by SUE FINEMAN
Chance squeezed Baylee’s hand. Instead of going to see his family and letting her find her own way to Houston, he’d brought her here and stayed to support her through a difficult time. Good thing he came along, because looking at her aunt’s wasted body, she had a feeling someone would be planning a funeral soon, and she didn’t know the first thing about planning a funeral.
Was that why Bay wanted her here, to take care of her final arrangements?
Anne walked to the bed and spoke with the patient. “Bay, Baylee is here.”
Bay stirred and opened her eyes. “Baylee,” she said in a hoarse voice, as if her throat was sore. “Thank you for coming.”
Baylee walked to the bed and sat in the chair Anne pushed over. “This is my friend, Chance Gregory. His family lives in Caledonia, Texas. We were on our way there when Anne called. She said you had a heart attack.”
“Yes.” She coughed and her whole body shook. “I told the doctor to let me die. I don’t want to go through any more. Anne, did you make an appointment for Baylee to see Charles?”
“Yes, I did.” Anne turned to Baylee. “The appointment is scheduled for two this afternoon. I hope that’s convenient for you.”
Baylee looked up at Chance, who stood on the other side of the bed. He nodded. “That’s fine. Is his office downtown?”
Anne handed Chance a business card. “Bay’s attorney is in the building next to the hotel. That’s why I booked a room there.”
Chance glanced at the card and tucked it in his shirt pocket.
The doctor came in and the nurse chased the visitors out.
“I’ve worked for Bay and Cody Wheeler for over fifteen years,” said Anne, “and I can honestly say she’s ready to die. She’s been ready since Cody died.”
“I didn’t know about Cody,” said Baylee.
“They were together over twenty years. They never married, but they loved each other dearly.”
“Cody Wheeler the tycoon?” said Chance.
Anne smiled. “He didn’t think of himself that way, but yes, Cody Wheeler the tycoon.”
The doctor came out and Anne introduced him. “Dr. Ross, Baylee is Bay’s next of kin.”
Baylee shook his hand. “What can you tell us about her condition, doctor?”
“It’s grave. I don’t expect her to be here next week, maybe not tomorrow. We’re keeping her medicated so she’s not in any pain.”
“She knows—”
“Yes, she knows, and she’s ready. The hospital chaplain has spent a considerable amount of time with her the last two days, and he’ll be back this afternoon. If you have anything that needs to be said, don’t wait too long to say it.”
Say what? Baylee scarcely knew her aunt. Bay might have information about Baylee’s parents, but it seemed selfish to ask when the woman was dying.
They spent an hour at the hospital. Bay spent most of that time sleeping. Then Chance drove Baylee back to the hotel. She sighed. “I hate hospitals, and sitting around waiting for her to die seems ghoulish. I don’t even know her, and I still don’t know why she wanted to see me. It isn’t as if I come from a close family. I never even met any of Grandpa’s kids until after he died. His oldest son made the funeral arrangements. Grandpa had something like fourteen kids, and only three came to the funeral. And me. In spite of the way that old man treated me, I went to his funeral.”
“What happened to his house?”
Baylee shrugged. “Gib was the executor, so I assume he took care of it. The house was a dump anyway, small and drab, with three tiny bedrooms and one bathroom. I wouldn’t live there again if someone gave it to me. Too many bad memories.”
“Sounds like the house I grew up in, but aside from having so many kids around all the time, it wasn’t bad. Just too small and crowded.”
“I thought you had two brothers and one sister.”
“Yes, but my mother was always taking in other kids. She doesn’t do it anymore, but then you don’t find as many needy kids in a small town as you do in the city. I wouldn’t have minded one or two extra kids in the house, but Mom always overdid it.”
Baylee grew up alone, hiding in her room.
She and Chance walked to Charles Glaser’s office. Her first impression was one of cool, understated elegance. The gray carpet with a subtle burgundy pattern absorbed their footsteps. Cherry bookshelves lined one long wall. A conference table near the windows offered an outstanding view similar to the one from the Skyline room at the hotel, where they’d had lunch. Chairs upholstered in burgundy with a gray pattern surrounded the table.
Charles Glaser was an older man with thinning gray hair and a suit that fit like it was made for him. Maybe it was. This man’s services wouldn’t come cheap. Everything about him and the office screamed money.
He shook her hand and she introduced Chance as a friend and attorney from Washington state.
As they sat at the conference table by the windows, Mr. Glaser said, “It’s good that you have an attorney with you, Miss Patterson. You will need an advisor in the weeks and months ahead.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother is leaving her entire estate to you.”
The only word that registered was mother. “What mother? I don’t have a mother.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Miss Patterson. Bay said you knew, that your grandmother told you years ago.”
Anger welled up in her chest, anger at the mother who’d neglected her and anger at the grandparents who’d made her childhood a living hell. “Nobody told me anything.” If Bay was her mother, why had she left her in that house with two hateful old people?
Chance put his hand over hers on the table. “Are you okay?”
“Why didn’t someone tell me? And why did she leave me with my grandparents?”
“Bay had an illness that left her close to death. She was in Africa when she was stricken, and it took her months to recover enough to come home. She was gone so long you didn’t recognize her when she came home, and she decided you needed the stability of a real family. Her mother had recently married again, and they said they’d take you, but only if Bay would leave you with them for good. She agonized over her decision and then agreed.”
Baylee would have been better off with a nanny. “She never called, never wrote to me, and aside from two or three visits when I was a kid, I never saw her.”
“At first, your grandfather wouldn’t allow it, then he said you didn’t want to see her. Bay tried to contact you after you graduated from high school, but your grandfather said you had moved out and he didn’t know where you were.”
Why would anyone who knew her grandfather believe anything he said? Baylee wanted to talk it over with Bay, but Bay wasn’t just sick, she was dying. And no one could undo the past. Whether she regretted leaving her daughter with those people or not, it was done. Grandpa and Grandma were dead, and Baylee was a grown woman.
“Why are we here today?” Chance asked the attorney.
“We’re here at Bay’s request. She wanted me to discuss the estate with Baylee before she left the city.”
Baylee made an effort to relax her tense body while the attorney walked to his desk and returned with three booklets. He handed one to Baylee and one to Chance and then sat at the head of the table and opened his copy. “As you probably know, Cody Wheeler was a very wealthy man. He had three children of his own, and he left a good portion of his estate to them when he passed on. The rest came to Bay, and she’s leaving it to you.”
Sharing a look with Chance, Baylee swallowed hard. She was so broke she couldn’t pay her share of the expenses on their trip, and this man, this high-priced attorney, was telling her she’d inherit Bay’s estate.
Chance opened his booklet and scanned page after page. “She’s going to owe estate taxes on this.”
“Yes, we anticipated that, and we tried to soften the blow as much as possible. The house in the city is worth at least eight million, and the lake house north of the city another two million or so
. She also owns an apartment in New York City, an estate in the Bahamas, and a private jet.”
As the men talked about the best way to handle the estate, Baylee’s mind wouldn’t move past owning an eight-million-dollar house. She’d known people who lived in luxurious homes, but she’d never in her life thought she’d one day own one herself. Only she couldn’t keep it. She didn’t live in Texas, she lived in Tacoma.
She should have grown up in Texas, with a real parent, instead of in Tacoma with two bitter old people who resented her presence in their lives.
The conversation came to a halt and both men stared at Baylee. She stared back. “What?”
“Mr. Glaser asked how much money you’ll need for the short term,” Chance said with a smirk. “Would a hundred thousand cover your current expenses?”
She nodded. Of course it would. That was more money than she’d made in the past two years. Did Bay think money would make up for neglecting her daughter all these years? The urge to tell this man to go to hell, to refuse the money, crossed her mind. That might make a point, but it would be a foolish thing to do. She’d lived on the edge for years, struggling to pay her living expenses while helping the women in the shelter. She could do a lot of good for a lot of people with Bay’s money.
Chance winked at her and she took his hand under the table.
“Mr. Glaser, can you give me a value on the estate?”
“Certainly. If you’ll turn to page three in your booklet, you’ll find an approximate value. It is dependant, of course, on market conditions.”
She opened the booklet to page three and scanned down the page. The real estate alone was worth twenty million. She owned an airplane, three vehicles, jewelry, household furnishings, stocks and bonds, and a bundle of cash in various bank accounts. The total at the bottom was an impressive four hundred million. Baylee swallowed hard and stared at the figure. She didn’t need a job. With one tenth of this money, she’d never have to work again.
“Is my… Is Bay leaving anything to charity?”
“Yes, she is, and she’s leaving gifts to the staff. The charitable contributions are listed on page ten of the booklet, and of course, you’ll want to contribute to your own worthy causes.”
“Of course.” The woman’s shelter in Tacoma needed financial help. So did the underground network.
“Miss Patterson, your mother wants you to have her estate.”
“Atoning for her neglect in the past?”
“But your grandparents told her—”
“My grandparents lied to me and to her. If I had known Bay was my mother, I would have made an effort to get to know her.” She felt cheated and betrayed by her own family, including the mother who wasn’t a mother. Her chest felt heavy with emotion, but she refused to fall apart in front of this high-priced attorney. She’d dealt with the trauma of her childhood years ago and she could deal with this, too.
The room grew quiet, and then Baylee asked, “Was this Cody Wheeler my father?”
“No, she met him twenty-five years ago. Bay never said anything to me about your father’s identity. I do know she had an active social life in her younger years.”
“Yet she never married?”
“No, she never married. Cody proposed many times, but his daughter was so opposed, she always turned him down. Bay didn’t want to cause a rift in his family. That was why he transferred the bulk of his estate to her before he died. He didn’t want his children to have a claim on the assets he intended for Bay to have. His sons inherited the businesses, and his daughter was given the chateau in France and enough money to support her for the rest of her life. Before he died, he told them if they contested the terms of the will, they’d get nothing.”
“Can they claim Bay’s estate?” Baylee asked.
Chance shook his head. “No. No matter how she acquired her assets, they’re hers to dispose of any way she wants.”
“In spite of her wealth, Bay lived a simple life,” her attorney said. “She wasn’t a social butterfly, and her picture didn’t grace the pages of the society section of the newspaper. She guarded her privacy.”
When people read her obituary, Bay’s secret would be out.
So much for privacy.
Chapter Six
An hour later, Chance drove Baylee back to the hospital. She still felt shell-shocked from their meeting with Bay’s attorney.
Chance chuckled. “I always wanted a rich girlfriend.”
“Is that what I am? Your girlfriend?”
“Honey, if—”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Chance.” They had to have a long talk, but not now. Right now, she had things to think about, a dying mother and a huge estate that would soon be hers. She’d always lived paycheck to paycheck. What did she know about handling large amounts of money? The only stock market she’d ever dealt with had been a grocery store by that name.
“Did you see the list of assets? In addition to the house in Houston and the lake house, there’s an apartment in New York City and a beach house in the Bahamas. And what am I supposed to do with an airplane?”
“Greg’s wife is a pilot and she has her own plane, but it’s not a jet like yours,” said Chance. “Neen inherited some money before she married Greg, not as much as you’re getting, but it was a substantial amount. Bo’s little boy loves to fly with her. He wants to take flying lessons when he’s big enough to reach the controls.”
He pulled into the hospital parking lot. “Do you want to stop in the gift shop and get some flowers?”
“Okay.” She could afford it now. She could afford anything she wanted now. Except this man. Chance Gregory wasn’t the kind of man who could be bought.
When they got upstairs with the flowers, a team of doctors and nurses hovered around Bay’s bed. Anne stood nearby, her eyes filled with tears.
Baylee walked over and the wall of white-clad bodies opened to admit her. “Bay,” said the doctor. “Baylee is here now.”
Bay’s eyes opened and she whispered, “Baylee.”
Baylee took her mother’s limp hand. Seeing her like this, all the hard feelings she’d had in the attorney’s office sprouted wings and flew away. As difficult as it was to talk about something so personal in front of all these people, if she didn’t say it now, she’d regret it forever. “I didn’t know you were my mother until today. I wish someone had told me sooner, and I wish we had more time together.”
“I love you, Baylee.” Bay struggled with a breath, then said, “I’ve always loved you.” Her eyes drifted closed, and after a few rasping breaths, she stopped breathing.
“Go into the light,” Baylee said softly. “Cody is waiting for you there.”
The doctor listened to Bay’s heart and shook his head. Grief and regret surged through Baylee’s chest. She barely knew this woman, her mother, and she’d never get to know her now.
One by one, the doctors and nurses left the room, while Baylee stared at the woman lying on the bed. The tension had left her face, and she looked at peace. In one day, Baylee had gained a mother and then lost her. She’d soon inherit a whole lot of money, but it was small comfort.
She’d rather have the mother.
Chance put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him, soaking up his strength. She didn’t cry, but she felt an incredible sense of loss for what might have been.
If someone had told her sooner that Bay was her mother, Baylee would have been angry with her, but the anger would have passed, and then they would have formed some kind of relationship. But her grandparents refused to tell her anything about her mother. Grandma probably loved her in her own way, but she didn’t know how to show it. And Grandpa resented her very existence.
After a discussion about the funeral arrangements, Anne gave Chance directions to the house. He drove Baylee back to the hotel, where they packed their things and checked out. Baylee would stay in Bay’s house until after the funeral, and she’d send Chance home to his family. His kids needed him, and she neede
d to figure out what to do with the rest of her life.
She didn’t have to go back to work, but what would she do with her time if she didn’t work? What good was time and money when she had no one to share it with?
As Chance pulled away from the hotel, he asked, “Did you bring anything to wear to a funeral?”
“No.”
“I didn’t either.”
“If we’d gone to the hospital directly from the meeting with the attorney—”
“Don’t do that to yourself, Baylee. Bay wasn’t in any shape to talk at that point, and you told each other what was important.”
Five minutes later, Chance turned into a tree-lined drive and drove slowly toward a beautiful Italian style villa with balconies draped in flowering vines. “So this is what you get for eight million these days,” he muttered. “It’s huge.”
Baylee stared at the most exquisite house she’d ever seen and mentally compared it to her dinky little apartment. “I’ll bet there’s not a single thing in that house that came from a blue-light special at Kmart.”
He parked in the circle drive in front of the house. A man and woman rushed outside to greet them. They both wore black slacks and white polo shirts. They must be Bay’s staff. The man opened Baylee’s door and reached for her hand to help her out of the car. “Welcome, Miss Patterson. I’m Edwin and this is Mary.”
“It’s nice to meet you both. Did Anne call you?”
“She called this morning and said to expect you this afternoon.”
Baylee didn’t know how to soften the blow, so she said it straight out. “Bay passed away about an hour ago.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Edwin. “It wasn’t unexpected, of course, but we didn’t think it would happen so soon. She will be missed.”
“Yes, she will.”
Baylee introduced Chance, who grabbed his bags and followed her inside.