“Why did they leave it to me and not my mom?” Why would they leave me anything when I don’t even know them?
“I'm not sure of their reasoning. A few weeks before the car accident, they came in and changed their will so that you would be the sole beneficiary of their estate at the age of twenty-five. Now, your mother contacted me about their estate shortly after the death of her parents and I explained the situation to her. She was upset, but said she understood why her parents left their estate to you. I'm surprised that she never told you about this.”
I'm not surprised she didn’t tell me. We aren’t close and she never talks about her parents. Maybe she doesn’t talk about them because they left me the money. That might also be why she treated me so poorly growing up. She feels that I took something away that should be hers. I decide I am going to call her later and tell her I will give her half of the money. They were her parents and I'm sure they would want her to have some of it.
“Are you okay, baby girl?”
I turn towards my dad. His eyes are concerned, and I know I'm so lucky to have him. His love is unconditional. No strings, no stipulations. He just loves me. He doesn’t even care that I now have money. And I know that if my mom was sitting where he is, she would be mentally spending every penny.
“Yeah, Dad. I think I need to call Mom later and talk to her about this.” I squeeze his hand. I can tell by the look on his face that he wants to say something.
“I'm not sure that’s a good idea, baby girl.”
“Dad, I want to tell her that I'm going to give her half the money.”
“No, that’s your money. You are going to keep every fucking penny. That bitch is not getting one cent of that money.”
“Dad,” I whisper. “They were her parents. No matter how you feel about her, they gave her life. I feel like they would have wanted her to have something from them.”
“Fuck, no. They left it to you, not her, and they did that shit for a reason.”
“Dad—”
“Baby girl, I want you to think about this for a week. Seven days. Then, you decide what to do about it. But don’t call her yet. Wait a week and see how you feel.” I feel tears sting my eyes and I know my dad hates my mom for what she took away from him. I also know he wants me to make a good decision.
“Okay, a week,” I agree. He pulls me into his arms and hugs me close.
“I love you, baby girl. Never forget that.”
“I know, Daddy.” I hug him tighter.
“Okay, November,” Mr. Stevenson says, bringing my attention back to him. “Since that is all out of the way, I'm going to have Nick call you in a few days when I have all the papers ready to be signed. Once that’s done, we can talk about the accounts and I can help you get things sorted so that it’s more manageable for you to handle on your own.”
“That would be great,” I tell him. He stands and Dad and I follow. Mr. Stevenson comes around his desk and shakes my hand.
“We’ll be in touch,” he says, walking us out to the front of the office where Nick is sitting behind a desk, typing away at a computer.
“Son,” Mr. Stevenson calls out and Nick’s head lifts, “I'm going to need you to pull all the papers for the Armsted estate then gather the transfer papers.”
“No problem. How are you, November?” Nick asks. He has on a suit and he looks good in it. He also has on a pair of black rimmed reading glasses that make his eyes stand out. His hair is a little shaggier than the last time I saw him and it fits him well.
“I'm good. How are you?” I ask, starting to get uncomfortable about the way he is looking at me. I have on a pair of black leggings and a cream scoop neck sweater. I'm also wearing black knee high wedge heels and the scarf I got from Liz’s store.
“Good. I was just getting ready to have lunch. Do you want to join me?” Nick asks me.
His dad takes a step back and I feel awkward that he is asking me out in front of his father. Plus, he knows I am seeing Asher, who has made it perfectly clear that I'm not available.
“I'm sorry, but I'm meeting Liz for coffee.” His face falls and I feel bad. I’ve never liked hurting people’s feelings. “But I'm sure she wouldn’t mind if you joined us.”
Even though I am sure that she will mind. I invite him anyway She doesn’t seem like a people person. I am actually surprised that she even agreed to have coffee with me. Then an idea forms in my head. Nick is cute and Liz is pretty. Maybe they could get together.
“Sure.” He smiles and stands. He takes off his glasses and lays them down then grabs a file and hands it to his father, who looks shocked.