Men.
I turn to my father. “You knew, right?”
“No clue.” My dad shakes his head. “But I’m not around here much these days.”
True. Well, if nothing else, the name-tag switch proves that my uncle knew something pretty personal about Tina that he’d typically have no reason to know. That is, he wouldn’t know she liked pink if he wasn’t having a secret affair with her. “Wait. Did you say Uncle Frank switched Tina’s red flowers for Pattie’s pink ones?”
Dad nods. “Yes. That’s right. Why?”
“Because Tina was originally supposed to get purple ones.” I turn to Dylan. “That means someone else switched the name tags too. I know because the Admiral asked me to make the labels this morning after he finished arranging the flowers out back.”
Dylan pulls out his phone to take notes. “What was the original name tag setup supposed to be?”
“Pattie got pink. Tina the purple. And Emily got red. So how did Emily’s red flowers end up with Tina?”
Dad takes a long drink from his beer before he says, “Maybe you should ask the barber. He was backstage the whole time.”
I hold up a finger. “That reminds me. Pete told me he saw people switching up the name tags. As in more than one person.”
Dad shakes his head. “Who cares who got which flowers? I still think it’s odd Frank knew Tina liked pink. Now that I think about it, Frank was awfully smiley around Tina. Do you think he helped me with my tricks, so he’d have an excuse to flirt with her?”
I quickly stand. “Dylan can probably answer that, Dad. And when he’s done, you guys should join us for dinner.” I scoot off the couch before Dylan can stop me, and I head toward the kitchen. Maybe the flowers don’t have to do with anything, but it’s worth another chat with Pete in the morning to ask who exactly did the switching. We owe it to Tina to leave no stone unturned.
Just outside the swinging kitchen door, my cell rings. It’s Gage, the lawyer who’s helping me defend my inherited trust from Uncle Frank’s underhanded scheme to steal it from me.
“Hi, Gage.” I move away from the door so Brittany won’t overhear me. “Tell me you have some good news.”
“Just the opposite. Frank’s lawyers contend they’ve found a judge who agrees that if your mom adopted Brittany without Frank’s knowledge, the assets will all be his under the terms your grandparents set.”
And I lose everything. Including this house and the bookstore and the restaurant I’m planning to have the trust build for me. It feels like a boulder is sitting in the pit of my stomach. “Those terms were set up so my mother wouldn’t marry my father. Not to prevent my mother from helping a kid out by adopting her. Can’t we point that out?”
Gage sighs. “It doesn’t matter why your grandparents included that clause. All the trustees have to adhere to it or forfeit their rights.”
Bummer. “Still no word from Brittany’s mother?” We need to know where she got the money for the adoption. Because Stella was supposedly broke, I assumed my mom paid for it with the trust’s money, but we recently found out that isn’t true. If Uncle Frank gave money to Stella so he could claim my mother violated the terms of the trust, we could bust him.
“No. And Stella’s new boyfriend isn’t talking either. He threatened to slap a restraining order on me if I persist.”
“This is starting to feel like a stalemate. One in which Brittany and I lose everything.” I flop onto the bottom tread of the staircase. “I can’t keep this a secret anymore. Brittany has a right to know.”
Gage says, “I agree. And maybe she knows something that could help us.”
“True. But I don’t want to put Brit in a position where she has to testify against her mother. Despite the way Stella treated her, Brittany still loves her mother.”
“That might not be necessary,” Gage says. “If I can prove that we have cause to believe Frank is behind this, maybe we can get a forensic accountant involved. And I might need you to be deposed. Frank’s lawyers won’t go easy on you.”
“Of course not,” I huff. “Do you think it’d help if I talked to Stella directly? Explain the situation?”
“Not if Stella and Frank were in this together.”
Gage has a good point. “Would attempted murder help our cause?”
“Um… I can’t entertain anything illegal, Sawyer.”
“No. I don’t mean us doing it. I mean, what if Uncle Frank was accused of it?” I quickly fill Gage in on the events of the day. “Not that Dylan has accused anyone of anything yet. But it’s a good theory.”
“Actually, that might be just enough to buy us more time. I’ll work on putting something together tonight.”
“Thanks, Gage. Apologize to Renee if my case is going to get in the way of any date plans you guys had.”
He laughs. “That you’re Renee’s best friend will get me out of her crosshairs. You can be sure I’ll tell her. Call you tomorrow.”
I disconnect and close my eyes. I can’t let my uncle take what was rightfully my mom’s. He cruelly kept my mother under his thumb ever since their parents died, and I simply can’t let him continue to steal from her legacy. Worse, if he wins, Brittany and I will have less than zilch to start over.
Brittany deserves the chance to go to any college of her choice, and the trust will give her that. I’m not going down without a fight.
Dylan’s voice above me asks, “You okay?”
I glance up from the bottom step and into the eyes of a concerned sheriff and my father, reminding me I have Dylan and my family in my life too. Like my mother used to say, we might be poor, but family makes us rich. I might need to remember that in
