Chapter Twenty Breaking Point
Chapter Nineteen: The Other Wife
Oscar’s memorial was held two weeks after his death at the funeral home.
It was quiet, simple, and small with only a handful of people attending.
Oscar had never been good at keeping friends, so most of those present were friends and family of Evie and Della who came to support them.
Father Garrett said a few words and offered a prayer, tactfully avoiding any mention of Oscar’s crimes or the fact that he’d died in prison. It was all over within an hour.
Evie was in the office with the funeral director, signing the last of the paperwork, when a commotion from the front of the building broke the stillness.
The funeral director excused himself and stepped out to see what was happening, returning barely two minutes later to tell her she was needed up front.
When Evie left the office, she stopped short.
Thorn stood in the doorway of the room where the memorial had been held, arms folded across his chest, a faintly disgusted look on his face.
Della hovered behind him, peeking around his elbow.
Tommy was in front of them, arguing with a peroxide-blonde woman in her fifties who was waving a sheet of paper in his face and demanding to be let into her husband’s memorial.
“What is going on here?” Exhaustion and irritation sharpened Evie’s tone as she joined Tommy, fixing the woman with a hard stare. “This is a funeral home! Have some respect for the grieving families. What is wrong with you?”
The woman drew herself up, straightening her shoulders under Evie’s words, a faint flush rising beneath her tear-streaked cheeks.
“I’m Oscar Stanley’s wife,” she said, voice trembling as she held out the paper she had been waving. “We were married a year ago.”
Turning to the funeral director, Evie apologized quietly for the interruption and asked if there was somewhere private she could speak with the woman. He nodded, looking relieved that the shouting had stopped.
“Yes, you can use my office,” he said, gesturing toward it.
Thanking him again, Evie glanced at Tommy. He inclined his head slightly and followed as she led the woman - Gina, according to the marriage certificate - into the office. He closed the door behind them.
“Why wasn’t I informed my husband was dead?” Gina demanded at once, stepping in too close. Evie caught the sharp scent of cigarettes on her breath and wrinkled her nose but held her ground.
“Because we didn’t know you existed,” she said evenly, folding her arms. “It’s been two weeks; you didn’t try to get in touch with him during that time?” The document looked legitimate, but Evie couldn’t help feeling suspicious; Gina was about as far from Oscar’s type as it was possible to get.
“I- the prison wouldn’t give me any information,” Gina snapped, glaring at her. “I thought they were on lockdown or something. I only found out this morning when my mom sent me the obituary.”
Evie studied her for a moment. That was plausible, prisons on lockdown didn’t hand out visitor information, and since Gina’s name wasn’t on any of the paperwork Evie had received from the prison or from Fred, the warden probably wouldn’t have given her details; Oscar hadn’t listed her as next of kin.
She passed the document to Tommy. He took it without a word and left the room, phone already in hand.
“Hey! Where’s he going with that?” Gina demanded, her nasal Long Island accent grating on Evie’s nerves.
“Relax,” Evie said, calm and cool, refusing to meet the woman’s heat with equal force.
“You really think we’re going to accept the word of a random woman who shows up at the end of a memorial claiming to be my father’s wife when there is absolutely no mention of you anywhere?
He’s going to make a few calls and confirm it’s real, that’s all. ”
“It’s real! What would I have to gain by lying?” Gina snapped, jabbing a finger toward Evie and stepping into her space again.
“If it’s real, you shouldn’t have a problem with verification.” Evie didn’t answer what Gina might stand to gain; she wanted to see if the woman would mention Oscar’s estate herself. “And if you don’t step back, I’ll bring Thorn in here to make sure you stay on one side of the room.”
Gina’s eyes narrowed. “The big blonde guy?” Evie nodded and to her nose’s relief, she stepped back, dropping into a chair with a huff.
They waited in silence for another fifteen minutes before Tommy returned and handed the marriage certificate back to Evie.
“It’s real,” he confirmed.
“Thanks, Tommy.” She gave him a small, grateful smile.
“Would you and Nissa mind taking my mom home so Gina can say her goodbyes to her husband?” She had no interest in getting between Della and Gina.
Her mother wasn’t having a good day, and Evie didn’t need an audience for another ‘Oscar was the Devil’ Ted Talk.
“No problem.” He glanced at Gina, who was already on her feet, wearing a triumphant smile. “We’ll take your car, and Thorn can bring you home.”
“Sounds good.” Evie nodded, exhaustion creeping back into her voice. “My keys are in my coat pocket.” She followed him to the door, watching as he relayed the plan to Nissa and Thorn.
“Humph.” Gina folded her arms when Evie didn’t move, blocking the exit. “They divorced two years ago. She shouldn’t care about him remarrying.”
“I don’t care,” Evie said without turning around. “There’s no reason for you two to meet. She’s my mother, and I only just met you, so she gets priority.”
“Who put you in charge, anyway?” Gina’s voice climbed in pitch, the whine making Evie’s temples throb.
“What are you, ten? Stop whining.” The words came out sharper than she intended, her patience finally cracking. She drew a slow breath, forcing her tone steady. “And for the record, Oscar put me in charge.”
She could practically feel Gina’s glare burning between her shoulder blades as the woman fumed in silence. Evie’s shoulders tightened, but she stayed where she was until Tommy and Nissa had her mother safely out of the building.
Only then did she step aside, allowing Gina to pass. The woman started toward the room where Oscar’s ashes were displayed but stopped halfway there and turned back to Evie.
“Who do I talk to about his money? As his wife, I’m entitled to it.”
There it was. Evie felt her lip curl in disgust. Folding her arms, she leveled the older woman with a blank stare. “You’re not, actually. His will left everything to me. But since you want it so badly, you can have his debt.”
The words hit their mark. With petty satisfaction, Evie watched the gleam in Gina’s eyes fade as her shoulders sagged.
“I thought you wanted to say goodbye?” Evie gestured toward the room that held Oscar’s ashes, already reaching for her phone. She needed to call Fred; she had no idea if spousal privilege could override a will.
Pouting, Gina spun on her heel and stalked into the room. Evie turned to Thorn, his calm, solid presence grounding her in a way nothing else could.
“Keep an eye on her. I need to make a phone call,” she murmured, heading back into the funeral director’s office.
She finished signing the remaining papers as she spoke with the lawyer, who was equally shocked that Oscar had remarried and never updated his will. “It was a real wedding,” she told him, stacking the documents neatly on the director’s desk. “Tommy confirmed it.”
Fred exhaled heavily, and she could practically see him running a hand through his snow-white hair, his permanently pink face creased in irritation.
“She could take us to court and contest the will, and she’d win,” he said. “Rather than going through that, I suggest we offer her a lump sum and have her sign an agreement stating that it’s all she’ll receive.”
“How much?” Evie asked, glancing up as she heard Gina’s voice from the other room and Thorn’s low, unintelligible reply.
“I’ll need to review the accounts first. Get her contact information and tell her I’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks, Fred. You’re a lifesaver.” Relief rippled through her as she hung up, gathered the papers, and left the office.
“Dad’s lawyer will contact you about his estate and what you’re entitled to,” she informed Gina as she approached, too drained to soften the edge in her voice.
“Oh, good.” Gina brightened instantly, and Evie almost admired how quickly she could pivot from teary-eyed grief to radiant greed. “I want his ashes.”
Evie was completely done with her father, with Gina, with all of it. She just wanted the woman gone.
“Take them,” she said flatly, turning away to look for the funeral director. “Saves me the trouble of throwing them out,” she muttered as she walked off.
Chapter Twenty: Breaking Point
Thorn brought Evie to the Tower to pick up her car and fill Tommy and Nissa in on what had happened after they left, and to see how her mother reacted to Gina’s sudden appearance.
Tommy wasn’t surprised that Fred had suggested paying Gina a lump sum to make her go away and agreed it was the best possible option to ensure she didn’t try to come after Evie for more money later on.
He told her that Della hadn’t really reacted to Gina’s declaration that she was Oscar’s wife.
“She made a rather snarky comment about him having traded down - what was it, Nissa?” Tommy looked like he was struggling not to laugh. “He really put the bar on the ground this time, but I guess he didn’t have a lot of choice, being a convicted felon who couldn’t even finish the job.”
Nissa nodded, her eyes sparkling as she hid her smile behind her mug. “Your mother is surprisingly witty when she wants to be.”
Evie rolled her eyes, remembering her mother’s “witty” comments that had caused Oscar to have the temper tantrum that killed him. “Yeah, she’s a regular Lucille Bluth,” she muttered, not in the mood to discuss her mother’s snark after the day she’d had.