Chapter Thirteen
Kenzi knew she should have felt awkward with Nash’s arm stretched across the space between their chairs in the downtown law firm so he could hold her hand, but she didn’t. She liked the link between them and drew upon his calmness as if it were a never-ending reservoir. He’d been there at every turn during the funeral and short graveside service. She couldn’t have asked for a better husband—er, husband for hire. Seriously, she should start a business to hire out comforters during times of duress.
We offer a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold in your darkest moments.
She’d make a fortune. The business would be close to what she offered now: ice cream and novelties. Both were soothing. Both were sweet. And they both left you wanting more.
Yeah, she wanted more of Nash’s caresses across the back of her hand, of his arm around her shoulder, and those kisses to her hair. She really liked those because, unlike ice cream, they left her warm and tingly all over.
You’re paying him,her mind tapped through her coasting.
Warm and tingly sensations swept away. He was her employee and nothing more, and she’d do well to remember that instead of letting herself be swept into his arms. He certainly hadn’t forgotten. He’d even joked about how everyone was “buying their act.”
She tightened her hold on his hand. Was it so bad that she wanted to get every bit of her money’s worth out of their transaction?
One of Harrison’s lawyer friends had offered the use of his office for the reading of the will. As the executor of the estate, Harrison was in charge of making sure her father’s possessions were divided up according to his last will and testament. Harrison received compensation for his time—paid out of the estate—and the girls didn’t argue over who got what, so it was a win-win situation.
Hopefully the day would proceed as smoothly as Daddy had planned. If he was watching them now, she wanted him to be proud, and at peace, and to know that they loved him.
Harrison, in a charcoal-gray suit and stormy sea-blue shirt, eyed her and Nash’s clasped hands with a measure of distaste that was so small it would have been classified on a recipe card as a “pinch.”
Raquel and Lunette came in together. They’d taken the same car to each venue today. They were all supposed to ride in the same limo as per Dad’s instructions, but when Kenzi asked the driver to go around to the front of the house to pick them up, he’d explained that a second car had been ordered for her sisters. Rather than make a fuss, she’d rolled with the change. Lunette would love to ruffle her feathers. Not allowing Hattie to come to the funeral was bad enough. The child may be young, but she deserved to participate in saying goodbye to her beloved grandfather. Had it been Kenzi’s daughter … no, she didn’t need to go down that road.
“Thanks for coming, everyone.” Harrison slipped off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves as he explained that the house was in a trust owned by the three of them. If they wanted to sell the house, it would need to be a unanimous decision.
“I don’t want to sell.” Lunette leaned her elbow on the armrest and dared them all to contradict her. She managed the staff and oversaw the care of the surrounding acreage, for which she received a monthly stipend, which was her only source of income besides the trust fund.
With the additions to the home that allowed Kenzi and Raquel to live separately from their sisters and still be close to their niece, she had no desire to sell either. “I agree with Lunette.”
“Me too,” added Raquel quickly. Her toe bounced, and there was an air of eager anticipation about her that made Kenzi’s stomach curdle.
Harrison went on to divvy up the cars, the time shares and other properties, and their mother’s jewelry. There was a cash sum for each sister and some artwork that needed a home. He went over the charitable donations, categorized and coded. Once the personal side of things was taken care of, they shifted to the business, and Harrison explained the process of voting for the new CEO in painstaking detail.
Kenzi had already gone over all this with him, and she had to force her mind to concentrate on what was happening. Staying focused became all the more difficult as Raquel’s fidgeting increased.
“Does everyone understand?” Harrison asked.
Heads nodded.
Kenzi glanced at Nash, who prodded her with his eyes. He’d mentioned talking with Raquel and asking flat out what she would do with the company before taking the drastic measure of throwing him into the mix like a grenade.
He’d gone above and beyond the call of duty today—he kissed Grandma’s hand, for heaven’s sake—and she owed it to him to go for Plan A. And she’d promised.
Kenzi threw up a hand as if she were in school. Harrison’s eyebrows climbed his forehead. Feeling silly, she lowered her arm. “I need to talk to Raquel and Lunette in the hallway before we vote.”
Raquel huffed, blowing the dainty sweep of hair off her forehead. “Can’t this wait?”
“Sorry.” Kenzi stood and motioned toward the door. Raquel sashayed her way out of the room. She had so much of their mother’s Southern charm built into her DNA that it oozed out of her.
Lunette followed. The term “dragging her heels” could have been rephrased to “Lunette does something Kenzi asked.”
Once in the hallway, with the heavy wooden door shut between them and the guys, Kenzi said, “How are you two holding up?” Her question was greeted with blank stares.
Raquel cocked her hip and folded her arms—a defensive position that set Kenzi’s sister-warning alarms off. “Don’t pretend you all of a sudden care about how we’re doing. You’ve been so wrapped up in your love nest that you’ve hardly spoken to us today.”
Lunette licked her lips. “I can’t really blame her. If I had that hunk of yummy to snuggle up to, the last thing I’d be thinking about was my sisters … or my recently deceased dad.” She arched an eyebrow in defiance. “You could have waited until his body was in the ground before you moved on with your life.”
Kenzi jumped in. “I thought we had more—”
