“If it were something bad, he wouldn’t have sent a gift,” he said gently.
Chris looked curiously at the two of them. “Why would it be something bad?”
Neither answered him. Cara gave a decisive nod. The paper had been folded several times to fit the envelope, but when it was finally flat, Cara read in silence. She turned the letter over to the blank side and then back again. A frown grew between her brows, and she thrust the letter at Wes, ignoring Chris’s hand already extended.
“It doesn’t make any sense.”
Wes read the lines out loud.
My Sweet STAR. I know you’re worried, and I’m sorry for the things I said the last time we spoke. I haven’t been myself for quite a while, but things are clear now. You had so many questions about what was happening to me, and I had no answers. I have them now and entrust them to you. The Dublin globe has all that you need to solve my little puzzle. Bring it next time you come, but if something happens, know that I trust in you, little STAR, to discover the answer on your own.
All my love, Dad
“I don’t get it,” Chris said looking confused.
“It’s dated last April.” Wes held the paper up to show them.
Cara gave a little gasp, and Chris’s mouth fell open.
“Three days before he died.” Chris’s frown grew deeper. “Your mom said she got this from him inDublin? How is that possible? I saw him not long before that, and he was in no shape to travel.”
Cara stiffened, but Chris seemed oblivious. He picked up the globe and turned it in several directions, inspecting it. “What answer was David talking about? I know my dad was worried about dementia.”
If Wes hadn’t been watching Cara so closely, he would have missed the angry flush start on Cara’s chest.
“Your father thought Dad had dementia?”
“Hmm?” Chris had turned the globe upside down, shaking it gently.
“You said that, when you witnessed the will, he was clear-headed.”
Wes’s eyes widened. This man had witnessed the new will that had disinherited Cara and her brothers?
Chris’s face fell, and he shot a quick look at Wes. “Maybe we should talk about this privately?”
Wes folded his arms over his chest. He had no intention of going anywhere.
“It’s okay. Wes knows the whole sordid story.”
Chris leveled an assessing look at him. Wes wasn’t sure what the other man thought he saw, but Chris let out a heavy sigh.
“He seemed fine. My dad ordered a battery of mental faculty tests. We knew what an enormous change the new will was.” He grimaced. “I hate to admit it now, but when I heard what the new terms were, part of me wished hehadfailed the mental exercises. I’m just surprised by this letter.”
Cara laid her hand over his on the counter. “I’m sorry, Chris. This whole thing has me rattled, but I shouldn’t take it out on you. The last time I saw my dad wasn’t great, and I was worried…”
Chris’s face cleared. “You had an argument with him?”
“Yeah. Not my finest hour,” Cara said ruefully.
“That’s why you didn’t want to read the letter at first.” Understanding broke across his face. “You thought because of the will change, he was still mad at you. He wasn’t. That day at the house, your dad said nothing negative about any of you. We asked him over and over… We were trying to make sense of why he would change the will so drastically.” Chris’s smile was nostalgic. “It’s my business and mine alone,” he intoned in a gravelly voice.
Cara’s expression was soft as she looked back up at Chris with warm violet eyes, and Wes had a fierce desire to shove the smaller man into the wall. Chris rubbed Cara’s arms, but when he caught Wes’s glare, he dropped them.
“I’m so sorry it turned out the way it did.”
“I know. You’ve always been such a good friend to us.”
Chris drummed his fingers on the counter, a worried expression taking over his face. “I don’t want to worry you, Cara.”
