“I can’t believe you’re really staying,” I beamed as I unbagged a small box containing a red velvet cake.
Callie chuckled. “I can’t believe you bought a whole cake.”
“It’s small. And worth it. We’recelebrating!”
I’d dreamed about the day my best friend would come back and stay for good, but for so long, it had been just that—a dream. Sure, we talked almost every day, and I visited her plenty of times over the years, but it wasn’t the same as having herhome. After ten years, I came to terms with the fact that it would likely never happen. But now it was, and I couldn’t be more excited. And I knew I wasn’t going to be the only one.
“When are you going to tell Lucas?”
Callie smiled. “I thought about calling him, but I want to tell him in person. He’s coming over tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll just tell him then.”
“He’s going to be so happy,” I said. “And he and I will have to come up with some sort of visitation schedule. Like fifty-fifty custody or something.” She snorted, and I offered a grin. “But for real…he’s going to be ecstatic when you tell him.”
“It’s so strange.” Callie sighed wistfully as she leaned against the counter. “I remember thinking I’d never come back to this place, let alone live here again. And don’t even get me started on me and Luke…”
“The universe works in mysterious ways, buttercup.”
“You can say that again.”
I glanced around after we put everything away. “So, I take it you’re not planning on putting the house on the market anymore?”
“No,” Callie said with a sad smile. “There are too manymemories here, and I know it probably sounds silly, but…it makes me feel close to them.”
I knew the “them” she was referring to were her mom and dad. I smiled. “It’s not silly at all. And who knows? Maybe Lucas will want to downsize from his gigantic mansion on the cliff and move in here with you.”
Callie chuckled with a shrug. “Maybe.”
“Your probate is almost done, right?”
“Yeah. Wes actually called me Monday—he’s getting everything together to help me file her final return—and said it shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“And then you can start to put it behind you.”
Callie smiled softly. “Yeah.”
Chapter 18
Early Friday afternoon,I walked from my office to the basement of the building, my steps quick and purposeful. I glanced at the catalog envelope clutched in my hand, and a wave of unease washed over me.
When I pulled open the door to our file room, Gabe was already waiting inside. We’d been putting off cleaning out old files for a while now, and coincidentally enough, we decided to do it today.
Gabe smiled. “Hey.”
I nodded in greeting. “How was the conference?” He’d been in Columbia the last two days.
“It was like any other conference,” he said with a chuckle. He glanced around the file room. It was dusty as fuck because we never came down here. “That’s a lot of damn boxes.”
“Yeah,” I said, feeling that unease hit me again. “Listen, I need to talk to you about something.”
Gabe looked back at me, his brow creasing slightly at what I assumed was the serious tone I took. “What’s up?”
I blew out a breath. “You know I’m doing Callie’s probate…” He nodded. “And I offered to help her with her mom’s final tax return, just to make sure she had all the documents and stuff she would need.”
“Okay…”
“The bank called and left me a message on Monday and said they had everything I asked for, but they found this trust when they pulled up her mom’s social. Callie did mention a trust to me before, one that was set up from a life insurance policy after her dad died when she was a kid, but she said there was nothing left in it. I assumed it was just the financial records for that, so I called the bank back Tuesday and told them to send me everything they had.”
Gabe nodded again. “Alright…”
