Page 72 of The Master

I smiled, but it felt forced. Not because of Jailene, but because of what I had to do now. If Finley didn’t accept my apology, I didn’t know what I’d do. Besides the fact that he was my closest friend, he was a part of Ashlee’s life, and I didn’t want her to be caught between us.

As soon as Finley opened the door, I started apologizing. “I’m sorry for what I said and how I behaved. There’s no excuse. You’ve always been a good friend to me, and I should have given you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Come in.”

The moment we were inside, Finley had his arms around me in a hug. I wasn’t much of a hugger, but after everything that’d happened recently, even I needed one. When he let me go, he turned to Ashlee and gave her a longer hug. Before things could get awkward, he took us into the kitchen and offered us something to drink. Only after pouring us each a glass of lemonade, did he join us at the small breakfast nook.

“I’m glad you came,” he said. “I was literally trying to decide between calling you and coming to your place when you got here.”

“I was out of line.”

“No, you weren’t,” he said. “Not really, anyway. I should have told you about Isti years ago. I’m sorry that I didn’t. You’re one of my closest friends, and it was something that I knew would be important to you. I shouldn’t have hidden my relationship with her from you.”

I put out my hand. “How about we both agree that there’s a lot of things we should’ve done differently and that, from here on out, we stay honest with each other?”

He shook my hand and gave me that grin that always made him look ten years younger. “As long as that honesty doesn’t include things with my daughter that no father wants to hear.”

Ashlee made a choking sound, and Finley burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. She looked so indignant that I had to laugh too. She glared at us, but there was no heat behind it. She actually looked relieved that we were laughing together.

“Now that fences are mended, there is something else I needed to talk to you two about. Well, more you, Ashlee, than Nate.”

“Me?”

“Isti and I had the same father but different mothers. Isti’s legitimate, and I’m not. Our dad never gave me his last name and never did anything that would make it seem like my mom and I were the priority over Isti and her mom. But, he did acknowledge that I was his and took care of my mom and me. After he died, he left me a portion of his estate. Not as much as Isti, but I’ve never minded. I grew what I’d been given and never begrudged Isti what she has.”

Ashlee glanced at me, but I just shrugged. I had no idea where Finley was going with this. Telling her about her grandparents didn’t really seem like the kind of thing that required any sense of urgency.

“What I didn’t know was that my father had a trust for any grandchildren who came along, no matter which of his children they came from. Or how they came to be.”

Ashlee caught her breath, and Finley nodded.

“I called my lawyer this morning to make an appointment to go over my will. When I told him that I wanted to make changes because I’d just learned that I had a daughter, he told me about the trust.”

I wasn’t sure which was shocking Ashlee more, that her late grandfather had left her money or that her newly-found father wanted to write her into his will.

“Somehow, Isti managed to get her hands on some of the trust a couple years ago. I don’t know how she did it, but because the trust was supposed to be held until Isti and I were both fifty before it would be split between us, she had no right to even half of it.”

“I don’t understand.” Ashlee’s hands were folded in front of her, knuckles white.

“Basically, the half of the trust that remains will be released to you once a paternity test is done, which is a stipulation of the trust, not because I don’t believe you. The other half will be taken from Isti.”

I let out a low whistle. “She’s not going to like that.”

“She’ll like it even less when she realizes that anything she can’t pay back will come out of a sale of her property. From what my lawyer said, she’ll be lucky to be able to hire an attorney to defend her from the grand larceny charge she’ll have brought against her.”

Ashlee and I exchanged glances.

“That’s not the only criminal charge she’s going up against,” I said. “You’re not going to believe what’s happened since I left here yesterday.”

Forty-Eight

Ashlee

May was already comingto an end, and I could barely believe it. The last two weeks felt like a blur, and today marked the end of all the drama that had plagued Nate and me almost since the beginning. Our life together wasn’t ever going to be boring or even drama-free, but I sincerely hoped we never had any excitement like this again.

The Monday immediately following Isti’s confession to Nate and me, an arrest warrant was issued, and she was taken into custody. A lucky reporter happened to be nearby for a fluff piece and got the only footage of Isti slapping one of the arresting officers. After having an assault charge added, Isti ended up mouthing off to the judge and landed herself in jail without bail.

I had no sympathy for her.

---