The Will by Kristen Ashley
“Well then, that being so, it was a pleasure to meet you.” I took my eyes from him, sliced them through Ms. Baginski and finished, “Now, I’ll leave you both to your business. Good day.”
After delivering that, carefully putting one foot in front of the other but doing it quickly, I exited the room.
I did this with Mr. Spear calling, “Hang on, Josie.”
I most certainly didn’t “hang on.” I kept going. Swiftly.
His voice was much closer to my back when I was in the hall and he said, “Whoa, woman. Hang on a second.”
I kept going but spoke to the reception area I’d just entered. “I don’t mean to be rude but I have business to see to and quickly as it’s important I get to Rome.”
“Rome?” he asked when I had my hand on the front door.
I tipped my eyes up to him. “Rome,” I stated, pushed open the door and exited it, moving speedily toward my rental car.
He did not call to me again but I knew I hadn’t lost him and this became glaringly apparent when he caught me by my upper arm right when I’d made it to my car.
He pulled me around to face him.
“Josie, give me a second,” he said quietly.
I looked up to him again. “Of course, Mr. Spear, but not to be rude, I have only a second.”
“Jake,” he replied.
“Pardon?” I asked.
“Name’s Jake,” he said.
“Fine,” I returned then prompted, “You wanted a second?”
He didn’t take his hand off me as his eyes moved over my face in a way that it felt like he was studying me.
And that was when I saw what was unusual about those eyes.
Because in the office, they were a clear light gray.
Out in the sun, they were a clear ice blue.
Extraordinary, intriguing and striking.
Blast!
“Mr. Spear…” I prompted yet again and felt his fingers curl deeper into my arm even as he pulled me a half an inch closer.
“Jake,” he murmured.
“Are you detaining me because you want me to address you by your Christian name?” I queried.
His extraordinary, intriguing and striking eyes focused on mine. “Do you talk like that all the time?” he queried in return.
“Like what?”
“Nothin’,” he muttered, his lips quirking again. Then he jerked his head toward the building we just left and reminded me, “Somethin’ big happened in there.”
“Indeed,” I agreed then went on and did so being purposefully obtuse. “And if you’re concerned I’ll take issue with the gifts my grandmother bestowed on your children, please don’t be. I know Gran was of very sound mind to the end of her days so if she wished your children to have that money, then that wish will be done.”
“That was a beautiful thing Lydie did,” he replied. “But I’m not talkin’ about that. I’m talkin’ about the other gift she bestowed on me.”
“And that would be?” I asked, still being obtuse.
“Josie.” My name shook with his amusement and it was annoying because the way it did sounded lovely. “She gave me you.”
I ignored that and the way it made my stomach twist and my breath come uneven and informed him, “No one calls me Josie.”
“Lydie did,” he contradicted.
Oh yes.
Gran definitely talked to him about me.
I did not like that.
“All right, then no one calls me Josie but Gran,” I shared.
“And now me.”
I drew in a breath, this reminded me his hand was on me so I requested, “Will you unhand me?”
His lips twisted in an unsuccessful endeavor at hiding his humor before he replied, “I will unhand you, but only if you promise not to take off.”
“I can promise that,” I told him.
“Right,” he murmured and let me go but he didn’t step away.
I decided not to do so either as it might communicate the wrong things and I felt it imperative to communicate quite clearly with James Markham Spear in the very short time I would be communicating anything to him.
“Tonight, we need to go to dinner,” he declared.
I looked to my handbag, maneuvering it open to find my sunglasses, because any woman knew, she shouldn’t be out in the sun without two things. One, a very good SPF moisturizer under her makeup. And two, an excellent pair of sunglasses so she didn’t get lines from squinting her eyes.
I secured my glasses while talking. “I’m afraid dinner is out of the question.”
“Why?”
I slid my sunglasses on my nose and looked again to him. “Why?”
“Josie, I see you’re tryin’ to pretend that shit in there didn’t happen but, just sayin’, that shit in there happened.”
I sighed and agreed, “Yes, it did.”
“Right, then tonight, we’re goin’ out to dinner.”
“No, we aren’t.”
His head cocked to the side and he opened his mouth to speak but I got there before him.
“Listen, Mr. Spear—”
“Jake,” he cut in, his deep voice lowering with impatience.
“Of course,” I hurried on. “As I explained in Ms. Baginski’s office, Gran was very protective of me. We were also very close. I loved her deeply and she felt the same about me. But with relationships like ours, the person in Gran’s place can often get stuck in a time when they’re needed and they might not realize they’re not needed in that way any longer. From what she wrote in that letter, it’s clear that’s what occurred with Gran.”
His face had returned to hard, with the addition of cold, when he stated, “So you’re sayin’ you didn’t need Lydie.”
“No,” I whispered, at his words a different kind of twist happening in my stomach, one that felt far worse. This feeling was reflected in my voice and the cold left his face at my tone. Alert warmth replaced it. It was no less arresting than everything else about him, but I kept talking. “I needed my grandmother. I still need my grandmother. Just not that way.”
“She disagreed,” he replied quietly, his voice now reflecting the warmth in his face.
“She would be wrong.”
“Josie—”
“Josephine,” I cut him off to stress.
“Whatever,” he returned impatiently. “I’ve known Lydie for seven years. This means that letter we just heard was written sometime in the last seven years. My guess, recently. This means she felt the way she felt about you in order to include that in her last wishes and she felt that way recently. Are you honestly gonna ignore that?”
“Yes,” I answered immediately and his face changed again, his eyes changed, everything about him changed.
I just couldn’t put my finger on how he changed.
Until he whispered, “Don’t.”
My entire body froze solid.
“Don’t do that, Josie,” he went on. “She wanted me for you.”
He couldn’t be serious.
“Are you saying—?” I began to force out through stiff lips.
“No.” He shook his head. “What I’m sayin’ is, the least we could do is get to know each other. Give her a little of what she wanted. We both owe her that respect and, I don’t know you outside of what she told me about you and the last twenty minutes I’ve been with you, but I’m gettin’ that you know we do.”
A little of what she wanted.
What, exactly, did she want?
Gran had known this man for seven years. She’d given his children large amounts of money. And she’d given me to him.
And yet, she did not mention him once.
I didn’t understand this.
What I was coming to understand as my bizarre morning trundled on, was that it didn’t feel very nice.
“Dinner,” he encouraged softly. “Just dinner. You think I’m a dick, that’s it. Sayin’ that, I’m not gonna be a dick to Lydie’s girl because that woman meant a lot to me, to my kids, and that?
I could give it dinner.
In actuality, I could tell him I could give it dinner because it was clear he wasn’t going to give up until I did so.
Then I would not go to dinner. The town was not big but Lavender House wasn’t exactly on Main Street. In the brief time I was there, I could avoid him.
Then I’d be gone.
Therefore, I decided to do just that.
“Fine. Dinner,” I lied.
His lips curled up. “Great.”
“Where shall I meet you?” I asked and his lips turned down but his brows inched up.
“Meet me?” he asked.
“Meet you.”
“Josie, a man takes a woman to dinner, he picks her up at her door and he returns her there,” he decreed and I found this decree troubling.
I found it troubling because, although I didn’t date, had never really dated, that didn’t mean I didn’t frequently spend time around a goodly number of females who did date. And these days, men and women more often than not met places for said dates.
I disliked this. If I were to date, I would not abide a man who told me he’d meet me somewhere. A man who couldn’t act with gallantry, in other words, make the effort to come collect me and see me safely home, wasn’t worth my time.
And it was troubling that James Markham Spear agreed with me.
“I’m uncertain what my day will bring,” I told him and this was the truth. “I have some things to do for my employer.” This wasn’t the truth. “Not to mention a variety of things having to do with Gran’s passing.” And with that I was back on the truth. “I’d rather be free to take care of all that without having to worry about meeting you at Lavender House since I’ll likely be in town anyway, we’ll be coming back to town to have dinner, so I can just meet you where we’re to eat.”
He looked at me again like he was studying me.
“So, when and where shall I meet you?” I asked when this went on for some time and he said not a word.
This lasted longer and I was about to say something again when he finally spoke.
“The Lobster Market, six thirty.”
Six thirty.
I didn’t like this. I never ate dinner until after seven thirty. I was a night owl. I usually didn’t get to bed until after midnight.
Eating this early meant I’d be needing a snack before bedtime which would be annoying since I wouldn’t have one and not because there was very little food in Gran’s house but because I never snacked.
Ever.
The fortunate thing was, I wasn’t actually meeting him so this wouldn’t be a problem.
“I’ll see you there,” I stated. “Six thirty.”
“Great.”
“Fine.”
He didn’t move.
I was about to open my mouth to tell him I wished for him to do so when he finally did.
He stepped back half a foot and stopped, locking his now-blue eyes with my sunglasses.
And it was then he said quietly, “It’s real good to finally meet you, Josie.”
And when he said it, he meant it.
And him meaning it, the tone in his voice, the intent look in his eyes, it gave me that feeling on my skin again. All over. A feeling that felt like an urge for me to do something, say something. I just didn’t know what.
I also didn’t know what to say.
So I inclined my head.
“The Market, see you there,” he murmured.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Later, Josie.”
“Good-bye.”
He lifted a hand in a low wave and walked away.
I watched him thinking it was quite remarkable how he moved that big body of his without it looking like it took any effort.
But in the back of my head, it occurred to me that this was so fascinating I could watch him move for a long time. Minutes. Hours.
An eternity.
On this utterly unhinged thought, my stomach twisted yet again and before I went off my lunch, I hit the button on the key fob to open the car so I could get in and get to the bank in order to begin my business that would conclude my time in Magdalene.
Forever.
Thus taking me to what I dreaded the most.
My final farewell to Gran.
Chapter Three
The Fourth Mrs. Jake Spear
I sat sipping Chambord on the veranda of Breeze Point, an excellent restaurant one town over from Magdalene. It, like Lavender House, sat on a cliff and its views were stunning, by day and, as it was now, by night.
In the clear, inky, star-filled night, I could see the lighthouse jutting out from Magdalene beaming its rotating beam.
If I’d left all the lights in the light room burning at Lavender House, I would have been able to see that too.
I knew this because Gran and I had been to Breeze Point often. We’d experimented once and found this to be true.
Breeze Point was an oft-visited destination for me and Gran. From when I would visit her as a little girl to when I took her there the summer before, we would dress up and come here to eat their superb lobster bisque, sublime crab cakes and their elegant take on whoopee pies.
All of which I’d eaten that night, remembering Gran and maybe not enjoying it as much as when she’d partaken of the same with me, but still enjoying it.
I was also there because it was not close to the Lobster Market where James Spear would be. I deduced I had probably at least a week of avoiding him and I did not delay in putting that in motion.
I drew in a deep breath as I drew the soft shawl closer around me to keep the evening chill of an early Maine September at bay.
I did this thinking that the day started out with a variety of surprises and it continued in this vein.
This being, I had gone to Magdalene Bank and Trust, spoken with the manager and found that I was in error about Gran’s assets.
She had fourteen thousand some odd dollars in her checking account.
She had twenty-seven thousand some odd dollars in certified deposits.
But she also had over five hundred thousand dollars in her savings account. And if that wasn’t enough of a surprise, she had over five million dollars in investments.
Further, the bank manager shared that a recent appraisal of Lavender House put it at over seven million dollars.
Seven.
Million.
Dollars!
The house had a great location, five bedrooms and was fabulous, but seven million dollars?
I had not stopped at Lavender House to pick up the key to her safe deposit box and I was glad of it. Knowing Gran was worth nearly thirteen million dollars was enough to take in for one day.
As promised, when I got back from the bank, I’d phoned Henry to check in. I’d told him of the rude Terry Baginski. I’d further told him of the money I’d found in Gran’s accounts and the appraisal of Lavender House (to which he’d whistled low in shock).
I had not, of course, told him my grandmother left me to an unknown, extremely masculine, quite attractive (okay…exceptionally attractive) man who had three children. Nor did I tell him of Gran’s gifts to his children.
I’d wait until later, when we were together in Rome (I hoped) or Paris (I vowed) and all of this was behind me.
“My Josephine is loaded,” Henry had remarked when I was done sharing my surprising day with him and he was not wrong.
I was. Between Gran’s money, as well as mine, I was loaded.
This was because I was paid well and I traveled so frequently and was so busy with Henry’s life, I’d never had a home of my own so I’d also never had that expense. When we settled for the brief periods of time that we did, I stayed in the pool house at Henry’s home in Los Angeles. And Henry paid for everything when we traveled. Therefore, with very few expenses of my own, I’d saved a great deal over the last twenty-three years.
A great deal.
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Add the money in Gran’s, I could be a lady of leisure.
Of course, this would bore me out of my skull so the thought entered my mind and left it precisely one second later.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t taken aback by what I’d learned that day about Gran’s finances.
She’d divorced my grandfather before I was born and he’d died before I was old enough to know him.
She had shared about him, of course, when I was much older and could take the stories she had to tell, stories she told in order to try to explain my father’s behavior and why I, too, seemed to make poor choices when it came to men.
Not excuse it. Explain, “for understanding a soul, buttercup, can settle a soul.”
It hadn’t settled mine but I’d hoped it settled hers.
It was, however, my understanding that in order to be done with him, Gran had left my grandfather and done it taking nothing with her.
She’d also worked, doing so until she was seventy-eight years old. She was the receptionist for a doctor’s office. She’d loved it. They’d loved her. And she’d been so sharp and sprightly, she had no problems working well past retirement age and only quit so she’d have more time to cook, knit, play bridge with her cronies and meddle in everyone’s affairs.
But apparently her parents, who had a fabulous home on the water, also had a goodly amount of money to bestow on their daughter for there was no way she made that kind of money as a receptionist at a medical practice.
And as I stared into the dark night, I found all this disquieting.
It wasn’t that my grandmother was wealthy and I didn’t know it. I was glad she was comfortable but I knew that. She’d never given me any indication not to think precisely that.
That said, the fact remained that there seemed to be a good amount about my grandmother I didn’t know and I thought I knew her very well.
But that wasn’t all it was.
I just couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was.
“May I join you?”
I turned my head, looked up at the man standing beside me and recognized him from inside the restaurant. Prior to retiring to the veranda with my liqueur, I’d eaten alone inside. He, wearing a quite nice suit, had eaten with three other men in what was clearly a business dinner.