One Millhaven Lane (5 page)

"There's something else."

She felt a headache moving in. "What's that?"

"Your mother's will. She left the house to you and your brother."

The news came as a shock. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "I tried, remember? You didn't want to hear anything about your mother's will."

She hung her head, remembering the number of messages Harry left on her answering machine to contact him regarding her mother's estate. After several calls, she'd telephoned him to say she'd get back to him when she was ready.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You're right, of course."

She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly before she continued. "I just assumed Mom would leave me the house since Bobby hasn't shown his face in town since he attempted to rape..." She let her voice trail off to nothing. There was no sense dredging up that embarrassment.

"On the contrary," Harry said.

"What?"

"I don't know the frequency of his visits or telephone calls, but your brother kept in touch with your mother. She would have given up her soul for either of you."

"But Bobby...." She let her voice trail to nothingness, unable to appreciate her mother's love and devotion for a child who respected no one or nothing.

"For either of you," Harry said, stressing the sentiment.

Asia nodded, understanding the sternness in his voice. "Obviously." She sighed, slowly coming to terms with her mother's actions. "What does this mean for me?"

"Since you were named sole beneficiary on all three policies, the insurance checks are yours to do with as you will. The house, however, is an entirely different matter. Your mother's will clearly states that the house be sold upon her death and the proceeds from such sale after disbursements be divided equally between the two of you, per stirpes."

"Which means?"

"If either you or Bobby or both of you died, your shares would go to your children. Your mother's grandchildren."

Asia frowned. "I don't have any children. Neither does Bobby." She thought about that and realized how little she knew about her twin since he'd left the Grove. "At least any that I know of. Why would my mother make that stipulation?" she asked, more of herself than Harry.

"I explained the significance to her at the time."

Asia looked at Harry, thinking that he might have come to a wrong conclusion from what she'd said. "I wasn't implying any transgression on your part. My mother trusted you. So do I." A detail struck her then. "When did my mother execute the will?" There had to be a valid reason for her mother to make out her will the way she had.

Harry handed her a copy.

She turned to the last page. "Eighteen years ago. The year I left the Grove."

"Seems your mother was thinking hopefully."

"It appears that way." Asia turned her gaze from Harry and stared into space. She couldn't fault her mother for ensuring that her grandchildren would inherit Asia or Bobby's share in the event that either one or both of them had passed on.

"I expected everything would be cut and dried," she said absently before bringing her thoughts back to the problem of her twin. "That's hardly the case now with this latest revelation. Since we both own the house, Bobby will need to execute the transfer deed." She looked at Harry for confirmation.

He nodded.

"That means I'll have to locate Bobby and if I can't, I'm stuck to pay the property taxes and house insurance — "

"Keep your receipts. I'll see you get reimbursed for half the cost once the house is sold."

She saw that as little consolation, considering the upset she'd just received. "I don't see any point putting up the house for sale if one of the owners can't be found to transfer ownership. It wouldn't be fair to the buyer."

Asia stood and paced, damning her brother. On the bright side, this glitch afforded her a reason — one she could live with — for staying in the Grove for a while. She'd be free to pursue a relationship with Nate and determine for certain whether her love for him had withstood time. She looked over at Harry when he cleared his throat.

"Someone is interested in the property, so it might not be a matter of if, but when."

"How interested?" She came around to the front of his desk and sat.

"Extremely."

"Bugger." If there was a chance that this would turn out a forthright matter, she'd ask who wanted her mother's property, but as it stood, she believed the house might never get transferred, not if Bobby had any say in the matter. He'd draw this out until earth's end if it would give her grief. She sighed again.

"I don't know the first thing about locating someone. I could hire a private investigator. That'd probably be easiest. Can I deduct that cost from my brother's share of the proceeds?" Before Harry spoke, she raised her argument. "My mother named me executrix of her estate and it's a legitimate expense. He's just going to squander the money anyway." God, Mom, why'd you make out your will the way you did?

 
"Aren't you tight with our Deputy Chief of Police? Maybe he can help."

"We were friends once, a long, long time ago, Harry." She wouldn't tell him that they'd reconnected. If things didn't work out for them, they'd be the talk of the Grove. Again. She wouldn't knowingly subject herself to that embarrassment. In some ways, pity was as wounding to the ego as malice.

Harry came forward in his chair, rested his forearms on the desk and said, "A word of unsolicited advice?"

She nodded. "Of course."

"Work out your differences. There isn't a couple who should be together more than you and Nate."

After a failed marriage and a dozen of unsuccessful relationships, she'd tend to agree. "I'll keep that in mind." Without a pause, she regained the subject and asked, "Has anyone actually seen Bobby?" She still couldn't believe her brother had the audacity to return to the Grove after the crimes he committed. "He could be dead and someone could have assumed his identity to extort money from my mother."

Harry didn't answer. He simply peered at her. Too polite, perhaps, to tell her she grasped at straws and to accept the truth.

"Identity theft is on the rise," she said, attempting to redeem herself after that insane idea. She waved her hand in the air dismissively. "That would be too simple a solution. Where my twin is concerned, I should anticipate the unpredicted." She envisioned her mother on the phone with him, asking if he was eating properly, if there was anything he needed. "I wonder how they kept in contact. If she called him..." Then she remembered. "I didn't keep a copy of her last telephone bill. That shouldn't pose a problem for someone with investigative skills, though. PIs have ways of looking into records." Still, though, despite the best efforts, people could disappear, if they knew how. Bobby would. If there were a way to make a mockery of justice, he would learn how. Bobby had always been able to disappear like a magician.

 
"What if I never find him? I shouldn't be expected to pay taxes and insurance on a property sitting dormant for years."

"Make the effort to locate him and if after a reasonable amount of time, there's no word from him, I'll petition the court for an order to either declare your brother deceased or in the alternative, an order allowing you to execute the necessary documentation to transfer the property and hold Bobby's share in trust in the interim."

"And if he never does?"

"There'll be a stipulation for that, as well."

Asia nodded. "I like the first scenario the best."

"I do too." Harry smiled. "Least headaches that way."

"How do you think a petition like you suggest will go?" She took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Depends on the judge."

"Of course." How quickly a simple matter turned complex. "I can stay here for a couple of days, but then I need to get back to Boston. Do you know any good private investigators?"

Harry shook his head. "Folks generally go to big city lawyers for their big legal problems, so I've never had the need for one, but I could make inquiries, if you'd like."

"No, but thanks for the offer. I have a friend who can help me with that. I just thought if you knew of someone, I'd use him."

Harry nodded. "How's your business doing? A what-not-this-'n-that shop.
Aphrodite
, if memory serves."

"Thriving. Come by the shop sometime. Call first, though, so I can give you specific directions. It's hard to find if you don't know what you're looking for."

"I'll be sure to, the next time I'm in Boston. How long will you be in town?"

She gave him her 'before Nate' plans. "Initially, I'd planned on heading back today after I listed the property for sale. Not much point in that now." She dreaded the thought of locating her brother. From past experience, that would lead to trouble. "Perhaps, I'll rent out the house. Can I do that?"

Harry nodded. "A trust would have to be set up...."

"Right. Bobby. He's an equal owner and entitled to half of whatever revenue the property generates." She let out a lingering breath, then brightened when she thought the same equation applied to costs, as well. She saddened then, realizing that in time, expenses would eat into the revenue until the asset became a liability. Not that she needed the money. Her business prospered more each quarter than the last and the building that housed
Aphrodite
had increased triple-fold in value since she inherited the property. The fact nagged at her that her mother had wanted to leave something of worth for her children. Asia couldn't destroy her mother's last wish.

Harry broke into her thoughts. "Renting can be a headache. Finding the right tenants can be a hassle, then, even so, you might be chasing them for rent."

"There is that." One more problem to add to the list. Maybe she'd let the county deal with the house. Let the property taxes lapse and force a tax sale. How many years would that take? Her mother would never approve that course of action. She could almost hear her tsk tsk-ing.
But, Mom, my options are limited. What do you expect me to do?

"Are you sure my mom didn't make a more recent will?" she asked, still unwilling to believe the reality of the situation.

 
"Unless she hired another legal representative, this is her last will and testament, as we lawyers say."

"Mom would have no reason to do that, I'm sure." There was nothing more to be done or said. She bid Harry goodbye. "I'll let you know what I decide."

Harry stood and walked around the desk. "If there's anything I can help you with, let me know." He kissed her cheek and handed her the insurance checks.

"Thanks."

Asia left Harry's office feeling disillusioned and angry, not only with herself but with fate.

***

From the rocky shoreline, Asia skipped a stone across the surface of Crazy Belly Lake.

"Damn you, Bobby. Why can't you ever be something besides a problem? You didn't even have the courtesy of showing up for Mom's funeral. That's how much you thought of her."

Bobby's antagonistic and sadistic nature puzzled her and always had. He wasn't like either of their parents. He seemed to enjoy hurting, physically and emotionally and for some reason beyond her understanding, he took great pleasure in hurting her most of all. For all she knew, he could know about the legal stumbling block her mother had unwittingly set in motion and watched from afar, laughing at the trouble his absence caused her and savoring every second of her torment.

Nothing with her mother's will or property had gone the way she'd expected. Maybe she shouldn't take a chance on Nate.

She picked up a rock, threw it high into the air and watched it land far out into the water.

"Why are you the way you are, Bobby?"

"It's who he is," Nate said at her back.

She turned to face him, marveling at the calm the sound of his voice inspired. Everything would be all right now. Nate was here. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

"Shouldn't you be at home sleeping?" It took her only a couple of seconds to understand why he tracked her down. "Harry called you," she said.

They looked after their own in the Grove. How she'd forgotten that escaped her.