Page 45 of Just What She Needed

"Yeah, I do." Mel's foot was once again in jiggle mode. "Why would he lie? It's easy enough to check. I figure there's a copy of the divorce somewhere here in this building."

Rhett dropped the letter to her lap. "Well, this sucks dick."

Mel snorted laughter. "Nice mouth. I swear I don't know if Rhys is a bad influence on you, or a good one. Six months ago you wouldn't say shit if you had a mouthful."

Before Rhett could respond, the door to the office opened, and the curly head of Ford Wallace appeared. "Am I intruding?"

"Not at all." Mel smiled at him. "We've finished reading."

"Wonderful. I didn't want to interrupt." Ford crossed to his desk and dropped into the massive swivel chair behind it. He opened the folder again and took out a sheaf of papers. "Now. Your father was very thorough in his preparations. He pre-paid his burial expenses, and left instructions for his physical estate. It was his wish that his house, which he inherited from his parents, be sold, along with the majority of the contents. There were some personal items he wished the two of you to have, and those are in a storage facility that's being paid for out of the estate. I have the keys and paperwork for you, and it's all in the name of Melanie Vandergriff."

"Is the house on the market?" Rhett asked.

"Actually, no. It sold in a matter of days, and the buyer bought the furnishings with it. Apparently, it was a friend of your father's, and he paid full asking price. That money was added to the estate. I know you're not aware of this, but your father was quite ill for some months before he died. He suffered a massive heart attack not long before his wife passed away, and it left him with congestive heart failure. Since he knew it was just a matter of time, he liquidated all of his holdings and converted them to cash. It's made all of this very simple for the two of you since all you have to do now is just divide it evenly."

Mel nodded. "At least he had the forethought to do that. So, after your fees and taxes and such, what's left?"

Ford handed each of them a copy of their father's will. "Each of you will end up with just under three million dollars."

Rhett's copy of the will fluttered to the floor from her nerveless fingers. "Each? Are you sure?" Since she'd been expecting to end up with unpaid debt, any bequest of money was a shock. But that much? Her mind refused to take it in.

"Yes, ma'am. Throughout his lifetime, your father invested in several oil and gas drilling excursions, and he also inherited the estates of both his parents. Mr. Vandergriff was a frugal man and didn't throw his money around. He was very astute with his investments, too, and they were quite successful."

"I'd say so." Mel had her head bent over the will in her lap. "This looks all very straightforward."

Cheeks burning with embarrassment, Rhett picked the papers up off the floor. Trust her to lose her cool like that while Mel remained calm and business-like.

Ford steepled his fingers in front of him. "Yes, your father took care of everything, and there are no loose ends to tie up."

Mel cleared her throat and looked up. "I assume you have cashier's checks prepared then?"

"That's correct." Ford removed two envelopes from the folder and handed one to Rhett, the other to Mel. "We left the minimum in the bank required to keep the account open, and that amount is included in our fee. Now that you ladies have your bequests, we'll withdraw that money and close the account. And that's it."

Even with the air conditioning vent aimed straight at her face, Rhett thought she might burst into spontaneous combustion at any moment. Loading the eight boxes from their father's storage unit into the back of Mel's SUV wouldn't have sapped her so much except for the fact that the temperature was hovering right around 100. The humidity was almost as high.

Mel came out of the storage facility's office where she had gone to turn in the key and cancel the rental. She climbed into the driver's seat and handed Rhett a bottle of water already wet with condensation.

Rhett ignored the beads of moisture that dripped onto her skirt and twisted the top off the bottle in record time. The cold water hitting the back of her throat revived her a bit, and she sighed with relief.

"Thanks. I needed that."

"I saw that vending machine in the office and near 'bout tore the strap off my purse digging my wallet out for dollar bills." Mel took a long swallow of her own water and put the bottle in the cup holder. "Look. I don't know about you, but I think we can forego a trip to the cemetery."

"Yeah. It's too damn hot, and I don't really care about going anyway." Rhett turned to look out the window as they pulled out of the parking lot.

An indelicate snort preceded Mel's answer. "Remember who you're talking to. I know you've never been able to let go of Dad, so I find it kind of hard to believe you're so accepting of all this."

"Things might be a little different now." She pressed her lips together for a moment. "The stuff he said in that letter pissed me right the hell off."

"What? The part about Mom?"

"Yeah. Not that I'm ever going to say anything to her about it, because I don't need that kind of aggravation. It's done and over, right?" She glanced at her sister to try to gauge her reaction. "But he didn't have to agree to it."

"That he did not." Mel nodded in agreement.

"So, he signs that paper, dances off into the sunset without being bothered by his kids, and then with his dying breath attempts to shove all the blame onto Mama. Fuck him."

"And the horse he rode in on."