The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,84
back in Lancaster County had felt so familiar. Now that Ivan was gone, everyone kept asking her if she would move back to Paradise, and she was considering it. She’d left Lancaster County for a fresh start with Ivan, which didn’t work out the way she’d planned. Maybe another fresh start was in order.
THE NEXT MORNING she had breakfast with Mary Ellen’s family, and Mary Ellen convinced her to leave Jonas while Katie Ann went to meet the lawyer. She didn’t want to be away from her baby, but she knew he would be better off with Mary Ellen, as opposed to going into the city. Mary Ellen had arranged for a driver to pick her up and take her to Robert Dronberger’s office.
It was almost ten o’clock when she arrived, and within a few minutes a woman ushered her down a hallway to an office at the end of the hall.
The lawyer rose from behind a large oak desk and extended his hand. “So nice to see you, Katie Ann. It’s been a long time.” He pointed to two tan chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat, please.”
Katie Ann sat down, her heart thudding against her chest. She’d been dreading this visit, a summary of recent events that she didn’t care to revisit.
“I’m so sorry about Ivan.” Robert put on a pair of reading glasses and thumbed through a thick file folder on his desk, keeping his eyes down. “As you’ll recall, you and Ivan came in here before you moved to Colorado and had a will prepared.” He looked up at Katie Ann. “Everything that Ivan owned belongs to you.”
“How can that be? He was living with—with another woman.” She hung her head. No matter how much time had passed, humiliation still soared through her.
“That’s just the way the law works.” He sat back in his chair, pulled off his reading glasses, and rubbed his chin. “You are still legally his wife.”
Katie Ann knew that prior to his death she hadn’t really been his wife for a long time. “There are papers for me to sign, no?” She folded her hands in her lap and hoped this wouldn’t take long. She’d asked the driver to wait for her.
“Yes, I have paperwork for you to sign, but I need to explain a few things to you.” He sighed. “Whatever money Ivan had, Lucy has now. They had a joint account, which Lucy has closed, so I’m afraid there aren’t any liquid assets. But Ivan’s personal belongings technically belong to you.”
Katie Ann shook her head. “No. I don’t want any of it. Lucy can have it all, whatever there is.”
Robert stared at her for a few moments. “Katie Ann, there is a house involved. Ivan invested all of his money to build a house about ten miles outside of Bird-in-Hand. He’d hired a builder, and they’d just finished the home a week before he died.”
Katie Ann fought the tremble in her voice. “I do not want any house that Ivan was building for him and Lucy to live in.”
“I understand. But you can sell the home.”
She shook her head, knowing she should have settled all this way before now. “No. Give the house to Lucy.”
Robert shifted his weight in the high-back chair, rubbed his forehead, and locked eyes with Katie Ann. “I went to the house, Katie Ann. I think you should go look at it before you make that decision.”
Again she shook her head. “I am not in a position of financial need. Ivan was living with Lucy, so she should have the house.”
Katie Ann had realized right away that this would solve Lucy’s money problems. It wasn’t at the top of her priority list to help Lucy, but there was a child involved. Ivan’s child.
“Katie Ann, there’s something else.” Robert sighed. “There’s a mortgage owed on the house. In addition to the cash Ivan put into the house, he also took out a mortgage. Lucy will need to keep up with the payments, which are already behind since we had these legal issues to work out.”
“But Lucy can’t afford to . . .” She stopped, knowing it was not her place to air Lucy’s business.
“Ivan was optimistic about his business expansion, and he built a fine home.” Robert paused. “I think you should go and see the house before you make any decisions. Legally, it’s yours.”
In a self-destructive way, she couldn’t help but be curious about the kind of house that Ivan would build for him