Page 109 of Drawing Home
They were about to find out.
Mark, his lawyer, and Bea were already huddled in the far corner of the hallway. Emma wanted to pull Bea aside and talk to her alone. Whatever this was, it wasn’t something she wanted to deal with in front of Carter Shift, Mark, or even her own attorney.
Kyle spotted them and made his way down the hall. Carter tried to shoo him away but Emma said, “He’s with me. I want him to stay.”
Kyle gave her aWhat’s going on?look. She shrugged.
“I’m Ms. Mapson’s attorney, Andrew Port,” Andrew said to Bea. “Can I help you with something?”
“Lovely to meet you, Mr. Port,” she said, fanning herself with a silk scarf. “I was just asking Mr. Shift if he was aware of the agreement between his client and myself.”
Emma looked at Mark, who stared at Bea with an expression she couldn’t decipher. Surprise? It was more than that. It was fear.
“We should do this in a conference room,” Carter said, picking up on Mark’s unease.
“I cannot stand to move to another drab room,” Bea said. “I don’t know why legal quarters need to be so dreadful. It’s as if you’re found guilty just by walking through the door.”
“Bea, what’s going on?” Kyle said.
Bea ignored him and addressed Andrew and Carter. “In the hopes of all of us getting out of here as expediently as possible—or at least, in the hopes thatIcan get out of here expediently—let me bottom-line this for you. Last month, Mark Mapson came to me with promises to sell me his daughter’s recently inherited mansion as soon as it was legally feasible to do so. In exchange for this transaction, he would get a fee upfront and a commission on the vast sum of money I would ultimately pay to acquire the house. Of course, in order to take control of the estate, he first needed legal guardianship of his daughter.” She smiled. “He asked me for a check for his legal fees, which I gave him. I suppose that’s where you come in, Mr. Shift.”
Could this be true? Mark and Bea conspiring against her? And all this time she’d been letting the woman live under her roof! Emma wanted to scream.
“That’s quite a story, Ms. Winstead,” said Carter, glancing at Andrew. “I’m sure my client takes issue with your interpretation of any conversation that might have taken place between the two of you.”
Emma stared at Mark and he looked away, his head bowed.
Bea was telling the truth.
“I need to speak with my client,” Carter said. “Andrew, let’s adjourn for the day. I’ll be in touch.”
Andrew signaled for Emma to follow him down the hall so they had some privacy. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw Bea had already left.
“This is unbelievable,” Emma said.
“I have to admit, this is a new one for me.” Andrew rubbed his jaw.
“Does this mean it’s over?”
“No, but it certainly gives us a stronger negotiating position for a settlement. I’m hoping Mark is now nervous enough to compromise.”
“But this makes it so obvious this isn’t about Penny’s best interests—that it’s about money and an expensive house!” It took a lot of effort for her to keep her voice at just a loud whisper.
“Still, we don’t want to end up before the judge. You just never know what might happen.”
Wasn’t that the truth.
Chapter Forty-Five
Penny stared at the pool, wishing for the thousandth time she hadn’t gone out and broken her leg. Swimming would have let her burn off her nervous energy. Her mother had been out all afternoon, and there was still no mention from Angus about what was happening with her “meeting.” With every hour that passed, the weight of what it could all mean grew heavier. And Bea wasn’t even around to distract her with her bossiness and complaints.
She moved her pencil across the sketch pad in her lap, outlining the shape of the pool. Then she let herself just stare at the water. Henry always said if you want to draw something accurately, you have to reallyseeit. What was the water doing? Was it still or moving slightly? Even Henry admitted that reflective surfaces were tough.
“An easy trick is to let the light do all the work,” he said. It took her a while to understand what he meant by that, but that’s where all the hours of drawing side by side with him came in. How would she keep getting better now that he was gone? She could find an art class, but that was hardly the same thing.
The sliding glass door to the house opened behind her. She turned around, expecting to see Angus checking up on her again. Instead, her mom headed down the path, dressed up in a skirt and blouse and high heels. She took off her shoes as she got closer to the pool, padded over to Penny, and gave her a hug.
“Sorry I didn’t see you before I left this morning,” Emma said. “How was therapy?” She pulled sunglasses out of her purse and rolled up her shirtsleeves.
