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“I assume you had an affair with my son. Was it still going on at the time of his death?”
I gulp, not having expected her to be so blunt. Instinctively I slide my eyes toward Kane, wondering if he’ll offer a hint about how to reply, but his face is blank. I look back at Caroline.
“We didn’t have an affair. I—”
“Please,” she says, her tone even. “There’s no reason not to tell me the truth.” Her eyes suddenly brim with tears. “In fact, there’s nothing I’d like more than to think Chris was with someone who truly cared about him during the last year of his life.”
Sounds like a dig at his wife, if I’m getting her meaning right.
“If he was in a serious relationship with someone during the past year, it wasn’t me,” I say. “As I told Mr. Kane, I spent just one night with your son. That’s all.”
I don’t try to offer any defense of my actions by saying that I didn’t know he was married—because at the time I hadn’t bothered to find out one way or the other.
She purses her bright red lips, clearly surprised by my answer. She must have assumed she’d be meeting her son’s lover today, and now she’s left wondering, like I am, why on earth I’m benefiting from his death in any way.
“Let’s get on with it then,” Caroline says, abruptly turning her attention back to Kane.
He nods and flips open the folder he’s laid in front of him on the table to reveal a thin stack of papers inside. After briefly skimming the top page, he looks directly at me.
I hold my breath.Please, I think,just give me enough fucking money so that I can have a baby.
“I’m going to skip the legalese and get right to the point,” Kane announces. “As I mentioned to you earlier, Christopher Whaley was the beneficiary of a financial trust set up by his late father, and withthat trust came power of appointment, which means that he could in turn assign the trust to whomever he wished. He came to me six months ago and asked that I draft an agreement making you, Skyler A. Moore, the beneficiary of the entire trust upon his death.”
My heart stops beating at the wordsentire trust, and it only restarts when I force myself to take a breath.
“He’s left me the wholething?” I say.
“With several stipulations, however,” Kane responds. “If you have a child or children one day, you can choose to appoint the trust to them upon your death, but the trust cannot be appointed to anyone else, including a spouse or partner, before or after your death. If you die childless, Mr. Whaley’s descendants, if they’re still alive, become the beneficiaries of the trust.”
“So--so how much is this trust worth?” I sputter. It’s an awkward, greedy question to ask in front of C.J.’s mother, but I can’t bear waiting any longer.
Kane shifts a little in his seat. Is he about to clear his throat and tell meOne dollar? Isn’t that the kind of joke the dead sometimes play on the living?
“The trust,” he says, “has a total value of three and a half million dollars.”
7
Now
FOR A MOMENT I’M TOO STUNNED TO MOVE OR SPEAK. IT CAN’Tpossibly be true, it just can’t be.
“Three and a halfmilliondollars?” I say finally, my voice squeaking.
“Yes, that is correct.”
On the train ride I’d let my mind toy with certain dollar figures, but I never came close to imagining an amount this high.
“But I don’t get it,” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t get it at all.”
“You know whatI’dsuggest, Ms. Moore?” Caroline Whaley interjects.
I almost forgot she was here. As I turn to look at her again, I notice that she appears almost sanguine, and there’s even a hint of a smile on her face. This must not be a total shock to her. She would have known the amount of the trust and also that some strange woman was coming in today and would be awarded at least part of it. I stare at her blankly, waiting.
“Take the money and run,” she says. “Mr. Kane told me you’re an artist, and I’m sure you’ll be able to put the funds to good use.It’s obvious that no matter how brief your encounter with Chris was, you meant something to him, and he felt a need to express his gratitude.” She sits up even straighter and looks at Kane. “Now if we’re done here, I’ll be on my way.”
As she rises from her chair, I instinctively start to stand as well, but Kane asks me to wait behind while he sees her out. I murmur a goodbye as she departs the room.
In the minute I’m alone, I replay what’s happened so far. Is there something I’m missing, or not remembering? Or is this a crazy dream I’m about to wake up from?
