The Widow and the Will (10 page)

Hudson shrugged. “Well, now it’s your turn to start thinking outside the box. Don’t let anyone else tell you what to do. Figure out how you want your life to go from here, Tess. You’re really in a pretty good position. You will have a lot of income and no one to answer to.”

“And no one to advise me.”

“That’s not true. You’ll have your parents and sister. And if you vet people carefully, you can choose a lot of good support to surround yourself with. I think your future is looking pretty bright and it’s all due to Jack.”

“You’re probably right.”

What Hudson said made perfect sense and the realization slammed into her. Hudson was a lot like Jack. Here he was doing all the thinking so she could understand her situation. It left her feeling a little frustrated.
When am I going to learn to think for myself
?

As Hudson finished the rest of his meal, Tess studied him. He certainly was a handsome guy and smart as hell, but she couldn’t decide what his best feature was.
Probably his smile
, she decided.
Ford got the eyes, but Hudson has the smile
. Thinking of Ford made the hair on her arms rise the tiniest bit and her heart flutter as well. There was no classical handsomeness to him; he was all danger and swarthy sex appeal. She brought up the image of their first meeting in her mind and almost shivered with the memory.

“Tell me, how did you and Jack meet?” Tess picked up her coffee for a sip, trying to forget about smiles and eyes.

Hudson shrugged and finished chewing, then swallowed. “We had a couple of undergrad classes together. He was a nice enough guy.”

Tess smiled, remembering how many friends Jack had. He had always been an affable guy, talking to anyone about anything. In line at the grocery store, in parking lots. He was always quick with a sociable word to anyone, whether they looked interested or not.

“Frankly, I’m surprised Jack remembered me.” Hudson grabbed a piece of bacon and munched on it. “How did you and Jack get together?” He didn’t look her in the eye as he asked.

“In the third grade.” Tess grinned and set her fork down. “He was the cutest little boy, and even at that age, I thought I’d marry him one day. Of course, everyone just thinks that’s the sweetest thing ever. I mean, how could I have known that when I was only eight years old, right?”

“Did he feel the same?”

“Oh hell no!” Tess laughed and some of the tension in her shoulders and neck released with it. “It took him till he was about fourteen before he realized I was a girl. And then it took another year before he asked me out. But I was patient. There was just something good about Jack. He was kind and sweet and loving, from the moment I met him. As he got older, it reminded me a lot of my dad. Most girls look for some version of their father, and I was lucky enough to find it in Jack. When he gave me a promise ring at my sweet sixteen party, I was just about the happiest girl in the world.”

As quickly as the tension had left her, grief replaced it as she recalled all the specialness of her husband. Tess knew one day that it would ease. Hadn’t it already begun to fade before all this new drama dropped on her head? She would be able to talk about her life with Jack without wanting to cry or scream or feel like a total fraud. But today wasn’t that day. She sniffed and grabbed a napkin to dab at her eyes. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Hudson said softly. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Oh, you didn’t. Everything upsets me, but that’s just part of it. It can’t be helped.” Tess crumpled the napkin and set it in the middle of her plate, then shoved the dish aside. “Sometimes I think if I keep talking about him over and over, it’ll deaden the pain. So far, that hasn’t really happened.”

Hudson gave her a sympathetic smile and for once Tess didn’t want to bash the face of a person giving her that particular look. It actually offered her some comfort and she was grateful for it. Comfort was in short supply.

“I probably need to make out a will of my own now, huh? Make sure all this money I’ve come into doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“That’s a very good idea. One I would have suggested at some point.” Hudson finished with his food and stacked his plates neatly. “But try not to stress yourself over it. The chances of anything happening to you are so slim, it’s laughable.”

Tess snorted, but did not laugh. “You could have said the same thing about Jack, too, don’t you think?”

Hudson looked abashed. “You have a point. I can draw up some preliminary docs for you that cover the insurance money you’ll be getting. We’ll have to revise everything when the other case is finished.”

“Okay.” Tess lifted her cup of coffee to her lips and drained the remaining liquid.

As they waited for the check, Hudson sighed. “There is one other thing I want to bring up, but I’m not sure how you’ll react.”

“You’re good at that.” Tess glared at him, but not too sternly. “Just when I’m about to relax behind the plate, you throw me another curve ball.”

Hudson grimaced and looked down at his hands, which were laced together and resting on the table. Leaning forward, he lowered his voice. “I’m sorry. It’s not the first time I’ve ever heard that. But I am your lawyer and I need to make sure you’re apprised of everything. I know it’s a little early to talk strategy for court, but I want to warn you. Things will probably get pretty ugly.”

“Is that all? I figured they would.” Tess’s breath whooshed out of her and she threw up her hands.

“Even if you think you’re prepared, it almost always gets worse.”

“Well that’s encouraging,” Tess grumbled.

“I’m sorry, Tess. Money makes people do shitty things.”

Chewing on her bottom lip, she shrugged. “How do we get more prepared?”

Hudson stared at her for a moment and just when she was about to become uncomfortable, he spoke. “We start digging. Any dirt we can find to counter whatever they throw at us. Maybe we’ll get lucky and this will all get resolved quickly and amicably. However, I doubt that’s going to happen.”

Tess sighed. “Don’t worry. I’m not holding my breath. Navy blue isn’t my best color.”

Chapter 15

“Let me see it! I want to hold it!” Lilly quivered with excitement, standing next to Tess in the lobby of the insurance company’s office.

Tess laughed and handed over the check. Sure enough, it was made payable to her in the amount of one million dollars. She could hardly believe it herself. No scams, no requests to send money to Nigeria. Best of all, David Kingston didn’t pop out from behind any planters to yell “Psych!” and whisk the check away.

“Let’s get to the bank, quick, before someone changes their mind.”

“Before I wake up from this dream,” Tess mumbled, as Lilly grabbed her by the arm and hauled her out to the parking lot. Lilly drove, and within ten minutes they were at First State Bank in St. Clair Shores.

“Uh,” the bank teller stammered, “we’ll need to place a five day hold on this until it clears.”

Tess snorted and Lilly giggled. From across the lobby, the bank manager waved to them. Ann had known the Langford girls since they were born. Ruth Langford had worked at First State and trained Ann decades ago. Tess watched as she rose and approached them to say hello.

“How’s your mom?” she asked, giving each of them a quick hug.

“She’s good,” Lilly answered.

“How are you doing, Tess?” Ann’s eyes softened but lost none of their happy glint. She was about the most upbeat person Tess had ever met.

“I’m okay, thanks. Just making a deposit.”

Lilly outright laughed. “Yeah, right!”

Ann frowned and smiled a little at the same time. “You don’t say?”

The bank teller waved the check in her hand and Ann took it from her.

“Just an insurance payment,” Tess said softly, her cheeks pinking.

Ann grinned and pulled her in for another hug. “I’m happy for this. Not Jack’s death, of course, but this.” She gave the check a little wave. “After what you’ve been through, this has to ease some of your burdens.” Ann’s words warmed Tess’s heart and felt like a cool salve on her scorched soul.

She nodded as Ann handed the check back to the teller. “I kind of thought of it like a curse at first, but I’m finally beginning to believe it could actually be a blessing.”

“I’m glad you’re seeing it that way.” Ann smiled and touched her arm. “I know there’s a hold on it, but if you need to write any checks against it, I’ll make sure they get honored. Be sure and tell your mom I said hello.” With another wave, she left them to finish the transaction.

“It
is
a blessing, lil’ sis,” Lilly insisted as they left the bank. “Where to next?”

“Hudson’s office. He’s expecting me so I can sign the retainer and give him a check.”

“You got it.”

Chapter 16

Ford sipped coffee and surfed the internet. Google Earth was one of the coolest things he’d ever seen. He was able to get crisp, clear pictures of all of the property listed in Jack Kingston’s trust. He saved each one to the favorites. He went on to do some searching on Jack’s birth father, Benjamin Thatcher. The guy had played football for the University of Alabama and got drafted into the NFL in his junior year.
Pretty cool
, Ford thought as he perused Thatcher’s stats. When he finished with football, the guy had managed to break into real estate development: quadrupling the fortune he’d made playing in the pros. It hadn’t been hard to figure out who the birth mother was, either, because Thatcher had provided for her pretty handsomely in his estate planning as well. Pamela Campbell was living quietly in Guntersville, Alabama, remarried with three kids. Ford wondered if she knew what had happened to the son she’d given up when she was only sixteen. Honestly, he felt she was a pretty brave woman by making such a huge sacrifice. Sometimes he wished his own mother had done the same thing when he and Hudson were born.

Seemed a damn shame to Ford that Jack hadn’t been given the opportunity to meet his birth father. The guy had obviously turned his life around and would probably have been a good influence on his kid. While he didn’t necessarily like to judge, Ford thought the Kingstons were turning out to be a pretty crappy family by not telling their son the truth. Now they were fighting to hang on to Jack’s inheritance at the expense of a woman they’d practically raised with their son. How much more selfish and guilty could they be?

Ford couldn’t deny that Roger Kingston had done a fairly decent job of maintaining all of the investments left to Jack. He’d obviously watched the stock market carefully to keep the money accumulating. Everything had pretty much stayed on an upward trajectory. When Benjamin Thatcher died in a plane crash nine years ago, the total value of the estate left to Jack had been about five million dollars. Today, it was worth a little more than quadruple that.
No wonder he wants to keep his hands on it
.

The bitch of it was, Tess probably would have let ’em keep it. Judging by her character, what little of it he really knew, she seemed like a kind and honest person. She had known for days she was coming into a million dollars and hadn’t done anything careless or wild or stupid. The Kingstons were just being greedy, to his way of thinking. They could have told Tess about everything, offered to share it and then she probably would have declined.
What a bunch of idiots
. It was no wonder Ford always expected the worst of most of the people he met. So far, Tess Kingston was turning out to be the exception to that rule.

Leaning back in his chair, Ford closed his eyes and pictured Tess in his mind. Her arms full of packages that day in the post office. In her parents’ dining room, looking beautiful even though she’d been given the shock of her life. They had only seen one another twice, but the lovely widow was burrowing her way into his mind. At first, Ford had fought it, using all the typical arguments about how she was too good for him, but eventually he gave up. What harm would it do to let his mind wander, when that’s all it would amount to? A dream, a fantasy, wishful thinking. Nothing would ever happen between them in reality.

The office phone rang, pulling Ford out of his study. He reached to answer it, but Hudson beat him to it. From the inner office, he could hear his brother’s professional voice. “Hudson Marks.”

“It’s David Kingston.”

Ford made a face and rolled the chair backwards until he was at Hudson’s door. He flipped his middle finger at the phone so his brother could see and Hudson smirked. Ford pulled the door closed and then scooted back to the desk just as Tess Kingston and Lilly Langford breezed through the front door. Ford didn’t startle easily, but her appearance within seconds of thinking about her made it seem as though he conjured her out of thin air. If it weren’t for the facial features and the sound of their voices, Ford might not have believed they were sisters. Tess was petite and curvy, while her sister was long and lean. But when they laughed, there was no doubt they were related. He couldn’t believe how much the sound of them chuckling made his mood lighten.

“Good afternoon, ladies.” He stood up to greet them, pressing the laptop closed. He tried not to stare at Tess, but it was difficult. Her eyes seemed to dance with a liveliness he hadn’t seen before.

“Hey.” Tess waved a hand at him.

Ford thought she looked young and vibrant in the blue dress and leather jacket she wore. She even looked like she’d gotten some good sleep in the last few days; unlike the first time he’d seen her.

“Ford Marks, this is my sister Lilly. This is Hudson’s brother.”

He forced himself to look at the other woman and respond with a naturalness he didn’t feel inside. “Nice to see you again,” he mumbled.

Lilly’s smile disappeared and Ford felt his stomach drop.
Shit
.

“Again?” Tess asked, looking at him and then back to Lilly.

He fought the urge to slap his forehead and groan. “Uh…”

Lilly rolled her eyes and dropped the hand she had extended out to him. Turning to her sister, she pursed her lips. “I stopped by the other day to meet Hudson,” she admitted. “I just wanted to see who was going to be representing you, that’s all.”

Ford waited for some sort of sibling squabble to bust out right there in the office, but was surprised to hear Tess laugh instead. It was the first time he could remember having heard her do it and it made him want to genuinely smile. It was a breathy, gentle sound that brightened the room and her face. When it tapered off, Tess punched Lilly in the arm and shook her head. He continued to watch her, transfixed. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had held his attention so firmly.

“You’re a dork,” Tess said. “You could have just told me.”

“Well?” Lilly shrugged. “I didn’t want to seem like a buttinski.”

“But you are.” Tess winked and then turned back to Ford, who stood as still as a statue. When her eyes met his, he looked away fast, hoping she wouldn’t be able to tell what he was thinking.

A loud voice from the inner office interrupted the moment. Ford turned and looked at the door, making sure he had closed it tightly.

“Uh, Hudson’s expecting me. I need to sign the retainer and write him a check.” Tess frowned as she listened to Hudson shouting. “I take it he’s here.”

“Yeah, he’s on the phone, if you couldn’t tell.”

“We noticed.” Lilly looked at him like he’d just fallen off the turnip truck.

“Have a seat. I’m sure he’ll be finished in a couple of minutes.”

Behind him, more shouting erupted from behind the closed door. “You can’t get the marriage annulled, you idiot!”

Tess’s face went white. “He’s on the phone with David, isn’t he?”

Ford lowered his head, refusing to look her in the eye. “Yeah.”

“He wants to annul my marriage?” she whispered. Lilly put a supportive arm around her shoulders and guided her to the couch. All the former humor from a moment ago was gone in the blink of an eye.

“Sit down, sis.”

Ford went to the mini fridge and got a bottle of water. He handed it to Lilly, who twisted the cap off and forced it into Tess’s hand. “Yeah. He figures if he can make it like the marriage never existed, then the will is voided too.” Ford watched as her face went from stark white to gray and her eyes began to glass over.

“Breathe, Tess,” Lilly commanded, rubbing her back. “Take a deep breath through your nose.” When she didn’t obey, Lilly thumped her on the back gently. “Do it.”

Closing her eyes, Tess inhaled and exhaled slowly a couple of times and then took the bottle of water. She used her other hand to press against one of her ears to block out the continued yelling. Ford recognized the sibling bond as very close to his own. Lilly took care of Tess the way he had always taken care of Hudson. Pivoting around, he crossed the room to Hudson’s office and opened the door. Leaning in, he frowned and shook his head, mouthing the words, “Tess is here.”

“I think this is a discussion better left for another time.” Hudson slammed the phone down and shot to his feet. “Shit! Did she hear any of that?”

Ford nodded, but said nothing more. He could tell his brother was still tense with rage by the veins popping out on his neck and the way he clenched and unclenched his fists. Ford felt the same anger, but hid the signs much better. He wanted nothing more than to hop on his bike and ride over to that asshole Kingston’s office and punch him in the face. Luckily, no one would ever tell by the way Ford carried himself. His emotions were something he kept tightly under wraps.

“Tell her I’ll be right out, okay?” Hudson rolled his shoulders back and flicked his head to the side. Ford heard the tendons crackle and pop. Nodding, he backed out of the room and closed the door again.

“He’ll be right out.”