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She laughed. “Yeah, I called him that too. It’s not that he stalked me or anything, but he was selfish and greedy. He never knew what I was awarded. Not me. Josie was. Josie doesn’t even know. I’ll tell her at some point in her life. The money is still in a trust with my lawyer and I need to figure out what to do with it. I suppose I should invest it, but I need to find someone I trust.”
“You don’t know me that well,” he said, “but…”
“I know you better than any other man I’ve ever known or dated in my life,” she said seriously.
Carter nodded. He couldn’t express how those words made him feel and wouldn’t for now. “My brother is a financial adviser on the island. He works for Rex Knight who is married to Hailey Bond.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’ve heard Laine say that name before.”
“Hailey? You’ll hear it a lot on this island. She is my attorney. She is most of the family’s attorney for businesses.”
“Rex too,” she said. “Laine mentioned it when she told me about Raymond’s for accounting for my business. Kelsey is related to you and Alana who is handling my finances, to her. So you too?”
“Yes to them all,” he said.
“If you don’t mind, maybe I’ll reach out to your brother then.”
“That is up to you,” he said. “It has nothing to do with me. I’m offering it up that there are people on the island. You can research Grayson or Rex easily enough.”
“I know,” she said. “But I want you to know where I stand on things. No secrets or anything. I don’t mind people knowing we are dating. I don’t want Josie to know just yet.”
“I understand,” he said. “She has a crush on me.”
She laughed at his grin. “She does. She gets attached to people easily.”
“I won’t hurt her or you,” he said seriously.
She moved over and sat on his lap at the table. “I know you won’t. But we’ve both been hurt so much. And the last reason we moved out of Danbury is because of the settlement. People were talking. They didn’t know the amount, but they knew it was big. They were saying I was doing it for the money. I haven’t touched it and won’t. I’m raising Josie as my daughter and can afford it. It’s her money.”
He wondered what a lot was. “That’s your decision and your life. No one should say a word if you did use it.”
“I won’t. It will be for things like cars and education and so on for Josie as an adult. The rest I can handle. But I’d like to see it grow.”
“Grayson loves nothing more than to make money grow. He’d probably tell you he could double it.”
She started to laugh. “Ten million would be nice for Josie if he could. She was awarded more than five, but you know, legal fees and all. I know you won’t say anything.”
“No,” he said. “I won’t.”
But the last thing he wanted was for anyone to think he was with her for that money and wished he didn’t know what she’d said.
More than once it’d been thrown in his face the branch of the tree he came from and he didn’t want anyone to say he was trying to move up. He was happy in life where he was, but too many liked to talk.
21
Never Too Late
“Thank you for meeting me on a Saturday,” Avery said to Grayson Bond when she walked into his office on the island a month later.
She realized she had to do something with Josie’s money and couldn’t let it stay in an account with her lawyer in Danbury.
It was sitting there doing nothing and that wasn’t responsible, but life was starting to slow down enough for her to figure out the next step here.
First she’d had to call her lawyer and get all the information on how to move it when the time came.
“Not a problem,” Grayson said. “I was surprised Carter didn’t give me a heads up you’d be calling.”
“I’d think you’d know he isn’t one to assume,” she said. Nor did she want to say she did spend the time researching Grayson and Rex’s firm.
