Page 18 of Harvest Moon (Riverbend 3)

Gavin slowly turned around, his expression telegraphing the answer before his words did. “There’s no updated will.”

Despair settled over Laurel like a lead cape. “Is he sure?”

“He has all their records on his computer. He also handles the legal papers for Harvest Moon—the LLC and stuff.”

She watched Emma placing another block, talking to herself.

Laurel’s lungs felt as if they were full of cement. She had more questions, but not in front of the child. She got up and headed toward the island where Gavin had braced both hands on the granite top.

“It’ll have to be Mike’s parents then, right?” she said. “They’re the logical solution—the only living relatives, barring that aunt we haven’t been able to reach.”

The shadows in his eyes pushed back a bit. “They can’t be that old, right?”

“Sixty-five is the new forty-five.” Now that they’d talked about it, some of the weight eased off her shoulders. That made sense. Emma’s grandparents would raise her. That happened all the time, after all. Of course it wouldn’t be easy, but other grandparents managed.

“You’re right. They love her.”

“Did Darius say something else? He talked a long time.”

“He was explaining my responsibilities as executor of the will. I have to offer the will for probate, pay their outstanding debts, and oversee the distribution of the assets—which I can’t do yetsince the assets will be held in trust by Emma’s guardian until she reaches adulthood.”

Gavin’s gaze homed in on hers. “He also told me that whoever wants guardianship of Emma can petition for it. The court will then appoint a guardian ad litem to represent Emma. He or she will schedule a meeting with the potential guardians. Then there’s a hearing that’ll happen between ten and thirty days of Mike’s and Mallory’s deaths.”

“We’ll have this figured out way before then.”

“We’re going to have to. For now they’ll assume we’re pursuing guardianship. And once Paul and Judy see there are no other options, they’ll step up.”

“Right. I’m sure they will. We should let Emma know they’re coming.”

“Finally, a little good news to share.”

***

The sound of gravel popping under tires filtered through the house’s walls.

“Mee-maw! Papaw!” Emma ran to the door, Sunny on her heels, tail swishing violently.

The couple had been delayed again, and it was going on lunchtime now. Laurel was in the kitchen, putting sandwiches together as Gavin edged past Emma and Sunny and opened the door.

Judy Clayton was retrieving something from the back of the car while Paul waited in the passenger seat. The couple appeared older than Gavin had expected, but maybe it was just the grief wreaking havoc on them. Judy’s gray hair hung limply around her bare face, and Paul still wore yesterday’s stubble on his pale cheeks.Their eyes were bloodshot. They were dressed in comfortable leisure attire, but nothing was comfortable about this situation.

Gavin let Emma past, and her little legs couldn’t seem to navigate the two porch steps quickly enough.

“Mee-maw! Papaw!”

Judy’s smile wobbled as she knelt to embrace her granddaughter. “Oh, precious, I’m so glad to see you. Mee-maw loves you, honey.”

“Cookies, Mee-maw.”

“Sure, honey, we’ll make cookies later. Papaw can help too.”

Emma gave the seated man a hug as they exchanged greetings while Sunny danced around them, seemingly oblivious to the mountain of grief.

Gavin approached the group. The strain on the couple’s faces was heart-wrenching. They were trying so hard not to overwhelm the child with their pain. The closer he got, the older they appeared.

He introduced himself, and Laurel did the same as she approached. By silent agreement they didn’t broach the obvious subject at hand.

“Emma will be going down for a nap after lunch,” Laurel said. “We can talk then.”

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