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That didn’t sting at all, though.
Not one little bit.
It was okay. Matt pushing me back, keeping me on the sidelines was fine.
The sarcasm of my inner voice was giving me a damn headache.
“Let’s see,” Jenkins muttered as he shifted a few files on his desk. “Here it is.”
He passed over the paper to me that released my inheritance. I traced my fingertips over my mother’s name, and I wished she were there with me. All that money, but it wasn’t enough to save her or bring her back. I needed her guidance so desperately right then. How was I going to deal with being pregnant if I really was? What if I fucked up being a mother?
Why did she have to die before I was ready to face the reality of the world without her?
“If you’re not ready, we don’t have to do this today,” Jenkins assured me in a quiet voice.
“N-No,” I told him with a trembling smile. “I’d rather just be done with it all.”
Taking the pen he offered, I scribbled my name across the bottom of the release form and handed it back to him. Next came the contract detailing the deal I’d made my father. I read it over, saw that everything we’d discussed was there, and then signed my name on the line under my father, who had already signed the night I’d made the offer.
Once it was done, I felt a little of the pressure that was weighing down my shoulders release.
“You have your grandparents’ house and a little over a million dollars that is still yours,” the lawyer reminded me. “Should I release that to your personal bank account, or would you like me to be responsible for investing it for you?”
I pressed my fingers to my temples where a headache was starting to throb. “I want half to go into my personal account. The other half, I want to go into a trust fund for any children I have.”
He made a notation. “And the house? I can have it sold for you. It’s worth a good bit of money.”
“No, not yet,” I advised him. “Let me think about it for a bit. I don’t know what I want to do with it just yet.”
“Your choice. Just let me know.” He smiled warmly. “Is there anything else you need me to take care of?”
I shook my head, trying to relax a little. “The special election is next week. Are you ready?”
Since my father had resigned as mayor to put in his bid for governor, the town was having a special election to replace him. Jenkins was running, and there was only one other opponent—Royce Campbell, the current DA.
But since Campbell was running for mayor, he’d had to resign from his position as DA as well. His assistant had stepped into his place, which was a good thing, from all the talk I’d heard lately. Rita Sheppard was a ballbuster but under no one’s control, unlike Campbell, who’d always been my father’s little bitch lackey.
It was going to be a close election, though, but I knew who I was voting for. If Jenkins won, however, that meant Gracie would have to step into his shoes completely.
“I’ll be glad once it’s all over,” Jenkins told me with a tired laugh. “This crap is exhausting.”
“Creswell Springs will be a better place with you as our mayor,” I assured him. “We need you.”
“I guess we’ll have to see how many people think the same way. Just make sure you vote on Tuesday.”
The sound of my phone had me pulling it out of my purse. Seeing the name on the screen, I quickly said goodbye to Jenkins and walked out of the office before answering. I unlocked the car as I lifted the phone to my ear.
“Where are you?” Matt demanded.
“I’m on my way back now,” I assured him. “I had a few errands to run.”
“Like?”
“Jenkins needed me to finalize my inheritance distribution. Dad is officially out of our hair once and for all.” I started the Challenger. Putting the phone on speaker, I tossed it into the cupholder then backed out of the parking space.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice softening.
I shifted gears and headed for the clubhouse, once again seeing the motorcycle and its rider in the rearview mirror. “I’m good now that I know Derrick Michaels can’t ever bother you again.”
