Chapter 14
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“I presume that was Mason,” Naomi began.
“Yes.” Trent patted the couch beside him.
She sat down and looked over at him. “It’s going to break his heart.”
“Will it?” he asked, turning to face her, “or will he be more blasé about it because he’ll finally have an explanation for why he’s been ignored all these years. Think about how smart he is and how quickly he gets a handle on things, then tell me how you think he’ll respond.”
She took time to think about her answer and then replied, “I think there will be some grief, and then he’ll move on.”
“That’s what I thought.” He smiled. “He’s done a phenomenal job of dealing with the heartbreak already, so this will give him something to acknowledge as to the why behind it.”
“And hopefully he’ll be able to understand that they can’t be there from here on in.”
“But we don’t know that yet.”
“Are we not fairly sure right now?” she asked. “We did go to the main house several times in the first couple of years, but he doesn’t even mention it now. Almost like he understands that it’s easier to avoid than confront that possibility of them truly gone.”
He nodded. “We’re hoping to get some sort of finality, but it could be the worst-case scenario, where they don’t show up for seven years, and they can then be declared deceased.”
She shook her head vehemently. “That sounds like a horrible process to go through.”
“Maybe so, but it is a legal process, and, since Ricky is the only family member, he’ll be the only one who inherits whatever there is to inherit, though we also don’t know just what there is and what the lawyer might be looking after.”
“Are we entitled to that information?”
“Yeah, that is something we can absolutely get more information on, particularly in this instance. We may end up getting a judge to step in to decide Ricky’s fate.”
Her eyes clouded, and her tears spilled.
“Mason is one of the most by-the-book kind of guys I know, but I have asked him to keep you in Ricky’s circle.”
“How?” she asked immediately.
“How would you feel about being his guardian until he turned eighteen and would then be considered an adult legal citizen all on his own?”
She smiled at him in surprise and declared, “That would change things tremendously, but the answer is automatically yes.”
“You would be adopting him, or maybe fostering him, while the legalities are worked out, but essentially looking after Ricky for the next twelve years.”
“And would there be money to do so in that interim?” she asked. “Or would I need to get a job and still look after him, which is how most real families work?”
“No, you would not need to get a job, as that would be covered the same as you would be now—or something along that line. That’s what the family set up, and they left behind a huge estate. It only makes sense that a similar arrangement would continue.”
“That would be a whole different story if I didn’t have to get a job to support us.
Obviously, I would if I needed to,” she clarified, with a scoff, “but it would be easier to deal with him and to keep him challenged if there were money to afford his education and the specialized things he’s likely to require. ”
At that point, she turned to Trent and added, “Hopefully you can see that something is truly very special about him. He’ll need extra tutoring and assistance to keep him engaged and productive.”
“Obviously,” Trent agreed. “Any child with abilities like that could get a certain amount of grant funding too. However, if he doesn’t need it, that’s one less thing you have to deal with.
There is money, according to the lawyer, and Ricky is the sole beneficiary of the estate. It’s as simple as that.”
“I hope so, but, as I told you before, Bugatti always made me feel like I was taking money that wasn’t mine.”
Trent smiled. “That would need to change as well,” he noted, shaking his head.
“The other thing is, we might involve a second lawyer because, if we don’t trust this one and a full reckoning of the account shows that Bugatti’s taking more than he should be or is otherwise not doing the job, then that needs to change. ”
“Right. I wonder if he is.”
“What do you think?”
“I never really got that feeling, but I felt like every time I needed something, he got a little worried.”
“I don’t know of course, but he seemed to be more worried because he hadn’t heard from them and didn’t know what he was supposed to do about it.
As long as everything stayed as it was, then it worked.
But the minute things changed, it wouldn’t work.
Then he would be at risk of potentially losing a lucrative client.
And there could be other legal issues as well, but I’m not sure how that all works.
I’m sure there are an awful lot of gray areas that people use to make it work to their advantage. ”
She nodded, then took a deep breath. “It’s a sad world in many ways, isn’t it?”
“It is. It’s also a beautiful world too though. I would say we try to focus on that and let the rest of it go,” he suggested. “So, I know that the instinct is to immediately jump in and say you absolutely want to give Ricky a home and a stable situation, but it is a huge commitment.”
“I know. After these last three years, I fully understand. I want Ricky with me.”
“It would be as if he were your own son, so you really need to think this one through.”
She nodded and smiled, but tears filled her eyes as her gaze landed anywhere but on him.
“And that would be a dream come true,” she shared.
“I know that raising somebody else’s child isn’t for everyone, but he isn’t someone else’s child.
I know he’s not mine, but he’s been a huge part of my world for a long time, and I can’t imagine that changing if there were any other way. ”
“And yet it still could, you know, if they were to come back.”
“Yes,” she conceded. “So, it’s not as if I’m sitting here wishing for them to never come home because of that.
” She sat quietly in contemplation for a long moment.
“I’ve been constantly trying to prepare myself, thinking I would have to deal with this or something else, as you well know.
But it’s not something I would have sought out or wished for.
It’s tragic, no matter how it turns out. ”
“I know that,” Trent assured her, “and that’s one of the reasons why, when Mason and I were talking about it, I thought you would say yes, but there are also lots of questions about Ricky’s family.”
“That’s understandable, and I totally get that.”
“Do you? There will be lots of questions about the unknowns in this whole scenario and about all parties involved.”
“Even if we don’t have any answers, I guess I’m not the only person to face something like this. And neither is Ricky, right?”
“Is he? No, not at all.”
Naomi sighed. “I’m trying to think of it from his perspective, but thankfully this sort of thing doesn’t happen that often. Right?”
“You instinctively think, wow, is this happening everywhere and all over the place? And I would like to be able to say that’s a no, but, if Ricky’s parents were involved in drug running,” he noted, with a wince, “that’s a whole different deal.
I’m sure they had a pretty good idea of what their life could be, which would also explain why they didn’t have Ricky with them. ”
She eyed him in surprise and nodded. “That makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it? I’ve always pictured them to be completely uncaring, but maybe I was wrong.” She winced and added, “Maybe they couldn’t give up the lifestyle.”
“Or didn’t want to give up the lifestyle and also made the decision not to let Ricky get involved in it. We can bend ourselves upside down and backward six ways to Sunday,” he pointed out, “and still may not know what was really going through their minds.”
She nodded. “I understand, but what we do know is that Ricky is safe and that their outcome is uncertain. All we want is for Ricky to be safe. Did I hear you say something about bodies?”
“Probably that, if no bodies are recovered or other proof of death emerges on the parents, it takes seven years to declare them dead. So far Bugatti hasn’t heard from them for close to two years already, so the seven-year-time-limit date could change according to that fact.”
“Even if the count starts today,” Naomi suggested, “Ricky will be thirteen then and potentially much better able to handle it.”
“And, if he isn’t, it’s still an easier, more mature understanding of how life works, how the world works around him,” Trent shared.
“I’m not saying that it’s a good thing. I’m just saying that could be the outcome.
If they were killed a few days ago”—he shrugged—“and that’s a big if, there’s still a chance that the bodies are reclaimable somewhere, though they might be hard to identify, except for DNA. ”
“But that would be a possibility?”
“Yes.” He nodded in agreement. “The couple who were thrown off were found safe. They have been interviewed but couldn’t offer much information. At least they are two less bodies for the fish to dine on. And two less to try and identify via DNA. It’s not all that easy sometimes.
“Is it a really big possibility?”
“No, it’s not,” he admitted. “I doubt it, but I won’t say can’t until it’s completely unlikely though.
You and I both know how unforgiving that ocean is and what it was like out there for the two of you.
” She stared at him, her face paling, and he nodded as he continued.
“So, if they are out there somewhere, floating, possibly dead, the sea cleans up her own,” Trent noted, for lack of a better phrase.
“And we often never recover people from the depths of the ocean.”
She shuddered at his words. “It can happen though.”