LAYTON
The lawyer was waiting for me when I strode into his office at ten o’clock on the dot. He stood, a somber expression on his face as he shook my hand. “Layton, I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” I replied automatically, the same reply I’d been giving for days now.
Motioning me into one of the high back black leather chairs around the conference table in his office, he took his own seat at the head. There was a thick brown file lying on the table, with a smaller manila envelope on top.
“Your father left you this letter,” Clayton started, sliding the envelope off the file and handing it to me. I took it, but didn’t open it. “Would you like a moment of privacy to read it?”
I shook my head. I didn’t need to read it, especially not while sitting in this lawyer’s stuffy office. It was lined with books I would bet he hardly ever opened, and filled with oversize furniture. There were oil paintings on the walls. Not of dogs playing poker, but of birds in flight.
If I was ever going to read Dad’s letter, it would be somewhere more comfortable. Perhaps at home, after at least half a bottle of scotch and possibly nearer to the time of my own demise than I hoped I was at now.
No good could come from opening that letter. In all likelihood, it was only a letter left behind to talk about what I had—or should have—accomplished. I had no interest in opening it.
Maybe one day when I was old and retired I would feel differently. My life would have been lived my way then, despite whatever it was the letter said. If I read it now, I was probably going to end up living under the crushing weight of father’s disappointment for the rest of my life.
A bit of a waste, since I wasn’t doing badly at the moment. I enjoyed what I had and I had what I enjoyed. A nice car, a comfortable apartment.
My architecture firm was taking off big time. We’d been gearing up for the projects we had now for years. At thirty, I finally felt like it was my time to really fly. My dues had been paid and now I was ready to live my life.
Preferably without Dad’s final words to haunt me for the rest it. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like us to continue. I need to get back to the office.”
Clayton nodded, even if he did look mildly surprised. Undoubtedly, he had been expecting waterworks, me weeping over the last words my dad would ever give me. If that was what he wanted, he was going to have to look elsewhere, he wasn’t getting that from me.
Sitting back in his chair, he pulled the brown file closer and opened its cover. The file had to contain more than Dad’s will, but I could see the lawyer had placed it on top. I could make out the first line on the top page. It read ‘Final Will and Testament of Jeffrey Arthur Bridges.’
A chill ran down my spine. I had known, or assumed rather, that I would see those words one day. It was the nature of life after all, a child outliving his parents. I just didn’t know it would happen this soon.
I was only thirty, and Dad had only been fifty-eight. Both of us assumed this day was further in the future than it ended up being. A tremble passed through my hands, but I clenched them into fists. There was never a time to show weakness, not even now. I had remained impassive during the funeral. I would bite back everything I felt and do the same now, as was the way of the Bridges men.
If there was ever a time Dad would’ve been proud of me, it would have been now. Then again, probably not. He would simply say that this was how he raised me to be, and walk away.
Flexing my jaw, I nodded at the lawyer to continue. Gingerly, he opened the will to the first page. “I’ve reviewed this document. It was witnessed in this very office and has been kept under lock and key ever since. However, if you wish to contest it, I can’t stop you.”
“I understand.” I also understood he probably had to say those words, and that others found them reassuring, but I really wished he would get on with it.
“As you know, you are your father’s only surviving family member. He has left his personal fortune to you, Layton.”
I nodded, the numbness I’d felt earlier, now spreading and doubling in strength. I couldn’t think of a single word to say, so I kept quiet and waited for him to continue. “There is, however, one stipulation to your inheritance.”
A stipulation? I frowned. Whatever it was, I could handle it. “Okay.”
“The condition upon which your inheritance rests is that you must hire your father’s accounting manager. I have her details for you, they’re in the papers you have to sign accepting the inheritance and the condition on which it is dependent.”
I had to hire his accounting manager? Billions of dollars bequeathed to me on the condition I hired some woman? A part of me wondered if this was the final stab, one he was delivering from the grave. If it was, I didn’t get it.
Brushing the thought aside, I reached for the fountain pen I kept in my pocket. It didn’t matter who the woman was or why he wanted me to hire her. I wanted to sign these papers and get this over with.
If I had any hope of actually starting to process the fact that he was gone and that I was going to have to live the rest of my life without him, I needed to get the legalities and the formalities behind me. Lifting up the pen, I didn’t ask any questions about the woman. “Where do I sign?”
Clayton laid out several documents on the table, turned them and slid them across the polished wooden table to me. “There.”
Tabs had been stuck on various pages, I read them quickly and scribbled my signature beside the tab at the bottom of each one. When I was done, I handed the papers back to the lawyer and hauled ass out of there.
Back in my car, I took several deep breaths and watched the usual morning traffic pass me by. What had struck me these last couple of weeks was how life just seemed to carry on. Despite everything my dad had done, the articles and the aeronautical advancements he made, people went about their daily lives as though nothing had changed.
Pulling on the latch to open my glove box, I slipped Dad’s letter inside. I was intent on joining those people and carrying on with my daily life.
MARISSA“Look Mommy, I can make snow angels!” Annie called out excitedly. She flung her little body onto the ground and started demonstrating before I could say a word about it.Luckily, she had the hood up on her coat and unless she went completely crazy, she wouldn’t get her clothes beneath it wet. “I see, baby. Well done! That’s a perfect snow angel.”She beamed up at me, rolling over to repeat her movements on an untouched patch of grass next to the first angel. I laughed, happy that I was getting to see how much she enjoyed the snow.Denise, Annie and I had decided to take a walk in one of Boston’s massive parks after a light snow had fallen. Snow was still a novelty to Annie and if I were being completely honest with myself, it made me feel slightly excited too.“You guys have been here nearly a year, you’d think she’d be used to the snow by now,” Denise commented, smiling as she watched Annie’s antics on the ground.“Nah, we arrived toward the end of winter last year. She didn’
Marissa Unlike most, Denise didn’t nod in understanding and move on to the next topic. Her head tilted slightly to the side, her eyes locked on mine. “That’s it?”I nodded. “That’s it.”She didn’t look away. “Then why do I sense that there’s more to the story than that lame answer?”Making sure Annie was out of earshot, I spotted her carefully maneuvering her way along the low crossbars. If she slipped, the ground was no more than an inch below her feet. Satisfied that she was both safe and couldn’t overhear us, I replied to Denise.“Probably because there is more,” I told her honestly.As much as I had always dodged the question before, I knew it was time I told Denise everything. She asked, and I wouldn’t lie to her outright. Telling her anything other than the truth now would be lying, and I didn’t want to do that to Denise. She didn’t deserve to be lied to, least of all by me.I was about to tell her the rest of the story that she had correctly sensed there was, but before I coul
LAYTONMonday came too soon, just like it always did. It didn’t matter too much to me, since I spent the weekend catching up on work anyway. It would have been nice if the weekend had been a day or two longer, though. I could have used more quiet time to catch up.The office was best for me when there weren’t a lot of people around. Fewer interruptions, and fewer other things requiring my immediate attention. When I hired all those people on, I thought getting them to do some of the jobs I had been doing when I was still alone in the firm would lessen my workload, and it had, but only by so much. I still had to sign off and give the final say about most things.I wouldn’t complain about it, though. It meant business was good, and since I’d spent my life focused on building up the business, it meant life was good.The morning passed by quickly, in a haze of pencil lines and paperwork. I was relieved and satisfied to see the number of new projects we were being requested to take on for
LaytonShrugging, I shook my head. “I don’t know. All Clayton Reeve told me was that the only condition placed on my receiving the inheritance was hiring her.”A deep line appeared between his slightly bushy eyebrows. “That’s pretty weird, but it’s a good deal, I think. Hire some woman and get the inheritance?”“Yeah, it’s a good deal,” I agreed. I didn’t have exact figures yet, since I hadn’t gone through the paperwork Reeve sent over, but it was a safe bet that her lifetime salary would be a drop in the bucket of what I stood to inherit. “I’m interviewing her soon. I didn’t want to make the offer flat out without even having met her.”“Good thinking,” he said. “I get it, but just think carefully, okay?”“Will do.” At that moment, there was another knock at the door. Before I could invite her in, a woman swept into my office. I wasn’t used to people coming in before I told them to, but I bit back any comment because this had to be her.A quick glance at the antique clock above my doo
MARISSAThe last thing I expected walking into the interview this morning was to find a guy who looked like this one sitting across from me. I mean, wow. How any of the women in this office got anything done with a boss who looked like him was beyond me.Granted, my last boss was older, so I didn’t have much experience working with men around my age, but this one was bound to make it harder to concentrate for anyone with a pulse and even the vaguest interest in men.He was nothing short of gorgeous, and having seen how hot his eyes grew when he was looking me over when I walked in, I was feeling way more aroused than an interview had the right to make me feel.As inconvenient as my arousal was, I could hardly blame myself. It had been a long time since I’d noticed a man the way I noticed him, the way that made me feel less like a mom and more like a woman. A woman with needs my trusty vibrator didn’t always fulfill as well as it could have.This man looked like he could fulfill those
MarissaThe flush spread from my cheeks down to my neck. I fought the urge to pull the collar of my dress away from the hot skin there. “I’ve been told I can talk an Eskimo into buying ice, and a man in the desert into giving me his last bottle of water.”“Jeffrey told you the latter, didn’t he?” Layton guessed. There was something in his eyes I couldn’t quite place. It had to be sadness. His father had been strict and firm, but fair.I hadn’t been exaggerating when I said I learned a lot from him. He was a good man to work for. A mentor to me, in a way. Losing him as a father must have been a thousand times more painful than losing him as an employer and mentor.I nodded, a fond smile curling on my lips as I remembered the day Jeffrey told me I would be able to talk a man in the desert into giving me his last water. We’d been going over the numbers of a project a large company wanted to commission him for.He wasn’t sure if the work would be worth the money. I told him I would try to
LAYTONLate the next Friday afternoon, I rubbed my tired eyes and looked over a three dimensional mock-up of one of my upcoming projects on my computer at the office. There was something not quite right about it, but I was having trouble putting my finger on what, exactly, was off.“Come on, man. Concentrate,” I muttered, squinting my eyes as I titled the image this way and that. Any minute now, I would see what was bothering me. Nothing jumped out, but I was sure it would soon. I just had to keep going.I was concentrating so hard, I didn’t notice there was someone else in my office until I heard the soft scrape of a chair against my laminate flooring. My head snapped toward the sound. I sighed internally when I saw who it was.Marissa.Of course. She was the only one who just walked into my office. No knocking, no waiting for me to call her in. It was an aggravating habit she had, but I didn’t show my aggravation.No good could come of it. She just wasn’t like the other people here.
LAYTON“I came to check in on that project we’re starting next week. I want to start ordering materials first thing Monday morning with your guys, but I need to know what’s happening with the budget and all that. Overspending on the first day of a project is always a tough fix.”I nodded my agreement, glancing at the file on my desk. “Marissa just brought me the latest numbers she ran. I haven’t looked them over yet, but I’ll do it when you leave. You’ll have the final stuff before you start going to the suppliers on Monday.”“Good man,” Craig said, before frowning. “Who’s Marissa? Oh. The new girl. Your dad’s hire, right?“Yup,” I confirmed.“How’s that working out?” Leaning forward, he’d asked with genuine interest.As my closest friend, he was the only person I would talk to about this. Anyone else, I would’ve told them she was doing fine and left it at that. And she was doing fine so far.It wouldn’t have been a lie, not that I was above lying if circumstances warranted. It just w