Page 83 of Key West Homecoming

Emma didn’t ask what they’d said. She didn’t need to know every part of Gloria and Edmund’s life together. She was beginning to understand there was something comforting about simply knowing they’d had one.

They got back in the car with fresh coffee and a small bag of pastries Rebecca would probably have objected to.

By nine-thirty they were on Brickell.

Ocean National Bank occupied the ground floor of a glass tower with a quiet lobby and a manager who came out from behind her desk after Rachel explained why they were there. She was in her forties, brisk without being unfriendly, and carried a clipboard against her chest.

“I’ll need identification from Mr. Fairbanks and Ms. Kendrick, both signatures on the register and the key.”

Edmund signed first. His hand shook when he picked up the pen, but his signature was steady enough when he put it to paper. Emma signed beneath him while Rachel stood nearby and watched.

Then Edmund reached into his jacket and took out a small brass key.

He held it out to Emma.

“This part is yours.”

The manager led them to a wall of brass doors and stopped in front of one near the middle. She fitted the bank’s key into one lock, and Emma put Gloria’s key into the other. They turned them together.

The door opened.

The manager removed a long metal box and carried it into a private room with a table and a chair. Someone brought them two more as they waited.

“The room is yours for as long as you need it.”

She closed the door behind her.

Emma sat in front of the box. Edmund took the chair across from her while Rachel remained standing, giving Emma time.

“Go ahead,” Edmund said.

Emma lifted the lid.

A manila envelope lay on top with For Emma written across the front in Gloria’s handwriting. Beneath it was a smaller sealed envelope marked For Edmund. There was also a photograph inside a cardboard sleeve, a velvet pouch and a small leather notebook worn soft at the corners.

Emma took out the manila envelope first and opened it.

The original will was inside.

She knew before Rachel touched it that it was the document they had come for. Gloria’s signature appeared at the bottom of every page. There were two witness signatures and a Miami-Dade notary seal.

Emma handed it to Rachel.

Rachel sat down and read every page carefully. When she finished, she laid the will flat on the table and looked at Emma.

“It matches the Monroe County copy word for word. The witnesses and notary information are all here.” She touched the edge of the document. “This is what we needed, Emma. I’m going to file it as soon as we get back.”

“So it’ll hold?”

“I believe it will. Arthur can challenge it, and I expect he will, but this puts us in a much stronger position.”

For more than a week, she had been living with the possibility that Gloria’s wishes might disappear beneath whatever Arthur had done. Now the original will was sitting on the table in front of her with Gloria’s signature on every page.

Her grandmother had been careful.

Emma reached into the box again and took out the photograph.

She slid it from the cardboard sleeve and stared at it.