Page 45 of Everlasting

“I hope you don’t mind,” I told him, to be polite while I settled in with Archer. Breastfeeding wasn’t an option with a stranger sitting at my table, so I warmed up a bottle of pre-pumped milk for my son and then started feeding him while I listened to Brian Grist explain the terms of Avalyn’s Last Will and Testament to me.

“Wait,” I finally stopped him. “Are you telling me that she left everything to me?”

“Well, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Why?” I asked him.

“Um,” he searched through the papers in front of him as if the answer would jump off the pages. I had no inkling of what he was looking for, but eventually he glanced up and set his attention on me. “It seems as though Ms. Sinclair had no family to speak of and she changed her Will about a month prior to her death to make you her beneficiary.”

“Who was it before?’

“There wasn’t a who. She had it set up to have all of her possessions sold off and then the liquidated assets would be divvied up between several charities. Since changing her Will, she added a special request too. I’ll read it to you, but you will also be given a paper copy to keep for yourself.

Ever,

I know this seems a weird request, but I have no doubt you will honor it for me. What I’m asking of you won’t require much on your part, and hopefully, you’ll understand one day. My time here is up, but I have a feeling there’s more to come.

I need you to hang on to everything for one year and one day after my death. You’ll understand on that day why I asked it of you. My account has plenty of funds to pay for the taxes and upkeep on everything until then. If you can’t honor that wish, I will understand.

Thank you for believing, for coming to find me, and for releasing me from the prison fate had organized for me. You will never know how much it meant to me the day you stepped through my door and introduced me to your brother.

All my heart,

Ava

PS – Keep the faith, it all works out in the end!

I just sat there stunned as Brian handed the letter over and allowed me to see the writing for myself. “This is…”

“A strange request?” He waved off my concerns. “We get them all the time. As you can see, she wasn’t worried about it being followed to the letter, and there’s no one to contest it, so if you choose to sell it all off tomorrow, that’s up to you.” I was appalled that the man would seriously sit there and tell me to go against a dead person’s last wishes. Wishes that they drew up with him, or at least his firm.

“Is there something I need to do so that you can be on your way?” I finally asked as I put the papers back down and picked my son up to my shoulder so I could burp him. He was pretty good about getting the gas out on his own at that point, but I still enjoyed snuggling him close and had kept to the routine. Sooner or later, I’d have to start letting him grow beyond that. Secretly though, I think he enjoyed snuggling up to his momma just as much as I loved having him there.

Once all the paperwork was signed, I was given my copies and told to expect everything I would need to access all of Ava’s accounts, her home, and property within the week. I honestly didn’t know how to feel about inheriting all of her stuff. I hoped she had a serious plan to somehow come collect it all in a year. The thought made me laugh.

“Archer, you might want to start saving up early, baby. Momma is certifiable and she’s going to need you to find her a good home to go to when she’s old because the girls hate me.” He giggled and cooed at me, as if I was telling him something funny. I wished I were because while I was teasing, there was a bit of truth to the statement. Archer might not hate me because he’d never known his dad and didn’t feel as though I was keeping him from seeing his father. The girls though, that was a different story altogether, and quite frankly, I was tired of taking all the hits for it. I was also tired of everyone allowing Deck to be a coward. He had a family, and he needed to face us. If he didn’t want us in his life after that, fine. I’d respect that, but he was going to be the one to tell me not to come back. I glanced down at the paperwork proclaiming me to be the new owner of Ava’s home and thought that it might just come in handy if Deck decided he didn’t want us anymore, because there was no way I could continue to live in our house without him. Besides, another idea suddenly overwhelmed me.

MiMi, one of the women of the S.H.E. MC had remained behind when everyone else left over the past two weeks. Christina had run up to Canada with Pike so that they could see Jay and Merc. Angel Girl had gone home to Georgia, and the visiting members of other chapters had also found their way back home with the promise to come back and celebrate once Deck was well again.

I called MiMi up and asked her to meet me at the clubhouse. “You know I don’t have any pull with them. If they won’t let you see Deck, I can’t help you,” she told me when I asked her to come.

“I know that. I need your help with something else though.”

“Okay, I’m in.”

“You don’t want to know what it is?”

“Nope. Besides, I want to run something by you, so this is perfect.”

Chapter 27

Detox Hell

Deck

Durbin was shaking his head at me again and I didn’t miss a single bit of the disappointment in his eyes either when I once again refused to allow Ever to see me.

“I’m going to ask you something and I want you to answer it honestly. You don’t even have to tell me what you decide, this is strictly for you.” I nodded my head for him to continue, not liking where I thought this might be going. “How are you going to feel the day she stops begging to see you?”

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