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Marry Del, ha!She wasn’t that desperate. Or stupid.
“Ignore my idiot brother.”
“I always do.”
Charlie chuckled. “Now, spill it.”
Grabbing the toothpick from her drink, Cassie swirled the stick in the liquid before bringing it up to her lips to pop one of the pimento-stuffed olives into her mouth. She chewed, enjoying the salty flavor before answering.
“I met with Gran’s lawyer today.”
Charlie’s face softened, and she covered Cassie’s hand with her own. “Oh sweetie, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were hearing the will today. I would have gone with you.”
Thankful for her friend’s endless support, Cassie shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I was fine on my own. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“It’s never a bother to be there for you. You know that.”
She did. Charlie had been great these past few months through all the late-night calls and tears. Her friend stood by her side when she had to move her grandmother into hospice care, literally holding her up as she made the heart-wrenching decision to take her grandmother off life support after the doctor announced a lack of brain activity. Charlie was closer than a friend. She was a sister at heart, and Cassie wouldn’t have made it through the loss of her grandmother without her.
“I know.” Cassie squeezed her best friend’s hand, pouring all her thanks into the action.
“What did the will say? Is there a problem?”
Her stomach sank. “Yes. A big one. Gran put a…stipulation in her will.”
“A stipulation? Regarding what?”
Taking a deep breath, Cassie clutched her friend’s hand tighter. “Regarding me and the ownership of the house.”
The house.Her home.The only home she had ever truly known. The only place she felt safe and secure. From age thirteen, Cassie had lived with her grandmother in a beautiful Queen Anne style house. Its bright yellow and white trim filled her soul with happiness from the moment she crossed the threshold as a devastated teenager who’d lost first one parent and then the other.
Losing her parents ripped a hole in her that she knew would never be filled, but living with Gran helped ground her. She loved this town, she’d loved her grandmother, and she loved the house.
And now she might lose it forever.
It wasn’t like she’d be homeless. She had her trust fund, and the money she made from her jewelry business could pay for a modest apartment in town, but it wouldn’t beherhome. Not like Gran’s place. Losing the house would be like losing another piece of herself.
Charlie shook her head, a frown marring her face. “But, I thought your grandmother was leaving it to you in her will? She said she would.”
“She did, but…”
“But what? What’s the stipulation?”
“So ludicrous I can’t even form the words out loud,” she muttered. “Um, so you know how Gran was a little bit of a romantic?”
Charlie snorted, taking a sip of her drink. “Your Gran could have made a fortune off her matchmaking services if she’d ever decided to go into the business.”
True. Gran had set up many people in Kismet out of the goodness of her romantic heart. Including sending Cassie on about a million dates. Trying to marry off her granddaughter to every single man within a fifty-mile radius.
Charlie’s head tilted in question, her blue eyes squinting. “Didn’t she even try to set you up with Del once?”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
Cassie squirmed as the awkward memory brought up a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Why Gran thought Del would ever be a good match was beyond her, but the old woman had tried to convince Cassie on more than one occasion to give Delta Jackson a chance.
“In keeping with her romantical notions,” Cassie continued, “she indicated in her will that to gain ownership of the house I have to…be married.” She mumbled the last part under her breath.
Charlie raised one dark eyebrow. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
