The Cinderella Hour by Stone Katherine

Author:Stone, Katherine [Stone, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-10-15T21:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

Quail Ridge Fire Station

Tuesday, November 1

1:00 p.m.

“Hey, Luke! You decent? There’s a beautiful woman on her way up to see you.”

Snow. Luke rose swiftly from the bed where he had been lying—thinking about her—and strode the short distance to the closed door of his fire-station on-call room.

He opened the door to a different face from the past.

“Vivian.”

“Hi. May I come in?”

The bed was made, and there was nothing private in the room. Unlike his firefighting comrades, Luke hadn’t added any personal touches. The desk, chairs, computer, and TV were all standard issue QRFD. It wasn’t a large room. But it could accommodate two adults without either one intruding on the other’s space. Still, he asked, “Why?”

“I need to talk to you. Privately.”

“About?”

“The girl you rescued Saturday afternoon.”

“Come in.”

“Thank you.”

Vivian Larken, attorney-at-law, walked with high-heeled elegance to the desk. She set her briefcase on the desktop and sat in the chair. She rested a perfectly manicured hand on the case, but didn’t open it.

She looked at Luke, who had closed the door and was leaning against it.

“I’ve been contacted by Dr. Thomas Vail,” Vivian began, “the man Daniel Hart named as Wendy’s guardian in the letter he wrote shortly before his death. The letter was neither witnessed nor notarized. It appears to have been Daniel’s only will.”

“But not a legal one?”

“A dying wish can be viewed as legal, much as an excited utterance can bypass usual hearsay rules in a criminal proceeding.”

“Can be viewed as legal,” Luke repeated. “But can also be ignored?”

“Or contested.”

“You’re here because Thomas Vail is contesting Daniel’s dying wish?” If so, Luke thought, if he doesn’t want to care for Wendy, I do. And will. Snow and I will love—

“Just the opposite, Luke. Thomas has asked me to make his guardianship ironclad in the eyes of the law. The first step is to authenticate that it was Daniel’s dying wish by obtaining an affidavit from the last person to see him alive. As I understand it, that’s you.”

“It is.”

“According to the sheriff’s report Thomas faxed me, Daniel told you about the letter—addressed to Thomas—in Wendy’s knapsack.”

“Yes. He shouted to me that it was there. If you need me to say I believe Daniel knew what he wanted for Wendy, I’m prepared to do so.”

“That’s what I need. I’ll draft something saying essentially that. Once you’ve approved what I’ve written, we’ll have it notarized and I’ll file it with the court—assuming by then Daniel’s body has been found. If not, I’ll need another affidavit from you. Absent a body, it takes seven years before someone can be declared legally deceased. In this case, I’d petition the court to have the death certificate issued sooner. The sheriff’s report states you witnessed Daniel’s death.”

“I saw him swept away by the floodwaters. Even if he was a strong swimmer, I doubt he would have survived. And with the casts on his arms . . . I didn’t witness his death, Vivian. But I believe I witnessed the final moments of his life.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.