What You Wish For (21 page)

Read What You Wish For Online

Authors: Fern Michaels

BOOK: What You Wish For
11.21Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Helen leaned back into the depths of the chair. Boots was Isabel Tyger. In a million years she never would have guessed it. They'd gotten on so well. She'd shared her dreams for the future, her dark past, and all those growing-up years so long ago. Boots had understood. She'd been more than a counselor. She'd been a friend. A good friend. And she loved animals. The first question every night was how was Lucie. Or TTLS2, as she called her.
Why? Why had Isabel Tyger included her in her will? Would she ever know? She closed her eyes and thought about her benefactor's wealth and what it could mean to her if she accepted it. She could hire round-the-clock security guards to protect her from Daniel. She could move out of the country. She could sit in the sun drinking ice tea for the rest of her life. She could get manicures, pedicures, massages every day of the week. She could have someone cook for her, wait on her hand and foot. She could live the good life. If she wanted to.
All I want is my own life. I want Sam. I want to be on hand when he makes his last payment on his student loans. I want to be there when he throws away the beanbag chairs and buys a new chair. I want to go to bed with him at night, and I want to wake up next to him. I want to go to Round Valley fishing with him and the dogs. I want to keep up with Sassie Lassie. I want to do it on my own. I want to get married to Sam and have kids of my own.
“God, Boots, why? Didn't you trust me to keep secret that you were Isabel Tyger? I would never have betrayed that trust if you had told me. You didn't do me any favors, Boots. I don't know the first thing about being rich. The truth is, I don't want to be rich. I just want to be me, and to make my own way the best way I can. This is just too much for me to handle right now. It was you who told me once when you don't know what to do about something, do nothing.”
The dogs listened attentively to Helen's monologue. The moment she stopped muttering, they were nipping at her to take them outdoors.
Helen was too numb even to think about looking for her jacket. She moved jerkily, her arms and legs stiff and uncoordinated as she stood outside shivering in the cold as the dogs chased each other all over the garden. Her thoughts were so chaotic she finally gave up and stared off into space.
Indoors again, she sat down by the fire and tried to think, to rationalize her situation. She could be rich if she wanted to be rich. Who in her right mind would turn down an inheritance? Was it possible to disappear and elude Daniel? With an inheritance looming on the horizon, would he double his efforts to find her? Of course he would. He worshiped wealth and power, and that's exactly how he would view Isabel Tyger's bequest to her. Didn't Isabel know Daniel would have a claim on the inheritance since she'd never filed for divorce? How does a dead person file for divorce or collect on an inheritance? Maybe in legal circles it was considered a minor technicality.
Once more, her life was changing, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Sam would know what to do. Sam could look at something and a moment later come up with the pluses and minuses of any problem or statement.
I love you, Sam Tolliver.
“I brought you some tea,” Julia said, setting a tray on the coffee table. “You look flushed, Helen. Are you feeling all right?”
“My throat's a little scratchy and I'm achy. I think it was the way I slept last night. Did you hear anything about a vehicle? Do you have any aspirin?”
“We have lots of aspirin. No, I didn't hear anything yet. I expect we'll hear soon. Did you get over your fright of those two attorneys? I'm not going to pretend I don't know what's going on. I heard about your good fortune on the news. Congratulations!”
“That depends on your point of view. I told them I didn't want it. All I want is to get out of here and get my life back. I know I must sound like a broken record to you, but that inheritance means nothing to me. I don't think they can make me take it.”
“Mercy. I would certainly know what to do with something like that. Think of all the good you could do with that kind of money. You could feed all the homeless people, take care of all the wounded and sick animals no one wants, you could set up scholarships so young people can go to college. You could help more battered women. The list of good things you could do is endless. You don't have to
keep
the money for yourself if you don't want it. Think of all the children you could help. There are so many babies and children who need surgeries and are denied them for lack of funds. As I said, the list of things is endless. I'll get your aspirin.”
Helen sighed. The woman was right. Now she had something else to think about.
Julia returned with the three aspirin in a paper cup. Helen swallowed all three of them in one gulp. “Earlier, you called me Helen. Why?”
Julia smiled, her plump cheeks creating deep dimples. “You said it was your name. I think you've gone past what we can do for you. I understand where you're coming from. I really do. In a way, I envy you your courage and your guts. Sometimes I forget what my real name is. There are times when I want to go home so bad I cry. The feeling passes.” Her voice dropped to a careful whisper. “I think it's appalling they had you declared dead. It's so . . . so
extreme
. I'm not sure I could handle that either. It poses another question to me. The person . . . your husband . . . will he . . . ?”
“I know what you're trying to say and the answer is, I don't know. I'm not divorced. I'm dead. But I'm still married to him. My head feels so fuzzy I can't think.” “I can let you use my car, Helen, if they won't give you one. I think that's unlikely now that you are the heir to all of this. Don't those pumpkin pies smell wonderful?”
Helen sniffed. “I can't smell anything. Would you really give me your car?”
“Of course. I live here. I can use the van if I need it.”
“I have a Ford Explorer sitting in the garage at home. If you can think of a way to get it without being seen, it's yours. We can trade.”
“Helen, the best thing you can do is go to California. You'll be safe there. Wealth has its privileges. If you want to get your life back, then you need to go back to the beginning. Think about what we talked about and all the good you can do. This has been a terrible shock for you but I believe you can handle it. I think I see in you what Boots saw in you. Her motto hangs in the foyer. Persevere and you will prevail.”
Helen smiled. “It doesn't matter where you've been. What matters is where you're going and how you get there.”
Julia clapped her hands. “You got it. I'm going to bring you some fresh tea and I'm going to lace it with cognac. If you're coming down with something, you need to sweat it out.”
“Thanks.”
“Curl up and watch television. They're showing a rerun of
Dirty Dancing
. Everyone seems to like that movie. Don't think about anything until tomorrow. Wake up and start fresh is my motto. You rest and I'll get you some fresh tea.”
Where are you, Sam? What are you doing now? Do you miss us?
Totally unaware of the frenzied activity going on in her behalf, Helen snuggled with the dogs, chills racking her body as she dozed.
 
“I warned her, Artie. You heard me. You warned her, too, but she didn't listen. I knew it was all going to backfire. What should we do? We can't let the young woman swing in the wind because of Izzie's shortsightedness,” Gerry Davis said crossly.
“I say we call the airlines and bring her here. Or, I can send the company jet to pick her up. Tyger Toys has a jet, too. The way I see it, it's an either-or situation.”
“Artie, I don't think the young lady wants to return to California. When Julia called, she said all she wants is a vehicle. I knew this was going to happen. I told Izzie it was going to happen. The worst part is Helen doesn't want any part of the inheritance. Why didn't Izzie take that possibility into consideration? Tell me what we're going to do about that.”
“If Daniel Ward is in New Jersey, it can only mean he was successful in tracking Julia's e-mail from the shelter to Izzie and now he knows where it is. He probably knows where the other three shelters are, too. I curse the day you ever hired that lovesick nurse to take care of Izzie. What she did was unconscionable.”
“You don't have to rub it in, Artie. Izzie was not entirely blameless. She insisted Mona bring her all the e-mail while she was in the hospital: I don't think it would have occurred to Izzie that the nurse would betray her. The nurse's credentials were perfect. The nurses' registry is very reputable. Her résumé didn't say anything about not being able to fall in love. She was in love with that bastard or she never would have spied on Izzie the way she did.”
“We can't unring the bell,” Artie fumed. He continued to seethe as he exploded at Gerry. “Do you have any idea how many people's asses are going to go in a sling over this crap? You can't just go around declaring people dead. Doctors, regardless of what Izzie paid them, never should have signed a death certificate. We, Gerry, as in you and I, went along with this. We even helped Izzie make up phony letterheads with a bogus insurance agency so the mother could be paid off. I have nightmares about all of this, Gerry. We could end up in jail! Neither one of us would do well in prison garb.”
The old vet's voice turned quarrelsome. “Maybe we should go on a long, extended trip. Helen Ward is not going to want to return to California. She's in love, and the man she loves is where she is. We need to remember she isn't that battered, frightened woman she was when she first came to me. Right now I suspect she's one angry woman who thinks she can take on Daniel Ward and win. Hell, maybe she can. Izzie said she was mentally healthy and sound. I think that more than anything is what bothered Izzie. She wasn't expecting Helen to make such rapid progress. You remember Izzie and how she wasn't happy unless someone needed her. I say we okay the car and let the chips fall where they may. If she needs us, we're here. Don't even think about either one of us going to New Jersey. Another thing, Artie, both of us need to get off the sauce. Alcohol isn't our answer.”
“What about the mother?” Artie said, ignoring Gerry's statement and pouring two fingers of Scotch into one of Isabel's favorite cut-glass tumblers.
“What about her?” Gerry said sourly.
“Shouldn't someone tell her Helen
isn't
dead?”
“She didn't seem very interested when we told her she
was
dead. All she cared about was the insurance money. She didn't even bother to make a pretense of crying. She was a heartless, uncaring woman. Now you know why I prefer animals to people.”
“We're just going to sit here and do nothing!” Artie said, his voice full of outrage.
“What do you want to do, Arthur?”
“Well, Gerald, I think we should at least warn Helen that her husband knows the location of the shelter and if she's leaving she had best have a plan. I know Daniel Ward. He knows Helen is due to inherit Izz's estate. He's still her husband. He's entitled to half. The whole pie if something happens to Helen. I think Helen already figured that out and that's why she doesn't want the inheritance. If you'd get your snoot out of that bottle, you'd realize we need to do something.”
“We are doing something. We're talking about it.”
“We don't have a plan, Gerry. We need our own plan. We're reasonably intelligent men. We both went to college. I run a major corporation and you're the best damn vet in the state of California. Surely we can come up with something. Ideally, the best-case scenario would be to get Helen here. I say we call her and hear what she has to say. She might have a plan of her own. You know something else, we need to stop hanging out here at Isabel's house. We don't live here. We don't even belong here. Technically, we are breaking and entering. Helen Ward owns this house now. Okay, I'm going to call,” Artie said.
“Then stop talking about it and just do it,” Gerry said.
Five minutes later, Julia's sleepy voice could be heard on Isabel's speaker phone.
“This is Arthur King, Julia. I need to speak to Helen Ward. I know it's late, but this is important. We've given the okay for a vehicle for Helen if she still wants it after this conversation. I'll give you the details once I speak to Helen. I'll hold on, Julia.”
To Gerry he said, “She's going to wake Helen. Do you want to talk to her, or shall I do the talking? You probably know her better than I do. She rarely attended ComStar's functions. You helped her dog, so she'll probably be more receptive to you.”
Gerry blinked at the raspy-sounding voice. He mouthed the words,
she sounds sick.
“Helen, this is Gerry Davis. I'm sorry for waking you but Arthur King and I need to talk to you. We think your husband knows the location of the shelter. You're safe as long as you stay inside. If you leave, he's going to follow you. We would like you to come back here to California. Ideally, that would be the best situation. You are more than welcome to bring your young man with you. We understand you already have his dog. We can't force you to do anything you don't want to do. We did authorize a vehicle for you if you still want it.”

Other books

Marionette by T. B. Markinson
Adeline by Norah Vincent
Galgorithm by Aaron Karo
Deseo concedido by Megan Maxwell
Qui Pro Quo by Gesualdo Bufalino
Faith by Lyn Cote
The Dirty South by Alex Wheatle
The Pattern Scars by Caitlin Sweet