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Leia squirms in my arms, and panic rises within me. I don’t know what to do if she starts crying.
My thoughts are cloudy, like the summer sky, and I can’t see clearly.
What am I going to do?
Chapter Twenty-Three
James
Ten o’clock the next morning finds me at Fuller & Blade’s law firm. The rather heroically named Ethan Blade is actually fifty-two, on the short side, tubby, and gray-haired, but he’s smart and direct, and I’ve known him a long time. He’s my personal lawyer, and he also acts for the firm.
“I’m so sorry to hear about Maddie,” he says as I enter his office and we shake hands. He leads me over to the sofa and chairs on one side and gestures at the sofa. I sink onto the end seat, and he takes the chair opposite me.
“Thank you. Yeah, it was a bit of a shock, as you can imagine.” I smile at Julia, his secretary, as she comes in.
“Would you like a coffee, Mr. Rutherford?”
“Please.”
“Ethan?”
“Yes, please.”
She leaves, closing the door behind her.
“Did the police contact you when she died?” I ask.
“Yes, they rang all the lawyers in the area to see whether we had Maddie on our books. I was able to tell them she’d named you her guardian in her will.”
“When did she make the will?”
“Two weeks after Leia was born.”
“Did she come into this office?”
“Yes. She brought Leia with her. She sat where you are now.” He gives a sad smile.
I feel oddly lightheaded at the thought that my sister sat here only a few months ago. Then she was alive—now she’s dead. How much your life can change in such a short space of time.
The door opens, and Julia brings in our coffees, along with a plate of biscuits. I take one, feeling the need to ground myself.
“Where’s Leia today?” Ethan asks, sipping his coffee.
“With Aroha, a friend of mine. She’s a childcare assistant, and she was kind enough to agree to look after Leia until I sort out what I’m going to do.”
He nods and opens the manila file on his lap. “So, shall I go through her will?”
“Please.”
He reads through the will that Maddie organized with him. It’s short and to the point. It names me as Leia’s guardian should anything happen to Maddie. It doesn’t mention Blue once, nor does it say anything about how she’d like Leia brought up.
She talks about her funeral and requests a cremation, and it makes me wonder whether she somehow knew this was going to happen. But her death was an accident, so she must have just wanted to provide for her daughter, that’s all. Still, the thought that she had to envisage what she wanted done with her body chokes me up for a moment.
Ethan keeps his gaze on the file and continues talking until I recover.
Like me, she had a considerable fortune. She’s given generous sums to several charities but left the majority to Leia. She explains that I’m to manage the funds until Leia comes of age, and invest it as I see fit.
She names some jewelry items she wants me to give to the few friends she had.
