The Will #2
Ford had turned one of the former gallery rooms near my office into his own workspace and had done exactly what I expected him to when he took over the Sawyer Philanthropy Fund: he made it a force to be reckoned with.
If you asked him, he’d probably say he still had a lot to atone for.
But from where I was standing, he’d already brought more good to the world than he ever did wrong.
He’d found ways to grow the fund while deploying it generously to charities that made a real impact.
He had his fingers in everything from food banks to legal aid, rent assistance, and job training.
These days, he’d left any trace of prison behind, the pallor and thin frame replaced with the healthy glow of a guy who spent as much time as possible outdoors, hiking, trail running, and playing soccer with the kids.
Hope, Royal, and I had made him another offer two years ago to come back to Sawyer Enterprises, and he’d turned us down, saying he had exactly the life he wanted. We didn’t argue. I would have loved working with him again, but having his office next door was good enough.
“Avery and West are going,” Hope said. “Is that what you’re really bummed about? That your best friend is moving out?”
“Maybe a little,” I admitted.
Having West living in Heartstone with Avery had been an added layer of fun. We’d had sleepovers now and then when we were kids, but nothing was quite like wandering in to play a game of pool with my best friend on a random Tuesday night.
“It makes more sense for both of them to be in town, and he’s got a great house,” I said.
Both things were true, and they’d only be ten minutes away, but I still found myself wanting to talk them into staying.
I kept my mouth shut, reminding myself that life is change and I’d see them all the time.
“Are you okay with your BFF moving out?” I knew Hope had loved it when Daisy moved into Heartstone to be with Royal.
They were married now, and not planning on kids.
They liked being in the Manor, but it wasn’t exactly convenient.
“I guess,” Hope said. “Daze has to be in the bakery before dawn. And they found that great place right between the Inn and Sweetheart Bakery, and only a few blocks from Grams. They can both walk to work. It’s just…”
“You’re going to miss her,” I finished.
“I am. It’s silly, because she’s right in town, but still. I loved having my family here.”
“Me too.” I turned, dipping my head to kiss her. When Prentice threw me out of Heartstone Manor all those years ago, I never thought I’d end up back here, madly in love with Hope and secretly wishing my family would live at home forever.
Her phone dinged in her pocket, and she leaned back, breaking our kiss. “It’s time,” she said. “Do you think they’re going to be disappointed?”
“Honestly, I don’t think anyone’s expecting anything.”
When my father died five years ago, he’d left behind a complicated will, filled with secrets and irritating requirements.
Ford had been cut out entirely; our father sure that Ford had been plotting against him.
Considering he’d been right, Ford said he didn’t care.
It wasn’t his money anyway, and he had enough without any inheritance.
Technically, he didn’t even have to be here, but I told him I needed him here.
He might have been disinherited, but today wasn’t about our father. It was about us.
We walked down the hall to the dining room, my fingers twined with Hope’s.
I thought how funny it was, all those years ago, driving to Sawyers Bend from Atlanta to hear the reading of Prentice’s will.
I’d planned to be in and out in an afternoon, and when I left Sawyers Bend, I was never going to return. That plan hadn’t lasted long.
After the funeral, Harvey, our family lawyer, had pulled Hope and me aside and informed us that unless we married and stayed that way for five years, the entire Sawyer empire would fall apart.
I wouldn’t have had a problem with that, considering my father had thrown me out years before, but I did care about all the people who would lose their jobs if Sawyer Enterprises folded.
So, Hope and I had married. The will that had been a weapon of my father’s spite ended up being the greatest gift of my life.
I walked into the dining room to find Harvey already there.
He was semi-retired these days. After he killed Cole Haywood, he’d wound down a lot of his business and closed his office in town, and worked out of his house when he worked at all.
He said his main job these days was to be an honorary grandfather.
And he was a good one—more affectionate than Uncle Edgar, the only other grandfatherly figure around on a day-to-day basis.
Harvey always had a hug, was always willing to play with LEGOs or kick a soccer ball.
With the admission that he was the one who’d shot our father, that he’d done it out of rage when he’d learned Prentice had murdered Sarah, things had changed.
At first, there’d been distance. Not only had Harvey shot Prentice and set all of this in motion, but he’d also allowed Ford to spend a year in prison, falsely accused of killing his own father.
Of all of us, Ford had let it go first, but one by one, we’d forgiven Harvey.
The first time Hope invited him back to Sunday dinner, before she’d extended the same invitation to her uncle, Harvey had come to us a different man, the distance he’d been holding between us erased, a layer of formality stripped away.
These days, Harvey wore his heart on his sleeve when it came to his family.
Because, in the end, that was what we were. Family.
He’d never married, never found a woman to replace my mother in his heart, and I wondered sometimes if the attention he lavished on her grandchildren was a way to keep his love for her alive by sharing it with the grandchildren she’d never know.
Most of us had moved past Prentice’s death and Harvey’s role in it, but I had to wonder if today would be awkward and uncomfortable.
Here we all were, gathered this time in Heartstone’s dining room instead of Harvey’s conference room.
Five years later, we were a much bigger group now that everyone had paired up.
“All right,” I said to my siblings and their spouses milling around in the dining room. “Let’s get this over with so we can have a party.”
“Party?” Tenn asked. “Who said there was a party?”
Finn, down the table, leaned forward and grinned. “I’ve been cooking, Daisy brought goodies, and Savannah’s got it all set up. As soon as we’re done with the boring stuff, we can kick back and have some fun.”
Scarlett looked at the time on her phone, her red hair curling wildly around her face as her eyebrows drew together. “We have pickup from school in an hour.” She looked to Paige, who often took the afternoon run.
Paige’s glance skipped over to Hawk, who assured Scarlett, “It’s covered. No worries.”
“All right, then,” Scarlett said. “I’m down for a party.”
I was scanning the room to see who we were missing when the front door opened and a second later, Forrest ducked his head in.
“She’s not here?” he asked me about Sterling.
“Not yet,” I said.
“I’ll go get her. She loses track of time when her head’s full of code.” Considering the whole household knew how true that was, no one was surprised.
Forrest was back a few minutes later, Sterling in tow.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” she said. “I got an idea, and…” She shook her head. “You know how it is.” She and Forrest slid into their seats, and we were ready to go.
“All right. This doesn’t have to take too long,” I said. “Harvey, you want to do the formalities?”
I looked at Harvey, who picked up a manila file folder and opened it. “This is a lot more fun than the last time we went through this.”
“No video will from Dad?” Royal asked wryly. The first time around, our father had left a video reading of his will, full of sarcasm and spite. Nobody wanted a redo of that.
“No video will this time,” Harvey said seriously.
“Not much of anything, honestly. I can officially state that the five-year period outlined in your father’s will, requiring you to live in Heartstone Manor if you wanted access to Sawyer properties or any hope of inheriting your trust funds, has now elapsed. ”
A cheer went up.
Covered by the noise, Harvey turned to me. “Your part of the will has also been satisfied.”
I looked to Hope and winked. “Here’s your chance. You can get away.”
“Really?” Her eyes sparkled back at me. “Just pack my things and go?”
“If you want,” I said. “But be warned. I’ll chase you down and bring you back.”
“Well, then I might as well just stay,” she said. “If you insist.”
“I do.” I took her hand and raised it to kiss the backs of her fingers. I was kidding, but I wasn’t. I would never give Hope reason to want to leave me, but if she ever did—
“And what about the trusts?” Sterling asked. “Officially, I want to know if I win my bet with Forrest.”
“What’s your bet?” Harvey asked.
“My bet is that dear old Dad left us all a big fat goose egg of nothing. Because honestly, I can’t see him doing anything else.” She flipped her platinum ponytail over her shoulder, her vibrant blue eyes bright with amusement.
“What did Forrest bet?” I asked.
“Forrest bet that he left us all a token amount, like five bucks.” Sterling rolled her eyes at the thought. “So, which is it?”
I looked at Forrest, who met my eyes, one brow raised.
My brother-in-law was an optimist. He’d had to be, to win over Sterling.
I knew he didn’t care about the cash. Forrest had plenty of his own, and these days so did Sterling.
He just wanted her to feel like her father had cared, if only a little bit.