“This town can take care of itself. It isn’t ruled by anything but the people in it.” I said as I pocketed the oil, trying to forget our odd exchange.
“It’s a small town surrounded by a lot of big ones, piccola ragazza.” He rocked back on his heels, the name he called me in his native tongue suddenly felt like it was filled with condescension.
“Honestly, Bastian, I don’t care about this at all right now. I don’t care about the date or time or the will in general.”
“I think the will is a little more important than your grandmother made it seem.”
I stepped up to him fast, my boots clomping on the cement. “Are you calling my grandma a liar on the day of her funeral?”
“I’m calling her a caring woman who wanted to protect her only granddaughter a little while longer. There’s a lot of responsibility you’re about to take on.”
People didn't listen to their gut instinct when biology and nature was trying to tell them something. My heart pulled to Bastion in a way that it didn't with most men. I couldn't figure out if it was just attraction or something more. All I knew was that, although my heart was pulled to him, my gut screamed for me to run the other way.
The sun shone on him like some higher power knew he held more weight than the rest of us. This man walked in a dimension that I was not familiar with. And I didn't want to be familiar with it. I wanted to move with the wind and water and leave the multiple dimensions to men like him.
“You and your suit along with your security team”–I looked at Dante who was still in the car but stared at me with a look of remorse–“and your Rolls Royce can go to the will reading without me. Or shove the will up your ass for all I care.”
He started to say something, but my body veered off its natural course.
“I don’t want any part of this will. I don't want anything. All I want is the food truck and for you to leave.” I waved my arms about like a child, my bracelets jangling as I did. “This is completely unnecessary. They can mail me the information for all I care, Bastian. But the only place I’m going is home. I’ll be there for days. I don’t think I need to do anything after losing the person I love most in this world. So, you can expect whatever you want, but I’m not going to that will reading.”
“Morina,” His voice came out low and menacing, not at all gentle like it had been before. It was a warning, meant to snap sense back into the chaotic blood running through my veins. His eyes had darkened, his face changed. Gone was a man willing to negotiate. “Get your ass to that will reading tomorrow. Or I will personally be at your home to drag you to it.”
11
Morina
I heard those words all through the night.
After tossing and turning for hours, I grabbed my phone to read the signs.
My horoscope was a freaking bitch.
It literally read, “Listen to the omen given to you yesterday. It will serve you well.”
Oh, shut up.
I purposely hadn’t set my alarm. I wasn’t going to wake to the sun or the waves either. I had every intention of sleeping in and missing the stupid will reading.
Still, something in the kitchen fell and woke me right at 8:30AM. If my grandmother wasn’t haunting me, she was at least trying to send signs.
I kicked off my weighted blanket. “Grandma, this is absolutely fucking ridiculous.”
Somehow yelling into the air made me feel better as I got ready. I didn’t put on a nice blouse or even a cute dress. Instead, I threw on a black bikini and a yellow tank over it. I pulled on my board shorts and headed out.
I wasn’t getting ready for any of them. I’d go surf right after the meeting and put the whole damn thing behind me.
I took my time, letting my old pick up idle along. Jonah had gifted it to me on my seventeenth birthday and it looked perfectly out of place in the law firm’s parking lot. When I arrived at last, Bastian’s eyebrows rose as he looked me over.
No surprise, he wore his normal navy suit and Dante sat there on his phone. I rolled my eyes at them, but when I spotted the estate lawyer and another man sitting in the room, I almost apologized for my attire and the fact I was right on time.
Of course, everyone else had been ten minutes early.
Instead, I took the last empty seat and presented my identification when asked.
“Well, I appreciate you all being here today. I’m Mr. Finley and Maribel asked me to present the will to you all rather than mail it.” The thin man with wiry glasses announced as he shifted some paperwork on his worn desk. “It’s not under great circumstances, but your grandmother got this will together years ago and has updated it time and time again. It was important to her that you were all here to understand her terms.”
My stomach flipped at his words. This was the one place grandma didn’t have me come with her. We’d done the funeral planning together. The banks and this part though–she’d said over and over, I’ll iron it out myself. Then, she’d send me off to the food truck or I’d try to go volunteer at the humane society.
“So.” Mr. Finley’s bony pointer finger pointed to the ceiling. “This is a will with a few quirks, which is why we also have Mr. Armanelli’s lawyer here.”
I narrowed my eyes and glared at my one-night-stand-turned-nightmare. He’d brought his freaking lawyer? “How convenient,” I grumbled.
Mr. Finley cleared his throat. “I’ll be honest, your grandma’s note to you explains everything in layman's terms, but I’ll do that too for you now.” He handed me a letter.
“I’m sorry. This is from my grandma?” I gripped the letter a little harder.
“Yes. She wrote it specifically for you after she finished her final changes to the will.”
The date on the envelope was only a couple of days before her death. “She died two days later,” I whispered. This letter held words from her that she’d never told me. It was a way to hear her thoughts one last time; a connection that carried past her dying. When I read this letter, I wouldn’t be alone for those two minutes. She’d talk to me one last time.
A lone tear spilled from my eye and I quickly swiped it away. When I glanced up, Bastian studied me with a frown on his face. Did he understand the pain of losing someone you loved? Of being all alone?
His frown fell away to an apathetic stare. Of course he didn’t.
I turned away and sat taller in my seat. “I’ll read this later. I’d like to hear the terms of her will so we can all be on our way.”
“That’s fine.” The lawyer went over some legal jargon and stated that the will held the final say in everything. Then, he went on to a story I’d never heard. “Your great great grandfather was the founder of Tropical Oil and Fuel. He ran the ports, the tank farms, and the transfers.”
“My great great grandfather?” I raised my eyebrows, completely confused by any mention of the oil company that ran the town. We had no ties to that.
“Yes, he came from Ireland with a good amount of money already. He utilized that and his connections to start this business.”