‘Ellie, if the grandson I raised and adored has failed to carry out my wishes, my sincerest apologies. Maybe the big city has changed him for the worst, and he no longer puts stock in an old man’s wishes. I hope you find someone with a heart as pure as yours to love and cherish you the way you deserve. And forgive me for not keeping my word. I guess my grandson didn’t love me as much as I hoped.’
Dammit, gramps, the old reprobate sure knew how to work me. How could I forget? Had he threatened me with his billions, I would’ve left that shit sitting in probate waiting to be claimed, but he questioned my love for him, something, the only thing in my life, that is without blemish. He knew, had to have known that I’d cave.
“Here’s a letter he left to be opened upon his death.” I took the letter from the lawyer and stood to go. “Is that it?” I already had pretty much everything stipulated in the will under control. I’ve been running the business pretty much on my own since the old man moved back from the big city to his childhood home in Whispering Hollow.
The small enclave was little more than a postage stamp in size but seemed to hold the old man enthralled, especially in his golden years. Once I’d got settled at the company he’d started half a century ago, it was just the catalyst he needed to hang it all up and head back to the peace and quiet of his hometown.
As for me, I need the hustle and bustle of the city to feel truly alive.
The city is where I find fast-paced business deals and even faster women, which is just the way I like them. I abhor the duplicity of women who pretend to be something they’re not. Not an honest bone in any one of them. Like this one. “Come on, let’s go.” I don’t know what made me do it, but I reached for her hand and regretted it almost immediately.
Some strange feeling ran up my arm and into my chest, stopping me in my tracks. I’d felt the sensation or something like it just a few days ago, in the hospital room when gramps had taken his last breath. I dropped her hand, and the feeling left almost immediately, but in my mind, I saw her as I had that day as she stood in the doorway, with that strange light surrounding her. The vision slowly faded, leaving behind a feeling of longing.
I left the driver to help her into the car while I walked around to my side and climbed in. It struck me then that she’d barely said two words since I came here. For some reason, her silence grated on my damn nerves, and I tore into the letter for something to do.
‘Hello, my boy, my one true great accomplishment. I’m sorry to have left you alone in the world like this. Now you have no one left, but I have left you a gift I hope you will accept, though I have my own selfish reasons for doing so. I know the misunderstandings you have where Ellie is concerned, but I beg you to trust me.
You wouldn’t listen when I tried to explain before, and I doubt my words now would convince you, but if you carry out this old man’s wishes, in time, you will come to see how wrong you are about her. She’s the niece of a dear friend, someone I once failed to protect. I hope that through you, I can make amends. That friend is long gone now, but just as I feel for you, she once felt for Ellie. My dying wish is that you will take care of her now, as she too has been left alone in the world.
One last thing, it will please me immensely if you’d spend the next three months here in the house. I wish you’d slow down some and not fall into the same trap as I. We have enough money that my grandson, my only flesh and blood, could take a break and enjoy the fruits of my labor. The fruits that your father never got the chance to.’
Why would he remind me of that now if he wanted me to take care of this one? I looked over at her sitting across from me like a stone statue, eyes hidden behind the shades that were too big for her face that seemed to have grown thinner in the last few days. No doubt she’s worried about her future. The old man hadn’t left her a dime. I wanted to gloat at that fact, but once again, I heard him in my head telling me to behave.