Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
I bit my lip against a smile. “Why don’t we try out the swings? They have the ones for babies over there.” I pointed behind him where there were several kinds of swings in a long row near a statue of a cowboy riding a bucking bronc. “They’re practically impossible to fall out of.”
He eyed the swings for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. I grabbed the backpack and followed him over.
It took both of us to wrangle her wriggling legs into the leg holes, but then she squawked out a happy noise and pumped her legs in excitement. I was relieved to see her retaining her usual cheerful mood despite her bad night. But then again, Katie had always said that babies were resilient creatures.
Dev pushed the swing gently to get it started. “Who’s managing the money right now?”
It took me a moment to change gears and realize what he was asking. “Oh, ah… Katie had a wealth manager. I notified him of her passing and let him know I was notifying next of kin.”
He nodded. “I imagine it’s mostly in the stock market?”
“Not all of it. The trust also includes her house in Dallas, her SUV, and some jewelry.” I deliberately didn’t share the value of her estate with him. Not here and not right now. The very fact he was asking me about the money made me uncomfortable.
Nothing he’d said should have felt like a red flag—it was smart to determine whether you could afford a child before deciding to have one—but I could hear the Scotts’ voice in my head and Orris’s, too. Could they have been right about him? Would he change his mind about keeping Lellie when he learned just how much money she brought with her?
“But you trust this wealth manager? The money is in good hands?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and tried to keep my tone neutral. “If I had any wealth to speak of, I’d hire him.”
He scoffed. “You’re an attorney at the same firm where Katie worked. You can’t tell me you’re not raking in some cash.”
His words and tone set my back teeth on edge. “And you’re a Yale graduate. Should I make assumptions about how much money you have?”
Dev’s eyes widened. “You saying you don’t make a good living on the partnership track at one of Dallas’s most prestigious firms?”
“I’m saying I’ll be paying off school debt until I retire regardless of how well I’m paid, and I have… things… I need to pay for.”
He looked me up and down, from my high-end haircut to my brand-name clothes. “I see.”
Dev didn’t see, not at all, but I wasn’t going to explain that I was paying for my brother Nolan’s college tuition or that my father’s greatest talent was his ability to misspend and/or drink away every dollar he earned. It was none of Dev’s business how I spent my salary, and I didn’t care what he thought of me.
At least, I shouldn’t.
I set my jaw. “Can we stop talking about money, please?”
He shrugged and continued to push Lellie. “You’re the one who brought it up.”
“Because I wanted to explain Katie’s estate and Lellie’s trusts, not because I wanted your commentary on my life.”
Dev was silent for a moment. “I’m glad Lellie’s protected financially,” he said finally. He turned to me. “Do you think that’s why the Scotts want custody? For the money?”
I shook my head. “Definitely not. They have more money than god, for one. And secondly, they were demanding custody before they learned about her wealth.”
“But they did learn about her wealth?”
I started to nod but hesitated. “Well, they don’t know how much she’s worth, but the will obviously revealed Lellie as the sole beneficiary of Katie’s estate. Which I’m sure most people would have assumed anyway. And the Scotts most likely knew Katie still had a good portion of her own trust fund. They…” I thought back to the meeting. “They did express a desire to try and reclaim her trust fund money. But it’s not something they’ll ever accomplish.”
“Assholes,” Dev muttered.
“Yeah.” I reached out to touch his arm but stopped before making contact. “But they really seemed to care about their granddaughter, Dev. I don’t think that was fake. They seemed to want to raise her and make sure she was loved and cared for properly. If you don’t plan on keeping her…”
He didn’t say anything for a little while. I thought he might be done with the conversation, but then he spoke up again, surprising me.
“Did you know that Katie tried to tell them she was asexual in high school, and they sat her down and explained there was no such thing? And then they actually worried that the purity pledge she’d taken in middle school had somehow caused her to fear relationships?”