by Zoe Ann Wood
Her best friend now poked her head over the wall separating their cubicles.
“Oh, finally,” she whisper-shouted. “You’re alive!”
Lori gave her a wan smile. “Yep.”
Hannah glanced over her shoulder, then ran around and hugged Lori, squeezing her tight. “Why didn’t you call? I’ve been texting you since Saturday. If you didn’t show up at work today, I was going to alert Interpol that you got kidnapped by a handsome stranger.”
Lori’s heart gave a painful lurch at the mention of Sebastian.
“Uh-oh,” Hannah said, peering at her face. She took Lori by the shoulders and studied her for a moment. “What did he do?”
Lori’s laugh morphed into a weird sort of sob, so she clamped a hand over her mouth. Shaking her head, she sat heavily on her office chair while Hannah perched on the desk.
“Did he hurt you? Just say the word, and we’ll call the cops.” Hannah squeezed Lori’s hand, her expression fierce. “Or we can hire someone to bust his kneecaps. I know a guy.”
Lori grinned at her best friend, her vision still blurry from unshed tears. “I love you, you know that?” She sniffed and dug a tissue from her purse. “Also: do you really ‘know a guy’?”
“No,” Hannah admitted, “but I’d find one if you wanted me to.”
Lori shook her head. “It’s not so bad—”
“Lori! Hannah! What did I tell you about gossiping at work?” Their office manager, Terrence, had a nasty ability to appear out of thin air. “It’s nine-oh-eight. You should both be working.”
The man was the human equivalent of fungus, and Lori loathed him. So did Hannah, who leisurely strolled back to her post, then mimed stabbing Terrence in the back. Lori kept her eyes on him to avoid cracking up.
“Are you sick?” he said suddenly, stepping farther away from her. “You don’t look too good.”
“Yeah, thanks, Terrence,” Lori mumbled, digging through her purse for her compact mirror. Apparently, her concealer wasn’t doing a good enough job.
“Yes!” Hannah suddenly jumped up again and neared Lori’s desk. “She’s very sick.”
Lori looked at her, wondering what she was doing, and Hannah opened her eyes wide in a roll with it, partner manner.
“Totally,” Lori said, then fake-sneezed. “I must have caught something on the plane.”
Terrence was already ten feet away, reaching for the spray bottle of surface sanitizer he always kept handy because he was absolutely terrified of germs. “You were on a plane?” he yelped. “Didn’t you visit with your grandma? Where does she live?”
“I went to bury my grandma in Austria,” Lori explained, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. He’d demanded to know the reason for her absence when she’d applied for her days off, but he’d clearly forgotten about that.
Hannah sidled up to Lori, coughing into her fist. “And I heard there was an outbreak of the influenza in Munich.”
Terrence raised his spray bottle like a gun. “And did you two spend time together over the weekend?”
“Oh, yeah.” Hannah threw an arm around Lori’s shoulders. “Lots of time.”
Terrence was visibly sweating now. “Just—get out. I won’t even write you up. Don’t return tomorrow if you’re still contagious. I’ll have someone from cleaning come in and”—he glanced around as though wondering if the germs were airborne—“and disinfect your work stations.”
Lori kept her face straight as Hannah told Terrence they’d make sure to drink lots of tea. Then they grabbed their purses and scurried out of there.
“Are you insane?” Lori asked her friend as they rode the elevator down to the lobby, giggling all the way. “Munich’s not even in Austria.”
“I know that,” Hannah replied. “And Terrence would, too, if he ever did any work. Instead, he prowls around the office like a hyena, trying to find people breaking ridiculous rules.”
They escaped into a sunny morning, finding a diner several blocks from the office where none of their coworkers ever came during their lunch hour.
Over chocolate milkshakes and curly fries, Lori told Hannah her entire sad story. The waiter hovered close by, asking whether she was okay, so Hannah growled at him, protective of Lori.
“Oh, honey,” she said at last, holding Lori’s hands on the table. “I’m sorry it ended that way.”
Lori shrugged. “I mean, it would probably have ended anyway. It’s not like we live in the same world. I’m working under Terrence the Hyena and Sebastian owns some fancy advertising company. We’re so different it’s not even funny.” She popped the last fry into her mouth and chewed. “Besides, he lives in DC, and I have a house here.”
Her face crumpled again at the thought of losing her home. “Though I might not have that anymore, either,” she added, barely keeping her voice level.
After a round of chocolate velvet pie and some strong coffee, Lori had calmed down enough to breathe more easily. Everything was better when she shared her burden with a friend.
“You can crash at my place if you need to,” Hannah told her. “You know that, right?”
Lori gave her a watery grin. “Hannah, your place is tiny. And your landlord is a beast.”
Hannah opened her mouth as if to deny the accusation, then closed it and nodded. “Yeah, well, it wouldn’t be ideal. But we’d make it work.”
Shuffling on her seat, Lori prodded the pie crust crumbs around with the tines of her fork. “Or maybe we could find an apartment together? A larger one, I mean. With two bedrooms.”
Hannah stared at her for a moment. “Are you serious?”
“I don’t think I like living alone.” Lori hugged herself, hunching her shoulders. “That house is way too big for me, anyway.”
Hannah hopped up from her side of the booth and danced over to Lori. She swept her into a big hug and trilled, “We’re going to be roommates!”
And just like that, the world didn’t look so bleak anymore. Lori finished her coffee and grabbed the bill. She had a plan now and knew everything would work out one way or another.
The lawyer’s office was a bright and sunny place. Lori had last visited just after her grandma’s death, having received a note about the reading of the will. That had also been the last time she’d seen her mother; the woman had rolled into town, clearly expecting an inheritance, and left in a huff just minutes after the lawyer had made it clear that she would not be receiving a dime.
The assistant greeted her warmly and offered her coffee, then sent her in to meet Andrea Cole, the woman who had written the will that had caused Lori so much trouble.
“Lorelei, welcome,” said Andrea, who’d insisted on being on a first-name basis with Lori. “Please, sit.”
Lori perched on the end of the chair and clutched her purse in her lap. “I’ve come to talk about my grandma’s will.”
“Yes, I imagine so.” Closing the door of her office, Andrea walked over to her filing cabinet and pulled out a file marked Luisa Marie Hirsch. “I was very glad to receive your photos from Vienna. It seemed to me that you were having a good time.”
Lori paused for a beat, then nodded. Yes, she’d had a good time. She’d enjoyed herself right up until the moment when Sebastian had accused her of using him for his money and connections. “It was a good experience.”
“I suppose you’re here to take over the deed to the house, then? And for the access information for your grandmother’s savings account, of course.” The lawyer shuffled the pages around, skimming them for something. “I could draw up all the documents for you, if you’d like. Or you could take them to another lawyer’s office, though we do offer very reasonable prices, to tell you the truth.”
Lori blinked. “I’m sorry?”
She’d come prepared to tell the lawyer that she was giving up on the inheritance. The three-month deadline wouldn’t come around for another two weeks, but there was no use in pretending that she would meet the requirements.
Andrea set down the papers. “Ah. Y
es.” She removed her spectacles and rubbed her eyes, smudging her mascara a little. “Well, the will had a… How shall we say it… A hidden clause that your grandmother was quite clear about.”
Lori was completely lost. “A hidden clause?”
“Ah, let’s put it this way: there is no ‘cousin Nicky.’” The lawyer made air quotes around the name. “Your grandmother always meant for you to inherit everything. The requirements in her will were her way of ‘nudging you out into the world,’ as she’d put it.”
Lori sat very still, not believing what she was hearing. “So that list…”
“She created it to be a sort of guideline for you.” Andrea leaned back in her chair, tapping her pen on the papers. “She really did want to be buried in Vienna, but the rest was to ensure you would stay there and have a vacation.” She paused, looking directly at Lori. “Her words, not mine. I simply drew up the documents.”
“Are you saying I went up on the Prater Ferris wheel for nothing? Did you know I’m afraid of heights?” Her voice came out an octave higher than she’d intended.
The lawyer winced. “I’m sorry to hear that. But your grandmother was adamant that the will be written this way. In fact…” She took an envelope from the folder and passed it to Lori. “You might want to read about it yourself. I’ll give you a minute.”
She left the office, leaving Lori with the envelope that had her own name written on it in her grandma’s neat, old-fashioned handwriting.
Opening the flap, Lori took out a single sheet of paper and unfolded it.
Dearest Lori,
How angry are you right now? I’m sorry for deceiving you, but I was afraid you’d find some way to just KEEP WORKING if I simply asked you to take my ashes to Vienna. With that list, I tried to ensure that you’d take at least a week off—did you? I hope you had a good time and explored my favorite city in the world.
Honey, I’d hoped to live long enough to see you happy, but I’m afraid my time is running out. I’m not as sharp as I used to be, so I’m taking care of everything before I’m too far gone to do it.
I hope you’ll sell that old house, take the money, and start over somewhere new. You and that friend of yours always said you’d open your own agency. Now’s your chance to do it.
I don’t know how long I’ve got, but I intend to make sure that you know how much I love you. The day you came to live with me was one of the best days of my life.
All I’m asking you to do is to take a chance. You’re not selfish if you live the life YOU want. You’re not forbidden from doing exciting things in life just because my daughter turned out to be a bad egg. You’re a good one, Lori, and I hope I’ve taught you that.
I miss you and love you very much.
Grandma Louisa
Lori heaved a great sob, letting the paper flutter to the table. Ugh, she was crying again. This was getting ridiculous. She dug a tissue from her purse and blew her nose, then glanced at the letter again. It was dated seven months before her grandma’s death, so the old lady had been planning this for a while without telling Lori.
She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Angry that she’d been manipulated? Touched that her grandma had known her so well? Most of all, she was confused. It would take her time to process this new development.
But she was now the sole owner of a large old house in a good neighborhood in Philadelphia and had access to the forty thousand dollars that had remained in her grandma’s savings account. That would also take some adjusting to. She now had the freedom to do what she wanted. Buy a new home. Start a new business without worrying about the initial investment.
She wiped the tissue under her eyes, sighing when it came back smudged with black. She probably looked like a raccoon.
There was a knock on the door, and Andrea poked her head in. “Are you ready to discuss your next steps?”
Lori sighed and nodded. It needed to be done. “I’d like for you to arrange everything if possible,” she told the lawyer. “I’d rather not go over this entire story with someone new.”
“Excellent,” the lawyer chimed, already pulling forms from her desk. “We’ll have this ready in no time.”
Later that evening, Lori sat on the back porch of the house with Hannah, both of them clutching big mugs of cocoa with tiny marshmallows.
“So you’re really selling this place, huh?” Hannah blew on her cocoa and took a cautious sip, then hissed at the heat.
Lori nodded. “It’s the only solution that makes sense.” She would wait a few weeks, check out the real estate market and see what price she could ask for her house. She’d need a good realtor, too, but that was something she could do next week, when she’d have had enough time to process everything. “I won’t rush it, but it’s what I want to do.”
“Are you moving away from Philly?” Hannah asked in a small voice.
Lori looked at her best friend. “If I am, you’re coming with me, right? We’ll rent an apartment somewhere and start our agency. Bring perfect honeymoons to rich people who are too fancy to book their own flights.”
She hoped she’d never have to make a reservation for Sebastian and his future bride, whoever she turned out to be. To cover her sudden spike of resentment, she extended her fist to Hannah, and her friend bumped it gently with hers.
“I just thought that you might cut all ties and never come back,” Hannah admitted. “Now that you don’t have anything tying you to this place.”
“Are you crazy? I’m never letting you go.” Lori paused to think. “That sounded creepier than I imagined.”
Hannah laughed, her eyes suspiciously shiny. “Okay.”
“Don’t you dare cry. I’ve cried enough for the both of us this weekend.”
Her friend sent her a sympathetic look. “You’ll find a good man soon, Lori, I can feel it in my bones.”
But Lori shrugged. “I don’t even think I want one. We’ll have so much to focus on in the next couple of months. Selling the house! A brand-new business!”
She knew it would take her a while to forget Sebastian. She would need to keep busy and just push through until the day when the memory of their days together made her smile, not cry.
But she would get there, she promised herself. It was just a matter of time.
Seventeen
Sebastian
On Monday morning, Sebastian called his mother, sister, and best friend to a meeting at his house in the Barnaby Woods neighborhood. He had them gather around the dining room table, where his housekeeper served them coffee and freshly baked croissants.
“Want to tell us why we’re here?” Evan grumbled, who seemed to have slept in his button-down shirt. “What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until a more reasonable hour?”
Sebastian glanced at his mother. She was perfectly composed as always, her golden-brown hair expertly blow-dried and her makeup flawless. Then he glanced at his sister, a younger version of their mom, only dressed in jeans and a simple blouse, her pretty face tense with worry.
There was no easy way to start this conversation, but he needed to get it over with. Taking a deep breath, he said, “My father was a crook.”
His mother’s head snapped up, and she stared at him with wide eyes. Evan looked marginally more alert than before, but it was Sophie’s reaction that surprised him: she seemed relieved.
Frowning at her, Sebastian continued, “In the six months since he passed—and left the company to me—I’ve uncovered countless examples of his…crimes.” He cringed at the word, but it was the most accurate description for what his father had been doing. “I won’t go into detail now, because it would take too long, but I have a team of lawyers and investigators working on repairing the damage. I will be closing the company and dissolving it completely in the next year.”
Sophie clapped. “Finally!” Everyone turned to stare at her, Sebastian included. “What?” she asked. “I figured it all out months ago.”
“You did?” Sebastian couldn’t believe what he was
hearing. “Why didn’t you say anything to me?”
“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” she countered.
“Fair point,” Sebastian muttered. “But how did you find out?”
“I hacked the company’s accounting ledgers after you inherited to check whether everything was in order. I didn’t trust those old weasels on his board to stay honest.” She shrugged at their incredulous stares. “If we weren’t shutting down the company, I’d tell you to invest in a better encryption system, but I guess that’s a moot point now.”
“So you’ve known for months?”
“I’ve been siphoning off money and donating it to charity,” Sophie admitted with a guilty grin.
Evan groaned and dropped his head in his hands. “You could have been arrested.”
“But I wasn’t.” She turned to Sebastian, reaching out a hand to him. “I’m just glad you finally decided to let go of that horrible company. I was half afraid you’d keep it running out of some misguided sense of obligation.”
Sebastian took her hand and slumped into a chair. He’d worried so much about telling Sophie, but here she was, cheering him on.
But their mother hadn’t said anything yet.
“Mom?” he prompted her now. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her lips pressed in a tight line. Her fingers trembled as she adjusted her golden watch. “I…sometimes suspected that you father’s dealings weren’t always clean.”
“Mom!” Sophie exclaimed. “How— Why didn’t you say something?”
Their mother stared into her lap, mortification clear on her face. “I didn’t think it was that bad. And he always gave generously to whatever charity I picked, so I thought… He’s doing something good, so he can’t be all bad, you know?”
