Chapter 1
Devlin kept an eye on his client.Serenity Rangers was so calm, but he had a feeling that on the inside, she was raging hot.Her mother.If you knew the two of them, you’d understand that statement right away, he thought.But her mother was a narcissistic bitch who needed someone to take her to task in a big sort of way.Not only that, but it wouldn’t hurt the older woman to be put away someplace that she couldn’t bother others.She was royally pissing off her daughter.And he understood now why Sen was asked to bring an attorney with her when she came to the reading of the will.
“I was his sister.Why didn’t he leave me more than just a little bit of money?”The attorney for the firm that was reading the will pointed out that she was left with ten thousand dollars.Not a paltry sum by any means.“But he left her all the rest of the money.How is that fair when I was his sister?”
He was reasonably sure that the furniture in the large conference room understood that she was his sister; she’d said it so many times now.Devlin’s head was killing him, and he’d only been sitting here for the last hour and a half.He couldn’t understand how someone could live with her and not have all sorts of ailments.
“Ms.Debra Ranger, that’s the extent of the will reading for you.You may wait in the lobby or go home.There is no more reason for you to wait around for the rest.”Debra asked if there was more money going to her daughter.“There is no reason for you to know what else is in the will unless Ms.Serenity wants you to know.”
“Mother, just go.If there is anything else, I’ll let you know.We just have to clear away the house in my name and the money that he left me.”She said she should have gotten the house.“Well, I guess he figured that you had one and didn’t need anything else.Just go, please, before I have a migraine again and have to go to the doctors.That will delay me getting to talk to you, too.”
“All right, but you take notes on what you get.That way, I can sue you for it later.There is no point in you getting more than I did because he was—”
“Yes, mother, he was your brother.And since everyone knows that now, you don’t have to keep repeating it.Just go home, and I’ll call you later.If I’m not sick.You know how I get when I have a migraine.”She said she didn’t want to be around her when she was throwing up again.“Like you ever hung around when I was sick anytime in my life.Just go, please.”
After Debra left, huffing and puffing about wills and money the entire time, Sen asked for ten minutes so that she could go to the bathroom and stave off her headache.Devlin felt sorry for the young woman and wanted to help her, so he was going to do his best to make sure that things were settled for her before he left her.Things would just need to be filed, and he might even do that for her; he felt that badly for her.When she came back, she looked as if she’d been crying, and he wanted to protect her from her mother.The woman was a terrible person to be around.
“I’m all right now.You said that he left me their home.I’m most excited about that.”The attorney for the firm he was there with said that now that her mother was gone, he could talk business with her.“You mean I don’t get the house?I’m sorry.I’ve been under a little bit of stress.”That was an understatement if he’d ever heard one.
“Your uncle knew that your mother would be…let’s just say he knew your mother well and wanted to have her out of the room when the rest of the will was read.There’s quite a bit more to it than the small house they lived in.They both did very well for themselves, and in turn, you as well.The two of them left you a vast estate.And it all goes to you.”Sen said she didn’t understand.“They had houses all over the country and the world.There is money enough for you to enjoy a very happy life without ever having to work again.In addition to the house they lived in, there is jewelry, land, and money totaling up to be in the billions.They invested well and were lucky in the stock market, too.”
“I’m sorry.Did you say they left me millions of dollars?”The man shook his head and said he’d said billions.“Billions with a b?My uncle and aunt left me billions of dollars when they died, and I’m somehow supposed to keep this from my mother?I think I’d have better luck cutting my arm off and her not noticing it.She’s dense but not stupid.”
“He didn’t want you to keep it from her.He just wanted you to know what you were to get when you were alone with an attorney.As I said, he knew how your mother would be and that would have been difficult for you to have been able to understand what the will entails with her around.I’m sorry, but I do believe he had the right of it.”Sen nodded and said he was right.“You may tell her or not.She already knows you got the house and the rest of the estate.Your mother just has no idea how large the estate is until you wish to tell her.If you do at all.”
“She’ll sue me for it, too.”Devlin told her that he’d make sure that things went her way if it came to that.“I know that, and you know that, but it won’t stop her from suing me.And she’ll expect to be able to visit all the homes, too.Billions of dollars, you said?”
“Yes, my dear.There are billions of dollars when everything is totaled up.”She didn’t seem to be upset about the money so much as she was about her mother finding out.Not that he blamed her.The woman was going to cause all kinds of trouble when she did, too.He had a feeling that suing her daughter would be the least of Sen’s problems with her mother.“If you’re ready, we can begin to read the rest of the will so that you can have a better grip on what was left to you and the terms of the agreement.”
“So there’s a catch.”He said only in that she had charities that needed to be taken care of as well.“So that money I have goes to them.”
“How about we just let him read the will, and we’ll go from there.It might be that he has other money that goes to the charities that isn’t a part of your estate.”The attorney said that was true.“See.Let’s just get through this, and you’ll have a better understanding of what he wants you to do with some of the money that he’s left behind for you to take care of.”
By lunch time, the will had been gone over, and while he’d been taking notes, he noticed too that Sen did as well.She would also write down questions that she had as they went over the will, and he was quite proud of her.Being dropped into a situation like she had been, she was doing very well.The firm provided lunch to the three of them.It was just the break that Sen needed to get her shit together, as his big brother was forever saying about people.
“There is a lot to do when you suddenly have money, isn’t there?”He said that he thought people with money who knew how to keep it had a lot to do.“I want to keep it all, but I know I’m going to have difficulties doing that.I don’t know the first thing about investments.”
“There is a firm here at the office that does that for you.He did it for your aunt and uncle and was said to be able to do that for you as well.”She said she’d forgotten about that.“That’s fine.You’re doing very well.I had no idea there was so much to the estate, or I might have brought more paper with me to take notes.I’m glad to see that you are as well.”
“I don’t know how to do anything without taking notes.It’s what makes me a good clerk for Judge Rainer.I wonder if he knew.”He said that he would imagine that he did know.“I guess.He was really good about not giving me a heads-up.My mother would have found out.I have a feeling that my family wouldn’t have wanted Mom to know.I can understand that, too.She would have drained them dry before the ink was dry on the paperwork.I’m going to do the same thing, I think.”
“Good for you.If I can help you in any way after this, you need only to call me.Or if you have any questions about what you’ve been told.I would love to be there for you.”He had a feeling that she’d call too.Not that she was stupid or anything like that, but because she’d get home and think about things and have questions for him.Devlin found he didn’t mind at all.“Now he’ll go over the estate part, where you’ll have to keep up with his charities.There aren’t that many, but they’ll need to be kept on top of.That shouldn’t be hard to do with the same firm for your investments.I’d get with them and see if you can learn what they’re doing so that you can make sound judgments when it’s time for you to decide on things.”
“I will.That’s a good idea.”When she finished eating, he noticed that she neatly put her plate back on the stack of dirty ones.She was neat about everything that she did, he noticed, even taking her notes.“I’m a little overwhelmed right now.I know it’ll get better down the road, but right now all I can think of is how much there is to everything.My mother would have a fit if she were to find out about how vast this estate is.Then she’d want to spend it.”
“I did notice that about her.Does she work?”She said she’s been retired from life for a while now.“I’m not sure I know what that means.”
“Sometimes I don’t either.She never worked, as far as I know, but she seems to have money when she wants something.Or she tries to take mine.I live all right, but when she comes around and wants me to treat her to a day of things, I run a little short.I guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore.I have become really good at telling her no.”He nodded as if he understood.And he did to a point.The more time he spent with Debra, the more he thought she was like his own mother.He wondered if she’d ever hit on Sen.He wouldn’t put it past her.Not like his mother beat them, but just hit her around enough to keep her in line with the way she was thinking.“I guess we’re ready to start again.I’m actually having fun here today.It’s something I’ve never done before, and I’m having a blast.”
“I’m glad you are.It’s good to see you smiling.”He thought of how he wanted to protect her from people like her mom and thought that was silly of himself.He’d protect her from people like her mom without any trouble, he supposed, but it still bothered him that she had that effect on him.Not bothered, but it was weird that he did.“I have this brother that you should meet.He’s a vet.I think that the two of you would hit it off great.He’s neat as a pin, like you are.”
“I don’t get out much.I don’t remember the last time I had a date.I’m forever working, and I love my job.Judge Rainer takes really good care of his staff.”He said that he knew him from college.“Yes, he teaches there a few days a week.I help him with that as well sometimes when he needs it.”
“Have you thought of being an attorney?With the knowledge that you have, I’d bet you’d be a shoo-in.”She said she could certainly afford to become one now.“That you can.”They both laughed, and he sat down where he’d been sitting before the break.
“No, as for being an attorney, I don’t think I’d like that.I’m not lazy or anything, but it seems like a lot of work to put into it for something that I don’t think I’ll like.I enjoy clerking for the judge, but that’s about the extent of my law classes I want to take.You’d have to be dedicated all the time, and I want to do things when I’m off work.Don’t you ever just want to be free of your tie and job?”
“Some days more than others.Not today.It’s nice having someone who isn’t guilty of something trying to get off.”They both thought that was funny and were still laughing when David, he finally remembered his name, came back in the room with them.They still had a lot to go over, it seemed.
