is about?” I frown. “Like, word for word.”
“Nothing.” He slides his hand up my thigh. “This is just a formality to finalize the changes to Owen’s birth certificate.”
I stare out through the front windscreen onto the rainy road. “Oh, okay.”
He squeezes my thigh between his fingers. “It shouldn’t take long, I don’t think.”
It’s Monday afternoon and we’re on our way to see the solicitor who called me last week. After tackling the traffic, we arrive and walk hand in hand to the office, through the swanky black doors.
The receptionist looks up from her computer. “Hello.” She smiles and takes a double look at Cameron. “Ashley Tucker?”
I nod and swallow the nervous lump in my throat. Solicitors always make me jumpy.
“Take a seat, it won’t be a moment. Can I get you a glass of water or a cup of coffee?”
“No, thanks.” I fall into the seat and look around the office nervously. Cam takes my hand into his on his lap.
The office door opens and a kind-looking elderly lady smiles. “Ashley Tucker?”
“Yes.” I stand nervously.
She holds her hand out to her office. “Just this way, dear.” I grab Cam’s hand for reassurance, and we walk in and take a seat at her large mahogany desk.
I clutch my purse tightly on my lap as she takes a seat opposite us. “Now. You know why we’re here today?”
“The birth certificate?” I whisper.
Cam smiles broadly. “I didn’t tell her why she’s here.”
My eyes flash to him in question.
The solicitor smiles broadly. “How lovely.” She stands and takes a folder out of her large filing system. “Well, Ashley, you recently became friends with one of my clients.”
I frown.
“Gloria.”
My eyes widen.
“And Gloria has named you in her will.”
I glance at Cameron and he smiles broadly. “You knew about this?”
He raises his cheeky eyebrows, and I shake my head. What the hell?
She takes out her large folder and opens it. “Gloria has left you her collection of Jane Austen books.”
My mouth falls open and tears instantly fill my eyes. “Oh my God,” I whisper. “Are you serious?” I scramble through my bag for a tissue. “That’s amazing.” I turn to Cam and he’s grinning back at me. “Oh, that’s so special to me. Thank you so much,” I whisper. “When can we pick them up?”
She smiles as she watches me. “That’s not all she left you, dear.”
I frown.
“There’s a property on three-hundred acres in San Diego, and a house in Burbank.”
My eyes widen. “I beg your pardon?” The blood drains from my face.
She smiles and nods. “Yes, she left you everything that she owned.”
My eyes tear up again and I look to Cameron, who’s sitting there stunned.
“Are you serious?” I whisper.
“Completely.” She shuffles through the paperwork. “I have some paperwork that you have to sign to make it legal.”
I drop my head. “I was just her friend. Are you sure you have the right person?” I whisper.
“Positive. She was as smart as a whip and you made her last days wonderful. She contacted me six weeks before she died to arrange the details.”
“Gloria…” I whisper.
Cameron drops his head as emotion takes over.
This is something else.
“Now, the house in San Diego hasn’t been visited in ten years, so I have no idea what state it’s in.” She passes over a pile of paperwork with Xs marked where I have to sign. I start to make my way through them with signatures.
Is this really happening?
“And the house in Burbank was where she lived until she went into hospital, so everything inside it is yours, too.”
I stare at her with the pen in my hand. “I can’t believe this,” I whisper.
I sign and sign and sign until I don’t think my hand can take much more. Finally, forty-five minutes later, she hands me two sets of keys and the two title deeds.
I stare at the keys in my open hand then look up at Cameron, and he kisses me softly on the lips. “Congratulations, baby,” he whispers.
“Cameron, this is too much.”
“No, it’s not.” He smiles as he puts his arm around me and leads me out the door. “You deserved this because you loved Gloria.”
“Cam, I wasn’t her friend to get an inheritance.”
He kisses me and smiles softly. “I know, but every day as I listened to you read Pride and Prejudice to her, I fell a little bit deeper in love with you.”
I stare at him through my tears and he pulls me into an embrace. “Let’s go home, Bloss.” He chuckles. “Your house or mine?”
Vegas
Cameron fusses around