The Country Guesthouse (Sullivan's Crossing #5)(64)

It wasn’t the first time there had been suspicion surrounding a business or charity she’d been involved with but it was by far the most serious. This time the attorney general was involved. And also for the first time she could be in serious trouble.

Victoria was good at winning people’s trust. She’d learned most of her techniques from a man she’d been involved with when she was much younger. There was good money to be made from people who needed her caring and expertise. There was a reason she’d been named beneficiary in two wills. She’d been very careful before accepting any inheritance—those dear souls had no family and it hadn’t been much that they’d left behind. She couldn’t be named as a beneficiary in a lot of wills without raising suspicion because it was a suspicious world; people would just believe the worst.

But then she’d had a slip. She became the guardian of a rich old man, another man without a family, and she stood to collect $800,000 of his money when he passed. That was when she worked at her company, doing what they did, submitting invoices for her management of his property and caretaking, paid out of his bank account. Everything from lawn care and pool service to chauffeuring to medical facilities to scheduling him for screenings and health care providers’ evaluations, none of which she actually did. He passed at home, the dear old soul, and she was just waiting for the paperwork and probate to clear when there was a hitch. It wasn’t a family member, but a library. The man was a patron and had given a copy of his will to the librarian saying all of his money would be left to the library. They objected to this guardian stepping in and claiming to be the new beneficiary, even though she had a copy of his will, one that had been hastily written while he was in hospice care.

A public library. That began a lot of poking around so she quit her job and made herself scarce. She needed money but was afraid to show her face while the authorities were questioning the validity of the will.

Erin had not been deceased long and all she could learn was that everything had been left to Noah. She had no idea how much but Erin was stingy and clever with her money. Victoria made a bold decision—she would argue for custody. If there wasn’t much inheritance, she could make the magnanimous gesture of letting Hannah keep the boy.

She didn’t have a lot of time and she had ideas, but no plan. And so far, it wasn’t going well. This Hannah had surrounded herself with lawyers and protectors.

Victoria moved what liquid assets she had, not nearly enough to retire on, sold a few things, packed up and headed south to Colorado. It was time for her to move on anyway. She left her house and stopped paying rent, having convinced the owners she’d been ill and was in recovery.

It was her plan to seek custody and with that, gain at least a large share of whatever inheritance belonged to Noah.

But then she discovered Owen. Not only was he clearly well-to-do, he was fond of the boy. She researched him and learned he had lost his own son years before, a fact that would make him much more vulnerable. Hopefully he would be very helpful in making Victoria go away. All it would take was money.

Of course Victoria would have to have some leverage. She was pondering which of her many talents she would employ.

She had one more supervised visit with the boy. After that the judge would rule on what kind of relationship she would be allowed to have with him.







Love is composed of a single
soul inhabiting two bodies.

—Aristotle



12


The first week in August brought the second visit from Victoria. It was not as tense as the first, though Hannah, Owen and Cal were all on hand. Noah made it two whole hours before complaining, but he did ask Owen if they could show Victoria the dock so she could see the fish swimming and jumping.

Victoria was full of questions for Noah: What was his favorite thing to watch on TV? What was his favorite thing to do in school? What did he want to be when he grew up? What did he read? Were there any sports he could play even though he was using crutches and braces? “Sometimes I pole vault,” he said.

When Victoria said, “Really?” Owen snorted a laugh.

Hannah was not going to relax until their next visit with the judge was over, even though Cal continuously tried to reassure her that her guardianship was not in jeopardy. But this time the judge wanted to meet Noah prior to their hearing. The attorneys were present for the ten-minute meeting.

“What did he ask you, Noah?” Hannah asked when he returned to her. “Was it okay? Were you scared?”

“No, I wasn’t scared. He’s old like Sully. He has pictures of kids all over his office and he said he has about a million grandkids. He asked me if I enjoyed seeing my grandma and I said it was okay. I told him I used good manners.”

“You were exceptional,” Hannah agreed. “Anything else?”

“He asked me if I’d like to see her again and I said...” He stopped and hung his head. “I said it wasn’t that much fun. But he laughed so I think we’re okay. Then he said it was very nice to meet me and asked, ‘Was I looking forward to school?’ and I said I didn’t know because it would be a new school. Have you decided yet, Hannah? Because I know what I want to do.”

She laughed. “I know what you want to do, too,” she said. “Don’t put pressure on me yet—it’s a hard decision.”

So the day came that they went back to court. There were only the original complaints—the suit for custody and motion to dismiss. Judge Vincente’s courtroom was pretty low-key and casual.