Chapter 56
Traci was filling Lola’s food bowl on Sunday morning when she heard Ric’s ringtone on her phone. She eyed the coffee mug she hadn’t yet filled, sighed, and picked up.
“Hi, Ric. What’s up?”
He cleared his throat. Traci dreaded what would come next. Throat clearing was Ric’s tell, a sign that things were about to get ugly.
“With Dad gone now, I want to get something out in the open. The estate’s lawyer is going to be contacting you, but I thought, what the hell, let’s get this over with. I don’t want any bad blood between us, you know?”
Traci’s laugh was mirthless. “You mean, any more bad blood than already exists? Come on, Ric. Drop the act and go ahead and tell me what’s going on. It’s about the will, right?”
“Yeah, if you want to be crass, it is about Dad’s estate. Anyway, a few weeks ago, when I was visiting with him, Dad indicated that he’d been rethinking how he wanted the businesses run long term, after he’s gone. And he’d come to the conclusion that he wanted to hire a new lawyer to handle things. Andy Plankenhorn is getting up in years and he’s definitely not as sharp as he needs to be. With all the new tax laws in effect for estate planning—”
“Let me stop you right there, Ric,” Traci said. “We both know Dad hadn’t been verbal in over a year and he could barely move at all. So spare me the song and dance. I know you brought in a new lawyer. I hear he’s your frat brother? How convenient.”
“Who told you that?” Ric demanded. “That goddamn Alberta—”
“It wasn’t Alberta, not that it matters. I know you brought in your buddy and somehow got your dad to change his will. I heard you even videotaped it?”
Ric was getting heated. “This is exactly why I had it videotaped. So there could be no question about the clarity of Dad’s mind. He was sick, yes, but Dad knew exactly what his intentions were, and as his only surviving heir, it was up to me to make that happen.”
Traci put her phone on speaker and poured her coffee. She added half-and-half and sugar and sat down at the kitchen table.
“Skip to the important stuff, why don’t you? You obviously can’t wait to tell me how you’ve managed to screw me over.”
At the other end of the line she heard the clinking of ice cubes and liquid being poured. She surmised Ric was having a Bloody Mary kind of morning. And now she wanted one too.
“I resent that,” he said finally. “I’ve treated you as a member of the family since the day you and my brother got engaged, and for you to insinuate that I’m somehow involved in some kind of skulduggery as far as Dad is concerned, is way, way off base.”
“Fine. Just tell me what you called to say.”
He cleared his throat again, and she felt her gut clench.
“As you know, years ago, when Hoke and I were kids, Dad created Saint Holdings, our parent company. I was given control of the real estate and development piece of the business, and Hoke got the hotel and resort. When Dad set it up, he gave Hoke and me each twenty-four point five percent of the business. Dad retained the rest of the company stock.”
“And when my husband, your brother, died, he left his holdings to me,” Traci said, trying to sound bored, although her pulse was racing.
“Right.” Ric paused and cleared his throat for the third time since the call began. It was, Traci thought, an ominous-sounding pretext.
“Long story short, as Dad’s only living heir, I inherit most of his remaining stock in Saint Holdings, although as a gesture of his fondness for you, he left you a twenty percent interest, which I found to be a very touching act.”
Traci was doing the math in her head as rapidly as she could. With his original 24.5 percent interest in the holding company, plus the 30 percent he’d inherited from his father, Ric was now the majority stockholder in the family firm.
“I actually am touched,” she said cautiously. “But, of course, I retain ownership of the resort and the hotel, thanks to Hoke’s careful planning, and not even you and your frat buddy can find a way to take that from me.”
She took a sip of her coffee, but it had gotten cold.
“Despite what you think, I’m not some vindictive SOB. Just a savvy businessman who learned from the best. And my sole aim is to protect the long-term financial health of my family’s legacy.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing since the day Hoke died? I’ve not only protected the Saint’s legacy, I’ve enhanced it.”
“Come on, Traci, don’t you think I’m keeping an eye on your bottom line? I happen to know your occupancy rates for May were down significantly from last year, while your operating costs are up. And last year’s revenues were flat. Right?”
How the hell did Ric know so much about her bottom line?
She counter-punched. “How many of those egregiously overpriced building lots did you sell last year, Ric? What’s the vacancy rate of your new retail shopping center? Seems like I’m seeing a lot of empty storefronts over there. Lots of unsold units in your fancy new townhouse development too.”
“I don’t even know why we’re having this discussion, but I will say interest rates have been a challenge. I’ve hired a new sales director, and I’m confident that our long-term forecast is great.”
“Yippee for you.”
“Look, I didn’t call you for some penny-ante debate. I just wanted to play fair and let you know that things are about to change.”
It was warm in the kitchen with the morning light streaming in, but she felt a cold chill traverse her body.
“What are you talking about? I own the hotel and resort. There’s nothing you can do to change that.”
“True. But the real estate your failing hotel and resort are sitting on belongs to the holding company, of which I’m now the majority partner. In essence, I’m your landlord. When Dad formed the holding company, he set up a long-term leasing arrangement for Hoke for a largely symbolic one-dollar-a-year rent. That arrangement lapsed with Hoke’s death, but Dad believed it would have been cruel to renegotiate the lease at that point.”
Traci was quiet. She felt numb. Since the day her father-in-law died, she’d been essentially holding her breath, waiting for Ric to put his cards on the table. Now he’d done that, and his intentions were clear. One way or another, he would either push her out or buy her out of her hotel.
“So. It’s been, what, four years? Given the current economic climate, which you just noted, Saint Holdings is going to have to renegotiate our lease agreement.”
The coffee she’d drunk earlier burned in her stomach.
“Traci, are you there?” Ric couldn’t disguise the glee he felt, delivering this bombshell.
“I’m here.”
“Great. Well, if you look in your email inbox, you’ll see I’ve sent you a copy of the will. Everything is set out in it. We’ll be in touch soon with the terms of your new lease.”
Traci poured a fresh cup of coffee and called Andy Plankenhorn.
“Andy? I’m sorry to call you on a Sunday morning, but it’s kind of an emergency.”
“Hello, Traci.” She could hear him chewing. “It’s all right. Forgive me for talking while I eat, but Georgia’s biscuits just came out of the oven.”
“I can call back later.”
“Not at all. What’s the emergency?”
“Ric just sent me a copy of Fred’s new will. I’ve forwarded it to you.”
“Oh dear. I don’t like the sound of that.”
“It’s… I can’t…” She had to pause to take a breath, willing herself not to dissolve in tears.
She recounted the conversation she’d just had with her brother- in-law.
Andy sucked in his breath sharply. “Ouch.”
“He’s going to gouge me, Andy. Raise the rent to an impossible rate. Somehow, he knows our profits are down and costs way up. He’s been waiting all this time to pounce, and now, his moment has arrived.”
The older man’s voice was calm, even soothing. “Let’s not panic yet. I’ll read the will over, and then I’ll call you with my thoughts.”
“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Please apologize to Georgia for my ruining your Sunday morning.”
“Nonsense. She’s babysitting the grandchildren. In fact, she’s bringing them over to the Saint to go swimming in the pool this afternoon.”
“Tell her to take the kids to lunch and have them put it on my account,” Traci said.
“I’ll do that. Now, try not to worry. Please?”
She paced the floor while she waited. She took Lola for a walk around the block, started a load of laundry, and tried to read, but concentration was impossible. She couldn’t eat, and was afraid if she started to drink she wouldn’t be able to stop.
Her phone rang while she was sitting on the screened porch, rocking back and forth in Helen Eddings’s old wicker rocker and staring at the garden.
“Well?”
Plankenhorn chuckled. “You know, I can’t believe Ric is capable of this kind of conspiratorial villainy.” His deep Southern drawl drew out each syllable.
“I can.”
The older man chuckled again. “Fortunately for you, he and his lawyer friend aren’t nearly as clever as they think they are. Just on the face of what I know of Fred’s medical condition from my last visit, it’s impossible to believe that this new will could have been his idea, or that he actually had the capacity to execute it.”
“Remember, Ric had it videotaped. To show that Fred knew what he was doing.”
“The mere act of videotaping it could be construed as a form of coercion, in the eyes of some juries,” Plankenhorn said.
“A jury? Oh God. I don’t want to have to litigate this.”
“I doubt it will come to that,” he assured her. “In my opinion there is a major flaw in the way this will has been drawn. And ultimately this will be to your benefit.”
“Please, please tell me about this hitch. I desperately need some good news.”
“I don’t mean to leave you on pins and needles, but I will need to go into the office and do some research. I promise I’ll get back to you by this afternoon.”
Traci let out a long, anguished sigh. “I’m losing my mind over here, Andy.”
“Patience, my dear. Go for a walk on the beach. It’s a beautiful morning out.”
When she hung up the phone she looked over at Lola. “Wanna go for a walk again?”
Lola turned around, ran into the kitchen, and hid under the table.
“I take it that’s a no?”
On an impulse, she picked up her phone, and before she chickened out, called Whelan.
He picked up on the second ring.
“You wouldn’t want to go for a beach walk with me, would you?” she blurted.
“Sounds great. I’ve got nothing else going on. Where and when?”
“Now-ish?”
“Could you be more specific?”
“Meet me here at my place. I’ll have the restaurant pack us a picnic lunch and then we can head over to the beach.”
“See you in thirty minutes.”
After she hung up, she gave Lola an accusing look. “See what you made me go and do? I called a boy and asked him out on a date. At least, I think it’s a date.”