I grin and gingerly lower her to her feet. She wobbles a bit, but she leans a hand on the tile, and I quickly wash us, then grab the spray handle down to rinse us.
Once we’re both dry, I carry my sweet wife to bed and tuck us in. She wraps herself around me, lays her head on my chest, and sighs.
“Thank you for the best day, Brooks.”
“You did all of the work. Besides, you deserve to be this happy every day, my love. Go to sleep.”
“I have to wake up by five.”
“I’ll wake you.”
“Why am I so nervous?” Jules asks a week later as we park in front of Chad Kincaid’s office in Silver Springs. “I mean, we’re just getting information. I’m not on trial for murder or anything.”
“It’s okay,” I reply and kiss the back of her hand. “Once we start getting answers, the nerves will fade. Let’s go see what the man has to say.”
She nods and waits for me to walk around and open her door. With our hands linked, we walk into the attorney’s office and are quickly escorted back to his private office.
“It’s nice to meet you in person.” Chad shakes Juliet’s hand first, and then my own. “Can I get you some coffee or anything at all to drink?”
“Whiskey might be good,” Jules mutters, but then shakes her head. “No, thank you.”
“Please, have a seat.” Chad gestures to the two brown leather chairs in front of his desk, and Jules and I each take one as he lowers himself into his desk chair. “Let me just summarize the situation, so I make sure that we’re all on the same page.”
Jules nods. “Yes, sounds good.”
“Your late husband, who passed almost three years ago, left his entire estate to you upon his death, except for a trust in the amount of two million dollars with a woman named”—he checkshis notes—“Nadine Smith as the beneficiary. The trust lists you as the trustee, or the person appointed to oversee the funds for Nadine.”
“Yes.”
“Was Nadine a relative?” he asks.
“She was his mistress.”
Chad pauses. His eyes come up to meet mine and then go back to her. “Your late husband put a trust in motion that madeyoupay his mistress for as long as one of you is living?”
“Yes. Lovely, isn’t it?”
He glances at me. “And Brooks is your new husband.”
“Yes, he is. We just got married a couple of weeks ago.”
“I reached out to the attorney in Washington, and he didn’t reply. So I called his office, and the office no longer exists. I assume the practice went out of business, but he still has an email address.”
Jules frowns next to me. “It’s impossible that the practice is out of business. It was a generational practice. His grandfather opened it fifty years ago.”
“How do you know this?” Chad asks before I can.
“Because Daniel was Justin’s best friend. He handled all of Justin’s legal stuff.”
Chad frowns and rubs his hand over his chin, thinking as he stares over Juliet’s shoulder.
“I’ve requested the trust paperwork from the state,” he says. “That can take a few weeks, depending on how backed up they are. In the meantime, I’m going to also make a few calls and see what I can find out about this Daniel guy. Something isn’t right with this situation.”
“Thank fuck I’m not the only one who thinks so,” I grumble.
Chad smiles at me. “If I were you, I’d be tearing the world apart right now.”
“If this doesn’t work out with you, that’s my next plan.”
