Page 6 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

“Not everyone is perpetually ten minutes early,” Hannah added.

Connor scowled at his twin sisters for their snide remarks, but before he could reply, the conference door opened, and Tessica came in.

She smiled at Connor and sat next to him, which helped ease his earlier annoyance.

Mr. Schaffer spoke up. “Now that we’re all here, we can begin.” Opening the file folder on the table in front of him, he pulled out a stack of papers. “As some of you may know, Fiona updated her will every year in October on the anniversary of her husband’s death. I’ll read the parts of the will that pertain to all of you out loud, and then you’ll all have a chance to look over copies of the official document, which has a lot of legal jargon. Once you’ve all read it, I can answer any questions you may have.”

Mr. Schaffer cleared his throat and read.

“I, Fiona Doyle, being of sound mind, do hereby declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. At the time of this Last Will and Testament dated October 3, 2023, I have three children as follows:

Connor Doyle born August 11, 1969

Erin Doyle King born May 13, 1972

Hannah Doyle Griffin born May 13, 1972

I hereby appoint Connor Doyle as the Executor of my Last Will and Testament. Should he be unavailable, unable, orunwilling to serve as Executor, then I appoint Erin Doyle King as the alternative Executor.

Immediately following my death, the Executor will be authorized to use the assets from my estate to pay off any and all debts and funeral expenses.

After payment of all personal debts and expenses, I bequeath my assets as follows:

My retirement account, savings account, and checking account, are to be divided equally between my two younger children, Erin and Hannah.”

Connor frowned. He had to do all the work but got none of the money? Not that he needed the money, but it was the principle.

Mr. Schaffer pulled out another sheet of paper from his folder. “As of today, those accounts are valued at roughly $508,000.”

He set the page down and continued to read the will.

“I leave my business, ‘Fur-ever Friends’, to my employee, Tessica Alvarez, along with all the business assets and equipment. It is my hope that she will continue our work.”

Connor heard Tessica gasp. They exchanged a glance. She was clearly shocked by the news, but he couldn’t tell if it was a happy shock, or an unpleasant one. Considering that the business always ran at a loss, he couldn’t imagine she’d be happy to be saddled with the burden.

“I leave my house and all of my personal belongings to my eldest child, Connor, with the following stipulation. He will allow Tessica Alvarez to operate the animal shelter,Fur-ever Friends, on the bottom floor of the house for the next five years. If Connor doesn’t agree to that stipulation, the house is to be sold, and the profits from the sale are to be divided equally between Connor Doyle and Tessica Alvarez.”

Connor glared over at Tessica suspiciously, but she didn’t look his direction.

Tessica had a hand over her heart as she shook her head. “That can’t be right.”

Erin put an arm over Tessica’s shoulders. “Of course it’s right. Mom loved you, too. She’s known you since you were fourteen, and she talked about you all the time.”

Hannah spoke up. “You’ve spent more time with her over the past seven years than any of us have.”

Tessica glanced at Connor, winced, and then looked away.

He realized he was wearing his suspicious Daddy glare, and took a deep breath to calm down. She didn’t deserve the glare he generally gave the Littles he suspected of misbehavior. It wasn’t Tessica’s fault that his mother was too stubborn to let her business go even after death.

Mr. Schaffer spoke up. “There’s also a list of some sentimental personal items that Fiona has bequeathed to specific family members.” He handed out copies of the will. “That’s on page three. Now you can all look through the will in its entirety, and ask me any questions you may have.”

Connor picked up his copy, but doubted it would provide any insight as to what his mother had been thinking when she made it.

CHAPTER THREE

Tessica thought she’d cried herself out over the past ten days, but her eyes blurred with new tears. She stared at her copy of Fiona’s will that the lawyer had handed her, but reading it seemed impossible. She never imagined Fiona would have left anything to her, let alone the entire business. But then, over the years, they’d shared their love of animals, and more specifically the joy they felt when they found a forever home for one of the strays. Neither of them had husbands, children, or pets still at home, so they funneled all of their love and energy into the strays.

“Excuse me,” she whispered as she stood up and walked out the door. She rushed down the hall to the bathroom, went into one of the stalls, and pulled some toilet paper off a roll to wipe her eyes.

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