Page 11 of Hold You Close
London
“I’m sorry—what?” I put a hand in the air to stop the attorney from going on. “Can you repeat that last part?”
One glance across the conference table at Ian tells me he’s just as shocked as I am to have heard his name listed as primary guardian of Sabrina’s kids. His face has gone pale.
The attorney at the head of the table reads it again. “If my husband does not survive me and I leave minor children surviving me, I appoint as guardian of the person and property of my minor children my brother, Ian Chase. He shall have custody of my minor children, and shall serve without bond. If he does not qualify or for any reason ceases to serve as guardian, I appoint as successor guardian my friend London Parish.”
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute.” Ian’s deep voice fills the room as he rises to his feet, one hand on his chest. “Are you saying she left the kids to me?”
We all glance at the empty chairs where the kids, tearstained and exhausted, had been sitting until a few minutes ago when Christopher volunteered to take his younger siblings to find something to drink. The poor kid is shouldering such a huge burden, trying to be strong for his sisters while dealing with his own grief. And those sweet little girls—Morgan is at that age where she needs her mother more than ever, and darling Ruby has hardly spoken a word since we got the news. My heart aches for them.
“Yes.” The attorney looks at Ian. “You weren’t aware of her wishes?”
“No. When was this will made?”
The attorney glances down at the paper in his hands. “Actually, it was signed only recently. Last month, in fact. The fifth of March.”
“She never said anything to me about it.” Ian, clearly agitated, loosens the knot in his tie.
“Or me,” I say, trying to wrap my brain around this. Why would Sabrina and David choose Ian, of all people? I was distraught by the thought that her parents might be taking the kids to Florida, but at least I was somewhat prepared for that news. This is a total bombshell. I’m torn between feeling glad that the kids won’t be leaving and hurt that Sabrina chose her irresponsible, heart-breaking, playboy brother to raise her children instead of me. What kind of example will he be?
“Are you sure it doesn’t say Philip Chase?” Sabrina’s mother, Nancy, asks. She’s gripping her husband’s hand with both of hers, and her voice shakes.
“Yes. Look again, please.” Silver-haired Philip speaks with the authority of a retired general, and the attorney does as requested.
“No, it says ‘my brother Ian Chase.’” He looks at Ian again. “I assume you are her brother?”
“Yes. But I—”
“Ian,” Nancy says, looking up at her son. “If you don’t want them, we can take them.”
“I never said I—”
“I want them,” I announce, rising to my feet. “If Ian won’t raise them, I will.”
“Can everyone just wait one fucking minute?” Ian puts both hands out, one toward his parents and one toward me. In the chair next to me, David’s mother gasps. She and David’s father are Christian missionaries, and Ian’s foul mouth probably offends her. I can’t imagine what she’d do if she witnessed the debauchery at one of his pool parties.
“I never said I didn’t want the kids,” he goes on. “I’m simply digesting the news.”
“But Ian,” his mother says, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. “You’ve never had children. You don’t know how to take care of them.”
“She doesn’t have children either.” He gestures toward me. “What makes her so qualified?”
Remaining on my feet, I lean forward and brace both hands on the table. Clearly the uneasy truce we’ve had all week is over. “I love those kids like they’re my own. I know everything about them.”
“I do, too.” His eyes are a piercing blue, and the way he’s got them focused on me, like I’m the only person in the room, is unsettling. It drives me insane that I still find him attractive after all these years. I hate it.
“Oh, really?” I challenge. “What grade is Christopher in?”
“Ninth.” His expression is smug.
Damn. He got it right. “When’s Morgan’s birthday?”
He looks a little less sure of himself. “January . . . tenth?”
Ha! “Twelfth. What does Ruby call her stuffed panda?”
That one stumps him completely.
