Woodlands (28 page)

Leah noticed Seth was in his PDS uniform, and she guessed he was slipping this meeting in between deliveries. She also noticed he looked extremely tired.

“Here you are, Ms. Hudson,” Collin said, handing her a cold bottle of sparkling mineral water. “May I bring you anything, Mr. Edwards?”

Seth held up his hand. “I’m fine.” He smiled warmly at Leah but then sat in one of the wingback chairs, leaving Leah alone on the couch and feeling deserted.

“Let’s get down to business,” Radcliffe Senior said. He began to read through the papers in the file. It all sounded like blurry double-talk to Leah. When he finished the first page, Radcliffe Senior looked up and said, “Are you with me so far?”

Leah glanced at Seth and then back at Radcliffe Senior. “I’m sorry, but I’m not catching a lot of this. Would it be possible for us to follow along on copies of what you’re reading?” Leah navigated complicated lab reports and monstrous stacks of insurance forms on a regular basis, but she always had the words to look at, not just listen to.

“I would like that as well,” Seth said.

“Basically, I just read you some of the preliminary information with respect to the estate of Franklin R. Madison,” Radcliffe Senior said. “In an effort to save time, perhaps you
would allow me to continue. Andrea has prepared copies, and she will present them to you before you leave.”

“But if the copies are already prepared,” Leah stated, “I don’t see why—”

“Actually, Dad,” Collin interrupted. He leaned forward and granted Leah a gracious expression of apology for cutting her off. “I think we can tell these two the bottom-line of the will. We’re among friends here.”

Radcliffe Senior looked at his son with startled disfavor. It appeared he was a man of the old school who always went by the book, line by line.

Without waiting for his father’s blessing, Collin said, “Leah, you are to receive the contents of Franklin’s safe-deposit box, which has been kept sealed at the bank. Mr. Edwards, you are to receive the rest of Franklin’s estate, which includes his house, fifty acres of woodlands, and $250,000 in treasury bills.”

Leah turned to Seth. He looked as if he was in shock. She couldn’t blame him. Fifty acres, a house, and a quarter of a million dollars was quite a fortune, especially when no one suspected Franklin still had such holdings.

“However,” Collin continued, his voice going up a notch in volume. “There is one stipulation. Franklin Madison made it clear when he changed his will earlier this month, that the only way Mr. Edwards could receive his inheritance was under one condition.”

Seth seemed to have lost his voice, but Collin was pausing and dramatically waiting for the inevitable question.

Leah jumped in. “What condition?”

Collin stood and turned to his father, as if inviting Radcliffe Senior the privilege of delivering the punch line. It seemed as if the two lawyers had choreographed the meeting to elicit the maximum shock from Seth and Leah.

“The condition,” Radcliffe Senior began, “simply put, is that you, Seth Edwards, must legally marry Leah Hudson before the property, house, and funds are transferred to your name.”

L
eah and Seth exchanged stunned glances.

“The estate will be held in trust for a year,” Collin explained. “If, at the end of that time, you and Ms. Hudson are not legally married, the entire estate will be donated to the Glenbrooke Historical Society.”

Leah couldn’t move.
What was Franklin thinking? Why would he make such a condition? Did the old fox even consider that he was making plans for other people and controlling their lives without including them in the decision?

“Leah, are you all right?” The voice was coming from Seth, but it sounded far away.

She turned and saw he was still in the chair, less than three feet from her. “Yes. Are you okay?”

Seth nodded. “Did you know about any of this?”

“No, I had no idea.”

“This is the first I’ve heard any of this,” Seth said.

“That’s how Franklin wanted it,” Radcliffe Senior said. “You’ll find all the details in the document, Mr. Edwards. Andrea has prepared a copy for you. Now you can see why I didn’t want you looking at the papers until after we had a chance to go over them with you.”

“Thank you,” Seth said with a nod. He was still looking at Leah. His face had turned pale. With his right hand he kept rubbing his jaw line.

“Do you have any questions?” Radcliffe Senior asked.

“A dozen,” Seth answered numbly. “But perhaps I should read the papers for myself and then set up another appointment with you.”

“That would be fine. Andrea can make the appointment for you.”

Radcliffe Senior stood next to Collin, who was still standing from when he rose to make the shocking announcement. It appeared that Leah and Seth were being dismissed.

Seth caught the cue and stood. Leah rose as well, but Collin stepped closer to her and said, “I wonder if you might stay a few more minutes, Leah. We need to give you the key to the safe-deposit box and discuss a few other items.”

“All right.”

“I’ll see you later,” Seth said, walking slowly to the door. “I’ll call you.”

“Okay,” Leah said, trying hard to give him a smile. It seemed all her smiles were buried under an avalanche of stunned emotions. The best she could offer was a simple raised hand in a parting wave.

Seth exited the office, and Radcliffe Senior followed him out, closing the door behind him. Collin sat down and leaned forward, as if he were about to offer Leah confidential information.
“Perhaps you realize that Franklin Madison listed you in his will many years ago.”

Leah shook her head and began to speak quickly, as if she had to defend herself. “No, I didn’t know. We never talked about it. I never expected anything. To be honest, I was convinced he didn’t own anything besides his house. I had no idea about the treasury bills or the property.”

“He did in fact own some property,” Collin said.

“Where is the property? Here in Glenbrooke? Is it from Cameron Madison’s original landholdings? Because Seth thought Franklin might still own land, but I didn’t think so.”

Leah noticed that Collin’s eyebrows rose on her last statement. “What else did Mr. Edwards have to say about Franklin’s estate?”

“Nothing.” Leah felt the need to slow down and watch her words. “I’m sure Seth is just as shocked as I am that Franklin had so much.”

“Leah,” Collin leaned toward her and rubbed his hands together. “This is what I wanted to discuss with you the other day. You see, I don’t think you realize it, but all of this was in your name in Franklin’s will until a few short weeks ago.”

“In my name?”

“After Naomi passed away, Franklin changed his will. We have all the paperwork in his file. He willed everything he had to you.”

“But why?”

“I asked my father, and he said Franklin’s reasons were private. We may never know. Or perhaps the safe-deposit box holds an explanation for you. Regardless of the reason, for nearly twenty years, you were heir to his entire estate. Don’t you agree that it’s suspicious that a distant nephew would come into town and suddenly the will is changed?”

Leah wasn’t ready to accuse Seth of anything. “Were you the one who went to Franklin’s house two weeks ago to change his will?”

“No, unfortunately, my father was out of town. Franklin met with my father’s partner, Mr. Sloane. Their meeting was strictly professional with no explanations given. Franklin might have offered more of an explanation if my father had been the lawyer he was working with since the two of them had known each other for so long. I thought you might have some insight because I don’t understand why everything was changed to Seth’s name.”

“I think that should be obvious,” Leah said. “He’s a relative. Franklin liked him. Seth has very little. He would benefit greatly from such an inheritance.”

Collin looked at Leah, his eyes level with hers. “And you don’t find this a bit suspicious?”

“No.”

“Don’t you see that all this would have been yours?”

Leah shrugged. It hadn’t sunk in yet, but she didn’t see why this was such a big issue. Leah was more eager to receive the key and get out of there so she could find out what was in the safe-deposit box.

“I’d like to represent you in this case,” Collin said, reaching into his suit coat pocket to pull out one of his business cards.

“I have several of your cards, Collin,” Leah said impatiently. “And I don’t have a case.”

“Oh, but you do, Leah. If we can prove that Seth influenced Franklin unduly to change his will, or if we can prove that Franklin wasn’t in his right mind when he made the change, then the estate will revert back to you.”

“But I don’t want Franklin’s estate!”

Collin leaned back in the chair and pressed his fingers
together. He drew the index fingers to his lips as if in deep contemplation.

Leah rose to her feet and said, “If that’s all, I think I should get back to work.”

Collin rose and looked down on Leah. His voice was calm. “I apologize, Leah. This is what I was making reference to on Saturday. You’re not like other women, and I’m approaching this the wrong way. Would you be so kind as to sit for just another moment? I feel there’s something important for you to know.”

Leah sat down but not very quickly.

Collin took a seat next to Leah on the couch. He seemed to be searching for the right words. When he met her gaze, his expression was sincere and concerned. “Leah, you know me. I’m from here. You were with me when I fell off the boulders at Heather Creek and broke my arm.”

“That’s right,” Leah said, a smile creeping across her lips. “We went fishing together that one time.”

Collin nodded and smiled. He seemed pleased finally to have initiated a shared memory that brought a smile to Leah’s face. “We were fishing for frogs,” Collin corrected her. “The creek was thick with them that year, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. I got in trouble for leaving my dad’s bucket at the creek when I took off on my bike to go for help. Do you remember how I told you to stay there and put your feet up?”

Collin chuckled.

“I don’t know where I got the idea that if you thought your arm was broken you should raise your feet. How old were we? Nine?”

“At least nine. Maybe ten.”

“I’d forgotten all about that,” Leah said.

“It was a little harder for me to forget,” Collin said, leaning forward. “This is exactly the point I wanted to make, Leah. We
go back quite a few years. I trusted you to go for help that day, and now I’m asking you to trust me. I can help you with this.”

Leah felt herself calming. It was easy to melt into the softness of the leather couch under Collin’s dark gaze.

“I didn’t want to have to disclose this to you,” Collin continued, “but it seems the only way to help you understand. We have reason to believe that Seth Edwards is, for lack of a better word, an opportunist. We ran a check on him last week, and I’m afraid the results weren’t very promising.” Collin reached for the file he had left on the coffee table. He opened it to the first page and showed it to Leah.

The paper was a credit report showing that Seth Edwards had filed bankruptcy and backed out of almost $30,000 in credit card debt.

“But he was in Costa Rica for the last four years.”

“Are you sure?”

Leah thought quickly. She didn’t have any proof. The melanoma and the tan skin were the closest she could come to proving he had been in the tropics.

“This paper details his police record with the Colorado police. As you can see, it’s for possession of illegal drugs.”

“Police record? Colorado? Collin, you must have the wrong Seth Edwards. Where did you get this information?”

“From a very reliable service we’ve used for years.” Collin closed the file. “I see I don’t have to subject you to the rest of the information listed here. The question for you is whether you truly know Seth Edwards or not. Is he reliable? Has he been telling you the truth?”

Leah sat back in stunned silence.

“Let me help you consider the facts,” Collin said. “As a friend. You’ve only known Seth Edwards for a few weeks. I’m sure he’s told you exactly what he wanted you to believe. As I see it, he’ll be eager to marry you, but once the estate is his,
Franklin added no provision for cancellation on any grounds. In other words, Seth could very well marry you, take everything, and disappear.”

Collin reached over and took Leah’s hand in his. “We go way back, Leah. I would hate to see any man do that to you. Especially if one of the most precious treasures he takes with him is your heart.”

Leah needed air. She couldn’t breath. She couldn’t think. Pulling her hand away from Collin’s, she stood up and said, “I need to get back to work, Collin.”

He stood beside her and said, “You can see why I didn’t want to drop all this on you on Saturday. I was enjoying being with you too much. Please call me.” He began to reach into his pocket and then stopped and pulled out his hand. “That’s right, you already have my card. Consider me a friend, Leah. That’s all. A friend who cares and can help you through this. I’m sure a woman like you could find good use for a quarter of a million dollars.”