Jocelyn strode back to Lois and Liam with trembling hands that she hoped to compensate for with full-body bravado.
“Talk to my attorney,” Lois was saying to Liam. She turned her back as she saw Jocelyn approach.
“Lois.” Jocelyn’s words came out as a demand, not a request. “It’s imperative that we reach an agreement today.”
Lois glanced back over her shoulder. “Why?”
Jocelyn’s gaze flickered over to Liam for a nanosecond. “Because we need to reach an agreement today.” She held up her arm, indicating that Lois should have a seat on a nearby bench.
Incredibly, Lois obliged, even as she protested. Score one for Paul.
“I don’t see why I need to say anything to you. My attorney says our case is very strong. Mr. Allardyce clearly chose me to be the dogs’ guardian.” Lois narrowed her eyes. “You know, before he lost his mental faculties.”
“Let me ask you something,” Liam said. “Have you ever been involved in a lawsuit before?”
Lois blinked. “No. Not that it’s any business of yours.”
“I see.” Liam crossed his arms.
“That’s right—I don’t have a history of suing people left and right. So whatever shoddy defense you were planning on building won’t work.”
Jocelyn slid right into the role of good cop to Liam’s bad cop. “No one’s planning on accusing you of anything. What Liam’s trying to say is, lawsuits are kind of like cockroaches. If you see one, you can be sure there’s more.”
Lois sniffed. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”
“You filed this lawsuit, but it’s not going to stop there. We’re going to counterfile,” Liam said coolly. “We’ll subpoena everybody Mr. Allardyce ever met. His doctors, his accountant, his estate planners, his veterinarians.”
“Bring it on,” Lois challenged.
“And sadly, even though we don’t want to, we’re going to have to bring in lots of people that you know. People from the show circuit, your accountants and estate planners.”
“People who might have reason to believe that my co-trustee—sorry, I mean Fran—might be unfairly biased in your favor. Since the two of you are having dinner all over Facebook.” Jocelyn nodded somberly at Liam. “It’ll be a mess.”
“Some of these people are going to be very upset to be dragged into a suit,” Liam said. “Doctors and lawyers and accountants can’t divulge the kind of information we’ll ask for without a court order. Some of them will fight back and countersue.”
“Start with one lawsuit,” Jocelyn added, “next thing you know, you’ve got six.”
Lois forced out a scornful laugh. “Nobody has six lawsuits.”
Liam chuckled right back. “Spoken like someone who’s never had a single deposition.”
Lois kept blustering, but the righteousness had vanished. “You’re trying to scare me.”
“We’re trying to work with you.” Jocelyn waved to the owner of a passing Dalmatian. “Which is why we need to reach an agreement today.”
“Fine.” Lois shrugged. “Turn the dogs over to me and we’re done. Problem solved.”
Jocelyn settled back against the wall and prepared for a protracted negotiation. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re my dogs. Legally, emotionally, and practically, I’m part of the pack now.”
For the first time, Lois looked genuinely hurt. “No, you’re not. Not like I am.”
“I delivered Hester’s babies.” Jocelyn leaned over to kiss Liam’s cheek. “And he helped.”
“You don’t care about any of that,” Lois insisted. “You just want that big house and the money.”
Translation: YOU just want the big house and the money.
“On the topic of money,” Liam said. “Let’s say we did have to take a quick peek at the state of your finances, just to rule out debt and greed as a possible source of motivation.”
Lois visibly stiffened. That was when Jocelyn knew for sure—this had nothing at all to do with the dogs.
She focused on what mattered. “Listen, Lois, I love those dogs. I really do. I would fight for years to keep them.” She waited until she caught Lois’s gaze. “I would spend every penny of the estate fighting to hang on to them. I mean it. Every. Last. Penny.”
Lois scowled at the concrete floor.
“But I can understand why you want them,” Jocelyn added. “Why you think you deserve them. I mean, Mr. Allardyce did really like you.”
“Yes.” Lois’s anger had dampened. “He did.”
“I try my best, but I’m not a perfect dog mom.”
“That’s right.” Lois looked vindicated. “You’re not.”
“What would it take for you to give me a chance with the dogs?”
“There’s nothing you could possibly do to persuade me,” Lois said, but she lacked conviction. Jocelyn recognized the tone; it was the same tone Friday’s owner had used when she wanted Jocelyn to make her an offer.
“I know you care about the dogs more than any other details of the estate.” Such as beachfront property and millions of dollars. “But I’d be happy to make some concession. A show of good faith.”
Lois leaned in. “Like what?”
Jocelyn played dumb. “Like . . . oh, I don’t know. Maybe you could take the dogs one weekend a month.”
Lois took her time responding to this. “That’s not going to work for me.”
Jocelyn cupped her hand to Liam’s ear and pretended to initiate a dramatic whispering debate. After a few moments, she straightened up. “Every other weekend, but that’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”
“Leave it,” Lois said.
Liam leveled his gaze at her. “What do you think would be a reasonable solution?”
“Other than getting full custody of the dogs, which I’m probably going to get anyway?”
“You’re not getting full custody.” Jocelyn rolled her eyes.
“Other than that, yes,” Liam said.
“Well.” Lois put on an unintentionally hilarious display of soulful pondering, complete with stroking her chin and furrowing her brow. “Maybe you could try to prove to me that you really love them. That it’s not just about the money to you.”
Jocelyn was all wide-eyed innocence. “And how would I do that?”
“Let me think.”
Jocelyn nudged Liam. “Okay. Take your time.”
She and Liam admired the parade of purebreds passing them by.
“I don’t know if you knew this,” Lois finally said, “but I don’t own my home. Real estate prices are crazy in Fairfax County. I’ve rented for decades.”
“You don’t say.”
“I’ve been in the same house for the last seven years,” Lois continued. “But my lease is up at the end of next month, and my landlord won’t renew it. He wants to sell, and I can’t afford the down payment.”
“Isn’t that a shame.” Jocelyn braced herself for a big buildup, but Lois got right to the point.
“I want to live in your beach house for a year. Maybe two.”
Jocelyn didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t that. “Like, um, like a roommate situation?”
“No, like you move out and I move in.” Lois cleared her throat. “You could take the dogs with you, but only if we reach an agreement today.”
“So you want me to rent out the house to you?”
“No, I want you to let me live there.”
“Rent-free?” Jocelyn pressed.
“I’m letting you keep the dogs,” Lois said. “You said that was all you care about.”
“And you said that was all you cared about,” Jocelyn reminded her.
“I’m willing to compromise if you are.”
Jocelyn pau
sed for a moment, weighing her words. “Let me see if I have this straight. You want me to move out of the beach house, take the dogs with me, and all of us will go live somewhere else while you live rent-free in Mr. Allardyce’s house, for at least a year? Is that right?”
“And I get the stipend,” Lois added.
Jocelyn’s jaw dropped. “What?!”
“I heard there’s a monetary stipend that goes with the house.”
“It goes with the dogs,” Jocelyn corrected.
“Well, I need the stipend. You should have no problem giving it up for a year if you truly care about the dogs more than money.” Lois shot her a look of challenge.
Jocelyn turned to Liam. “This is crazycakes, is it not?”
“It’s only for a year.” Lois had the decency to look a bit embarrassed. “It would be the surest way to prove your devotion to the dogs.”
“No deal.” Liam got to his feet. “We’re done.”
Jocelyn stood up next to him, but Lois wasn’t going to let them leave so easily. She crossed her legs and crossed her arms and looked them right in the eye.
“That’s my offer, take it or leave it.”
“Leave it,” Liam and Jocelyn chorused.
“Then I’ll see you in court. And I’ll bring my e-mails. And you can talk to whomever you want—they’ll all tell you the same thing. Mr. Allardyce loved me. The dogs love me. I’m the one who should be caring for them.”
“And yet you’re trying to trade them away for money and a lavish lifestyle.”
Lois got even tenser. “It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
“I thought you were better than this,” Jocelyn said.
Lois’s smile sharpened. “You know I’m right about going to court. I have a good case and lots of documentation. If I didn’t, you wouldn’t be here right now.” She stood up and walked away.
Jocelyn turned to Liam. “So this is what it’s come to. My money or my dogs.”
“We’ll fight it,” he vowed.
“But we might lose. Even Mr. Tumboldt admits we might lose. And then I’ll have no money, no house, and no dogs.”
“Keep the dogs,” Liam advised. “Do whatever you have to do to keep them. Even if you end up having to give her what she wants . . . it’s only a year.” No qualifiers, no judgment, no urging her to be practical and financially prudent.
That was when she realized she could love him.
“What?” he demanded when he saw her expression change.
“Nothing.” She forced herself to stay on topic. “I lived my whole life without beach houses and stipends, and I was happy. I have my family, my friends, my dogs. And now I have you. That’s all I need.” She faltered. “But if I give Lois what she wants, we lose your family’s ranch.”
He squared his shoulders. “I told you, I’ll find another way.”
“Your mother deserves to have it back. So do you.”
“I don’t want it if it means you have to give up your dogs.”
She looked at him for a moment, and then they both started laughing. “I can’t believe this is a real conversation we’re having in real life. Beach house blackmail, dog custody battles . . . Who does this?”
“We do.” He pulled her close while a pair of Old English sheepdogs looked on. “In the immortal words of the Notorious B.I.G.: Mo’ money, mo’ problems.”
chapter 38
“You’re sure that if I move out of the beach house for a year and let someone else move in, I can’t still get an equity loan?” Jocelyn pressed.
“Yes.” Mr. Tumboldt looked impassive as always in his office full of dark wood and seascapes.
“You’re positive?”
“You can keep asking, but the answer will remain the same. If you hope to secure any sort of equity loan, your commitment to the house and its upkeep will have to be strongly established.”
“And that’s coming from the bank?” Jocelyn pressed.
“It’s coming from everyone involved in Mr. Allardyce’s estate, up to and including myself.” The lawyer glanced at his computer screen as a new e-mail arrived.
“No offense, but you guys ruin everything.”
“On that note, it’s not at all clear to me that you’ll be allowed to cede the house to someone else, even for a year.”
“Why not? Can’t you see that I’m only doing it to avoid a huge legal battle that will spend down the trust assets?”
“A trustee’s primary objective is to ensure the well-being of the dogs. You’d have to convince Ms. Jarvinen that any relocation you undertook would be in the dogs’ best interests.” The attorney looked skeptical. “And I don’t see how moving from a spacious house on the shore to a tiny house with a tiny yard in the middle of town qualifies.”
“What if I have reason to believe that Ms. Jarvinen has a pre-existing relationship with Lois Gunther?”
Mr. Tumboldt gave her his full attention. “What sort of relationship?”
“They used to go to dog shows together with Mr. Allardyce. They’re Facebook friends. They’re conspiring against me.” Jocelyn sat back and waited for the fire and brimstone to commence.
Mr. Tumboldt seemed unfazed. “Facebook friends?”
“Yes! She’s going to favor Lois in any legal ruling, obviously.”
“That’s not obvious to me at all.” Mr. Tumboldt didn’t quite suppress a patronizing smile. “In order to overrule Ms. Jarvinen’s authority, you’d have to go to court—”
“Another lawsuit.” Jocelyn moaned. “Like cockroaches.”
“—and request that another co-trustee be appointed in her stead. And there’s no predicting how the new co-trustee would view any of this situation.”
“But at least the new trustee would be impartial.”
“You’d have to prove that Ms. Jarvinen is unfit and, even assuming that you succeeded on that point, it would take considerable time to appoint her replacement. Time during which all major business dealings and non-essential expenditures would be frozen.”
“So this equity loan is never going to happen, no matter what,” Jocelyn deduced.
“Correct.”
Jocelyn stared at the attorney. He stared right back.
“You’re saying the devil I know is better than the devil I don’t.”
“I’m not attempting to sway you one way or the other.” He stated it loudly and clearly, as if going on record in a deposition. “But no matter what you do, you’re going to have to build a strong case for your actions and the dogs’ welfare.”
“That’s fine,” Jocelyn said. “I’m very persuasive.”
“Persuasion won’t suffice. We’re talking about lawyers, remember? They’ll need evidence.”
“Like what?” Jocelyn didn’t try to hide her frustration. “Are we going to put Carmen and Curtis on the stand and have them testify under oath?”
The lawyer ignored her sarcasm. “Document what you’ve done for the dogs and why. Collect attestations from the vet and the groomers and anyone else who can affirm you’ve provided excellent care. Write a statement expressing what the dogs mean to you and why you’re the ideal caregiver.”
“Like an essay?” Jocelyn had to laugh. “Like in high school?”
“You have to build a strong evidentiary case. Otherwise, we’re facing a legal battle with the dog handler and I’m not at all confident in the outcome.”
Jocelyn got to her feet and dusted off her hands. “Well then, I better get to building.”
* * *
• • •
“It’s total nonsense.” Jocelyn carried piles of jeans and shoes out of the spacious closet and piled them in the middle of the bedroom. After the most recent conversation with the lawyer, she’d decided not to get too comfortable in the swanky master suite. “Lois is basically blackmailing me out of this house, and in
stead of helping me, the lawyers act like they’re doing me a favor letting me plead my case. And the co-trustee, who’s supposed to be impartial, is brunch buddies with Lois.”
“Outrageous,” Nora agreed as she started folding the clothes and piling them into a suitcase. She and Rachel had returned from their road trip sunburned, exhausted, bedraggled, and brimming with a renewed zest for life and eighties music.
“I can’t believe they’re making you write an essay,” Rachel called from the bathroom, where she was gathering up shampoo bottles.
“I’ll write it.” Liam arrived with cold bottles of water for all. “You have better things to do than explain to Lois’s Facebook friend why you love your own dogs.”
Jocelyn headed back into the closet for another armful of clothes. “It’s a pointless, degrading assignment. That’s why they’re making me do it. They’re putting me in my place.”
As she reached down to scoop up a pair of black boots, her fingers brushed a cold metal edge. The frame of the picture her father had given her. All these years and she still had it buried in the back of the closet, unable to look at it but unable to get rid of it. Now she’d have to haul it to yet another closet, where it would remain in darkness—almost but not quite forgotten. The last tether of hope to a family life that had never existed.
“Avert your eyes, Mom.” Jocelyn held the picture against her chest, faced inward so as not to trigger her mother any more than necessary.
Rachel made a gagging noise and turned back toward the bathroom. “That thing again?”
“What is it?” Nora asked.
“The ugliest picture in the world,” Rachel said. “Should have dumped it at Goodwill long ago.”
“My father gave it to me.” Jocelyn sounded as though she were apologizing. “It’s a long story. I don’t know why I hang on to it.”
“Let’s see it,” Nora urged.
“Seriously, it’s bad.” Jocelyn turned to Liam. “The dogs could do better.”
She waited for someone to ask why she still had it if she thought it was so objectionable. But nobody did. One thing that everyone in this room understood was the need to hang on too long and too tightly to things that should have been cut loose years ago.
In Dog We Trust Page 28