30. RHETT #2
“It’s all straightforward.” He picks up a set of papers and clears his throat. “He requested that I do this as soon as possible. Robert didn’t want you to drag out the pain. He was adamant that you read this before we carry on.”
Sean picks up an envelope that looks like official stationery with an intricate S and W intertwined in one corner and Summer she makes quick work of opening the envelope, being careful enough not to tear it before she pulls out the folded note.
“You should read yours too,” he tells Nora while I keep my focus on the way my hand molds perfectly around the top of Avery’s thigh.
I’m waiting for a sign that she needs more from me. That I can do something more to help her in some way. In any way. Then she sobs, and all I can do is wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her into me as I grab some tissues.
With my chest constricting around my lungs, it’s impossible for me not to feel the pain tearing through her as she shudders in my hold, hands trembling as her sobs turn into cries.
“I’m ruining all my makeup,” Avery hiccups as she holds the letter to her chest.
“Don’t you worry about the makeup, darling, it can be fixed.” Nora folds her own letter back up, slipping it back in her envelope before she folds it a couple more times and puts it in her dress pocket.
“Let me know when you would like me to read the will.” Sean sits straighter as he skims through the paper he’s holding.
“I’m ready,” Avery tells him, grabbing my hand and holding it between both of hers. “I’m ready.”
“It’s pretty straightforward. I’ll start with the small things to make it easier to digest.” With that he pulls a leather box from the briefcase at his feet and hands it to Nora. “This is for you, along with this.”
He places a bottle of wine on the table. It looks like a cheap bottle that was bought in a twenty-four-hour liquor store, but it makes Nora laugh so hard that the tears she was holding in pour from her eyes, heavy and yet still so happy.
“Oh Jesus,” she coughs, picking up the bottle and inspecting the paper tag attached to it with ribbon that looks more expensive than the wine itself. “Of course, he had to make a big joke about the end. Robert was always so good at making you laugh when you least expected.”
“He was.” Avery smiles, clutching tighter at my hands.
“I’m glad we never saved the best for last. It tasted better when we drank it together.
” After she reads the message on the tag, she holds the bottle to her chest with a long sigh.
“He was my best friend after Gerry died. There was nothing he didn’t do to look after Rafe.
He was always there, and I already miss him. Especially tonight.”
Sean waits until there’s quiet again before he continues. “I’ll read the actual will now.”
The first couple of paragraphs sound like the usual legal jargon, but then Sean clears his throat before he reads, “To my granddaughter, Iris Elizabeth Henderson, I bequeath our family home and the beach house in Montauk. I name my daughter, Avery Olivia Henderson, custodian of such inheritance until she marries, at which point it should be gifted on behalf of her grandparents, Robert Patrick Summers and Elizabeth Mary Summers. Should there be other grandchildren, the properties are to be split evenly between the siblings.”
“You must explain why, Sean,” Nora tells him, getting up to stand beside Avery.
I’m a little stunned for her, but the way she relaxes into her seat, her shoulders sagging with a long exhale, suggests that she’s relieved.
“I understand why,” she finally says. “He was protecting our home. It’s in the letter—not in so many words, but it makes sense.”
“Good, because it was the best thing to do given you’ve filed for divorce. It means the properties won’t be part of the settlement.”
“He always did say that the upstairs was for thinking.” Nora taps her temple before pointing down at her feet and chuckling. “And the downstairs was for dancing.”
“Too true.” Sean winks at Avery, nodding as if to ask if she’s okay to continue.
When she nods in return, he reads the rest of the will which leaves the residuary estate to her with the exception of her mother’s jewelry, which he bequests to Nora. It seems like an odd thing to do, but I can only trust that there is more to it just as the property.
“Finally, the most beautiful gift I can give my daughter, Avery Olivia Henderson, is freedom.”
Avery smiles for the first time since I entered the room, her gorgeous sunshine smile that lights up my whole universe, and in spite of everything, that’s the only thing that matters. She’s happy. And it makes the weight in my chest lighten, and the tightness loosen.
“Well, there’s only one thing to do now.” Nora walks to the drinks cart and brings four tumblers over. “We better toast Robert with this disaster.”
“Indeed.” Sean stands, picking up a sealed file from the table and extending it to Avery. “Freedom.”
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know. It was sealed when he left it in my possession, and as you can see, it’s not addressed to me. You are the only one he left freedom to.”
Confusion flits over her face before she stands and takes the file from him. Weighing it in her hands, she turns to me with a shrug. “Maybe we can open it later? Together?”
“Anything you want, sweetheart.”
Every cell of my being warms as she burrows into me, her hands wrapping around my waist as she tells me, “I almost feel like I can breathe again. I was so scared that after this I would have to part with all those things my father worked so hard for. That he loved. I thought that I was going to let him down by having to give half of it away, but…”
It dawns on me then that it wasn’t the material possessions Robert was saving, it was her happiness.
Although I never had the chance to meet him, I can’t help but love the man for the way he looked out for her to the very end.
In a way he brought her to me, and I cannot be grateful enough for it.
And with this, I know that whatever happens, I need to spare her the knowledge of the reality of his death.