Page 115 of Love and Other Champagne Problems

I blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

“It’s common practice to inform the executor of a will before the passing, of course,” Mr. Franz said, and he pulled out a stack of papers now. He peered at them, thumbing through. “It’s a lot of work, and it’s better if the executor knows what they’re going into before things gettoo busy. Ms. Du Ponte, though, asked to keep it a secret until her passing.”

I wasn’t sure there’d been another time I’d felt so thoroughly confused. “I—I can’t be an executor,” I said with a shake of my head. “I don’t even know what that all entails.”

“I’m here to walk you through it all.” When he finally found the stapled stack he wanted, he placed the rest back into his briefcase and laid the stack on the table. “It’s not going to be as messy as you might think, given that you’re the only beneficiary Ms. Du Ponte named.”

Nancy Du Ponte – Last Will and Testament. I didn’t read beyond that. “Nancy… Nancy left everything in her name to charity.”

“That may have been what she told you, but if you see here—” Mr. Franz reached over, flipped a page in the stapled stack, and pointed at the bolded subline. “On this page, it clearly states otherwise.”

I will and bequeath all of my personal and household effects, such as furniture, artworks, clothing, and personal items to Margot Massey.

I leave any real estate property I own,whether residential, commercial, or undeveloped land, to Margot Massey.

I will and bequeath my interests in any businesses, including shares, partnership interests, or other equity interests, to Margot Massey.

My chest had begun rising and falling quickly as I read over everything, and Sumner curved his hand over my shoulder as if to steady me.

“Probate court takes time,” Mr. Franz went on. “And it takes time for the funds to be released, but when itdoes, it will be yours. Given Ms. Du Ponte had no living relatives, it all should move smoothly. It’s been signed over to you for a while now, so no one can argue the decision was made in a poor state of mind. Ms. Du Ponte also had a No-Contest clause, which works in our favor.”

He continued on with more legal jargon, more explanations of the paperwork in front of me, and it was a good thing Sumner was there, because he absorbed everything that went through one of my ears and out the other. I just reread the lines over and over, gripping the back of the kitchen chair so tightly that my knuckles ached.

This was the other shoe, and it finally dropped. It just wasn’t nearly as devastating as I thought it’d be.

“These are what need signatures now,” Mr. Franz said, pulling out a different stack of papers. “And if you have a seat, we can go over this together and begin the process. If… ahem, that is, if this is a good time.”

“We were actually just about to have some lunch,” Sumner said with all the politeness in the world. I could feel his eyes on me, and his hand hadn’t moved from its gentle curve over my shoulder. “Is it possible you could come back later? Or… or we could schedule a meeting at your office, perhaps.”

Mr. Franz agreed that would work for him, and he pulled a business card from his interior breast pocket and offered it out to me. When I didn’t take it, Sumner did. “Ms. Du Ponte did leave a letter, and before I go, I’d like to give it to you.”

A letter. It was the next thing he withdrew from his briefcase, and I wished he hadn’t. As soon as my eyes locked onto it, a new, sickening feeling weighed down onmy stomach. It wasn’t a normal letter. Inside the envelope would be the final words Nancy wanted me to hear.

He laid it on top of the will, and I couldn’t look away.

Mr. Franz showed himself out, which worked, because I was immobile behind the kitchen chair. I should’ve sat down. I definitely should’ve sat down. Sumner reached out and touched the stack of papers Mr. Franz had left me to read in its entirety, gazing at it. “She left you everything.”

I was immediately aware of the walls around me. “This house.”

Sumner nodded, equally stunned. “The country club.”

It dawned on me then, slowly, and then all at once. “The land Massey Suites is on.”

We were both silent as we stared at each other, absorbing what it all meant. It was hard to wrap my head around it all—that I went from rich, to broke, to having more assets than I could’ve imagined. It never occurred to me Nancy had lied about leaving everything to charity—though, in hindsight, that was totally something she’d lie about. Morally gray, she was. It shouldn’t have been a surprise… but it was.

“I’ll start the avocado toast,” Sumner murmured, giving my shoulder a squeeze before leaning in to press a kiss into my forehead. “Why don’t you take a look at what Nancy said?”

I wanted to grab his hand, to hold him hostage, but I forced myself to nod. A part of me wanted him to stay beside me as I read it, but the bigger part wanted the privacy in case I bawledlike a baby.

I went outside, and though the mid-June heat had become sweltering, it was comforting in that moment. Even the sweat that immediately prickling my skin felt comforting, in a way. I was cold, and the envelope in my hand was cold. The summer sun was like a hug, thawing some of the ice.

Nancy touched this envelope. The contents of the letter… she wrote them. She’d never written me a letter before, I didn’t think. She’d written on pre-made birthday cards, maybe passed me a note or two at a fundraiser event, but never a letter. Never anything as serious as the bob in my hands now.

Slowly, I eased the paper from the envelope, the pressure in my chest making me feel like I was going to be sick.It’s just something from Nancy, I told myself, swallowing hard.It’s not scary.

But it was. These were her last words she intended for me to read. Her final goodbye.

I unfolded the paper, my hands trembling so badly that I almost couldn’t read it. Or maybe it was her scratch of calligraphy. Whatever the case, I had to take several deep breaths before I could focus.

---