“You too, honey. You in town doing some family research?”
“I’m just taking a little break from work.”
“Well, where better than the Blue Ridge Mountains? It’s so lovely here in the summer.” She pushed up her glasses. “So, I brought up the records from 1986–1989. Paul preceded Dorothy in death, and she passed in ’86, so I think it would’ve been out of probate by ’87.”
The phone rang in the office.
“Excuse me,” Connie said. “You can just look through those—they should be in alphabetical order.”
“Thanks, Connie.” Levi took a seat next to Mia while the clerk went to answer the phone. “Sounds like we should start with ’87.”
Mia opened the large binder, setting it between them. The musty smell of the basement clung to the hundreds of papers filed inside. They were organized by month, then alphabetical order.
“April,” Levi said after a few minutes of browsing. He pulled a file. “Here it is. Dorothy Livingston.”
Mia made room on the table. There were several documents in the file, but it only took a moment to locate the will.
“It’s pretty thick.” Levi began reading, and a moment later he said, “It doesn’t look like the legalese was any clearer back then than it is now.”
“Will she let us take it?”
“I can make you a copy.” Connie was already bustling back into the room. “Will that work?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Levi said. “Thank you.”
Ten minutes later they were walking out with a copy of the will.
“Bye, y’all,” Connie said. “Tell Molly it was great seeing her at book club.”
“Will do,” Levi said.
“And tell her to bring that boyfriend of hers next time.”
“I’ll tell her. Take care now.”
When they reached the car they got in, Levi storing the crutches in the back seat.
“I don’t think she recognized you,” Levi said a minute later as he pulled out onto the street.
“Me neither.” Traffic was light. The sun glistened brightly off the lake, and the marina’s slots were filled with boats of all shapes and sizes.
Mia looked at the papers sitting on the console. She was dying to get at that document. She reached for it.
Levi snatched it up, his eyes still on the road. “Oh no, you don’t. We’ll read it together once we get home.”
She huffed, half impatient, half amused. “You are bossy. I’m the one who brought this whole thing to your attention.”
“And I’m the one who tracked down the will.”
“Only because I asked you to.”
“Well, it’s my necklace—or might be.”
Mia chuckled at the stubborn set of his chin. “And I’m sure it’ll look very nice on you.”
He gave her a droll look, but his lips were trying to smile. “I know just the outfit I’ll wear it with.”
The thought of that necklace around his very masculine neck made her laugh. “You wouldn’t be caught dead in that thing.”
