Page 25 of Just (Fake) Married
Tag poured a finger of whiskey in a glass and brought it to her while Mac continued to glower.
“Why do you hang out with this family, Tag?” Harmony asked, delicately wiping crumbs from her lips. She wore deep red lipstick and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen her in lipstick. It made her look like a different woman.
“They pay me,” Tag said, and the Calloway women laughed and laughed.
Mac squeezed the top of his nose. “I’m getting a headache,” he muttered.
“Where’s Carter?” I asked, and Mac shook his head.
“I don’t know, man, he’s just like this now. Late all the time.”
“Is it the kids?”
“Of course, it’s the kids,” Mac laughed, and then lowered his voice. “The guy needs help.”
“Hi! Hi!” Carter said, finally walking in the door. His hair was still damp and there was a big wet spot on his shirt. “Sorry I’m late. Mr. Prescott is coming in right behind me. “
“Everything okay?” I asked, because beneath his smile he seemed like a man at the end of his rope.
“Just a little dust up between Taylor and Luke. Mrs. Walker is watching over them.” He was clearly downplaying a situation. “Everything okay with… them?” he asked, cocking his head towards the Calloway women, sprawled all over the couch. Amity was drinking her whiskey and staring daggers at Mac. Bliss looked like she’d rather be anywhere else. Monica looked nervous, and Harmony…
Harmony looked like she was casing the joint.
As I watched, she leaned back and picked up a brass statue of a horse that had sat on that end table for probably a hundred years and weighed fifteen pounds and …swear to God, tried to put it in her purse. When it didn’t fit, she put it back.
I laughed, and when her eyes flew up to mine, I just kept laughing.
The little kleptomaniac.
Her eyes narrowed and she put that nose up in the air like she hadn’t been caught doing anything.
“Hello, everyone,” Mr. Prescott swept into the room, like the strange vibes were nothing, and walked right over to the desk. “We have a lot to cover today.” He put his briefcase on the desk and looked up at all of us gathered there. “Everyone here?” he asked.
“Everyone is here who can be,” Carter said.
“If you all don’t mind, I’ll go on about my business,” Tag said.
“You’re part of this family, Tag.” Carter reminded him.
“Appreciate it, but this business isn’t about me, and this ranch doesn’t run itself.”
“Tag!” Bliss cried. “If you leave, you’re taking all the handsome with you.”
“Somehow, I think you’ll survive,” Tag said, and left.
Carter nodded in the lawyer’s direction. “Okay. You can go ahead.”
Mr. Prescott looked over at the Calloway women with their red lips and indolence, and did a double take.
“Glad to see you came,” he said graciously, if not nervously.
Harmony lifted her coffee cup and took a long sip before setting it back down on the saucer. There was something about her indifference that made me…crazy.
I didn’t give a shit about what was in that will, but I knew that whatever it was, it was going to be a problem. Probably a lot of them. Like a series of small strokes that led to catastrophic arterial damage.
Why did Dad want these women here?
“So,” Mr. Prescott began. “I want to be very clear that Leroy McGraw changed his will six months ago. He was of sound mind and body when he did so, but I believe he sensed the end was near for him. He was explicit in his instructions, and you should know this is a legally binding will.”
