Page 7 of Breakout (Walker University #3)

five

S tanding outside of Piper & Sons Law Office, I stop to take a deep breath. I dressed in one of my Sunday’s best dresses that I keep around for job interviews. It’s a little tight on me now that I am eating a bit more regularly. Still, I didn’t want to look out of place.

You can do this.

Opening the front door, I force a smile on my face as I head toward the receptionist.

“Hello there, dear. You must be Peyton.”

I recognize her voice immediately. It’s the same grandmotherly voice from the phone.

“Mary?” I ask.

“That would be me. Your fella is already here. Let me take you back.”

I follow behind her, wringing my hands together.

Will the rest of the family be there? Will they realize I’m an impostor?

“Here you are. Mr. Piper will be with you in a moment. Have a seat.”

“Thank you,” I mumble, coming to a stop inside the door when I find who is waiting for me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

He turns, his blue eyes meeting mine.

“I told you that I didn’t want you coming alone. Be mad at me if you want, but this is what friends do, so let me be your friend.”

My heart is pounding in my chest. I want to be mad at him, but I can’t. The second I saw him, all the weight on my chest lifted. I felt nothing but relief.

I both love and hate the feeling. Love it because I don’t feel so alone but hate it because losing him will be that much harder.

Walking over to him, I take the seat next to him.

Neither of us speaks as we wait for the lawyer to come into the room. My leg jiggles as my nerves get the best of me.

Beckett places his hand on my knee, calming me instantly. “It’s okay, Pey. I’m right here. You aren’t alone,” he murmurs.

I place my hand over his, squeezing it tightly. “What if the family shows up? I’m not ready for this. We should go,” I whisper back to him.

He uses his free hand to cup my cheek and pull my gaze to his.

“Peyton, you are the strongest, most resilient woman I have ever met. If they show up, then we will handle it together. If they are mean, then I’ll kick their asses for bothering you.

If they are nice, well then maybe you gained a family.

Either way, it won’t matter because I will be right here by your side for the entire thing. For as long as you want me to be.”

I have a feeling there’s more to his statement than he is letting on, but I have no time to dissect it. An old, pot-bellied man walks into the room wearing an expensive suit.

“Ms. Anderson, it is lovely to meet you. I’m Mr. Piper. I was your grandfather’s lawyer.” The man holds his hand out for me. I stand and shake it.

“Grandfather?” I ask.

“Yes. We will get to that in a moment. Who might you be?” He turns to Beckett.

“Her support system. Beckett Hayes.”

They shake hands, and we all sit.

“First, let me start by saying I’m sorry for your loss, Ms. Anderson.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t know him.” My tone betrays my nerves.

Grandfather? I had a grandfather.

“I’m aware, but still. You lost a great man. One who did everything he could to care for you from afar. He wanted you taken care of in the event of his death. Let me get the right paper.”

Mr. Piper flips through the file in front of him before he finds what he is looking for.

“Here it is.” He clears his throat. “I, Matthias, with sound mind, leave my estate, including my home valued at six point five million dollars, Pickens bank account valued at thirty-three billion dollars, investment accounts valued at four million dollars and sixteen billion dollars respectively, and all physical items with no assigned value to my granddaughter, Peyton Marie Anderson. To my other granddaughter, Janis Messer, I leave my Sunrise Bank account valued at ten dollars. I appoint William Piper as my sole executor of my final will and testament. The stipulations of inheritance are listed below.”

He stops to look at me. I can feel my mouth open as the shock settles in. He left me his house, a bank account, investments, and physical items. He practically left me everything. On top of that, the amount is staggering.

“Why would he do that?” I whisper.

“He loved you, Ms. Anderson. He spoke of you often when he would visit. He updated his will every year. Your cousin, Janis, will be unhappy with the final will, but we will handle that accordingly. Mr. Anderson put money aside so that I could fight her contestation without causing you any financial burden.”

My hand flies to my chest as it pounds. “I don’t want issues. Can’t I just give it all to her?”

“Peyton, he wanted you to have it,” Beckett says in a low voice as he rubs my back.

“I don’t need his money, Beck. I’ve survived without him this long.” The anger starts to set in. “If he wanted to help me, he could have come and gotten me when I was in foster care. Yeah, no, I don’t want it, Mr. Piper.”

He gives me a sad smile. “Mr. Anderson left this letter for you to read. He said it would explain everything. Unfortunately, you are not his heir as of yet. There are the stipulations he outlined, so until those are met, I am the sole executor and will fight for his wishes.”

“Fine, what do I need to do to get it so I can give it away?” I cross my arms over my chest, leaning a little more into Beckett.

He looks back to the paperwork. “Prior to Peyton Anderson taking her inheritance, she must be married.”

I growl. “What kind of archaic bullshit is this?”

Mr. Piper looks at me apologetically. “I tried to advise him against it, but he wanted to be sure you would always have someone watching out for you after his death. He hoped the estate would be motivation for you to settle down.”

I shake my head. “You have got to be kidding me. I could go marry any Joe Schmo off of the street and collect it, then divorce the man. What is stopping me from doing that?”

The anger is bleeding into my tone, making me raise my voice. I hate how heated I feel, but this is fucking bullshit.

“Well, I am to be at the wedding. It is at my discretion to determine if the task has been met. He wants you to find a man who will protect you at all costs. I am to ensure that is done.” His eyes flicker to Beckett briefly.

I pull away from Beckett, leaning over the table. “What happens if I don’t?”

He smiles. “I hold the money until you do. Upon your death, the same stipulations would pass onto any child you have. If you do not have any, then the estate will be donated to charity.”

I nod. “Sounds good to me. Do that then.”

Standing, I go to leave the room, but Mr. Piper stops me. “Your anger is warranted. I never agreed with how he handled things, but he had his reasons.” He hands me the letter I left on the table. “Read it. Understand him. He really did love you and your father.”

My heart aches at the mention of a man I haven’t seen since I was five years old.

My beautiful baby girl.

I could almost hear his voice still. At least, the voice I made up in my head. I have no idea if it is really his.

Taking the letter, I don’t say another word as I storm out of the office.

I don’t want anything from that man or his family.I’ve survived this long on my own, and I plan to for the rest of my life.

I don’t need anyone.

She’s angry. I should leave her alone, but I’m a masochist. Even if she’s yelling at me, at least I know how she is doing.

She’s stopped a few steps from the door, looking at the sky.

So I walk up to her outside the office and touch her shoulder.

She spins, glaring at me.“Not now, Beckett,” she spits out.

I let her have that anger. She just found out that not only did she have a family who left her in foster care, but that they are rich and have all the money in the world by the sound of things.

Peyton would be a fool to turn down the money.

She would have such an easy life after all her struggles, but she’s too proud for that. She wants to earn her place.

Still, I can’t help but feel like this is divine intervention.

As soon as I heard that stipulation, I knew what to do. She would need to be married, and I refuse to let her marry someone else.

No, I will marry her. Now to get her on board.

“Let’s go get some food, then we can talk about it.”

She nods reluctantly.

I let her drive to the diner down the block as she stews in her anger. Once we arrive, we get a table quickly, Peyton sliding in across the booth from me. The server takes our drink order, then hustles off.

“You have every right to be mad, but are you really going to hand the fortune over? There’s a reason he only left her ten dollars.”

Her eyes shoot to mine. “What do you mean he only left her ten dollars?”

“That’s what he said. Did you not hear him?”

She shrugs. “I kind of missed that whole part. I was more focused on the fact that he is practically giving me everything. Why would he do this, Beck?” Her anger is fading, and now she looks sad.

I reach out and grab her hand. “I have no idea, but you have a letter that might explain it.”

“I’m not ready to hear from him yet. I’m still so angry,” she mumbles, squeezing my hand.

“You know you could get married and take control of the money, then decide what to do with it,” I start.

“I wish he hadn’t left me anything,” she admits softly.

“He did, though. Whatever his reasons were, he left them to you so you would be taken care of. Shouldn’t you at least consider taking it? I mean, if your father was alive, it sounds like he would have been the heir, so wouldn’t you be honoring him by accepting it on his behalf?” I ask.

She sighs. “I would need to get married, though, which I never want to do.”

My heart hurts hearing her words. Still, I push forward.

“So you marry someone out of convenience.”

“You heard him. He has to believe it.” She looks up at me, her eyes wary.

“So we sell him on it.”

“Really? Who would I marry then?”

I smile big. “Me, of course.”

She chokes. “What? No way. That’s way against the rules.”

I shrug. “Is it, though? I don’t remember there being one saying we couldn’t get married.”

“No catching feelings? Remember.”

“Are you saying you would catch feelings if you married me, Peyton?” I tease her, but truthfully, I’m hoping her answer is yes.

“What? No. That’s not what I meant.” She denies it a little too quickly.

“So then there’s no reason not to do it. Come on, you saw him look at me when he said it. He already thinks we are a thing. Our friends tease us about being together. We can pull it off.”

I give her a minute to think it over even though the silence is killing me.

“All right, smart guy. What would we tell our friends? I don’t want this affecting our group.”

“Then we don’t tell them. They don’t need to know we signed a paper. We keep it to ourselves and handle business away from them.” The words kill me to say, but I’m desperate.

I’ll take her however I can have her.

“What would be in it for you? Money?” she asks.

“I don’t need money, Peyton. You know that.”

“I do, so why would you agree to it?”

For you.

“I can’t help a friend out?” I ask.

She narrows her eyes. “This is a big thing to help with, so no.”

I know I’m losing her, so I tell her a little nugget of truth.

“Honestly, this is perfect timing. It’s the solution I need, but I had no idea what to do.

My father has been trying to set me up with some woman he thinks would be a good fit for me.

I don’t want to marry or even date her. If I’m already married, that can’t happen.

So see, you would be solving my problem too. ”

She looks at me thoughtfully. “Is that what happened the other night?”

I nod, looking down at the table. “I don’t talk about him much, but my father has expectations, and I’m tired of meeting them. You could save me.”

She takes a deep breath. “All right.”

I already have my next argument ready, but it dies on my tongue.

“All right?”

“Yes. All right. I’ll do it. I don’t want the money, but I also don’t want this hanging over my head, so I’ll do it.”

Grabbing the straw, I take the paper off carefully, making it into a makeshift ring. Then I slide out of the booth and drop to one knee. “Peyton Anderson, would you make me the happiest man I have ever been and be my wife?”

She glares at me. “Beckett, get your ass up, people are staring.”

“Not until you say yes. Don’t break my heart, Pey.” I give her a puppy dog look.

She looks around before rolling her eyes. “Yes, now get back in your seat.”

Jumping up, I slide the paper ring on her finger before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips.

Everyone claps as I slide back into my side of the booth.

“You’re fucking insane,” she whispers to me.

“For you, wifey. For you.”

She laughs like I’m joking, but I’m dead serious.

She has no idea the lengths I would go to for her. She will, though.

My wife.

I can’t wait to call her that. It can’t come soon enough.