Aaron snorted derisively and muttered, “Sure. Whatever.”
The door opened and Ash Williamson walked in. Under his arm were several manila envelopes, and in his hands a tray upon which sat a carafe of coffee and six cups.
“Gentlemen,” Stone said. “This is my associate, Mr. Williamson.”
“Good afternoon,” Ash said as he set the tray on Stone’s desk.
“Good afternoon,” Ryan and Humphrey both said.
Aaron merely grunted.
Ash handed the envelopes to Stone, then poured coffee for each of the men. When he finished, he took a seat off to the side.
Aaron looked at his watch. “Can we start? It’s two o’clock already, and I have things to do.”
Stone gave him a tight-lipped smile and said, “Per yourfather’s instructions, all those named need to be in attendance before—”
The door opened again.
“Susan Vest,” Joan said.
Susan entered, looking as if she might turn back around and leave at any second.
Stone rose again and walked over to her. “I’m glad you could make it.”
“Sorry I’m late,” she said. “My taxi hit traffic on the way here.”
“You’re not late. You’re right on time.” Stone motioned toward the empty chair in front of his desk. “Come. You can sit there.”
With obvious reluctance, she took the seat next to Humphrey.
From the moment she’d entered the room, Aaron had stared at her as if wondering what rock she’d crawled out from under.
After she sat, he said, “So who the hell are you?”
“Aaron, this is your one and only warning,” Stone said. “If you can’t be civil, you’ll be asked to leave.”
“Whoisshe?”
“This is Susan Vest.”
“Never heard of her.”
Ignoring him, Stone said, “Susan, the gentleman next to you is Oliver Humphrey the Fifth, president of Oliver Humphrey College, and next to him are Aaron Sidney and Ryan Sidney, Trenton’s sons.”
Though Stone had told Susan that her half brothers would be there, her eyes still widened as he made the introductions.
“Hello,” Humphrey said.
Ryan gave her a small wave from the other end of the row. “Hi.”
Aaron looked impatiently at Stone. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get this going.”
Stone stared at him until Aaron finally looked away. He then extracted the will from a file folder.
“ ‘I, Trenton Charles Sidney, of New York, New York, being of sound mind…’ ”
Stone read out the rest of the preamble before getting to the heart of the document.
