Mr. Donne’s assistant picked up on the third ring. Jen explained her reason for the call.
“We’re just back from vacation,” Astra Meyers said. “Mr. Donne has quite a few appointments today. Can this wait?”
Usually Jen would have agreed to postpone the meeting. She was not by nature an assertive person. But Maryann wouldn’t be here much longer. Difficult as it was, she insisted on a meeting as soon as possible. Astra reluctantly fitted her in for a late afternoon appointment.
“Thank you for seeing me today,” Jen said.
“Well, as I told you, Mrs. Stoddard, my sister’s son, Edward Norris, does all of our accounting work. He’s a C.P.A. and an auditor.” Donne turned to Maryann. “And who might this young lady be?”
“Maryann is my friend and has an M.B.A. in business. I thought her presence might be helpful.”
“Of course.” Mr. Donne gave her a patrician nod.
Maryann simply smiled politely at the attorney.
“The truth is that I’m confused about a few things and I wanted some clarification. Maybe we should be talking to your nephew since,as you suggest, he knows the most about the financial state of my grandmother’s estate.” Jen kept her tone polite but she had no intention of backing down. She vowed Mr. Donne would not intimidate her.
He, in turn, frowned at her. “What is it that you wish to know? Perhaps I can be of some assistance.” He leaned forward in his chair, his wrinkled face like a pattern of mosaic tile, his stooped posture more evident.
“To start with, the house needs more repairs then we initially realized. The money set aside probably won’t cover all of it. My own personal finances are rather limited at present. Is more money available from the estate?”
He gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid not. It’s all invested. Edward could explain that better than I can.”
“When might we talk to him? Can it be today while Maryann is still in town?”
Mr. Donne appeared taken aback. “I doubt that would be possible.”
“Could you please give me his phone number and address? His office is nearby–am I correct?”
“Well, yes, but that isn’t the way things are usually done.”
“Mr. Donne, this is very important to me.”
“All right, I will see what I can do for you.” He sounded annoyed but she wasn’t going to back down. This was too important.
“Now. Please.”
After they left the lawyer’s office, Maryann turned to her. “Jen, I’ve never seen you so forceful.”
“Was I rude? I hope not. I didn’t mean to be.”
Maryann placed her hand on Jen’s shoulder. “No, you handled him just right. I’m impressed.”
“But it does seem hopeless.”
Maryann shrugged. “Let’s go visit Mr. Norris and see what he has to say. Nothing’s set in stone as far as I can see.”
Jen referred to the business card Mr. Donne had given her and dialed his nephew’s phone number on her cell. She got to speak with his assistant and explained the urgent need for an appointment. The assistant slotted her for an hour hence. Jen breathed a sigh of relief. She gave a thumbs up sign to Maryann who smiled and nodded her approval.
The accountant’s office turned out to be in Hardin, two towns away and a good drive. Jen still didn’t feel comfortable driving any distance, but since Maryann sat beside her, the trip turned out to be more pleasant than intimidating.
Edward Norris appeared to be waiting for them. No one else frequented his office. He probably intended to go home early. Summer hours. Well, he would have to wait on that.
He shook hands with them both. Jen noted that his hand felt damp. Was he perspiring? The office seemed well air-conditioned. He invited them to sit down.
Jen studied the man. He had thick, sandy brows and a mustache to match. His hair looked styled rather than merely cut. His suit appeared well-cut and expensive. His fingernails had been manicured. He had a good tan as if he’d vacationed recently on a beach somewhere. The accountant obviously did well for himself.
“Now how can I help you?”
“I’m certain your uncle told you,” Jen said. “So I’ll get to the bottom line. Is there more money available for the house? There are additional repairs needed. I will require more cash.”
Norris frowned at her. “I’m afraid that isn’t possible. When you legally come into possession of the house and your grandmother’s assets, matters will be different.”
Jen took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm herself. “Mr. Norris, I would like to see the estate records. I would like to know specifically what my grandmother had in assets at the time of her death.”
Norris rose to his feet. “I believe you have a copy of the will. You are not entitled to any further assets until you inherit your grandmother’s property. That will not occur for approximately two more years. Your grandmother made no provision for additional funds other than what you have already received. Now, ladies, you’ll have to excuse me. I have an important appointment elsewhere. I only saw you today as a courtesy to my uncle.” His manner had changed from polite to unfriendly and downright hostile. He hurried them out of his office.
She exchanged a look with Maryann. Her friend’s expression indicated a similar reaction.
“What do you think?”
Maryann shook her head. “Challenging people about money sometimes brings out the worst in them. But he could be hiding something.”
Jen sighed as they walked back to the car. “He acted as if it were his money I asked for. Sorry to waste your time.”
“We’ll work on this together.” Maryann’s sunny, reassuring smile made her feel much better.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Maryann felt terrible about leaving Bloomingvale. It did appear to be a pleasant place to live. She especially hated to leave Jen and Aaron. She recognized that Jen’s unfinished business here would benefit from her knowledge and expertise. But in a week, she needed to be headed back to New York for her interview.
Unwanted came the vision of Rob Coleman looking at her with those earnest eyes. Those eyes haunted her. No man had ever looked at her the way he did. And he was such an attractive man, not just physically, although he certainly appealed on that level. But there seemed to be an innate goodness in the man, a kindness, you didn’t often see. Strange how she hardly noticed his limp anymore. It didn’t really matter.
She shook her head trying to clear her mind. Thoughts of Rob Coleman would do her no good. She must go back to preparing for interviews in New York. Another corporation had answered her query. They were going to schedule an interview for the same week too. She would be very busy.
A light tap at the door of the room caught her attention.
“Maryann, Rob came by. He wants to talk to you. Can you come down?”
“Be right there.” Out of habit she went to the mirror, ran a comb through her hair and put on a fresh coat of lipstick. She caught herself about to change to a different outfit. Why would she bother? Why should she?
When she swept down the staircase, she found Rob standing there in the foyer. He looked hunky, dressed in jeans, T-shirt and a baseball cap. The well-worn clothes fit his muscled body to perfection.
“Hi, Rob, Jen said you came to see me?”
“Both of you really. I wanted to know if you want to participate in some of the activities for the Labor Day picnic. There’s going to be some races like the three-legged race, best pie gets a blue ribbon, followed by a pie eating contest. It’s all old-fashioned, good-natured fun. I just wanted to know if you’d like to go over the list with me and maybe sign up for something.”
She gave him a dubious look. “I don’t think so. I’d prefer to be a bystander. But please feel free to enter anything you like.”
“Would you cheer me on?”
“Absolutely, I’m a great cheerleader.”
He gave her a broad smile. “I bet you are. You sure you don’t want to do the three-legged race
with me?”
“I’m certain. But I know someone who’d love to sign up with you.”
“And who would that be?”
She smiled back at him. “Aaron, of course. Although he’s been spending most of his time with Bobby Higgins these days.”
“I just keep losing out.” Rob voice teased her.
Jen and Aaron came down the stairs, Aaron barreling along far in the lead of his mother.
“Hey, Rob. Are you working here today?”
“Not today, sport. Just came by with a schedule of activities for the Labor Day picnic. See if you want to sign up for anything.” He removed a folded sheet of paper from his back pocket and handed it to Aaron.
“Cool!” The boy snatched it eagerly and began reading the document with interest. “There’s a relay race and a hundred-yard dash. I bet Bobby and I could enter those. I’m going to take this over to Bobby’s house.”
“I’ll walk you over,” Jen said. “Wait for me.”
Jen turned to Rob. “I’m not certain when I’ll have more work for you to do on the house. I’d like to renovate the rest of the rooms upstairs, but right now it isn’t possible.”
“No problem.”
Jen hurried after her son, leaving Maryann alone with Rob.
He turned back to her. “Did I take you away from something important?”
She shook her head. “I was working on my Q and A.”
“Your what?”
“Questions and answers for my interviews. I try to generate every conceivable question I could be asked by the corporate team. Then I write up answers, go over them, practice in front of a mirror.”
Rob shook his head. “Why go to so much trouble?”
“It’s really necessary if you want to appear well-informed. I always do lots of research on a company and its products before I interview with them.”
“Suppose you get thrown completely different questions than what you expect?”
She shrugged. “Then I have to improvise, wing it. I can manage. I have in the past. But I still believe it’s important to be fully prepared. I think it was Napoleon who said that luck occurs when preparation meets opportunity.”
“Did he say that before or after Waterloo?”
“Very funny. Do you take anything seriously?”
“Could be you over-think things. Doesn’t pay to worry.”
She found herself getting annoyed with him. “When men are hardworking and ambitious, they’re admired. Women get criticized.”
He frowned and placed his hand on her arm. She felt that frisson of awareness that so unsettled her. “I didn’t mean to insult you. I admire you more than you could know. I just meant to say that you need to relax and enjoy life more. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”
She folded her arms together. “That’s the difference between us. I guess I’m a pessimist while you’re an optimist.”
“We can agree to disagree and still be friends, can’t we?” His voice coaxed her.
“Is that what you want, for us to be friends?”
“I’ll take what I can get.” He moved closer to her and ran his hand along her cheek in a soft caress.
“I better get back to my Q and A.”
“You just do that. So no games or activities for you at the picnic?”
“Afraid not. I’ll just be a spectator.”
“Coward.” There was a glint in his eye.
“That’s me. I don’t intend to make a fool of myself.”
“You couldn’t if you tried.” His eyes ran over her and she felt her blood begin to heat.
His lips were inches from her own. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to melt in his arms. But that was insane. She didn’t belong with him. She shook off the feelings of want and hurried away from Rob.
A loud knock at his door jolted Grant. “Come in,” he called out.
Mayor Longworth burst into his office. The pants suit she wore served to accentuate her tall, gaunt frame. At the moment, she bore down on Grant with a Medusa-like stare that could have turned lesser men to stone.
“I just came from having a very disturbing talk with one of our constituents.”
He sat back in his chair. “Let me guess, that wouldn’t be Samuel Forrest, would it?”
“That man is a large campaign contributor. He’s one of the people who keep me in office, which in turn means he keeps you working as police chief.”
Hands on hips, toe tapping against the floor, the mayor did not look as if she could be easily placated. Grant decided not to bother trying.
“I’ve been looking into Forrest’s charity. Just so you know, the Forrest Foundation seems fishy. CharityWatch, CharityNavigator and Forbes regularly publish charity ratings. A small percentage of the money that Forrest takes in appears to actually go for those poor orphans. I can investigate further.”
“No, please don’t do that.” Now she appeared to be on the defensive. Good. He’d given her something to think about.
“Word to the wise. If I were a politician, I’d disassociate myself from a guy like Forrest. Eventually, it will come back to bite you in the derriere.”
The mayor’s face reddened. She left the office slamming the door behind her.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Jen had the unique experience of having the afternoon to herself. Maryann decided to work in her room at her laptop. Aaron had gone swimming again with Bobby and the Higgins family. It should please her being given this time to relax. But being alone didn’t make her happy. Jen found things were best for her when she kept busy, otherwise she tended to worry.
She still had no clue what she would do once Aaron went off to school and Maryann returned to New York. Some women had useful talents. They could turn hobbies into occupations, become artists, writers, chefs, clothing designers. She couldn’t even clean homes with the skill Linda Coleman and her daughters managed to do. True, she happened to be well-educated, but so were a great many other women. She wondered about going back to school, taking required education courses and getting certified as a science teacher. But she knew herself to be a shy person. Could she manage to control a class of exuberant children? Probably not. Perhaps library work would suit her. However, with a poor economy, library jobs were also scarce. Where was her life headed? She couldn’t say, had no clue. Other than being the best possible mother she could be to Aaron, she felt unsure of herself.
Maybe now would be a good time to look closely at the rooms that she had been ignoring, although remodeling them for the time being seemed like a remote possibility. Still, there were probably some simple improvements she could manage to make on her own. If nothing else, it would give her some sense of accomplishment which she needed.
Her grandmother’s room came to mind. It had been the master bedroom and as such had at some point been renovated to include its own bathroom. Jen’s decision to leave it as it had been was based more on sentimentality than good sense.
She entered the room and tried to view it as a decorator would. Her eyes caught the faded rose pattern wallpaper. That needed to be stripped away and a fresh coat of paint applied as had been done downstairs. She was not a big fan of dated wallpaper.
There were still clothes in the closets. Most of them would need to be tossed out. Some could be donated to charity. It made her heart heavy, but she knew these were things that needed to be done. Today she would make a start, however painful.
Jen went to her grandmother’s bureau drawer. Here too many items stared back at her, each with its own small memory. There were perfume vials, sundry small trinkets. All of these things reminded her of the wise, kind woman who had passed away. In the bottom of the drawer, she found an envelope. On the outside, she saw her name in large black letters: “For Jen.” She blinked.
Her grandmother had left a note for her? She hadn’t expected that. She opened it and began reading. The handwriting seemed spidery and hard to decipher as if the act of writing were a painful one done with arthritic fingers.
&n
bsp; “My Dear Granddaughter,
If you are reading this, it probably means that I am no longer among the living. I want you to know that I have thought long and hard about my decision as to how I should allocate my worldly possessions. My jewelry is in a safety deposit box and will belong to your mother to do with as she chooses. By the time you read this, I’m certain she will already be in possession of those items. However, I want you to have my house and investments. I want to provide for you and my great grandson. I know that your husband’s death has left you in difficult circumstances. I believe you will put our family assets to good use whereas your mother would only squander them.
Mr. Donne has my new will and knows my wishes. I will soon be in a care facility. I trust you will find this letter and know what to do with it. There is a safe that your grandfather had installed in this room many years ago. Use the numbers in my birthday as the combination. You will find the safe hidden behind your favorite painting
Jen observed that the Cezanne landscape print had been moved from its original location to another. She had often admired it and told her grandmother so. The print itself had no great intrinsic value other than its beauty to the eye of the beholder.
Jen removed the painting and found the safe underneath it just as her grandmother had described. The first time she tried putting in the numbers, it didn’t seem to work. Had she been confused about her grandmother’s date of birth? She doubted that. Had her grandmother made a mistake in setting the safe’s combination. But no, Velma Pritchard possessed a clear, sharp mind. Jen doubted that would have deserted her grandmother even when her physical strength had. Jen tried again, and this time it worked. She heard the tumblers click into place, pulled the handle and the door to the safe opened.
She peered inside the safe. There were a number of papers. Birth certificates, death certificates. One document happened to be another signed copy of her grandmother’s current will. Another large manila envelope had her name on the outside. She opened it and stared at a vast amount of cash. Her eyes opened wide. She located another note written in her grandmother’s distinctive handwriting.
The Inheritance Page 13