Fate Actually (Moonstone Cove #2) - Elizabeth Hunter Page 0,68

care in the world.

“Hey.”

“Hey!” She tipped her sunglasses down her nose. “You two found something.”

“You could say that.”

“Good.” She pointed to her white purse, which was splashed with purple wine must. “Then I didn’t ruin this beauty for nothing.”

Megan wore her reading glasses as she paged through the living trust that detailed the extent and disbursement of Whit Fairfield’s assets. They were sitting on Katherine’s back deck, which seemed like the least likely place for a thief to search should anyone suspect them. Also, there was Archie. He was sweet as sugar, but he did make a lot of noise.

Of the three of them, Megan had been the one reading the most legal documents lately, so she was probably their best bet at understanding them without a lawyer.

“Can I tell you? I’m surprised by how straightforward this is.” She looked up and slid off her glasses. “He didn’t have any children, so that simplifies it. He had two main asset streams, what he’d inherited from his family and grown—that’s mostly real estate investments—and what he developed on his own, which consists of quite a lot of stocks, mostly in technology, and also shares in various businesses, most of which he shared with Angela Calvo, who is designated here as his fiancée and primary beneficiary. For the most part, anything that came from his family he left to his younger brother, and anything of his own he left to Angela. There’s some mention of a reciprocal agreement in her own living trust, so it’s not surprising. It sounds like they’ve been working jointly for a few years now. At least financially.”

“Anything about the winery in general?” Toni asked. “Anything that mentions anyone here in town? Marissa? Ruben? Anyone?”

“Not that I can see.” Megan shrugged. “He didn’t even designate personal items to individuals. This man seemed to have no friends, no loyal employee that he wanted to benefit. Just his fiancée and his brother. That’s it.”

“That’s strange,” Katherine said. “What an isolated existence.”

“Single-minded.” Toni stared at the will. “It fits.”

“What about the blueprints?”

Katherine pointed inside. “Baxter was very interested in them, but he said they’re too small to really examine, of course. He’s trying to piece them together from the pictures I took; then he said he has a friend at the university in the engineering department who can print them out full size. This professor also specializes in seismic design, so he’s very knowledgeable about geology as well as engineering.”

Toni felt like she was about to fall asleep. “I may have to take off soon. Even with Baxter’s tea, I’m starting to fade.”

“Should you call Henry?”

Toni’s immediate reaction was to brush off the suggestion and fight her way back to awareness long enough to drive home.

Then again, he had asked Toni to let him help. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”

“Look at you.” Megan smiled and patted her shoulder. “It’s like you’re in a grown-up relationship after all.”

“Don’t test me, Atlanta. If I wanted to, I could make myself throw up on you with very little encouragement.”

Chapter 23

Toni felt a kiss brush across her temple. “Toni.”

“Mmmm.”

“Going to work.”

“’Kay.” She blinked through the foggy veil of sleep. “You get coffee?”

Henry was sitting on the side of the bed. “I made some. And there’s hot water for tea if you want it. You want me to make a cup for you?”

She rolled over and blinked at him. “You’re very nice to have around.”

His eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled. “I like being around. I need to go get Earl though. I’m sure he’s feeling left out.”

“Bring him anytime.” She snuggled farther down in the pillows. “He’s sweet too.”

“Look at you.” He ran his fingers through her short curly mop. “Not even a hint of salt this morning. What did you do with my girlfriend?”

Girlfriend. Girlfriend?

Whatever. She could be a girlfriend.

“I blame you.” She closed her eyes and snuggled closer when Henry started rubbing her back. “It’s the empathy. I’m hanging out with you so much, your sweet is rubbing off on me and dampening the salty.”

“Better be careful. You don’t want to lose your edge.”

“I’m sure someone will come along soon enough and piss me off,” she muttered.

“Okay.” He rubbed small circles on her hip. “If you haven’t kicked any doors or told off anyone by the time I finish work today, I’m going to take you to the doctor to get you checked out.”

She reached over and patted his arm. “It’s good you realize that I’m not going to