Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Susanne had hooted as she wrote out the reasoning in her flawless penmanship. Because back then, she’d had all her usual fine motor control, the disease that had stolen her life too soon not yet visible on the surface. “There’s a reason you’re my lawyer, Connelly,” she’d said. “You understand petty.”
“ ‘To my niece, Grace,’ ” Connelly read past the unexpected lump in his throat, “ ‘I leave my diamond wedding set and my emerald necklace.’ ”
Grace sobbed. “Oh, I always said I’d borrow those for my engagement and wedding. She remembered.” More tears. “I’ll cherish them, save them for my own children. They’ll be precious heirlooms.”
“ ‘Also to Grace, I leave the sum of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, plus another fifty thousand dollars. The hundred and fifty thousand is in special thanks for Grace stepping in as my nurse during my decline, since she refused to accept the generous salary I offered her at the time.’ ”
Again, words written so Harold couldn’t challenge them.
Grace was sniffing into her tissue, far more overcome by grief than her apoplectic cousin. While she wasn’t thinking about the value of the jewelry Sue had bequeathed her, Connelly had no doubt that Harold had done the sums and figured out that Grace had just inherited well over half a million dollars.
“ ‘And to my dear friend Tavish Advani,’ ” Connelly read, “ ‘I leave a sum of ten thousand dollars for his friendship in my darkest hour.’ ”
Harold, who’d fisted his hands on his thighs, suddenly had a smug smile on his face. Tavish said nothing. Clever boy. No reason for the others to know that Sue had made her main bequest to him while she was still alive: the purchase of a condo in his name, free and clear, right on Venice Beach.
There’d been a transfer of money, too, to ensure he could live well in that location.
“I’m not being a foolish old woman, Connelly,” she’d said with the ease of long acquaintance. “He’s made my final years a sheer delight. Family helps because of obligation, but he’s spent time with me because he enjoys me as I enjoy him. I do this of my own free will—I want to give him the same joy he’s given me.”
Connelly had offered her what advice he could, but he had to admit he’d been impressed by what she’d told him of the young man’s actions. Though Susanne had refused to permit Tavish Advani to act the nurse, he’d sat by her bedside during the worst times, and read to her.
“Rollicking romances and no skipping the sexy bits,” she’d said with her wicked smile. “He’s made me laugh over and over, and for that I can never repay him.”
Now Connelly completed reading the rest of her will. “There are no bequests to her domestic or other staff, as she preferred to give those to them before her death.”
“She would.” Cici’s smile was thick with affection and memory. “Would want to be sure they were treated well.”
“As for the remainder of her estate, that she has bequeathed to a charitable trust that helps provide a way to live in dignity for those suffering with cancer, who—in her words—‘do not have the kind of resources I had in my life.’ ”
That done, Connelly answered any questions, then farewelled the group. He’d just finished tidying his papers and was rising to fetch himself a cup of coffee when he happened to pass by a window that looked down on the square outside his office.
Tavish Advani was standing there with a crying Grace. His expression was solemn, the hand he had on her lower back comforting but respectful. Grace leaned into him, her body crumpling.
The tall and strong young man absorbed her weight without impact.
Connelly frowned…and wondered if Harold wasn’t the only one who’d done the math on Grace’s new financial status. Not only was Grace now rich by most standards, but she was also nearing forty, was single, and had nothing of Sue’s confidence.
All it would take were a few kind words and a smile from handsome Tavish Advani, and she’d fall like ripe fruit into his hands.
Chapter 35
My hand clenched on the verandah railing, the night balmy around me and the air heavy with a scent I couldn’t quite identify. It wasn’t the ocean, was thicker, sweeter than the salt-laced whispers I caught when the wind turned.
But Bobby sahib, oh, he could talk and talk—and that Shumi, she thought he was better than a movie star. The girl would’ve parroted anything Bobby told her to say.
How could Shumi have lived with herself all this time knowing that she’d put the blame on Diya’s innocent head? Even more so when Diya loved her so much, saw her as her best friend? How could Shumi have protected Bobby after he’d done a thing so vicious that it was beyond comprehension?