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“All right then. I’ll do it.”
“You’ll do what?” Cayce balks.
I quickly grab a pen from the pile of papers that have been taunting me since Patricia arrived. “I’ll agree to the terms of the will with the intent to give it to Sam once I’m married.”
And soon after, divorced.
I can’t scribble my signature on the pages marked with yellow highlighter fast enough. The sooner we get this started, the sooner I can put this whole thing behind me.
Patricia glares daggers at Sam when he visibly relaxes, and Cayce scans each page with his phone before emailing them to himself. Once the paperwork is complete, I walk with them to the door.
“Will you go back to Seattle?” Cayce asks once we step into the hall.
“I suppose I could, but I’ve got about as much prospect for a wife there as I do here.” I’d probably have better luck with a local, anyway.
My thoughts drift to Molly, but he cuts them off with another question.
“What about work?”
“I’ll take meetings remotely for the time being, but don’t say anything to the others yet. I’ll let them know when I’m ready. There’s no reason to get anyone riled up.”
He smirks. “Leave the grouch out of it. Can do.”
“Thank you for your help,” I say, and he claps my back before heading on his way.
Patricia isn’t as quick to leave. She hangs back, just outside the office doors, eyeing me with open suspicion. “I do hope you’ll reconsider transferring ownership, Rowan.”
The way she says my name, as if she knows me, has me itching to grill her, but I analyze people for a living, and she’s not going to open up to me easily without establishing trust first. Though it appears she doesn’t trust Sam, either, and I’m determined to understand why.
“What about my brothers? Cayce mentioned they each have a portion of the inheritance, and I’d like to talk with them about it.”
“Like the rest of the staff, I was given strict, legally binding orders not to discuss other portions of the will with anyone other than the individual recipients.” She pauses, considering me intently. “But you should know that if any of you fail to fulfill the requirements or choose to deny your inheritance altogether, you and your brothers will forfeit everything—regardless of who you give the manor to—including the Radley estate, the lumber empire, and the stability it provides this town.”
My heart seizes.
The four of us have to agree to whatever this clearly unstable man has hiding in his will or Magnolia Creek suffers?
“He can’t do that. There’s no way that’s legal.”
“I assure you, it is.”
“Why would he take such a stupid, irresponsible risk?”
The lines around her eyes and mouth deepen as she carefully removes an envelope with my name written in shaky black ink from her folio. “He must have trusted that Amelia had raised honorable men, capable of making the right decisions.”
I frown at the wax seal on the back of the envelope. “What is this?”
“His last words to you, his grandson.”
Her heels clip against the marble as she leaves, and I’m unable to shake a sudden, overwhelming sense of dread.
“Now where to find your bride…” Sam muses from the couch when I walk back inside the office.
A dull headache forms between my temples, and I press my fingers to them. What a nightmare this turned out to be.
“I’ve got it.” He sits forward with a snap. “There’s a date auction being held at the country club this evening. That could be the perfect place to start.”
“Date auction?”
