The Widow and the Will (4 page)

Dear Tess,              December 12

I love you with all of my heart. I can’t believe I am married and get to spend the rest of my life with you. I feel so lucky. This honeymoon is going to be the best vacation we’ve ever had. I just know it.

I wanted to tell you all this in person, but I was kind of racked up about a lot of stuff that happened in the last month. I was afraid it would ruin our day and be a big distraction. I figured if I took care of it before hand, without telling you, then it would feel like we won the lottery instead.

I don’t really know how to tell you, so I’ll just do it like my dad did. Six weeks before the wedding, he told me I was adopted.

Tess stopped reading, glancing at the top of the letter. It was dated the day after their wedding and Jack had obviously planned on giving it to her on their honeymoon, she guess.

He told me the weekend he and I went camping. My birth father was a football star and left me a shit ton of money, which my dad’s been managing for me since it happened. He says he never told me because they wanted to wait until I was “of age”, but I’m not sure I buy it. We got into a big argument and came back early. Then I had a huge fight with David about all of it. I’m not really sure how I feel about being adopted and a millionaire all at the same time. And then Dad and David started acting real douchey. It was a lot to handle. Yes, I know, I should have come to you, but

“Yes, you should have, you asshole!” Tess yelled, sniffing back the tears filling her eyes.

I didn’t want it to get in the way of the wedding. You seemed so happy and consumed with all the details. I didn’t want to burden you. I hope you can forgive me for not telling you sooner.

Tess couldn’t decide if that statement helped or hurt. It proved Jack hadn’t had any idea how conflicted she was before the wedding and for that she was glad. Once again, though, she was overwhelmed with guilt about her ungratefulness for having probably the best guy in the world as her fiancé. Trying to push those feelings aside, she forced herself to focus and keep reading.

Bottom line is this: you and I are set for life. We won’t have to work another day if we don’t want to. We can travel and start a family and do all those things we said we wanted to do. I went ahead and saw a lawyer to get everything transferred into my name and then I did a will for you. That way if anything ever happens to me, you’ll be protected. I was so upset that my parents hid all this from me for so many years that I didn’t want to wait until we got back. I wanted it all taken care of as soon as possible. Even now, I’m still really angry. I would have liked to know my birth father.

So right now, you’re in the living room talking on the phone with your mom figuring out some last wedding detail and I don’t think you’ve ever sounded happier. I need your help to figure out what to do with my family. Adopted or not, they raised me. They must have had a good reason for not telling me the truth. I want your advice so we can make sure the future

The letter ended there.

Tess stared at the screen, frozen. The words were trying to register in her brain. Adopted? Inheritance? None of it made any sense. She forced herself to read the entire letter again until the meaning of Jack’s words began to really sink in. He’d known about it all for weeks before the wedding and said nothing.
Nothing
!

“Why?” she yelled, snapping the lid closed. “Why didn’t you come to me?”

How could Jack have kept such huge revelations from her? Tess couldn’t figure out how to feel. Anger was the predominant emotion as all of the new information roiled around in her brain. Betrayal was running a close second, making her stomach burn with rage.

Tess shoved the computer off her lap and it skittered across her legs and the top of the coffee table to land with a crack on the floor. Growling, she got up to retrieve it and ended up stubbing her toe on the leg of the table. The pain that exploded in her foot caused her to shriek. Hopping up and down on her right foot, she held the toe of her left in her hands.

Raunchy expletives spewed forth as she lost her balance and fell backwards onto her butt.

“Uh, what the hell is going on?”

Tess’s head flew up when she spotted Lilly standing in the doorway, a twelve pack of Labatt Blue in one hand and her purse in the other.

“What are you doing here?” Tess snapped. “I’m having a breakdown. Can’t you see that?” Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. She tore her eyes away and examined her wounded toe.

“Yeah, I kind of got that impression from all the swearing I could hear from the parking lot.” Lilly came all the way inside and closed the door behind her. She moved to set the beer on the coffee table, but stopped short before stepping on the laptop. Gingerly, she tiptoed around it to deposit the twelve pack on the floor. Flinging her purse onto the couch, she went to her sister and squatted down in front of her.

“I didn’t think you should be alone after what we did today, so I came back. Tell me what’s going on, Tess.”

Tess’s bottom lip quivered and she tried not to revert to her new habit of falling into a blubbery mess, but shouldn’t have even bothered. She started to cry and let her sister pull her into an embrace.

“It’s okay, little sis. I’m here now.”

Chapter 7

“I just don’t get it,” Tess said softly as she sat in her parents’ kitchen sipping coffee with them. As promised, EJR Insurance had emailed a letter but by the time it arrived, it was too late to call the company. The wait for nine a.m. so she could, was agonizing. After finally connecting with the benefits department and confirming her identity, she had been told that Jack had taken out a life insurance policy in the amount of $1,000,000 on December 2, a little over three weeks before their wedding. She would be receiving a lump sum payment within the next seven to ten days, which she could have hand delivered or pick up herself. When Tess had asked why it had taken so long for them to contact her, she was told that it was EJR’s policy to research the cause of death and determine that it was not a suicide before contacting the named beneficiary. When the check was ready, she would receive another call. Part of her figured when that call came, the other shoe would drop. The faceless name at the other end of the line would ask her to wire a couple of thousand dollars to Nigeria so that she could get the full million dollars, or some such other nonsensical scam.

A larger part of her felt there had to be more going on than she was aware. After reading the letter she found on Jack’s computer, Tess had way more questions than answers. Jack had alluded to an inheritance. A “shit-ton” of money, were his words. So where was it all? Had his family kept it from her? She was going to have to get in touch with the Kingstons and that did not thrill her. Since the funeral, there had been only limited, awkward contact. Even though she had spent as much time at their house as her own growing up, it was as if she had died too. Tess didn’t feel like they wanted anything to do with her anymore. Both sides had pulled away, probably because neither one knew what to say to the other. She didn’t blame them, but it would have been nice to have support from both sides while she grieved.

Ruth Langford grasped her daughter’s hands in her own. “Jack obviously never thought he would die, but he did something to take care of you.” The fifty-five year old woman didn’t look a day over forty. She shared the same honey blonde hair and blue eyes as Tess, though her frame was plumper after two children. Tess wasn’t thin, but neither was she flirting with too much weight. She obviously took after her mom.

“I’m grateful for that, Mom. But why wouldn’t he have told me about this?” Tess squeezed her mom’s hands back. “What if it’s all some weird scam or something?”

“I don’t think it’s a scam, Padunkin.” Harry Langford sat across the dining room table from his youngest girl. “It sounds just like what happened when your Uncle Pat died a couple of years ago and they contacted me as the beneficiary. Jack probably didn’t want to worry you. I don’t tell your mother about half the financial things I do because I don’t want her freaking out and overthinking things.”

Ruth pursed her lips and gave her husband a haughty look of derision. “Ha!”

Her parents’ congenial bickering made Tess smile. It also made her sad. She and Jack had been the same way, but now she no longer had someone to spar with. She stared into the coffee cup in front of her, feeling more confused and bereft than ever.
Just when I thought I was finally getting my bearings
.

“This is awesome, Tess!” Lilly said, manufacturing a delighted look. “You won’t have to worry about anything now!” Tess had called her big sister to come over so she could have all her family available to help hash through what was turning out to be a complete mindfuck. Lilly was sworn to secrecy about her breakdown and Tess had no worries that Lilly would break the confidence.

“Have you looked through Jack’s things to see if he left any paperwork?” Harry asked the question no one else was willing to ask.

“Not yet,” Tess admitted. “My first look into his office was nothing but chaos. I guess I’m scared to go back in.”

Ruth leaned forward and hugged her baby girl. “That’s okay, sweetheart. If you want, we could come over and do it for you.”

Tess gave her a wan smile. “I guess. I probably need to call Jack’s parents, too. If they knew about all this, then why didn’t they tell me?”

“They might not know about the life insurance part,” Lilly offered. She sat perched on the kitchen counter, next to the sink. She pushed her dark brown hair behind her ears and shrugged. “But they still should have told you about the rest of it.” While Tess looked like a carbon copy of their mother, Lilly was Harry’s twin, with dark hair and green eyes. Tall and lithe, she had an athlete’s physique.

“I don’t know what to do first,” Tess said, her voice low with sadness.

“Why don’t we take a ride over to your place and see what we can find. Then, you can call Emily and Roger.” As the matriarch of the Langford clan, Ruth usually made the decisions and plowed the way.

“Sounds like a plan,” Lilly agreed.

“Tess?” Harry cocked his head to the side to get her attention. “Are you okay with this?”

“Yeah.” She stood up and smoothed her jeans over her legs and yanked on the edge of her plain white t-shirt. “Let’s do it.”

* * * * *

Lilly sifted through the files in the desk drawer while Ruth poked around the closet in Jack’s office. Harry and Tess stayed in the living room, talking quietly. Lilly hoped she would find something, anything, that would give her little sister some answers. It broke her heart to see Tess go through the last six months. Her sister had always been the perky upbeat one, while Lilly was more cynical and pragmatic. Tess’s natural effervescence had all but disappeared, leaving her morose and melancholy. Lilly was the strong one, able to survive tragic circumstances and move on. All she wanted to do was protect Tess and fix everything for her.

“There isn’t anything in here but clothing. I don’t see any papers or anything like that,” Ruth said, closing the closet door.

“Come on over and take the other drawer.” Lilly was only half way through hers. When she did get through the rest of the files, Lilly sighed. “Nothing on this side. It’s all utility bills and stuff like that.” Glancing around, she tried to think of where to look next. She spied a black shoulder bag propped up against the side of the futon and crawled across the room to grab it.

“What’s that?”

“Looks like Jack’s laptop case.”

Lilly flipped open the flap and dumped the contents on the floor. It was mostly trash; gum and mint wrappers, crumpled receipts from fast food purchases, a few pens, and the usual dirty grit that collected in the bottom of any bag. Just as she was about to abandon it, a business card fluttered out and landed on the floor. Lilly plucked it up and read it.

“I’ve got something.”

Ruth looked away from her project. “What is it?”

“Hudson Marks, Attorney at Law.”

Lilly and her mother went out to the living room and took seats on either side of Tess. “We found this.”

She took the card and read it. “Oh boy.”

“Call him,” Lilly prompted. “Call him right now.”

“Okay!”

Tess pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed the number on the card. After four rings, a professional, throaty voicemail message came on. When it ended and she heard the telltale beep, Tess hesitated before speaking. “Uh, hi. My name is Tess Lang, er, Tess Kingston. My husband was Jack Kingston. I’d like to speak with Hudson Marks. Please give me a call at your earliest convenience.” She recited her number and then added a hasty “thank you.”

She tapped the end button to disconnect the call and promptly burst into tears.

* * * * *

Tess looked in the mirror and checked her makeup. In spite of all the foundation she so carefully applied, her eyes were still puffy from crying and she looked too pale. It couldn’t be helped, though. She wasn’t willing to pile on any more cosmetics. She already thought she might be bordering on clownish.

Tess smoothed her jeans and adjusted the black-and-white striped tunic she had chosen. Going to see her mother-in-law was making her feel queasy and she wanted to do her best to look presentable. Emily Kingston was a proper lady, someone who would have been amongst socialites and high society had she been born to a higher station or married better. She would notice any deficiencies in Tess’s appearance, even if she had the good graces not to mention them outright.

Before leaving the house, she grabbed the phone and dialed her in-laws’ number from memory. After four rings, the voicemail picked up and she almost hung up. After a few seconds, she blurted out a message.

“Hi, it’s Tess. I, uh, need to come over and see you, uh, guys. I’m going to run by and see if you’re home. You can call me on my cell if you want.”

Tess ended the call and let out a shaky breath. Things had been understandably awkward between all of them with Jack dying only minutes after the ceremony. It didn’t feel like a real marriage in a lot of ways, and Tess was loath to admit that. But she’d known Jack for most of her life and she didn’t think her association with his family would abruptly end just because he died. If anything, Tess figured their bond would grow stronger, once the initial shock wore off. But as the days after the funeral wore on, there had been no contact with her in-laws to speak of.

Tess left the apartment with a “be good” to the cats, and then drove through the light traffic of St. Clair Shores to Jack’s childhood home on Revere Street. The sound of an old fashioned phone was barely audible above the low playing radio and sound of traffic on the street. Keeping one hand on the wheel, she used the other to rifle through her purse for her cell, but by the time she found it, the call had gone to voicemail.
Oh well
.

The closer she got to her in-laws’, the more nervous Tess became. She tried to shake it off, wiggling her shoulders and taking deep breaths as she pulled onto their street. “You have nothing to worry about,” she said out loud, trying to convince herself that more trouble was not looming ahead.

As if all the crazy shit that day wasn’t enough, when Tess got closer to their driveway, she could see their other son’s car already parked there. This did nothing to calm her already frayed nerves. She should have been relieved to see that David was there so she could consult all of them at the same time, him being a lawyer and all. Instead, it left her feeling nauseated and more agitated. She and David hadn’t always gotten along that well. He thought like a lawyer first, in all instances of his life, and to him, Tess was just another character cast in his courtroom drama.

As Tess parked on the street across from the house, she could see Emily on her knees working in her flowerbeds. Her two little Yorkies snuffled around her and began yapping up a storm when they caught sight of Tess. Emily immediately stopped digging and looked up to see what the ruckus was all about.

“Well, hello,” she said as Tess approached the yard. Emily got up and brushed her hands off on her gardening apron, then yanked her gloves off and stuffed them into the pocket.

“Hi-i.” Tess’s voice cracked with nerves. Emily’s eyes looked tired and the corners of her mouth were drawn down.
She looks pretty bad
, Tess thought, but not unkindly. She felt bad for her mother-in-law.

Emily reached to give a half-hearted hug and then stepped back as if to put some space between them. Tess frowned a little, but turned to look at the dogs in order to hide it. She noticed them digging into the bright yellow flowers at the corner of the porch and side yard. Emily saw them too and jumped toward them, waving her hands.

“Renaldo! Francesco! Get out of there!” She raced over and shooed them away from the almost neon blooms. “Those will hurt you!”

Tess stayed where she was, feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to the other as Emily smothered her little dogs with kisses and admonishments.

“Those flowers could take you all the way up to Heaven, you sillies,” she murmured to them and Tess felt as though she might gag, mentally rolling her eyes. Jack’s mother had always treated the dogs in the family like they were her children.

“I see David’s here, too,” she said, trying to get Emily’s attention.

“Yes, he is. What are you doing here?”

Tess raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I called, but no one answered.”

“Oh, of course,” Emily shook her head, “David and Roger just got back and I was out here. I must not have heard the phone. But of course you’re welcome any time, dear. Is there something wrong?”

I’ll say
. “Well, kind of. Could I come and talk to you guys about something?”

Emily set the dogs down and reached to link her arm with Tess’s. “Yes, come in. How rude of me.”

They walked arm in arm up the porch steps of the two-story bungalow. Tess had always loved the modest coziness of the Kingston home, even if the rest of Jack’s family acted as if they lived in a mansion along Lake St. Clair.

“Tess!” David looked shocked as she entered the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”

“David!” Emily admonished. “You sound as if Tess isn’t entitled to come over any time she likes. She’s your sister-in-law.”

The hollowness of that statement hung in the air like a vile odor. Roger Kingston squirmed in his chair, refusing to meet Tess’s eyes, fiddling with a beer can sitting in front of him. David didn’t have the decency to look embarrassed, but he spit out a grudging apology anyway. Emily pulled a chair out for Tess, then one for herself and sat, cradling the canine called Francesco as if it were an infant, shushing and cooing at it.