Page 19 of Claiming Tessa

“Is it okay if we call them in?They might have ideas we don’t think of.”

She smiled.“I’d like that.”

Within a few minutes, the men walked through the door.They shook Jared’s hand and then came to stand by her.Jared motioned to the seats in the corner of his fancy office.Tessa, Gavin, and Diego sat on the sofa, and Jared sat in a chair next to it.

For the next hour, they discussed the various options and reached a decision.

Jared looked at his sister.“Do you want me to go with you to talk to our mother?”

Tessa shook her head.“No.”

Jared nodded.“She won’t need all the servants anymore.”

“I thought about that.I was planning on giving the ones that had been there for a long time a huge retirement settlement that they could live off comfortably.The new ones, I’ll give a very good severance package.”

“That’s a great idea.I worried about Arthur and Maggie,” Jared said.

“They’ll be taken care of.They were more of a family to me than my own mother was.”

“I’d like to help.”

Before Jared could interrupt, Tessa explained, “Since they were my dad’s employees, I’ll take care of them.However, I would like to check in to see if any of our mother’s family members are still alive.We’ll find out their situations, and if we can help, you can be involved with that.”

Jared smiled.“I’d like that.Will you call me after you talk to her?”

Tessa stood and went into her brother’s arms.“Yes.Thank you for being here.”

“I hate that she tried to turn us against each other.”

“But it didn’t work,” Tessa reminded him.

“You didn’t know that until you came home, though,” he reminded her.

“I know now, and that’s all that matters.Do you know if Mother has any set appointments?”

“She gets her hair done every week on Wednesdays at nine in the morning.What are you thinking?”

“I want to talk to Arthur and Maggie before I talk to her.I don’t want them to be surprised.”

“They’ll appreciate that.”

Tessa gave him one more hug.“You’ll hear from me soon.”

“Good.Call if you need me.”

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