Sin (The Waite Family) (44 page)

“I know squat about kids, less about girls and what they need.
I’m reasonably sure I was one at one time, but I’ve never had much to do with kids.
What’s her name anyway?”

Payton nuzzled Sydney’s neck before answering.
“Her last name will be Cooperider, the other will be left up to us
,
I guess. What do you think?”

“Payton, I’m serious…I don’t know what
to do
about being her mom. My own is a piece of work.
She could barely pull herself away…
he said to watch her.”
Payton looked at her.
“Shipley, he said to watch mom.
And then Barnes.
He said something…I don’t know something like had I made amends with my mom.
Why?”

She laid the baby on the bed and began to pace.
Something was there
,
he knew it, and he was sure she’d get it.
He’d read the transcript too.

“He asked you if you’d made amends with your mom
then
he laughed.
Did he know her?”

“I don’t know. Something isn’t right.”
She started pacing again
.

Neither of them figured it out and the little girl Cooperider still had no name by Wednesday. Payton had even gone to the book store and purchased a book of names. It didn’t do either of them any good.
For two days they called her every name they could think of and nothing stuck.

“You know,” Sydney started as they drove to the attorney’s office. “If we can’t pick out a name for her, what the hell are we doing raising her?
We’re so going to suck at this.”

“Oh I don’t know.
We had fun last night with her.”
They had too. They’d bought her a baby bed and spent hours putting it
together
.
Of course it went much better after Sydney took over
,
but she had the instructions
. H
e was going on male power.

The office was posh and overdone.
Not two words he’d normally put together
,
but that’s what he got. He was looking at the ugly carpet with the beautiful couch sitting on it when the secretary told them they could come in. The office wasn’t any better.

The desk was tiny.
Probably made smaller
-
looking
because
the man behind it was so huge. He was tall
,
but he might have been twice his height in girth.
The man had to weigh
four hundred pounds.
The chairs he waved them into groaned when they sat and he sat the car seat that the baby was in as far away as he dared just in
case the one he was sitting in broke.

“You have a baby. That’s wonderful. What’s her name?”

Payton looked at Sydney and laughed. “We’re working out the details on that as we speak.”
The attorney,
Sean Cass
,
looked at him oddly
,
but didn’t comment.
They had to come up with something
,
he thought
,
but said nothing.

“Mr. Shipley…err I suppose he was Sergeant Shipley
,
had a will made out several months ago.
He came to my office and had everything all laid out in perfect order.
Never seen such a big man with so much
—
”

Payton cut the man off.
“We were told we were here because there
were
some legal issues with his estate.
We were told that his funeral and other costs were being picked up by the government.
What is it that we have to do?”

“Legal issues?
Not sure…unless it’s the deed. But that’s been taken care of. The son, a Mr…let me see,
Sawyer, William Sawyer
,
signed the last of those and sent them back yesterday.
It’s all taken care of.”
Mr. Cass smiled at them both.
“You want me to read you the will?”

Payton put his hand on Sydney’s arm when he could feel her anger boiling over.
H
e didn’t understand either why they were here, but neither of them had gotten a lot of sleep over the past few days and this guy was being dense.

“Maybe you could tell us why we’re here.
We have some things that require our attention elsewhere and we need to get going.”

Payton and Sydney were meeting with
Devin Grant to sign the papers on the pre-adoption of baby Cooperider.
Devin told them last night that they would need a name by then. The birth certificate they had been give just said Baby Girl 1245.
The number after her name signified how many nameless babies they had at this time.

“Sure, I understand.
Gotta take care of the little one.
Let’s
see.
Okay.
Well, basically
,
he left everything to you
,
Miss
Waite.
There was the house in
Louisiana
that he sold recently and that has been amended.
Then there was the one he purchased recently
,
plus the estate of his—
”

“Wait.
I don’t understand.
He left me…What are you saying?
I’m his heir?
That can’t be right. I know he had an ex-wife and I think a son.
They…I don’t understand.”
Sydney looked over at him and he reached for her hand. The ba
by start
ed
fussing and Payton put the pacifier in her mouth.
It wouldn’t quiet her for long
,
she hated the thing
,
but it would keep her quiet for a bit longer.

“Yes, his
son William
Sawyer has signed his portion over to you as well. He didn’t know his
biological
father and wanted nothing to do with him or his estate.
Mr. Shipley’s mother passed on about ten years ago and his father was never in the picture either.
”
Mr. Cass handed Sydney a file.
“It’s all in there.
The deed to the houses, the money in the accounts. He had some investments that I’ve changed over to your name.
His estate will pay for my fees.
Mr. Shipley was a very
savvy
business man
. H
e did know his way around a legal document. Like I said, he had everything laid out for you.
I believe
there’s
a letter
in
t
here as well.
”

Sydney stood up and began pacing. Payton didn’t know why
,
but that made him nervous.
She was flipping
through
the file and muttering under her breath. He heard the word
s “
jackass
”
and
“
cocksucker
”
a few times then he heard her
say
“
mother fuck
”
before she sat down and addressed the lawyer.

“It says here that he was worth over eight million dollars.
That can’t be. He was always broke. Hell
,
he owed me thirty buck
s
when I got shot.
How can he be worth that much?”

Mr. Cass laughed slightly.
“I assure you
,
he was.
And that’s just the properties and monies he had. There are several investments that he also had. Again
,
all those are now in your name.
I would estimate his net worth to be right around fifteen million, give or take on the market.”

“Shit,” Payton said softly.
“Fifteen mill and the kid of his just turned it over to Sydney
?
Why?”

“That’s what I asked him. He said that he’d made it this far without anything
from
him and it would be very
hypocritical
of him to take anything from him now.
”
The lawyer looked down at a file on his desk.
“The boy was adopted not long after the divorce.
Could be this other man raised him to be a good kid.”

Sydney went to the car seat and pulled out the baby.
She held her tight and looked at him.
She had the most beautiful smile
,
Payton thought
.

“Tell me Mr. Cass, do you happen to know Shipley’s mother
’
s name?”

“Yes
,
I do.
Let me look here…”

About the Author

Hello! My name is Kathi Barton and I’m an author. I have been married to my very best friend Sonny for at times seems several lifetimes – in a good way, honey. And together we have three wonderful children and then the ones we brought into the world - Paul and Dale Barton, Jason and Wendy Barton and Danielle and Ben Conklin. They have given us seven of the greatest treasures on Earth. They don’t live at home seven days a week! No, seriously, seven grandchildren – Gavin, Spring, Ben, Trinity, Sarah, Kelly and Kian
.