Chapter 12
12
A knock sounded on the front door. Margo stared at herself in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. White slacks and a flowing white sleeveless top with tiny blue flowers on it were what she'd chosen this morning. More due to the heat than anything. She turned to answer the door, but her sister Carley rushed out of the spare bedroom.
"I'll get it."
Margo halted and decided to dig through the safe at the back of her closet. That's where they kept all of their important documents. The business incorporation papers, estate planning, deed to the house and business. All of it was in there for fire and theft protection.
She dug to the back of the safe and found the deep blue folder where her estate planning documents were safely tucked inside. She opened it to confirm the contents. Margo Elizabeth Price was typed in bold letters. She knelt to reach further to the back. The other deep blue folder containing Logan's estate documents was not in there. A pit grew in her stomach. She had a feeling this was not going to be a good day for her again. Another crap to be taken on the top of Margo, just as the past two weeks had done to her. She stepped from the bedroom, hugging the blue folder to her body, and heard Carley speaking to another woman.
As she entered the living room, she saw Hanna Valentine. She hadn't seen Hanna in years.
"Hi, Hanna, how are you?"
"I'm good, Margo. I came to, well, bring you these."
Hanna held out a little pink box in front of her. "I made these cinnamon rolls. I'm not sure if you're aware, but I'm back in town and running my grandmother's bakery. Mom retired. But I revived grandma's cinnamon roll recipe and they've been a hit in town, so I thought I'd bring you some as an offer of condolences and friendship."
Margo's heartbeat increased. Here was sweet Hanna Valentine offering her gifts of condolences, and all Margo wanted to do was kick Logan in the balls. "Well, thank you, Hanna. That's very nice of you."
"I know this can be a hard time. But I wanted to offer you a shoulder, if you needed one, although it looks like..." Hanna turned to Carley. "You have a great one right here. But if you ever need someone to speak with, I just wanted to let you know I'm here. My friend Grace, also." Hanna smiled, then rushed to continue. "Which, by the way, I'm not sure if you're interested, but tonight my fiancée, Quinn Kurtz, from Kurtz Construction Company..."
Margo smiled, "Yes, I know Quinn. I just helped him with the barracks deal."
"Yes, that's right." Poor Hanna seemed frazzled or nervous. "Well, Quinn and his friend, Sid, who owns Miracle Garage on Main Street, will be at the Legion with area veterans, and Sid's wife Grace and I are going to the Sandbar to enjoy a couple of drinks. There's a band playing. Anyway, I'd like to extend the offer to you and Carley. Please join us. It's nothing formal. Casual dress. It's going to be a beautiful evening. The temperature is supposed to cool down to the mid- seventies which will be perfect for sitting out on the beach and listening to some music."
Carley rushed. "Oh my God, that sounds like so much fun. Margo we've got to go. We need to get out of the house. Please let's go out."
Margo hesitated. She wasn't sure she'd be good company after whatever was about to happen at Grant Park's office.
Did it look right? So soon after Logan's death, did it look right for her to be out?
"I don't know if it would be right, so soon after Logan's death, doesn't it look like I'm out scouting the town?"
Carley shook her head. "You're single. Logan's been dead almost a week. The old rules don't apply these days and you are still alive. And having a drink with lady friends and listening to music isn't scouting. At least not the last time I checked."
She hesitated and bit her bottom lip. She wasn't ready to let the town know what Logan had been up to. It was embarrassing.
Hanna shrugged, "Well, I mean, I don't want to put pressure on you, but I wanted you to know that Grace and I will be there, and we will hold the table open for you, too. If you care to join us. I hope to see you there."
She turned to leave, and Carley nudged Margo. "Let's go, Margo. Let's go."
Margo swallowed. "We'll see you there tonight, Hanna. Thank you for the invitation."
Hanna smiled brightly. "That's great. We're happy to have you join us. Seven o'clock."
"We'll be there."
"Jace. He's a friend of Quinn and Sid's. He saves us a table up near the stage. It's not right in front, so the music isn't too loud. It's off to the side, but we have a great view. Plus, we're close to the water. It's perfect."
At the mention of Jace's name, Margo flinched.
Carley seemed incredibly excited and rushed in. "Oh my gosh, that is so fun. Thank you so much for the invitation. We'll be there for sure. Right, Margo?"
She grabbed Margo's arm and squeezed tightly. Margo nodded woodenly. Maybe it would be fun.
"Yes, we'll be there at seven. Thank you for the invitation."
Hanna smiled and stepped out of the door, and Margo turned to Carley. "I don't know if this is a good idea, Carley."
Carley shook her head. "Stop worrying about what anyone thinks. The old pearl clutchers aren't going to be there drinking and listening to music. And so what if they are? All that matters is that we know the truth. Right?"
Carley stepped in front of her. "We know the ugly truth."
"Yes, we do, and it is ugly."
"I agree with you. But you can't stop living. And actually, now more than ever, you need to get out there and live again. You haven't been living in years, Margo. Not in years."
Tears threatened, and Margo blinked furiously. She still gripped the folder in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she let it out. "I guess we better get going. And by the way, this is a copy of my estate planning documents. Logan's are missing from the safe."
Carley's shoulders dropped. "Oh dear. I dread this for you."
Margo shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she stared into her sister's eyes, similar to her own. "Don't dread it for me. I will deal with whatever he's done. But that fucker better not be trying to take my business away from me. I don't know how I'll get even, but I will."
Carley nodded. "Well, I like that attitude. Better to fight than it is to dwell in despair."
"I'm not desperate for anything. So this is just one more nail in the coffin, so to speak, for me to get past all of this. It seems as though Logan was hell-bent on ruining my life for whatever reason. I do not know. But I guess we better go find out."
"Okay."
Margo took a deep breath before she stepped inside Grant Park's office. She was still clutching the folder with her estate planning documents inside like it was a lifeline. She didn't even know why she brought it. Her documents weren't in question. Thankfully, Carley was with her.
Jailisa, Grant's personal assistant and receptionist, sat behind the front desk. She's always there and had been for years. For as long as Margo could remember, anyway. "Good morning, Ms. Price or should I say afternoon. Good afternoon, Ms. Price."
Margo tried to smile but nerves forbid it. "Good afternoon, Jailisa. This is my sister, Carley. Carley, Jailisa."
"Nice to meet you, Carley. I'll let Mr. Park know that you're here. Please take a seat."
Jailisa stood and then halted. "You know, on second thought, how about if you come right into the conference room? They followed her to the door to the right of her desk.
"Sit wherever you like. Can I get you water or coffee or anything?"
Margo shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm good."
Carley nodded. "I'm fine, also. Thank you, though for the offer."
Jailisa stepped out and closed the door. Within seconds, she heard Jailisa's voice outside. "Hello, how may I help you?"
Margo assumed the attorney from Miami stepped through the door and this was Jailisa's nice way of keeping them separate until they had to meet face to face. Margo swallowed, and Carly reached over, took her hand, and squeezed. "It's gonna be okay, Margo. We are going to deal with whatever, and I am here with you the entire way."
She looked into her sister's eyes. "Thank you, Carley. I honestly don't know what I would have done these past days without you. Actually, the past couple of weeks. This is all so surreal. Certainly not something I ever dreamed I'd be dealing with."
"I don't think anybody dreams of dealing with anything like this, but just know you are not alone."
"I do appreciate it. Thank you."
The back door to the conference room opened and Grant Park stepped in. He wore a nice light gray suit with a blue tie. It looked friendly. "Good morning."
He reached over and shook Margo's hand, then he shook her sister's hand.
"This is my sister, Carley. Carley, Grant Park my attorney."
"It's nice to meet you, Carley."
Grant sat at the head of the table to Margo's right. Carley to her left.
"So the attorney from Miami is here. His name is Mathias Zsidai. I don't know what he wants to talk about, Margo, but what I want to caution you about is this. Whatever he says, try not to react too strongly. After he leaves, we will have a discussion, and we will talk about whatever it is that he has. He wouldn't share it with me over the phone, which I find in poor taste. Since he knows that you are my client, I can't imagine that he has anything that should be secret, but some attorneys like to keep people off-guard. That's probably what he's trying to do."
She swallowed the warm bile that climbed up the back of her throat and took a deep breath. "Okay, I kind of suspected overnight that this was bad news, and I did look this morning. She pushed the folder toward Grant. He'd recognize it, of course, because he's the one who created their wills and powers of attorney years ago. "I found my estate documents, but not Logan's. In our safe."
Grant didn't say anything. He pressed his lips together and nodded. "Okay. Well, you tell me when you're ready."
"Let's get it over with," Margo said.
Grant stepped out of the room. He was gone for a few minutes, but it felt like hours.
Soon, he stepped in with a portly man with dark, thinning hair. He wore a dark suit and a green tie. He had round, dark-rimmed glasses, and she wondered why on earth a professional man would wear glasses that looked like that. It was almost comical with the roundness of his body and head.
He shook her hand. "My name is Attorney Mathias Zsidai."
"I'm Margo Price. This is my sister, Carley."
He shook both of their hands and then sat down. He pulled a folder out of his briefcase. It looked similar to the one Margo had brought in, but this one was black, not blue.
"Mr. Price," he stopped and looked at her, then looked back down at the folder, "came in to see me two years ago. He had some changes made to his will and I understand he has now passed."
Margo nodded slowly. "Yes, he passed five days ago."
"Well, I'm not sure if he was lucid before he died or if he shared anything with you of a...a sensitive nature, or if I am the bearer of this news."
Margo squared her shoulders. "If you mean, did he tell me that he had been having an affair for the last seven years? No, he didn't tell me."
Grant Park looked at her. His eyes rounded. He said nothing. His expression was of a man who was stunned. Margo continued.
"My sister found out by looking at his phone while he lay dying. His phone continued to chime. The texts were coming in. She checked the texts and found that they were from Sierra Stigler. Upon looking further into Logan's phone, I see that Logan and Sierra Stigler have been seeing each other for seven years."
Mathias blustered, "Yes, yes, that's my understanding as well. And when Mr. Price came in, he wanted to have an amendment made to his will. Upon his death, well here let me see..." he opened the folder and pulled a will from inside. Since he sat directly across from Margo, she saw Logan's name, upside down, in bold on the document. Logan Price, Last Will and Testament . He cleared his throat and continued lifting the cover page of the will. "Two years ago, Mr. Price came into my office with Ms. Stigler, and he asked to have an amendment made to the will. Upon his death, Mr. Price has given ten percent of Price Realty to Ms. Stigler."
Margo's stomach turned, but ten percent was better than fifty percent, so she would take that. She tried not to show the relief she felt. She simply folded her hands together on top of the table and waited for him to continue.
Attorney Zsidai continued. "Accordingly, Mr. Price also wanted me to convey to you that he would like Ms. Stigler to have a place in Price Realty as his last request. They were very much in love, and he wanted to include her in his business."
Margo knew that Logan seemed to have loving feelings towards Sierra, and she conveyed the same in their texts. She'd read them, ad nauseam, the last few nights. But she didn't say anything. At the moment, the anger that brewed in her gut wouldn't offer anything good coming out of her mouth. Grant Park finally found his voice, and took the document from Attorney Zsidai, and looked it over. "May I have this? Is this a copy, or do you need me to make a copy?"
Attorney Zsidai responded, "That's your copy. I have the original here."
Grant nodded. "Thank you. My client and I will converse if you'd like to step back into the other conference room while we talk. You're welcome to do that. If you prefer to leave and have me, call you, that's certainly up to you as well."
Attorney Zsidai stood. "I'll go talk to my client."
Margo's head spun. Sierra Stigler was here? Sierra Stigler wanted to be part of Price Realty? That was not going to happen. Attorney Zsidai left the room and closed the door.
Grant closed Logan's will. He folded his hands over the top of it and said, "How long have you known about this Margo?"
"Carley and my other two sisters found out while Logan was dying. They didn't tell me until the day of the funeral. I've been reading those texts each night before I go to bed. It solidifies in my gut that Logan has indeed been having an affair with Sierra Stigler, and it has indeed been going on for about seven years. Every time a shoe drops or a bomb drops, it's a nail in Logan's coffin, as far as I'm concerned. I admit I was immediately shocked, and then again, it's weird because I wasn't. As I started reading the texts and comparing the dates with my calendar, when Logan lied that he was going fishing, or playing golf, or he was looking up this business, or he was writing an offer on that business, he was with Ms. Stigler. As I realized how much that lying son-of-a-bitch has actually lied to me, it's giving me more peace."
Grant nodded slowly. "I understand. Well, I'd like to point out a couple of things here if you haven't already figured it out. Logan was a fifty percent owner in Price Realty. He cannot give ten percent of your fifty percent, he can only give ten percent of his fifty percent, which means that all she will own is ten percent of fifty percent or overall, only five percent. The percentage is nil, to be honest with you, and she has no right to ask to be part of the real estate company. She has no voting rights. She does not have any right to anything other than a five percent share of the overall company, which you would only have to offer an accounting and a check once a year after taxes are done."
Margo swallowed.
"Okay, so I need to ask you, Margo, how do you want this to play out as to Sierra Stigler being part of the company and working there?"
"No, she will not be part of my company. It's my company. As a matter of fact, for the last seven years, while Logan was off fucking her, I was working my ass off to build that company. Price Realty is, in actuality, Margo Price, not Logan Price, not Margo and Logan Price, it's Margo Price. I did a little looking when I got back to the office the other day for deals in the pipeline. As far as listing and offers, Logan had eight in our system. Six of those were listings that he's made over the last year. One of them is a written offer that is to close in two weeks. I had many, many more. Twenty-five, to be exact, and if I look back over the last seven years, I think each year will be similar. And I'm happy to do that if you need it for any reason. But that woman will not be part of my business because Logan hasn't been part of my business in seven years."
Grant nodded. "That's fair. So I will tell Attorney Zsidai that you decline Logan's wish and Ms. Stigler's wish to be part of Price Realty."
"Yes, you can decline that request and further tell them about the five percent, or ten percent of fifty percent. Also, I ask that you please read through our incorporation documents and see if Logan even had the right to give off any percentage. I believe it had to be done by a proper procedure, through our corporate documents. I believe a written notice to the board, which are Logan and I, had to be made in writing, and shares had to be offered, voted on, and approved in the minutes of the meeting each year for that to pass. No share certificates were ever awarded. No written request to have shares given over were ever made, were ever voted on, and no certificates were given."
Grant nodded, "You're a smart woman Margo. I was going to get to that, but you beat me to it. So I'll look at that this week. In the meantime, I will ask Attorney Zsidai and Ms. Stigler to leave, and we'll tell them she will not be part of the business. Further, her proffered ten percent is only five percent."
"Yes, those are my wishes."
Grant stood and shook her hand, then Carley's. "It was nice meeting you, Carley."
"It was nice meeting you too, Mr. Park."
He nodded. "If you two want to step out, I will keep them in the other conference room until you're gone so that you don't have to have an awkward run-in with her."
"Thank you, Grant. I do appreciate it, and I'll wait for your call."
She left the building with Carley, and while the news was upsetting, it wasn't as bad as she had thought. As she sat and listened to Attorney Zsidai and Grant, thoughts about the corporate documents came into her head. She felt better and better that Logan could go fuck himself wherever he was. He sure as hell wasn't in heaven. He wasn't getting his last wish, or any wishes for that matter. And that fucking mistress of his could go to hell for all she cared. She was fighting mad. Even though she was fighting a dead man and his slut on the side.