"And," Cole said, "he didn't."
Jergen smiled with gratitude. "Exactly. These papers tell the story. A few months ago, Ted sold the bank and the realty company. He'd already disposed of the construction firm. He used an attorney from Atlanta-I suppose he didn't want anyone here to know the gravity of the situation. He put what he had left into the startup of a cutting-edge technology firm. I'm sure he thought he'd make a complete financial recovery, had things gone well, but..." The attorney shrugged.
"But..." Faith moistened her lips. "But he said he was setting up a trust..."
"Yes. Well, I'm afraid he never got around to that, Mrs. Cameron."
She felt behind her for a chair and sank into it. She was numb.
"One asset, however, remains. The house. Mr. Cameron never touched it. It's free and clear."
The house. That big, drafty box where she'd never felt at home.
"It's a valuable property..."
Jergen kept talking. She heard the words "your inheritance" and "something of a surprise," but she wasn't really paying attention. The house was a valuable property. Those were the words echoing in her head, and suddenly she knew what to do. The chair squealed in protest as she pushed it back and got to her feet.
"Sell it," she said briskly. "Put the house on the market as soon as..."
Her words trickled to silence. Jergen's face had gone blank. And Cole--Cole was smiling. Warning bells rang in her head. "What?" she said, looking from one man to the other. "Have I missed something? Mr. Jergen? Is there a reason I can't put the house on the market?"
"Mrs. Cameron." Jergen hesitated. "Mrs. Cameron," he said again and for the first time, she thought that he almost sounded human. "My dear young woman..."
"Never mind, Sam." Cole stepped past the lawyer. "I'll tell her."
"Tell me what?" Faith said uncertainly.
He smiled, reached out and touched her cheek with his hand. Despite the panic fluttering like crazed butterflies in her stomach, some small part of her registered the feel of his skin against hers and she caught her breath, stunned at how electrifying the sensation was.
"Don't!" She caught his wrist, jerked his hand away. "Tell me what?" she said again, and his smile tilted.
"You can't sell Cameron House, Faith."
"Why not? Is it because of probate? I thought the will had"
"It has nothing to do with probate. I guess you weren't paying attention when old Sam, here, explained the facts of life." Cole's smile became an outright grin. "Stop counting those dollar signs, baby. Ted left the house to me."
Faith took a steadying breath as she pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto Main Street.
"Would you like some water?" Jergen had asked her, after Cole's incredible announcement.
"No," she'd replied, "no, I'm fine."
Fine enough to exchange a few more sentences and then walk from the conference room, through the office, out of the building and into the hot, hot sun that did nothing to stop the chill that crept through her as she began seeing just how precarious her situation was.
Ted had talked about setting up a trust for Peter, but he hadn't. He'd left his money to her, instead, but he'd lost it all. Nothing remained but Cameron House... and he'd willed that to Cole.
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel.
Whatever Ted had done with his money and his home was his affair. That was how she'd wanted it. All she'd ever let him give her was the Cameron name, and she'd done that for her son. Nobody could take away Peter's legitimacy. Not ever, but now she was a woman with a young son who'd have no roof over his head two days from now.
"When do you want me out of the house?" she'd asked Cole.
"Yesterday," he'd replied politely. "But I suppose the end of the month will have to do."
And she'd said, "Fine," as if it didn't matter.
What a stupid thing to have done. She'd been so busy trying not to let the terror of what was happening show that she'd been incapable of thinking straight. Everything was a mess and she'd only made things worse by being angry, not just at Cole for his smugness or Sam Jergen for the way he'd toadied up to him, but at Ted, too. Okay, that was wrong but, dammit, how could he have let this happen? If only he'd put the money in trust for Peter, instead of leaving it for her. If only he hadn't gone crazy in the stock market.
"If only pigs could fly," she whispered, and gave a laugh that sounded sad, even to her.
What was she going to tell Peter? The last couple of weeks, they'd played a kind of game. She'd started it to put a smile on his face but the truth was, it had become as important to her as to him.