Page 31 of Walkoff Wedding

As if he can feel my nerves from his chair beside me, Grant reaches out and squeezes my hand reassuringly, offering me a smile.

I’m not nervous to be meeting with my new attorney, but I am nervous about how this entire thing will go.

What if there was more to the conversation than what Earl overheard?

What if Ever After actually won’t be mine? What if the whole idea with Grant won’t work and all of this was for nothing?

What if… Dixon is the only option.

The thought alone sends chills shooting down my spine and anxiousness unfurling inside the pit of my stomach.

I don’t think I’m prepared to hear any of those things, but I’m conditioned to expect the worst, so it wouldn’t surprise me.

The door creaks open behind us, and then a man in his late fifties with midnight-black hair, a tight sports coat stretched over his protruding belly, and a kind smile appears. He rounds the desk, file in hand, and takes a seat in the chair opposite Grant and me.

“Good afternoon, Miss Arceneaux. Mr. Bergeron.” He reaches out and offers his hand for me to shake before turning to Grant and doing the same. “I’m William Morrison. Again, thank you for choosing my firm to assist with your inheritance and will matters. After our conversation on the phone this morning, I was able to pull the filed copy of your mother’s will.”

He glances down, opening the file folder in front of him, and pulls out one of the documents inside. “I know you were concerned with the will being valid, if I’m understanding correctly?”

I nod, swallowing roughly. “I am. I think… my stepfather has somehow obtained an altered copy. Or he is possibly, um… manipulating the truth? My mother passed away when I was a kid, so I’ve never seen the original.”

Mr. Morrison’s expression morphs in surprise. “Interesting. Well, I’ve got the original filing here. If there are any discrepancies from what you’ve seen or been told, then we can absolutely address those.”

“I… I think that I’m supposed to inherit my mother’s bakery, Ever After, upon turning twenty-five or when I get married. Is that information correct?”

I hold my breath until my lungs burn as I wait for his response. Grant must feel me tense because he gives another reassuring squeeze of my hand, and only then do I realize that he’s been holding it the entire time, offering a sense of silent strength with just his touch.

A few painful seconds tick by as Mr. Morrison scans the document in his hand, then lifts his gaze to meet mine.

He nods at me. “That seems to be correct.”

My lungs deflate, a hundred different emotions cascading through my body at once. Relief, shock… betrayal. While part of me wanted to hope, another part of me thought that somehow what Earl overheard wouldn’t be true and all of this would have been for nothing.

That I would still be trapped in a situation that I couldn’t control.

“It appears that you inherit the property, as well as the building and assets, upon turning twenty-five or upon marrying. Whichever is first. As of now, the property remains with the executor… which I’m assuming is your stepfather. Brent Arceneaux?”

“Yes. That’s my stepfather. Until now, I was led to believe the bakery was left to him.”

He stares pensively at me for a moment before speaking. “Do you anticipate him contesting the will during probate?”

When my brow furrows in confusion, he adds, “Probate is the legal process of actually obtaining the asset. In your case, the bakery.”

“I’m not sure, honestly. I don’t think so, but it’s a possibility.”

Mr. Morrison nods. “We’ll be prepared to defend the will if need be. There are plenty of things in place for that situation.”

My mind is moving in a thousand different directions, an influx of questions that I’m trying to sort through, when Grant speaks up. “Just to clarify… There are no other requirements for Addie if she gets married before twenty-five? She’ll simply inherit the property then?”

“That’s correct. Pending there’s no contest, then the process would be fairly simple.”

So…

“If he were to try and contest it or to make false claims, what would happen?” I ask quietly.

After all of the lies and deceit from Brent, nothing would surprise me at this point, and given how I was left in the dark about this until recently, I just need to know every scenario. Good or bad. Anything that could go wrong. It feels too… easy.

I marry Grant, then I get the bakery. Just like that. I don’t think that Brent’s just going to… roll over and take this. If he was willing to go to the extremes to manipulate and hide so much from me, he’s clearly up to something not good.

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