The Widow and the Will (3 page)

Chapter 6

“That’s the last of them.”

Lilly handed over a stack of Priority Mail boxes and envelopes. Tess put them in the trunk of her car along with the twenty others already stacked there. Lilly had been there within the hour to help and together the sisters had opened all the gifts and then repackaged them to go back. She also wrote out the notes of regret and for that Tess would never be able to repay her big sister. She had cried over some of the lovely items, a crystal picture frame, a place setting of china. Things she would never get to use. But there had been plenty of laughter through the tears over silly gifts like a ’70s style lamp from one of her fourth cousins and the matching sugar bowl and creamer shaped like elephants. The time had passed quickly enough and Tess had felt closer to normal again. Almost enough to confide in Lilly all of the swirling emotions inside of her heart and brain. Almost, but not quite.

“Thanks, L. Did you lock the door?”

“Yep. Want me to go with you to the post office too?” Lilly stuffed her hands into the front pockets of her jean shorts.

Tess squinted up in the bright June sun and shook her head.

“No, it’s okay. I got it.”

“Sure?” Lilly raised her eyebrows.

“I’m sure. You’ve done way more than enough.” Tess stepped toward her and opened her arms for a hug. “Thanks for taking the day off work to help.”

“Pffft,” Lilly rolled her eyes. “I’ll take any excuse not to go into that crazy farm.”

Tess chuckled. Lilly managed one of the busiest restaurants in town and hated the job, but it paid the bills. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll be home.”

Lilly gave her a pitiful smile and then turned to walk away to her vehicle. Tess watched and waved as her big sister climbed in and drove away. Sighing, Tess turned back to her car and resumed securing boxes in the trunk and back seat. When everything was stowed, she slammed the trunk shut. Pulling the keys out of her pocket, she stepped toward the side of the car to get in. Looking down, she was mesmerized by the flashing diamonds of her wedding rings.

Taking a deep breath, Tess leaned against the door and exhaled. She turned her hand this way and that, watching the flashing jewels on her finger. Picking out the rings with Jack had been one of the happiest days of her life. He’d done a swell job of choosing the engagement ring, splurging on a full carat emerald cut stone set into a white gold band with tiny baguettes encircling it. The wedding band was exactly the same, without the center stone.

Tess had immediately protested. It was too much money. But Jack had shushed her with kisses.

“I think that’s when it started,” Tess whispered to no one. Until the day Jack slipped the engagement ring on her finger, she’d had no doubts at all about getting married and spending the rest of her life with him. But as the heavy circle settled on her hand, Tess’s breath had caught in her throat. She’d taken it for pleasure and excitement at the time, but looking back she knew it was the first moment she wondered whether or not they were doing the right thing.

Gazing down at the thousands of dollars resting between her knuckles, Tess wondered how long she would wear it. Would it still be there a year from now? Two? Five? Shaking her head, she didn’t know. She couldn’t even hazard a guess. She might be trying to make the decision to move forward with her life, but it would take small steps. Baby steps. Jack’s wedding ring was tucked safely into her jewelry box in her bedroom until she could decide what to do with it. Lilly had suggested wearing it on a necklace, but Tess wasn’t sure she wanted what felt like such an obvious marker announcing to the world that she was a widow. Someday she would figure it out. Maybe. Who’d have thought his wouldn’t stay on his finger?

Tess climbed into her little Scion XB and headed toward the post office. When she got there, she wished she had asked Lilly to come with her. It took her four arduous trips, carrying all of the carefully packaged boxes. On the last one, the man going in right in front of her let the door close before she could wedge her toe in to stop it.
Thanks, jerk
, she thought nastily. But just as fast as her anger swelled, a feeling of relief and gratitude washed over her as another man coming out of the door stepped aside and held it open.

Tess stopped abruptly. She couldn’t help but stare at him. He was dressed in dusty jeans, a black t-shirt and a black leather vest. His brown hair had the faintest streaks of gray at the temples and his face was covered with a sexy coat of stubble. His eyes were hidden behind dark Ray Ban sunglasses, but she could feel them on her just the same. There was an air of danger and sensuality about him which Tess was immediately ashamed for recognizing.
Shit, I’m supposed to be in mourning
.

“Would you like some help?” he asked, the corner of his mouth rising in a half smile. His voice was low and gravelly and Tess was doubly embarrassed that it sent a little thrill through her stomach.

“Uh, no.” She recovered and cleared her throat. “This is my last trip. Thanks for the door, though.”

“No problem.” He waited for her to step inside.

Tess shook her head, feeling chagrinned.
Sorry, Jack
.

Thirty minutes later, every gift had been mailed and Tess felt somewhat better. As heartbreaking as the situation was, she knew she’d done the right thing and was glad it was finished. As she pushed her way through the exit, she fished in her purse for her sunglasses. Popping them on the bridge of her nose, she hurried back to the car and drove home. She had more than twenty hours of transcription waiting for her and she felt awful about it. Her boss, Dr. Guildford, had been extremely patient when he’d learned of Jack’s death, telling Tess she could have all the time off she needed. The only other transcriptionist in the office had done as best she could to pick up the slack, but Tess had gone back to work a month after the funeral. She had thought it would help to distract her from the grief.

It hadn’t. Instead, she found her production slowing to a snail’s pace and her error ratio climbing skyward. Having to go back and revise almost everything every time she submitted records was what really spurned her to get her “work” shit together. Jack’s voice in her head telling her she was being a slacker hadn’t worked. Only the pitiful looks from Dr. Guildford cut through the haze of depression and grief, when he would return printouts to her with enough red pen revisions to make it look like a D-minus term paper. Over time, her content had improved but her speed was still way below what it once was. She was always behind and ashamed at the reminder texts and voicemails that rolled in from the office manager. Tess was pretty sure it was only pity that kept her employed.

As she came through the door of the apartment, the landline phone was bleating its annoying robotic ring. Sighing, Tess dropped her keys and purse to the floor. She was in no hurry to answer it; the relic of an answering machine she used would take a message. She really didn’t have any reason to keep the landline. Anyone Tess ever wanted to speak with called her on her cell. But Jack’s voice was still on the machine. She stood next to the little black box and its phone in the cradle, waiting for the caller to reveal themselves.

“Hi! You’ve reached Jack and Tess. We can’t take your call so leave us a message and we’ll get back to you later.”

Since his death, Jack’s voice always had a way of bringing tears to her eyes, but this time it didn’t. Cocking her head to the side, she smiled a little.
Maybe I
am
getting better
.

“Good afternoon, this is Melissa from EJR Insurance calling for Tess Kingston. If you could please give us a call back at–”

Tess lunged for the receiver and snatched it up.

“Hello?” she asked, her tone cautious.

“Hi! May I please speak with Tess Kingston?”

“Uh,” Tess stuttered, “what is this regarding?”

“It’s a personal matter, ma’am. Is Mrs. Kingston available?”

Tess held the phone away for a second and frowned at it. “Well, I am Mrs. Kingston.”

“Mrs. Kingston, my name is Melissa and I’m calling from EJR Insurance. It has come to our attention that Jack Kingston passed away this past December. On behalf of the entire company, we’d like to express our deepest sympathies to you.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Tess forced herself to be polite. “Thank you.”

She heard Melissa take a deep breath. “I’m very glad to have reached you, Mrs. Kingston. Every year, we do a periodic check of the death records for any of our client’s names and Jack Kingston appeared. You are the named beneficiary on a life insurance policy he purchased in November of this past year.”

“What do you mean?” Tess sat down heavily on the couch. “Jack didn’t buy any life insurance.”

“Yes, ma’am, he did. It’s our policy at EJR to confirm the identity of beneficiaries before we disburse any payouts. If you provide me with an email address, I can send you a letter with a confirmation number and security code. When you receive it, call us back and you can speak to one of our benefits agents.”

“Okay. When should I expect it?”

“I’ll process the letter today and it should arrive within the next twelve to twenty-four hours. What’s your email address?”

“It’s Tess Langford twelve at my mail dot com.”

Melissa repeated it back and spelled it as well. “Do you have any other questions for me?”

Tess snorted. “Well, yeah, about a million, but I’m guessing you can’t really answer any of them. I guess I’ll just wait for the letter.”

“That’s probably best, Mrs. Kingston,” Melissa agreed. “From all of us at EJR, please let me extend to you our deepest sympathies once again. We are so very sorry for your loss.”

Tess rolled her eyes, despising the phrase but knowing it was what people said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Goodbye.”

“‘Bye.”

Tess put the phone back into the charging cradle, staring at it with confusion. So Jack had taken out an insurance policy and not told her. It was weird, but not completely surprising. Jack had always been a spontaneous and impulsive guy. Someone had probably said something to him about how they would need to get life insurance now that he and Tess were getting married. Still, she thought, why wouldn’t he have said something to her?

Should she wait until she got the email? Or should she get up and start rifling through his office for paperwork? Tess didn’t know what to do. The spare bedroom had been Jack’s space since the day they moved into the apartment. She hardly ever went in there when he was alive, much less since he died. She probably wouldn’t have gone into the room for another year, if she could have avoided it. Now, she couldn’t. She was going to need information, whether she waited for the letter or not.

Tess rose from the couch slowly and took grudging steps across the room to the hallway. A door on either side represented the bedrooms. One was the master with the door wide open, the other closed off to Jack’s domain. She turned to the right to face the closed door. She reached out to lay a flat palm against the cool surface of the door. Her heart was still racing from the phone call, but now it sped up even more, thumping against her chest like a ricocheting tennis ball.

Timothy meowed from behind her, then pounced toward the door. He stood on his hind legs and scratched against it, showing the first bit of interest in the room since Jack’s death.

“Okay, Timmy. Let’s do this.”

Tess took a deep breath, grabbed the knob and twisted, pushing the door to peek in. The room looked exactly like Jack was still alive and would be returning to it any moment. The laptop was open on the desk. There were empty cans of various energy drinks, Coke, and Pepsi piled up in the makeshift recycle bin he’d made out of a copy paper box. The room even smelled like him. She caught the scent of his aftershave and the winter-green mints he liked to chew on while he worked. Her face scrunched up in pain, tears springing to her eyes.
So much for getting better
.

“I don’t know if I can,” she whispered. From out of nowhere, Spencer scampered into the room and began meowing furiously, as if he was looking for Jack. She looked at him through her wet eyes and swore he was saying, “Where is he? Is this where you’ve been hiding him?”

“I know, buddy,” she said, as she walked over and picked him up.

Tess sunk to the futon against the wall and continued to cuddle with the cat, even though it was obvious from his writhing and twitching that he wanted to get down and explore the room. Finally, she released him and he nosed through the clothes and under the desk. He even went to the closet and pawed at the door. In spite of her sadness, Tess smiled at that. “No, goofus, he’s not in the closet.”

Spencer hopped onto the desk and sat right on the keyboard of the laptop. The screen jumped to life, much to Tess’s surprise. She squinted from across the room, but recognized Microsoft Word immediately. She walked over to get a closer look. Wiping away the water in her eyes, she stared down at the screen.

“Oh shit.”

Tess picked it up and carried it into the living room. She plopped on the couch and began to read.