holes. Exactly the way she wanted it. And yes, she realized that not being dependent on any of those jobs to pay her bills was definitely one advantage of having a trust fund that had kicked in when she’d turned eighteen.
Ava pulled a breath in through her nose and let it out slowly. “Well, don’t worry about that. I’m going to do everything I can to find a way out of this. I will speak to my lawyers as soon as we’re finished here.”
Because of course you don’t want to spend a year in Kansas with me and Brynn.
The thought flitted through Cori’s mind unbidden. Whoa. Dammit. She didn’t r
eally want to live in Kansas for a year either. It was good that Ava could snap her fingers and have some of the best lawyers in the country looking for ways out of this.
But for just an instant Cori wished she could see Ava Carmichael in small-town Kansas. Sure, she was stereotyping a bit, but there had to be some truth to the idea that there were towns where everyone knew your name within five minutes and all of your business within six. Where the idea of twenty-four-hour sushi was something they only saw in the movies. Where it would only take you a few minutes to get to a place where there were no other people, no noise, no lights. Yeah, she’d give some of her hefty-maybe-almost inheritance to see her sister in a place like that.
Cori glanced at Brynn. Hell, a place like that could be great for Brynn too. Where Ava managed hundreds of people, was on conference calls and in meetings all day, and even tied her social life to her work, Brynn could go days without speaking to another human being and be completely fine with it. She preferred her test tubes and microscopes to anything involving people and human interaction. It might be good for her to be in a place where she couldn’t just blend into the crowd on the sidewalks or disappear into her lab for days.
Cori looked down at the note again. Yep. She was seeing a point to what Rudy had scribbled on this paper.
Okay, now she had to do her job here and make this not only no big deal, but maybe even fun. She had to figure out a way to add a few figurative sprinkles. But honestly, there were a few things in Rudy’s note that could qualify as a good time.
For instance, the idea of Ava baking. Her sister was absolutely not domestic in any way. Seeing Ava outside of the boardroom and out of her pencil skirts, with some flour in her hair, and pie filling on her Gucci pumps would definitely be fun.
Also, the idea of Ava dating a small-town boy from the middle of America who, if there was a God, drove a pickup and would call her ma’am or darlin’. There had to be some hot guys in Kansas besides Evan Stone. Guys that worked outside, with their hands, in blue jeans and boots. Guys that wouldn’t be impressed by things like Ava’s investment portfolio or that she could get last-minute reservations at any five-star restaurant in New York City. Yeah, a hot, country boy could be good for her buttoned-up, workaholic sister.