Chapter 8
They were waiting outside Matt’s office, and Camellia looked like she hadn’t gotten any sleep at all last night. Lily handed the coffee she’d brought to Camellia, glad she’d listened to her conscience and not Violet, who’d said Camellia could bring her own coffee.
“Here, we brought you some coffee,” she started. “There’s cream and sugar in the bag. I didn’t know if you take any.”
Camellia looked surprised. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that. I appreciate it.”
She took the bag and added two sugars and two creams to her coffee while Lily filed the information in her brain for future orders. She prided herself on remembering everyone’s coffee order. Little details like that made people feel special.
“Of course. It’s no problem.” She looked around at the empty parking lot. “Is Matt usually late?”
Camellia looked annoyed. “I have no idea. I’ve never had to meet with him on a Saturday before. In fact, I don’t usually deal with him at all. But I intend to give him an earful when he does finally show up. The nerve of him telling those people to just freely roam about my house!”
Violet looked just as annoyed at Camellia. “It’s all of our house now, Camellia, not just yours.”
“Oh, trust me, I’m well aware of that,” Camellia snapped at her. “I suppose the two of you sat up all night plotting all the changes you plan to make. Must be nice to at least be able to talk to each other about this whole mess.”
Lily touched Camellia’s arm, and Camellia jumped at the gesture, nearly spilling her coffee. She understood Camellia’s volatile emotions. Hers weren’t much better right now; she just did better at controlling them.
Lily tried to give her a reassuring smile, but the truth was, none of this was comfortable for her, either. “No, we didn’t sit up plotting all night about anything, Camellia, but you are right. It is a comfort having each other to rely on through this whole thing. I can only imagine how hard it is for you to face this alone, especially after just recently losing your mother.”
She looked from Violet back to Camellia. “You know, none of us is at fault here. I know this is upsetting, but we could look at this as an opportunity…and maybe even a blessing of sorts. We could be happy that we’ve found each other after all of these years. I’m happy to welcome you as our sister, and I’d love the chance to get to know you and your family better.”
Violet clenched her teeth and said nothing while Camellia scowled.
Camellia’s expression hardened, and it appeared she had to physically force her jaw to release to reply. “Sorry, I’m not ready to get all chummy-chummy just yet. Truthfully, I doubt I ever will be ready. I’m not looking for sisters or any more family at all. I just wanted to spend a nice quiet Christmas with my husband and daughter in the only place I have happy memories with both my mother and father.” She glared at Lily and Violet. “So no, I’m not at all grateful you showed up. I honestly wish you would both just disappear, and things would go back to normal.”
Camellia’s bluntness caught Lily off guard, and she stared at her own coffee cup for a minute, not sure what to say. Of course, she could understand the woman’s feelings, but she didn’t believe Camellia needed to be quite so harsh. They were, after all, all in the same state of confusion and shock. The three of them were innocent in all of this, so taking it out on Lily and Violet was unnecessary.
Luckily, Matt roared up in his sports car just then, saving her the trouble of trying to smooth things over.
“Sorry I’m late. Rough night,” he announced as he hustled over, swinging his keys in his hand. “Give me a sec here, and I’ll have us inside and out of the cold in a jiffy.”
Once they were all inside the spacious conference room, Lily looked at Camellia curiously. Hadn’t her new sister said she planned to “lay into” Matt about the charity people he had sent over? It seemed, however, that maybe Camellia’s bluster was reserved just for them. She remained quiet, sitting and glaring at Matt but saying nothing.
“Well, then. Let’s get down to business.” Matt pulled out a large folder and began shuffling through the papers it contained, nodding and murmuring as he looked through them.
Finally, he looked up, an amused smile on his face.
“Yes, well, like I already said, your late father really did have a penchant for the dramatic. It seems that there are a few stipulations before any of you can actually take possession of the house.”
Camellia slammed her paper cup down on the polished mahogany table, and Lily suspected the resulting spill may have been deliberate. “Yes, Matt, so you’ve informed us numerous times already. Just get to the stipulations, will you? I have things to do today.”
Matt frowned but continued to shuffle papers, ignoring her for a full minute.
Violet looked at Lily. Clearly, there seemed to be a bit of a power struggle going on between the two. Lily wondered if they would ever learn the reason for that, but she knew now wasn’t the time to ask.
Matt finally looked up. “Your father’s will stipulates that before you get the title to the house, the three of you are to spend at least five days living in it together.”
“What? You have got to be kidding!” Camellia burst out, her face growing red with anger. “I am not about to live for even one night with two people I don’t even know!”
Matt just shrugged. “Well, that’s what it says, Camellia. It’s up to you to do whatever you want to, of course.”
Violet looked at him suspiciously. “And what happens if one—or all—of us decides not to abide by his wishes?”
Matt had a hard time disguising the smirk on his face. “I think I already mentioned that the will stipulates all of you have to comply with his wishes, or you all forfeit any claim to the house.”
An image formed in Lily’s mind. “In which case, it will be donated to a charity of his choosing,” Lily muttered, remembering the brash young woman from last night.
He nodded. “That’s correct,” Matt said.
Camellia leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and glared at Matt. “Dad didn’t choose that charity, Matt. He knew all about the reputation of the National Prevention of Elder Abuse Society. There’s no way he would want them to have the house. I want to see where it says he chose that particular charity.”
Matt seemed surprised, and Lily mentally chalked up a point for Camellia. “How did you know about that charity?” he sputtered.
Camellia looked at him coolly. “You really need to be a bit more careful about who you’re handing the code to our house out to. In fact, I’m having the realty company you hired change the combination today.” She glanced at her watch. “They should be there right about now.”
Violet jumped into the fray, not a fan of the smarmy lawyer sitting across from them. “Your friends paid us a little visit last night, Matthew,” Violet added. “Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun just a bit here?”
Matt seemed to have gathered himself again and said evenly, “Let’s just say I like to be prepared.” He looked at Camellia. “Unfortunately, your father passed before he was able to name a charity of his choice, so the choice—according to the testament he signed a few years ago—leaves it to me to find one. The National Prevention of Elder Abuse Society is a fine organization. Helping to house the elderly is a very noble cause,” he said smugly.
“The only thing that organization does is line its own pockets,” Camellia grumbled. “It shouldn’t surprise me at all that you’re involved with them.”
Matt ignored her remark and said, “I’ll need you to share the new code with me, of course.”
“Certainly,” It was now Camellia’s turn to look at him smugly. “If my sisters and I decide to forfeit our inheritance, you’ll be the first to know. In the meantime, however, I think we’ll keep that code between the three of us.”
Lily smiled. Strike two, she thought, watching as Matt’s face went from annoyed back to unreadable.
He took a second to compose himself and then met each sister’s eyes as he spoke. “As I’m the executor of the will for now, you’ll need to keep me informed of your progress with your father’s stipulations,” he announced. “And I’ll be watching carefully to see that they’re followed.”
Camellia had already stood up, ready to leave, and now she plopped back down into her chair heavily. “Just how many stipulations are there, Matt?”
“We’ll get to that when the need arises,” he assured her, cramming the papers back into the folder. “Just be sure and let me know when you ladies decide to start your little slumber party so that I can verify you’re all really there.”
They followed him out the door, and with a careless wave, Matt roared off the same way he’d roared in, and Lily found herself releasing a relieved breath of air.
“He’s pretty slimy, isn’t he?” Camellia said, looking at her.
Violet couldn’t imagine having grown up with a jerk like that. “A snake, just like we first called him,” Violet agreed.
Lily stepped up to her sister as they all stared after the car Matt had left in. “I’m just glad that he’s gone,” said Lily. “I find it hard to even think straight in his presence.”
They all nodded in agreement, and then Camellia said, “I’m going to head over to that coffee shop and call Ray so he can pick me up. Maybe you two should join me. We should talk about this latest stipulation.” Her ire seemed to have shifted to the lawyer and off of Lily and Violet, which helped the sisters breathe easier in her presence.
Violet and Lily followed Camellia. They certainly had nothing better to do today, and the sooner they straightened all of this out, the sooner they could all go back to their lives. Or whatever was left of her life, Lily thought dismally.
Once they were inside, Camellia said, “Find us a seat; this is my treat. You bought the coffee this morning, and I want to call Ray while I wait for the coffee.”
As Camellia hustled off, Violet pointed to an open window table, and the two sisters took off their coats and settled in.
“What do you think of all of this?” Violet asked.
She really hadn’t been able to wrap her head around what was going on, and she struggled with the game the lawyer was playing with the three of them. “It is awfully strange, isn’t it?” Lily said. “This whole situation just doesn’t sound like Dad. I would have never thought he was into any kind of drama or intrigue.”
Violet knew her sister was right, but she never would have believed her father had had a second family, either. “None of this sounds like Dad,” Violet agreed. She was silent for a moment and then continued, “You know, come to think of it, don’t you think it’s strange that none of us has even gotten a chance to see this last will and testament of Dad’s?”
“Yes, I agree that is strange,” said Lily, trying to remember if they’d actually seen any official paperwork when Dad had died. They’d just signed the documents Matthew had sent electronically and never even thought to ask.
Camellia returned with three steaming cups of coffee. “What’s strange?”
Violet looked up as Camellia handed out the cups. “The fact that Snake Lawyer has never let us see any actual will for ourselves. We were just saying that none of this sounds like the father we knew.”
Camellia sat down. “I did ask him to send a copy to my lawyer, but as far as I know, he hasn’t complied yet. And I agree, none of this sounds like the father I knew, either.” She shook her head sadly. “Of course, having a whole other family doesn’t exactly sound like the father that I knew.”
Lily couldn’t have agreed more. “No, you’re right. None of this sounds like Dad. It’s pretty apparent that none of us really knew him the way we thought we did, so I guess it’s entirely possible he set all of this nonsense up with Matt.”
Violet shook her head. “I think that lawyer friend of yours is up to something, and we need to have a look at that will for ourselves.”
“He’s not my friend!” Camellia snapped back at Violet. “But I do agree with you. I can’t shake the feeling that Matt is up to something, and we need to get to the bottom of it before he steals the house out from under us.”
Violet glanced over her cup at Camellia. “At least you’re finally acknowledging that it’s our house as well as yours.”
“I didn’t say that at all. I’m just saying that our first step is to make sure that it doesn’t end up in the hands of a slimy charity or a shifty lawyer. After that, we can hash out who the house actually belongs to.”
Before any of them could comment further, a man wearing a cowboy hat walked in. Lily’s heart skipped a beat as the memory of a thug wearing a hoodie and carrying a knife, plus the cowboy who had knocked him down flashed through her mind. The man looked over at them, smiled, and waved as he made his way across the café while Lily’s heart hammered a mile a minute.
As soon as he got close enough to hear her, Camellia said, “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Ray, take that silly hat off indoors, at least.”
“Sorry,” said the man, removing the hat and revealing a balding hairline.
He turned to Lily and Violet, holding out his hand in greeting, and with a smile, said, “And you two lovely ladies must be Camellia’s newfound sisters?”
“Why, yes, we are,” Violet said, shaking his hand and looking over at Camellia’s clearly irritated face with a satisfied smile. “And you must be Raymond, our sister’s better half?”
Ray let out a hearty laugh, and Lily got the feeling that Ray was a man who enjoyed laughing often. She found herself liking him immediately.
He took off his hat, sat down, and then extended his hand in greeting to Lily and Violet. “Call me Ray. Raymond sounds so formal, and we’re practically family, after all.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Ray,” Lily said, smiling as she shook his hand.
Camellia stared at her husband, but her face softened just a touch. “You’re not going to be feeling all that cheery when you hear about the latest hitch involving the house,” Camellia pointed out, before relaying the events of this morning’s meeting.
He listened carefully and quietly, without interrupting until she was finished. Then he glanced at Violet and Lily and shrugged. “I don’t know. That doesn’t seem all that bad to me,” he said, much to everyone’s surprise. “I’m guessing your father figured it would come as quite a shock to the three of you to find out about each other. This is probably just his way of making sure you get a chance to really get to know each other before you make any final decisions pertaining to the property…and each other.”
Lily looked at Violet and saw her sister staring back at her. That was a new spin on things. Maybe this really was all just part of their father’s plan for the three of them to get to know one another.
Camellia scoffed and was about to protest, but Ray held up his hand to silence her. “I know what you’re about to say, Cammie, but I, for one, think it’s a brilliant idea. It’s important that the three of you get to know each other, and I’m all for it.”
He turned to Violet and Lily with a smile. “Cammie and I are meeting a few friends of mine here in the city for dinner next Friday to discuss a charity event we’re planning. I think it would be a great opportunity for the three of you to spend some time together. I’d love it if you two would be our guests and join us there.”
Lily agreed that the three of them still had a lot to discuss and was about to accept the invitation--when she looked over and saw the angry glare on Camellia’s face. She stopped short and snapped her mouth closed.