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“She’s promised to make an appearance at the manor as early as Friday morning, though.”
When I cut a glare to Cayce, he shrugs innocently.
“No,” I say. “That won’t work. I’ve got a flight back home this evening.”
As if sensing my agitation, Sam interrupts, “I’m sorry about this, Rowan. But as inconvenient as this is, the will can’t be read unless you’re here.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, massaging my aching temples. It’s Wednesday. There’s no believable lie I can conjure that will cover my ass for being absent from work for another two days. “You’re sure there’s nothing we can do?”
“If anything changes, you’ll be the first to know,” Sam says, obviously as unhappy about this as I am. “In the meantime, you can stay here, in the manor. Maybe even do some exploring in town.”
I grind my teeth to the point of pain. I don’t want to stay in a house, haunted by a past I have no business pilfering with. I need to get back to my life, running my business, driving my cars, and thriving in a city I know like the back of my hand.
The less time I spend here, the better.
Archer’s going to be furious when I break the news to him, and if I know him as well as I think I do, he’s not going to want me to waste time flying back and forth until all of this is settled.
I reel my rising anger in by counting backward from ten. “Guess I’ll be driving into town then.”
“Excellent!” Ms. Black says with a clap, and then calls for the butler. “Mr. Thorne, could you prepare a car for Mr. Kendrick?”
“Certainly,” he says from the hall, hurrying away as if his heels were on fire.
Sam pauses at the door. “I live in a town about thirty minutes from here, but Danika has my number if you need anything.”
“Great. Thanks.”
The room eventually clears, leaving me and Cayce alone.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Fucking peachy,” I snap, but regret my tone instantly.
This isn’t like me. I’m Mr. Unshakable. Mr. Keep It Fucking Cool. It’s one of the characteristics that makes me damn good at closing deals with our clients, and why Archer refuses to have meetings without me.
“Sorry. This is just a lot,” I admit warily.
“Discovering you have a whole other family or the impromptu stay in Small Town, Nowhere?”
“Both, I guess.”
He makes a disapproving sound. “Honestly, this place isn’t so bad once you get to know it.”
I pause to consider him. “Then why’d you leave?”
“I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer, and going to law school in Seattle seemed like the best shot at making that happen.” He spreads his arms wide, grinning like an idiot. “Now look at me. Chained to you fuckers.”
I scoff, remembering when Everett first introduced us to Cayce. At the time, we needed a lawyer to help us manage some of our assets, but I kept him on our payroll because of his innate ability to get under Archer’s skin.
Now, he and Everett are practically inseparable.
“Anyway, I’m going to stop and visit my sister, Claire, before I leave. I have to be in court tomorrow, but I’ll be back on Friday to sign the paperwork with you.”
On Thomas’s desk, I see a notepad with the symbol of a tree in its center. I trace the outline of the branches and its intricately woven root system with a sense of déjà vu pricking the back of my neck.
Where have I seen this before?
“Call me if you need me,” Cayce says.
