Moments later, with the drumsticks back in the pillowcase at her feet, Molly explored the bookshelf to her right. She’d just pulled out an old file when her father appeared through the narrow doorway.
“Hey. I thought I might find you up here.”
Molly smiled up at him from where she sat on a corduroy beanbag, the file resting in her hands. “Why’s that?”
“When you were little, you spent a lot of time ‘attic-sitting,’ as you called it. I’d often find you curled up in that very spot, reading.”
“Oh yeah. Remember thoseBaby-Sitters Clubbooks? I loved them.”
“AndGoosebumps.”
Molly laughed. “Where have the years gone?”
Her father studied her face. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“Yes, fine. How was work?”
“Busy enough.”
She glanced up to the shelf on her right. “I was just looking for a copy of my will. All this business with Jesse has got me thinking about my own stuff. Admin makes my head spin.”
Her father chuckled. “Try running a law firm. We have the original at the office. I’ll send you a copy.”
“Thanks. Not that I have any worldly possessions right now, but I’m working on my savings.” Molly smiled and handed him the pillowcase. “Also, look what I’ve found.”
Her father pulled out the drumsticks and read the autograph out loud: “Jesse Sinclair. How long have you had these?”
“Eight years. I thought I’d give them to his brother. Seems the right thing to do.”
“What’s he like? Does he remind you of Jesse?”
“Kind of. Looks wise anyway. He’s… a no-nonsense kind of guy, but then I guess he has good reason to be that way. Jesse was carefree, if a little moody at times.”
“How come you never told us about him.”
“I don’t know. It was a fling, and a short one at that.”
“But meaningful?”
Molly hesitated. She’d carried Jesse’s rejection for all those years, but now she’d been forced to reassess those feelings. “Yes. To me, anyway.”
“It must have been to him too, otherwise why would you be in his will?”
“I’ve been asking myself that question ever since I left the lawyer’s office.”
He sat in a small chair that had once accompanied the desk in her bedroom. “Speaking of Annabelle Sutton, she’s cc’d me in on an email she just sent you. The insurance company’s confirmed Jesse’s payout.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Turns out his father was an insurance agent when the boys were young. Did you know that?”
Molly frowned. “Nope. I don’t know a lot about the Sinclairs. Did Annabelle say how much it was?”
“Substantially more than we anticipated. Four hundred thousand, meaning your share’s a hundred grand.”
“No way!A hundred grand?Are you serious?”
“That’s what she said.”
