Astrid picked up on Charlie’s mood a few minutes into the drive. He was quiet and tense, his hold on the steering wheel tight.
“Bea is getting so big. She’s been using chairs to pull herself up and I just know she’s going to take her first steps soon.” She glanced at Charlie’s hands. They weren’t white-knuckling the steering wheel anymore. “Aunt Mags said that Tansy didn’t walk until she was about a year and a half. Then she was always on the go. I was walking by nine months because I had to follow Tansy everywhere she went. Then there was Rosemary. She has always been the overachiever. Aunt Camellia swears she skipped crawling and was walking by eight months.” She paused, searching for something else to carry on about. “Tansy and Dane invited you all to the observation deck. I hoped, now that you’ve been here awhile and you realize how amazing bees are, you and the girls might go?” She attempted a teasing smile. “They’ve double-and triple-checked the screens—so there’s no fear of the bees getting inside. The girls would get to see what you saw the Junior Beekeepers doing.”
“They’d probably like that.” Charlie sighed. “Halley has developed a sudden interest in bees.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Astrid waited. “You should check out the observation deck, then. The Junior Beekeepers are going out there tonight, around five, for their meeting. You might all learn a little something?”
“As long as she learns about safety first.” He glanced her way.
She smiled. “If you weren’t driving right now, I’d kiss you.”
“If I didn’t want to get this over with, I’d pull over and let you.” His grin was short-lived.
Charlie’s phone was pinging when they parked in front of Mr. Delaney’s law office. He glanced at it, sighed and shoved it into his pocket.
From the twitch of his jaw, she suspected it was his sister. “It’s a nice place,” she said, hoping to distract him. The office was located right off Main Street, with a dark green awning and a large pot overflowing with marigolds on either side of the door.
“I wonder if he received an offer from Stinson Properties?” Charlie held the door open for her.
“Good morning.” George Delaney had a wisp of white hair on his head, hunched posture, and was relying on his cane. “You’ll have to excuse me, this new hip has me stuck in first gear.” He chuckled and waved them into the open conference room.
Lindsay and Theo sat on the opposite side of the table.
“Good morning. I hope your aunt is okay?” Lindsay asked. “You all disappeared and we didn’t want to impose.”
“I heard about dear Camellia.” George Delaney shook his head. “My thoughts are with you all. I know Camellia, though. She’ll be right as rain in no time.”
“I hope so.” Astrid nodded.
“Let’s get this business over and done with, then.” Mr. Delaney made his way around the table slowly, using his cane to lower himself into the high-backed leather chair. “This is all for show, you know. Texas doesn’t require any sort of formal reading of the will.”
Charlie paused. “It doesn’t?”
“No, no. Rebecca wanted it this way.” Mr. Delaney shook his head. “She seemed to think the two of you might want to hash some things out.”
Astrid sat in the chair next to Charlie, puzzling over the old lawyer’s words. There were things she wanted to hash out with Charlie but none of them concerned Rebecca’s holdings.
“Two? Who are you referring to, Mr. Delaney?” Lindsay’s smile was tight.
“As I mentioned earlier, Mrs. Stinson, Mr. Charles Driver and Miss Astrid Hill are the only two people mentioned in Rebecca’s will.” When George Delaney’s brow furrowed, his forehead resembled an accordion. “There’s no need for anyone else to be present.”
Lindsay’s indrawn breath was sharp. “I’m here to support my brother.”
Astrid glanced Charlie’s way to gauge his reaction to Lindsay’s claim. His jaw was tight, but his gaze remained on George Delaney.
“Is that a fact?” Mr. Delaney chuckled. “Well, then.”
Rebecca had been a woman of means. It would make sense for her to leave it all to Charlie; he was her beloved nephew. But why had she wanted Astrid here?
From the glare Lindsay was shooting her way, the woman was obviously wondering the same thing.
George Delaney sort of flopped into his chair, then proceeded to pull two sheets of paper from a manila envelope. “Rebecca kept it simple. I approve.”
She and Charlie sat beside each other. She didn’t know whether to hold his hand or give him his space.
Mr. Delaney scanned over the papers. “Let’s skip over the rigmarole and get to the meat of it. To my dear friend, Astrid Hill, I leave $250,000 to be used for the bees as she deems fit.”
Lindsay’s gasp was impossible to miss.
