Page 113 of See You Maybe
Olivia’s eyes widened. “You’re considering living in Atlanta?”
“There are a lot of people I care about here.”
Was he only talking about his family? Traitorous hope flared in her chest. Was she one of the ‘people?’
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask, but before she embarrassed herself, a voice close by said. “Looks like it going to pour out there.”
Both of their heads swung toward the other person in the lobby. Olivia hadn’t realized they weren’t alone. The man standing by the window shook his head. “Rush hour is going to be a disaster.”
Olivia angled her head to the darkening windows. “I'll see you in the morning.”
Declan opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated. His shoulders rolled back, and his chin lifted. “Drive safely,” he said, before swiftly striding away.
Olivia’s chest ached. What used to be so easy between them was now painfully awkward, and the reminder of what they’d lost cut deep. As she walked to her car, she wondered if this stilted distance is all they would ever have.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Atlanta—Present Day
“How did it go?” Siobhan asked.
The expectant faces of his family, gathered around the wide island in Cara's kitchen, all seemed to hold a collective breath.
“I couldn't find it.” Frustration swelled in him again.
“Damn it! You looked in the study?”
He leveled a look at his mother. “Of course, I did. The room hadn't changed at all. It was a time capsule.”
Declan didn’t share how he’d imagined the faint scent of his father’s cologne and cigars still lingered in the air. The same cologne they now knew Chris and Courtney had used to poison David Bloom.
Conscious of the fact that security guards patrolled the estate and could discover him any minute, Declan didn’t indulge in the nostalgia. The moment he stepped over the threshold, onto the royal blue carpeting his father loved, years of memories washed over him.
The last time Declan had been in the room was for the reading of his father’s will. As soon as the terms were explained, Courtney ordered her new security team to remove all of them from their home.
Declan quickly searched the study and all the other main rooms before moving to the bedrooms upstairs. The urn wasn’t there.
Declan didn’t tell Cara that her bedroom, still full of many of her belongings on the day of the will reading, had been emptied.
Anne, Luke and James’s mother, slumped in her chair. Her husband, Bruce, squeezed her shoulder and stroked a hand over her back. “I really thought this was going to work,” Anne said.
“As far as we know, the bitch threw them out.” Siobhan glowered.
“We’d have heard if she had a memorial... I mean, she wouldn’t just… would she?” Cara’s fearful eyes sought Declan’s.
Cami put her arm over Cara’s shoulders and gave her a side hug. “At this point, I think Courtney might be capable of anything. Look at the two absolute psychopaths she raised. But if she disposed of the urn, Trey would have mentioned it when he was spilling his guts to me. He would have praised her for planning ahead.” Cami’s lip curled.
James rubbed a hand over his jaw. “That's true. On the tape, he bragged about how brilliant his mother was. So, most likely, the ashes are still out there… somewhere. We just don't know where.”
“You should have Vincent follow her. Maybe there's a safe deposit box or something,” Cara suggested.
“She’d need a big box to fit a whole urn in,” Luke responded.
“She might have put the ashes in a plastic bag.” Cara persisted, narrowing her eyes at Luke.
Siobhan turned to face Declan. “What’s happening with the lawsuit all those charities and former employees filed? The ones who were also excluded under the new will.
“That was my other news. As of yesterday, the courts have frozen all the assets that they could identify as having been distributed under the will. Most of it was still in the accounts and trusts our father set up. I don’t know why Courtney didn’t immediately move the funds, but it was a break we needed. It’s also a good sign that the court thinks there’s an argument to be made that the last will was a fake.”