been a family
asset—“
“Just spit it out,” Mitchell advised
sardonically. “She knows what’s coming, despite this innocent
maiden act she’s putting on.”
Delanie swung around in her chair. “I have
no idea what your problem is, but I have a job to get back to, so I
wish you’d let the man say what he’s trying to say!”
Mitchell straightened in his chair, his eyes
suddenly blazing with wrath. “Oh, you know very specifically what
my problem is. You deliberately set out to achieve this end and
now—“
“Okay, let’s calm down,” Alec Parker
interrupted, his voice soothing. “There’s no point in getting
upset. The situation is the way it is and we have to deal with
it.”
“What exactly is the situation?” Delanie
demanded, astonished by the rage she felt emanating from Donovan’s
grandson.
“When Donovan Riese died,” the attorney
said, “he left a large and complicated estate.”
Delanie nodded. “I knew he was very
wealthy.”
“Didn’t you just,” Mitchell muttered.
“Yes,” Mr. Parker said hastily, “the estate
is very complicated and made more so by the existence of what has
been a family holding.”
“I don’t understand how this has anything to
do with me,” she said, confused and disgustingly aware of the
too-attractive, too-hostile man sitting next to her.
“Well,” the attorney cast a warning gaze in
Mitchell’s direction, “I need to explain that to you. But first you
have to understand how the property known as The Cedars was
left.”
“Okay,” she agreed, ignoring Mitchell as he
rose abruptly from his chair and went to stand in front of the
window.
“The Cedars, as I said, is a family-held
property. I believe Mr. Donovan Riese’s father built—“
“Grandfather,” Mitchell inserted, not
turning away from the window.
“Oh, yes,” Alec Parker shuffled his papers
again. “Two generations. That’s why we’re even in this situation.
It was Donovan’s grandfather who built The Cedars a few years
before he died.”
Delanie glanced at Mitchell’s back, rigid
beneath the dark material of his Italian suit. What the heck was
eating the man?
And what had Donovan done with his will?
The gallant, elderly man had been a
sweetheart after her life had turned upside down. He’d visited her
in Boston on several occasions and had even sent gifts to Jenna
over the first months of her life.
But Delanie had no clue as to what the heck
was going on with The Cedars and his will.
When she’d gotten out of the hospital after
her amnesiac period, she’d gone back to Boston and picked up her
life as best she could. As far as she was concerned, The Cedars was
simply a fascinating job she’d been fortunate to be involved
with.
A place where she must have met and become
involved with Jenna’s father and subsequently lost her mind for six
weeks. Nothing more.
So why the heck was she sitting here
embroiled in an argument over Donovan’s beloved Cedars?
“When William Riese purchased the land in
the late 1800s,” Alec Parker said, “and built the resort and the
villa situated on it’s grounds, he wanted it to be available to all
the members of the Riese family. So he left the resort to his son
and daughter with the stipulation that all Riese descendents were
to share equally in it’s ownership for at least two
generations.”
“Very interesting, but I’m still baffled,”
Delanie murmured. “Where do I come in?”
The lawyer glanced at Mitchell where he
stood in front the window, his back to the room.
“Let me continue. William’s daughter,
Miriam, died in her thirties without issue. His son, Robert,
however, had one son, Donovan.”
“Okay,” she said, giving him an encouraging
smile. Apparently, this circuitous story was the only way she would
find out why she was here.
“Donovan also had one son,” Mr. Parker said,
responding with a brief, furtive smile of his own. “Walter Riese
then married and produced the only remaining descendent
asset—“
“Just spit it out,” Mitchell advised
sardonically. “She knows what’s coming, despite this innocent
maiden act she’s putting on.”
Delanie swung around in her chair. “I have
no idea what your problem is, but I have a job to get back to, so I
wish you’d let the man say what he’s trying to say!”
Mitchell straightened in his chair, his eyes
suddenly blazing with wrath. “Oh, you know very specifically what
my problem is. You deliberately set out to achieve this end and
now—“
“Okay, let’s calm down,” Alec Parker
interrupted, his voice soothing. “There’s no point in getting
upset. The situation is the way it is and we have to deal with
it.”
“What exactly is the situation?” Delanie
demanded, astonished by the rage she felt emanating from Donovan’s
grandson.
“When Donovan Riese died,” the attorney
said, “he left a large and complicated estate.”
Delanie nodded. “I knew he was very
wealthy.”
“Didn’t you just,” Mitchell muttered.
“Yes,” Mr. Parker said hastily, “the estate
is very complicated and made more so by the existence of what has
been a family holding.”
“I don’t understand how this has anything to
do with me,” she said, confused and disgustingly aware of the
too-attractive, too-hostile man sitting next to her.
“Well,” the attorney cast a warning gaze in
Mitchell’s direction, “I need to explain that to you. But first you
have to understand how the property known as The Cedars was
left.”
“Okay,” she agreed, ignoring Mitchell as he
rose abruptly from his chair and went to stand in front of the
window.
“The Cedars, as I said, is a family-held
property. I believe Mr. Donovan Riese’s father built—“
“Grandfather,” Mitchell inserted, not
turning away from the window.
“Oh, yes,” Alec Parker shuffled his papers
again. “Two generations. That’s why we’re even in this situation.
It was Donovan’s grandfather who built The Cedars a few years
before he died.”
Delanie glanced at Mitchell’s back, rigid
beneath the dark material of his Italian suit. What the heck was
eating the man?
And what had Donovan done with his will?
The gallant, elderly man had been a
sweetheart after her life had turned upside down. He’d visited her
in Boston on several occasions and had even sent gifts to Jenna
over the first months of her life.
But Delanie had no clue as to what the heck
was going on with The Cedars and his will.
When she’d gotten out of the hospital after
her amnesiac period, she’d gone back to Boston and picked up her
life as best she could. As far as she was concerned, The Cedars was
simply a fascinating job she’d been fortunate to be involved
with.
A place where she must have met and become
involved with Jenna’s father and subsequently lost her mind for six
weeks. Nothing more.
So why the heck was she sitting here
embroiled in an argument over Donovan’s beloved Cedars?
“When William Riese purchased the land in
the late 1800s,” Alec Parker said, “and built the resort and the
villa situated on it’s grounds, he wanted it to be available to all
the members of the Riese family. So he left the resort to his son
and daughter with the stipulation that all Riese descendents were
to share equally in it’s ownership for at least two
generations.”
“Very interesting, but I’m still baffled,”
Delanie murmured. “Where do I come in?”
The lawyer glanced at Mitchell where he
stood in front the window, his back to the room.
“Let me continue. William’s daughter,
Miriam, died in her thirties without issue. His son, Robert,
however, had one son, Donovan.”
“Okay,” she said, giving him an encouraging
smile. Apparently, this circuitous story was the only way she would
find out why she was here.
“Donovan also had one son,” Mr. Parker said,
responding with a brief, furtive smile of his own. “Walter Riese
then married and produced the only remaining descendent
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