Page 12 of The Seven Rings
But if any answer to the rings lay with either of them, they were beyond her reach.
So she’d start with Collin himself.
She sat at his desk, and did what she hadn’t pushed herself to do before. She used the passcode Trey’s father had given her and opened the computer.
When Cleo came in, she carried a couple of boxes.
“I thought there might be some papers that should go to Deuce and the legal team. Or other things you might want to pass through them.”
“Bound to be. The desk file drawers are full of paper files.”
“Then I’ll start there.”
“He paid bills here. And kept perfect records. I’ve got all his passwords.” She tapped the sheet she’d taken out of the middle drawer. “I put the list there so it’d be handy whenever I made myself do this.”
Cleo sat on the floor, opened the deep file drawer. “Everything labeled and in alpha order. I’ll put what it seems like you wouldn’t need in a box for the Doyles to vet.”
“I think I’m going to print out his records and do the same with those because we’ll need to wipe the hard drive. We should donate the computer. Neither of us can use it.”
“Here’s a thought on that. Wipe the hard drive, yeah, but maybe set up the computer in one of the sitting rooms upstairs. Like a guest office. Something Trey or Owen, or one of the family on a visit, could use if they have a need for a desktop.”
Lips pursed, Sonya nodded. “Taking ownership and making a purpose for another room. Good idea.”
“But that desk stays here. It’s beautiful. If I do use this room and you want to move your dad’s painting—”
“No, I’d like it to stay here. I’ve got correspondence on here, too. Emails, business, family—and that’s often one and the same, obviously. He kept a calendar on here, too. Birthdays, anniversaries.”
As she scanned, Sonya’s heart gave a quick lurch.
“Cleo, he has my birthday on here.”
“He thought of you.”
“He did. Mom’s birthday’s here. Her and Dad’s anniversary. He thought of all of us.”
“How does that feel?”
After taking a moment, she smiled. “Good. It feels good.”
“Correct answer. Son, I’m keeping the files on house insurance, truck info, appliances, and all that. But he’s got files on his health insurance, doctors, dentist, which I’ll put in the box.”
“Yes. Cleo, he has a file on me.”
“On you?”
“My schools, from kindergarten on, the house we shared our senior year of college, my degree, internship, employment. My duplex in Boston. He’s even got some of the accounts I worked on. My engagement announcement. When I resigned from By Design, when I started my company.”
Her heart broke a little when she saw his scribbled note.
“He’s got a note here, Cleo.Start the new year off fresh. Contact Sonya. He died before he could start fresh.”
“And thought of you,” Cleo repeated. “Kept track of you, and it doesn’t feel intrusive.”
“No, it doesn’t. I’m just sorry it all happened the way it did. He wasn’t alone. Not just because of ghosts. But he had the Doyles. He always had the Doyles.”
“But he could have had you, and your mom.”
“Yes.”
