The Inheritance

by Jacqueline Seewald

“Could have been a whole lot worse.”

  Maryann spoke to Aaron. “Honey, can you wait in the hall while I help your mom get dressed so she can be discharged?”

  “Sure.”

  Jen frowned at him. “Don’t go exploring. Stay right outside this room in the hallway.” Jen turned to her after he left. “He can be too curious.”

  “So I’ve noticed.” Maryann pulled the curtain around for privacy. “I brought a change of clothes for you. Do you need some help?”

  “I think I might.”

  As she helped Jen change, Maryann thought that her friend appeared fatigued. There were shadows beneath her eyes. “Did you get any rest here?”

  “For a little while, but hospitals have lots of noise even in the middle of the night. Nurses and aides are constantly coming in and out. I just want to get back to the house.”

  “I can’t believe that man actually tried to kill you.”

  “I’d rather not talk about it right now. I haven’t come to terms with it yet. Let’s discuss something else. What went on between you and Rob Coleman?”

  Maryann bit her lower lip. “He asked me to marry him. He said that he loved me.”

  Jen took her hands. “Oh, how wonderful! But why do you look so unhappy?”

  Maryann lowered her eyes. “I told him I couldn’t accept.”

  “I’m so sorry. You don’t love him?”

  Maryann shrugged uneasily. “It’s not that simple. I have a life in New York. He would expect me to give up everything and come here to live. How can I do that?”

  Jen’s look expressed sympathy. “Sometimes, a person needs time to think things out before making a decision, especially a life-altering one like this. You could explain that to him.”

  Maryann ran her hands through her hair. “I don’t think so.”

  “Can I ask you a blunt question?” Jen met her gaze with a direct look.

  “Of course, ask away.”

  “Do you love Rob?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Not if you really love the man. You can work this out together.”

  She helped Jen into her shirt and then her shorts, thinking hard. “His home, family and business are all in Bloomingvale. I don’t have a life here except as a visitor.”

  “I believe you could make a life here if you wanted it enough. Nothing is ever going to be perfect. But with some ingenuity, you could make it work. Nothing stays the same. With the right person, life can be satisfying and meaningful.”

  Maryann smiled at her friend. “Jen you are such an optimist and a romantic.”

  “I do believe in love,” Jen said.

  “You have given me something to think about,” she admitted. “But it’s probably too late for Rob and me. I did refuse him. I think he’s an all or nothing kind of guy.”

  Jen shrugged. “Maybe not. I have a feeling he’s not a man who gives up easily.”

  Jen felt much more like herself the following day. Maryann fixed breakfast for them then drove her and Aaron to the elementary school. Since he was a new student, a lot of paperwork had to be filled out. Jen felt glad that Aaron’s behavior had settled down.

  Jen had nearly forgotten that Linda Coleman and her daughters were scheduled to clean the house later that morning. Maryann helped her straighten up a bit, putting things away so there wouldn’t be a mess.

  Linda Coleman arrived looking cheerful and carrying a pie.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Jen said, touched by Linda’s thoughtfulness.

  “Well, you never did get to taste my pie at the Labor Day picnic, so I thought I’d bake a fresh one to welcome you back from the hospital.”

  “I wasn’t there very long, only overnight.”

  “Just the same, there’s nothing like a sweet treat to make a body feel better.”

  “Why don’t we all sit down together later and have the pie? Maryann and I will put up a pot of coffee.”

  Linda looked pleased. Her daughters came into the foyer. They carried their equipment and cleaning supplies. Linda spoke to Lori and Sue. “Let’s get started.” She turned back to Jen. “We’ll look forward to sitting down with you after we finish.”

  Jen went out in the backyard and pulled a chaise into the shade. She didn’t want to oversee the cleaning operation. It seemed important that Linda Coleman understood she was trusted. As for Maryann, her friend went upstairs to start packing her things for the trip back to New York.

  Jen must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, Linda spoke to her. “All done for today,” she said.

  Jen got to her feet, still a little bleary. “I’ll get my wallet.”

  “No rush. Why don’t we have the pie first?”

  Jen followed Linda back through the side door of the house, up the stairs into the large, old-fashioned kitchen. Lori and Sue waited on their mother.

  “I’ll have the coffee ready in a few minutes, or would you prefer tea?” Jen looked from Linda to each of her daughters.

  The young women exchanged looks. “Actually we have to go. We have another job waiting for us.” Lori fixed her eyes on the floor.

  “You go ahead,” Linda said.

  “If we take the truck, how will you get there?” Sue knit her brows.

  “I’ll take your mom over,” Jen said.

  “Go on,” Linda urged her daughters. “I’ll be along soon.”

  The young women didn’t look happy about it, but they did as their mother told them and left.

  “I’m sorry,” Jen said. “I didn’t mean to make them uncomfortable.”

  Linda shrugged. “We don’t normally socialize with people we work for. It’s kind of an unwritten rule.”

  “I don’t feel as if you work for me,” Jen said. “You help me.”

  Linda smiled. “But you pay us. That’s the difference.”

  “On the other hand, you didn’t have to bake me a pie.”

  The tea kettle soon whistled. “I can offer instant coffee or a few different varieties of tea. I don’t brew coffee very often I’m afraid.”

  “Tea would be fine.”

  Jen took out green tea bags, put them in cups and poured boiled water over them. “I’ll let Maryann know we’re ready.” She went out to the hall and called upstairs. Sound carried well in the house. Jen appreciated the good acoustics. Maryann soon joined them.

  “When are you leaving?” Linda asked.

  “Jen’s driving me to the airport tomorrow morning.”

  “Rob will be sorry to see you leave.”

  Maryann lowered her eyes and dipped her tea bag several times. “I suppose he told you what happened.”

  “He did.”

  “I’m really sorry.” Maryann looked ready to burst into tears.

  “I don’t offer opinions. I’ve made too many mistakes in my own life to have the nerve to tell others what they should or should not do. So I’ll not get involved. My son is an adult and so are you. We each have to follow the dictates of our own heart.”

  Jen decided it might be best to change the subject. “This pie looks wonderful.”

  “This time I baked a cherry pie. I hope you like it.”

  “I’m certain we will.” Jen began cutting pieces of the pie and placing them into plates.

  In the back of her mind she thought of Grant’s reaction to her comment that she’d forgiven him. It perplexed her.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Maryann felt out of sync on the cab ride from Kennedy Airport to her apartment on the East side of Manhattan.

  She wheeled her suitcases to her bedroom only to find unfamiliar clothing had been strewn over her bed. A scent of stale smoke permeated the room. Someone else’s laptop sat on the desk she normally used as well. She’d have a talk with Veronica who she sublet from. She suspected Veronica had seen an opportunity to earn some extra rent money during the time she’d been gone.

  Jen planned to tackle the attic again. As yet, she hadn’t asked Linda to clean up there. More things needed to be e
xamined. Like Maryann, she found antiques interesting. The old objects in the attic were after all part of her family heritage.

  Jen heard a car drive up and looked out the front living room window, moving the drapery back just far enough to see who happened to be coming to visit. The sight of Grant Coleman made her heart beat faster.

  She didn’t wait for him to ring the doorbell, but flung the door open for him as he reached the porch steps. “Come in.”

  He gave her a wry smile, removing his hat and sunglasses as he entered the house. “You may not welcome me after you hear what I have to tell you.”

  Jen straightened. Bad news. She could tell. “What is it?” She led him into the living room and indicated a chair.

  “I won’t dance around. The prosecutor acted quickly. Norris has been arraigned and then bail was set.”

  “Bail? How can there be any bail?” Jen suppressed a shudder. “The man tried to kill me.”

  “We know that. But Norris got himself an outstanding criminal defense attorney, one who’s got a lot of juice. He convinced the judge that Norris is a model citizen, well-established in the community with family roots here and no priors. So the judge allowed bail to be set. The amount happened to be large, but Norris made it.”

  She started to feel dizzy. Grant moved fast, taking her into his arms. “Steady.”

  “I’m all right. I just don’t believe it. Are you saying he’s free again and he could get off?”

  “Unless Norris pleads guilty, and that doesn’t seem to be his intention, there will be a trial. You’ll testify. I’ll testify. We’ll put him away for a long time.” Grant’s words were comforting, reassuring, but she wasn’t convinced that would be the case.

  “What about all the money he stole?” Jen moved away from Grant and sat down heavily on a sofa, the overstuffed brown velvet one.

  “I think the prosecutor’s office is looking for restitution.”

  “Mr. Norris told me he lost a good amount of my grandmother’s money.”

  “Turns out he may have embezzled from more than just your grandmother’s account. We’re still looking into that.” Grant sat down beside her. “Norris still has lots of assets, fancy house, expensive cars, paintings worth a fortune. Looks like he’s been stealing from a lot of estate accounts for many years. The more restitution, the shorter his sentence will be. That’s if his lawyer chooses to cop a plea.”

  Jen wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Do you think he’ll come after me again?”

  “He’d be crazy to do that. We’ve arranged for an order of protection against him. That way if he comes anywhere near you, he’ll be right back in jail again.”

  A sense of relief washed over her. “Good.”

  Rob visited the Pritchard house not knowing the reason why Jennifer Stoddard had called him. She hadn’t explained on the phone, just asked if he could come over sometime during the day. From the tense tone of her voice, he sensed that the matter was an important one. Rob told her he could make it by sometime after five p.m. She readily agreed.

  Now as he rang her doorbell, Rob wondered if this had anything to do with Maryann.

  Somehow he doubted it. He couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her, wondering if she thought about him as well. But he’d survive. He would hang tough. Hadn’t he survived nearly dying while serving his country? People didn’t die of broken hearts. That happened only in movies and novels. If only he could turn off his feelings.

  He rang the doorbell for the second time and Aaron answered. The boy pulled him into the house.

  “My mom said you’d come to see us. Can you stay and have dinner with us?”

  Rob didn’t know what to say. “We’ll see.” Being noncommittal seemed best. This appeared to be Aaron’s idea, not his mother’s. “So where’s your mom?”

  “Out in the kitchen. She’s fixing burgers, turkey ones, not the real meat kind,” Aaron confided making a face.

  “Well, those are real good too and healthy besides.”

  Aaron skipped his way out to the kitchen. Rob saw that Jennifer Stoddard seemed busy.

  “Want me to come back some other time?”

  She dabbed some perspiration from her flushed face. “No, not at all. Now is perfect really.”

  “Can Rob stay for supper?” Aaron asked.

  “Of course, there’s plenty of food.”

  “I don’t want to intrude on your meal or your time with Aaron.”

  “You won’t be.” Her smile beamed warm and friendly. “We’d love the company.”

  They made small talk for a time. Aaron told him about his teachers and how much he liked them. “Except for the art teacher. She’s always fixing my work. I don’t think I’m cut out to be an artist,” he leaned over to confide.

  Rob laughed. “Don’t let it bother you. I wasn’t either. Never could draw. Now Sue, she’s the artistic one in the family. Don’t know where she gets it though. None of the rest of us has any such ability.”

  “Recessive genes,” Jennifer Stoddard said.

  “If you say so.”

  Rob had a pleasant dinner with Aaron and his mother. Afterwards, he offered to help her clean up. But she flatly refused. Aaron, eyeing the dishes, asked if he could be excused to do his homework. After Aaron left the room, Rob remained to talk with Jennifer.

  “So what’s on your mind?”

  She bit down on her full lower lip. “Rob I suppose you heard that Edward Norris is out on bail.”

  “I did and I think it’s a shame.”

  “We agree completely. The thing is I’m kind of uneasy about it. I wondered if you could arrange to install a good burglar alarm system.”

  “Sure, but they don’t come cheap.”

  “I have the money. I just need help making the arrangements.”

  “Not a problem,” he assured her. “I’ll contact several companies. Get estimates and find out when they’re free to do the installation.”

  “As soon as possible, please.”

  “Sure. I’ll give it top priority.”

  He saw her eyes brighten with unshed tears. He needed to reassure her.

  “Don’t worry.”

  She gave him a nod. He could tell she had choked up on her words. He ought to go, but felt the need to talk to her about Maryann.

  “Have you heard from her?”

  “Only once so far. I expect she’s rather busy right now.”

  Rob pushed the salt shaker around, not looking up. “How did she sound?”

  “A little off, I thought. I suppose that’s to be expected. She spent more than a month away from the city. She’s got to prepare herself for interviews and that’s stressful as well.”

  He almost pushed the salt shaker off the table but caught it just in time. “I don’t suppose she happened to talk about me at all?”

  “Rob, let me be frank. Maryann did confide in me. She told me that you proposed.”

  “Then she also told you how she turned me down.”

  Jennifer gave a reluctant nod. “Yes, she did.”

  “Do you think she cares about me?”

  “Oh, I know she does.”

  “But not enough to give up her life in New York?”

  Jennifer put her hand on his in a gesture of comfort. “Time will tell. I once read a poem back in high school. Our senior English teacher taught British lit. This was a Tudor poem, a sonnet about a man who chases after a doe, only she’s elusive and he can’t catch her. Finally, as he sits down under a tree to rest, panting and exhausted, the doe comes to him.”

  “So the lesson or moral I guess is not to chase too hard.”

  “If it’s meant to be, she’ll come back here to you. Maryann is strong-willed. She’s the kind of person you have to give some space. When Maryann phones, I’ll tell her you’ve been asking after her.”

  He expressed his appreciation. “Is there anything else I can do for you besides arranging for the burglar alarm system?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact. Get the air conditioning
unit in the kitchen working properly.”

  “You bet. Think I’ll go up and say goodnight to Aaron.”

  “Yes, do that. He’ll talk your ear off though.”

  “I don’t mind. He’s a good kid.”

  “We agree on that.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Maryann thought her first interview at an ad agency went well enough. The interviewer reminded her of someone over stimulated by caffeine. He had a wiry body that was constantly in motion.

  “Ken Davis.” He shook her hand vigorously with his own manicured one. He seemed only a few years older than herself.

  “We’re looking for someone creative here,” he explained. “We’re a young agency with new ideas. Our client list is growing. Tell me, what can you bring to the equation?”

  Maryann told the man her background. He nodded, seemed pleased, and didn’t interrupt her until she finished.

  “What makes you want to switch from pharmaceutical marketing to an ad agency job?”

  “I’m looking into a number of career options. I wouldn’t mind shaking things up a bit, making a change.”

  Ken Davis nodded his perfectly coiffed head, not one hair moving or out of place.

  “You could fit in here, Maryann. The thing is, are you prepared to work ten hour days? Sometimes when we’re working on a project for a client, it’s weekends as well to make a deadline. It’s a cut throat business quite frankly. Are you prepared for that? We expect total dedication. In fact, we demand it.”

  “I’ve been doing that right along. I’ve been completely devoted to my job.”

  “You sound like the kind of person we’re looking for. We’ll be in touch.”

  Maryann left the offices of Gilborne Associates in something of a daze. She had the feeling she’d be offered the job. The real question was: did she want it? In her mind’s eyes she could see Rob Coleman offering her his love, asking her to marry him. The man had truly confused her. What did she want? Was it another job in the city or something completely different?

  Jen picked up Aaron from school. “Can I go to Bobby’s house?”

  “Are the two of you friends again?”

  “Sure.” Her son wrinkled his brow as if the question made no sense whatever.