Page 100 of January

Kyle stopped what she was doing to be able to look at Melinda and said, “I was thinking that it might tell them that you had someone; like the only someone who got to do that to you, be with you like this.”

Melinda nodded and said, “You mean, like a girlfriend.”

“Yes,” Kyle replied. “In fact, before we do this again, I was kind of hoping we could agree that we only do this with each other from now on.”

Melinda smiled softly and said, “So,youwant to bemygirlfriend?”

Kyle nodded seriously.

“I would love that. But, Kyle?”

“Yeah?”

“On one condition: no more hickeys where people can see.”

“Where they can see? Meaning, I can still put them where onlyIget to see?”

It was Melinda’s turn to nod.

“I would like to start by making one a lot lower, then,” Kyle stated before placing a kiss between Melinda’s breasts. “Maybe on the inside of your thigh.” She kissed lower still. “Then again… You were in your underwear when I got here last night, and Bridgette had a full view of the inside of your thigh.”

“Oh, shut up.” Melinda laughed.

???

Their morning had been perfect. They’d made love, shared coffee, and Kyle had had Melinda again up againstthe sink in the bathroom after Melinda had already gotten dressed. She’d claimed that she’d needed to show Melinda just how cute she was in that uniform, but really, Kyle just hadn’t wanted to stop touching her. She knew she was likely going to have a bad rest of the day. Mr. Beaufort’s assistant had called during their coffee that morning to move up their meeting, which meant that after she and Melinda had said goodbye, Kyle had to hop in a car and head that way.

Since she was still wearing her clothes from the night before and likely smelled like the bars she’d been in and the alcohol she’d consumed, she had the shared-ride car driver actually drop her off at a Target on her way there because she didn’t want the fancy attorney to think she wasn’t a put-together adult. At the store, she quickly found a button-down shirt and a pair of black pants on sale. Having bought the items, she changed in the bathroom before she ordered another car to take her the rest of the way. The whole time, it didn’t even dawn on Kyle that if she’d just stopped by her grandma’s house first to change, it likely would have taken less time. She’d chalk that up to the fact that shewasa little hungover, and now that Melinda wasn’t under her or over her, the spell had been broken, and she was really feeling it now.

When Mr. Beaufort’s assistant offered her a bottle of water while she waited, Kyle graciously took it and downed half of it in one gulp. She wished there were vending machines because she was starving, but this place was too hoity-toity for that. Was she a hoity-toity person now? She’d spent money at an expensive store yesterday on bath salts and scrubs. She’d never done that before. She’d also spent more on shared rides since she’d been here than she had on her car back home the previous year. Now, she was sitting in a fancy attorney’s office, waiting for him to tell her about the money and homes she’d inherited.

“Hello, Miss Schafer. Come on in,” he said with a wide smile as he motioned for her to enter his office.

Kyle stood, straightened her new shirt and new cheap pants that weren’t exactly the right size, and carried her waterinto the office, knowing she’d want to finish it.

“So, I understand there’s been a bit of a hiccup?” He sat down behind his big desk in his equally large chair.

Kyle sat down in the smaller guest chair in front of it and said, “My mother showed up out of nowhere and told me she wants the money and houses.”

“I see,” he replied. “She’s in town?”

“Yes, I think so. She’s kind of flaky, so she could have gone home, but my sister would have called to tell me if she had, and my mom seemed pretty determined.”

“Well, the will is legal and binding, Kyle. Your mother can do whatever she wants, but your grandmother was very clear in her estate planning. She was lucid and knew what she wanted. Not only does she have me to verify that, but we also have notaries and witnesses as well as a video recording of her explaining everything.”

“So, my mom can’t sue me?”

“She stillcould,” Mr. Beaufort replied. “It just wouldn’t get her anywhere. I don’t want to speak ill of your mother, but from what you’ve told me, my assumption would be that I’d be able to deal with whatever ambulance-chasing attorney she’d hire to help her with this frivolous lawsuit.”

“What do I do if she shows up again?”

“Well, that’s up toyou, really. If she shows up on your property and refuses to leave, you can have her arrested for trespassing. If she continues to harass you, you could always get a restraining order, but that can be a lengthy process, depending on what kind you go for.”

“A restraining order? She’s my mother,” Kyle said.

“I know. But it happens more often than you’d think. You’ve just come into a lot of money. People who weren’t all that interested in you before will likely begin to show their true colors. While you could also give your mom something as a gesture of good faith that she’ll return home and that’ll be the end of it, in my experience, that rarely works. Once you give them something, they start to expect more, and it doesn’t stop there.”

“Sounds like you’ve met my mother,” she said, trying her hand at a bad joke.

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