Page 104 of Chasing Lynda

Our lawyer nods gravely. “Indeed.”

Chrissie’s giggle makes me snap at her. “Will you please quit gloating for a second? And by the way, I don’t get what you’re even doing here. Last time I checked you and I aren’t related. There’s no way you’re the heir, Cri-Cri, so cut it the fuck out!”

My ex’s expression can only be described like “the cat that ate the canary,” and I realize that I’m the motherfucking canary when she tells me why she’s here.

“Oh, no Dodge. You’re right that you and I aren’t related, but you and Mitch certainly are. He’s your third cousin or something. Not sure if there’s any of that ‘once removed’ shit involved but Mitch is getting everything you’ve ever owned, including the chair your ass is sitting on right now.”

I open my mouth to say something but Bennett gets there before me.

“Shut the fucking front door, Cri!”

Basil glares at his son the same way my own dad is glaring at me. “Bennett! You might not be here in a professional capacity, but I am. So may I ask you to behave with the propriety your mother and I obviously failed to instill in you?”

It’s clear by the look in Bennett’s eyes that whatever is about to come out of his mouth is going to make his father more aggravated rather than sounding apologetic in any way, shape or form.

“Forgive Bennett’s candor, Basil,” I say, throwing a look at my best friend. “But at the risk of sounding slow witted, how can we be related to Mitch? No offense but the Buttens came to this country on the Mayflower. Mitch came to school at Bridgeport on a scholarship. I don’t get how—”

Mr. Fletcher explains. “Mitchell’s maternal grandmother was your grandfather’s cousin. This is why your families don’t share the same last name. As for why you two had no idea about being related, your great-aunt married beneath her station and your great-grandparents cut all ties with her and her offspring. Contacts were lost over time but your grandfather had always been fond of his aunt and had been looking for her for years. We found news about her remaining family a few months before his passing; he was in the process of getting in touch right before he passed and when he found out that there were kids your age, he added that clause to his will.”

Fuck.

I don’t even know what to say. Sure enough, Pop-Pop had a sick sense of humor. Granted, he couldn’t know that Mitch has been a pain in my ass since he started his undergraduate studies at Bridgeport one year after me.

“Did you know about any of this?” I ask him, because I wonder if the fact that he antagonized me at every turn, trying to excel in whatever I was doing, was just a coincidence.

“Yeah.” He smiles, confirming that there’s no coincidences in life. “I knew. My grandma always used to complain about the life she was stripped of when she married grandpa and her parents cut her off. For all I know, her parents weren’t as rich as your great-grandparents but enough that I wouldn’t have had to struggle for everything I ever got.”

So that explains the constant chip on Mitch’s shoulder when it came to me. “I guess you’re doing pretty well, right?” I say with a mirthless smile. “For what it’s worth, I had no idea your gran even existed, Mitch. Did you, Dad?” I ask, looking at my father.

Dad shakes his head. “No, I never met that side of the family. Like Basil explained, family ties were cut way before I was born. Your Pop-Pop vaguely talked about a beloved cousin and how they grew up as close as siblings. I knew Dad had been looking for her for ages, but he had no luck.” He looks at Mitch. “Your grandmother dropped off the face of the Earth after she was cut off.”

Mitch’s tone is full of vitriol. “Yeah, I bet. She divorced the man she left everything for after a few years, too much resentment she always told my mom. Then she changed her name to something completely different than her maiden name. She used to say that she wanted to be her own person, she had no loyalty to a family that cut her off. By the time she met my grandfather and remarried, her name changed again.”

I sigh. Parents can really fuck their children up in so many ways. My parents, especially Dad, are the living proof of that.

I don’t know what to say at the bombshell our lawyer just dropped on us, but as usual, my brothers have my back.

Zane clears his throat before asking a question I should’ve fucking thought about. “So what you’re saying, Basil, is that Mitch stands to inherit everything, should Callie and Dodge fail to fulfill the condition to their trust funds?”

When Bennett’s father confirms it, Zane adds, “But doesn’t Mitch need to fulfill any conditions to inherit? I knew Dodge’s Pop-Pop as well as his own grandkids, like most of the people in this room. I can’t think that he wouldn’t hold the alternate heir to the same conditions.”

Basil Fletcher nods. “The same conditions apply to Mitchell. In order to inherit, he needs to be married by Labor Day, the summer he graduates college.”

What a fucking nightmare! I hope Pop-Pop is having a good time watching the mess he just made from the great beyond.

Mom speaks for the first time since we entered the room. “Basil, what would happen if neither my children or Mitchell fulfilled that condition?”

If I remember correctly, Basil said the funds would remain frozen until our kids became of age and I’m about to say it but Chrissie chimes in again.

“Oh but it doesn’t really matter, Patricia. We’re way ahead of the curve.”

Mom gasps. I know she’s always liked Chrissie and thought she’d be my wife one day. “Are you seeing Mitchell?”

Christie’s smile widens. “It’s a little more serious than that. We eloped last weekend.” Her eyes are fixed on me when she drops that fucking bombshell.

My ex is practically preening under the gazes of every single person in this room and I feel numb for a moment.

I’m well and truly over Chrissie and I’ve been for a while but what do I do now?

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