Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I covered my mouth and laughed for the first time in days. “Oh my. She does look like that. Bad Botox injections, I guess.”
Jake smiled and pointed at my face. “There she is. My little Merry Berry. I knew she was under there somewhere.”
Only my brother could make me smile at a time like this. Though it didn’t last long. Heaviness seeped right back in. I sighed and shook my head. “I feel like I’m in a bad dream. And I just want to wake up already.”
“I can’t even imagine. You two were so happy. Once, when the four of us went out to dinner, Raylene yelled at me when we got home. She was mad because I didn’t look at her the way Connor looked at you.”
I frowned. “Things hadn’t been so great the last few months.”
“Really? You could’ve fooled me.”
Apparently, I’d been fooling everyone, myself included.
Jake leaned forward and took my hand. “Come stay with us. Raylene already made up the guest room. We don’t even have to go back to your place for the stupid reception dinner. We can just tell the driver to take us straight to Connecticut.”
“I wish I could. But Connor’s whole family is coming over, and half his team will probably show up. I can’t not be there.”
“How about tomorrow? I can drive into work instead of taking the train and scoop you up after?”
“I think I want to be home for a few days alone. I think I need that time to myself.”
Jake frowned but nodded. “Maybe over the weekend, then?”
“Sure. Maybe.”
“Now isn’t the time, but we also need to discuss some business. So even if you blow me off about coming to stay in Connecticut, which I have a feeling you will, we need to at least get together for lunch soon.”
I hesitated, my mind tripping over itself, working through the haze of the grief to try to understand what he meant. “What kind of business do we need to talk about?”
“I think we should do some planning, in case you’re sued by the family.”
I clutched my throat, which suddenly felt tight. “I haven’t even thought about a lawsuit.”
“And you don’t need to. That’s what I’m here for.”
My brother was a trust and estate lawyer at a big firm in Manhattan, but at the moment, that provided little comfort.
“When we probate the estate, there may be some assets we can shield from judgment, depending on how things are titled,” he said. “So we should go over how your assets are held and all of the details of Connor’s pension and life insurance.”
I shook my head. “I can’t think about any of that now.”
“We’ll see if you feel up to it in a few days. If not, we’ll have you sign some documents so I can handle it all on your behalf. I want to help, Mer.” He squeezed my hand and waited until I lifted my eyes to meet his. “I don’t know how to make you feel better, to take away the pain you’re going through. So let me at least take care of these things for you.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
The ride back to my apartment was quick. Since the limousines all left the cemetery at the same time, I didn’t get even a moment to myself when we arrived at my building. Connor’s parents and an aunt and uncle were already waiting out front, as was the catering van from the place where his mother had ordered all the food.
Over the next two hours, dozens of people came and went. One generic condolence rolled into another, and every time someone expressed how sorry they were for my loss, I felt like screaming that they should be sorry for the Wright family, not mine. Thankfully, the wine kept me from doing that. But when Connor’s mother started telling stories of how her son had volunteered at a soup kitchen in college, I was grateful the door buzzed again because I had reached my limit on how much I could take.
I opened the door to find two men who looked familiar, but I couldn’t place their faces. That had happened a lot today, especially since I didn’t know many of the operational people from the team, and several had come by.
“Dr. McCall?”
“Yes?”
The taller of the men pointed to himself. “I’m Detective Green.” He motioned to the other man. “And this is Detective Owens. We met at the hospital, the night of the accident.”
Oh God. How could I have not placed the faces? These men were with me at the worst moment of my life. “Oh, right. Hello. Thank you for coming by.” I thumbed behind me. “Would you… like to come in? We have plenty of food.”
Detective Green glanced over my shoulder into my packed apartment before waving me off. “No, thank you. We’re sorry to bother you when you have a house full of company, but we have some questions that really need to be answered.” He nodded toward the hall. “Maybe you could come outside and talk to us for a few moments, so we have some privacy? We won’t take too long.”