Page 8 of Raging Fires

“Kelli’s right,” Jake said. There was a first. He looked at Morton. “The wife gets everything, right?”

“Well, usually, it’s true that—”

“Look.” Gran stood up, too, taking charge. “It wasn’t my idea; it was David’s. But he was right. David left me plenty to live on. It’d go to you eventually, anyway. This is just a few years earlier.”

“You’re just trying to force us to get back together.”

“So what? You two gave up too easily.” She pointed at Jake. “You should have paid attention to what she was telling you.” She swung toward Kelli. “And you should have stayed there and fought for your marriage.”

“There wasn’t anything to fight for,” Kelli said. She told herself it was anger that was making her sound like she was going to cry.

“Hold on, everyone.” The lawyer rose, trying to regain control of the room. “Why don’t we all sit down and reason this out? This isn’t the end of the world.”

“Easy for you to say,” Jake grumped, but he sat down, and the others followed. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and looking at Mr. Morton in challenge. “Okay. Go ahead.”

“Mr. Kent set up a testamentary trust, which ends in one year if you and Mrs. Riley—”

“My name is not Riley,” Kelli snapped. “It’s Andrews.” She realized that she had unconsciously adopted the same pose as Jake, and she hastily dropped her arms.

“Yes, of course. Ms…um, Kelli,” Mr. Morton said in a patient voice. “The point is that the trust vests in one year if you’re married and in residence. It’s just one year, not forever.”

“It’ll just seem like forever,” Jake put in.

Kelli shot him a glare. The attorney sat back, looking weary.

“For Pete’s sake, stop acting like a three-year-old, Jake,” Gran told him, and Kelli smothered a laugh.

Jake sighed ostentatiously. He relaxed his posture and turned to the lawyer, spreading his arms out on the table, talking man to man. “Okay. Look. I’ll just give up my rights or ownership or whatever and let Kelli have it. She loves the place.” His gaze went to her, then quickly away. “If Gran doesn’t want it, then Kelli should have it.”

Kelli swallowed. It shouldn’t warm her that Jake was willing to give up his share to her. She knew that it wasn’t easy for him. He loved the Blue, too, and more than that, it was like giving up a claim to Pops himself. Maybe Jake did hate her now, but maybe deep down inside he was still the boy she’d loved, too.

Unfortunately, Morton the Spoiler said, “I’m afraid that there’s a problem with that. There’s no allowance in the trust for either of you transferring ownership to the other. If you don’t meet the terms of the trust, then it will go to St. Catherine’s.”

“The church? The church is going to own a bar?” Jennifer’s eyebrows shot up. Kelli had the feeling that Jake’s mom hadn’t known about any of this either. “What is a church going to do with a bar?”

“Well, uh, I imagine they’ll sell it.” A heavy silence followed that declaration.

“The Blue will be gone?” Kelli asked finally. She’d known that might happen, but she hadn’t really thought Gran would sell it. She’d certainly never dreamed that Pops would give it away to somebody else. Tears filled her eyes. She blinked them away and cleared her throat. “Mr. Morton, what happens exactly when this trust thing ends? You said it only lasted a year, and we had to be married until then.”

“Yes, and occupying the residence. Once the trust ends, however, you and Mr. Riley will be free to do whatever you want with it. Sell it, continue to operate it, give up your share, whatever you wanted.”

“So... maybe after a year we could do something like splitting the profits or if Jake didn’t want it, maybe I could get a loan and buy his half?”

“Absolutely.” The lawyer looked ecstatic that someone was beginning to see things his way. He was probably desperate to get them all out of his office.

“Geez, Kell, are you actually considering this?” Jake asked.

“Well, he said we didn’t have to stay married after the year is up,” Kelli said defensively.

“That’s correct,” Morton inserted quickly.

“We got a divorce once; I guess we could do it again,” Kelli reasoned.

“It’s not getting divorced again that’s the problem. It’s getting married again.”

“It wouldn’t be the same as before,” Kelli told him. The idea was lodged in her brain now, and the more she considered it, the more she wanted it. “We wouldn’t be... you know.” She gestured vaguely between them.

Jake snorted. “You can count on that.”