Contents ( 66)
- Cover
- Books by Valerie Fraser Luesse
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Map of Florida
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
- eleven
- twelve
- thirteen
- fourteen
- fifteen
- sixteen
- seventeen
- eighteen
- nineteen
- twenty
- twenty-one
- twenty-two
- twenty-three
- twenty-four
- twenty-five
- twenty-six
- twenty-seven
- twenty-eight
- twenty-nine
- thirty
- thirty-one
- thirty-two
- thirty-three
- thirty-four
- thirty-five
- thirty-six
- thirty-seven
- thirty-eight
- thirty-nine
- forty
- forty-one
- forty-two
- forty-three
- forty-four
- forty-five
- forty-six
- forty-seven
- forty-eight
- forty-nine
- fifty
- fifty-one
- Epilogue
- Keep Reading for a Preview of Valerie Luesse’s Next Book!
- Prologue
- one
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Ads
- Back Cover
Bonnie and Jasper slid out of their seats as Peyton returned the pen to the cashier.
“Hey, Peyton,” Bonnie said as the three of them climbed onto the elevator, “who’s gonna show you the way back?”
“Reckon I’ll have to find it myself.”
“Well, well, well, you’re not easy to find—but I found you.”
Kate looked up to see her brother-in-law standing in the doorway of the waiting room. “Congratulations,” she said.
“I don’t care for your tone.”
“I think I can live with that.”
A satisfied smile slowly spread across his face, and Kate thought, If a snake could smile, it would smile exactly like that.
“Now, now, let’s be civil,” he said, pulling up a chair and reaching into his jacket pocket to pull out a white envelope. “I’ve brought you something.”
She opened the envelope and read its contents, careful to control her reaction.
“It’s a subpoena,” he said.
“I can see that.”
“You’re to turn over all of Marshall’s medical records at once. The family has a right to prevent you from carrying out any risky surgeries or other procedures.”
“The family?”
“I speak for the family.”
“Assuming you listen for them too, you can report back that Marshall already had surgery, and it was a success.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed and his mouth twitched. “When?”
“A few days ago. His doctor expects him to make a full recovery.”
“That’s a lie. You know as well as I do he’ll never be mentally competent again.”
“Marshall’s competence is irrelevant now. He gave executorship of the estate to his firm, with Jimmy as the trustee. If you want to fight for control, you’ll have to take that fight to Jimmy. Marshall’s not in it anymore.”
Julian smirked at her. “He’d never give up control of all that money.”
“Actually, he did—right before he shipped out. He gave me his power of attorney and Jimmy control of the estate.”
Julian wasn’t smirking anymore. “There’s no way he would hand over everything we’ve built to someone outside the family.”
“All the building was done by Marshall and his father, and he cared enough about it to make sure it stayed in capable hands when he returned home from the service and needed a little time to adjust. Fortunately for you, he cares more about family than power.”
Julian stood up with such force that he knocked over his chair, which prompted an immediate response from the head nurse.
“What’s this!” she said as she pointed at the chair.
“Nurse Parsons, this is Marshall’s brother Julian,” Kate said.
The nurse gave her a nod as Julian picked up the chair. “I have business with my brother,” he said. “Take me to him.”
“Absolutely not,” the nurse answered.
“What do you mean? I’m his brother, and I have business with him.”
“Then you’d better get a hotel room, because he can’t have any visitors other than his wife and son for at least three more weeks.”