Page 45 of The Me I Left Behind (Tuckaway Bay #4)

She stood tall, her shoulders back, her feet planted, and glowered.

“You will do nothing to contest Max’s will.

Whatever he had in that will remain as is.

If I get nothing, fine. If I get everything, fine.

But you, and I, will abide by it, whatever it is.

Because if you contest even one line item, if you try to take anything from my children, I will sully his name, and your family name, from here to the coast. I’ll make it public knowledge—and I mean very public—about Max’s family in Australia, about him putting me in the hospital last January, about how Caroline wanted to leave him before she was killed.

About how he basically kept me prisoner these last damn twenty years—” she gasped, trying to hold back a sob, “just so he could keep squeezing the fucking dollars out of you!”

She exhaled hard—and realized she’d never felt better in her life.

“You want to avoid scandal? I suggest you back the fuck off. Got it?”

They stood there. Silent.

“He screwed us all. Didn’t he, Mr. Oliver? Mrs. Oliver? Your goddamn perfect ass son? He screwed you, too.”

They said nothing more. And she was finished.

Damn that felt good.

Mr. Oliver ushered his wife into the waiting town car, slamming the door shut. Maggie watched the vehicle slowly drive away. He stared at her through the window until she could no longer see him.

After a minute, she looked at the McDowell’s, who still stood by in silence. They needed something more out of all of this, too. Didn’t they? They damn well deserved it.

“You are Caroline’s parents. Right?”

“Yes.” They nodded. “We are.”

“I’m sorry. I sort of circumvented your drama.”

Mr. McDowell touched her arm. “No worries. We were winding up. And frankly, watching you was a little cathartic.”

His wife moved closer. “We’re sorry for all you’ve been through.”

Her eyes were kind and still full of hurt—even after all these years.

Maggie shook her head. “No. I’m sorry for what happened to you.

I’m sure Max’s death dredged up all kinds of emotions.

” She paused, looking away for a moment.

“Caroline was poised to leave him, you know. You were right. And I can prove it.”

“How?” Mrs. McDowell said. “What do you know?”

“If you have the time right now, there are some things I want to show you… Or rather, give you.”

She gave the McDowell’s the address of the self-storage facility and asked them to follow her there. She called Julia on the way, sharing what had transpired with the Olivers, telling her where she was going and why, and assured her she wanted, and needed, to do this alone.

And could she please see if the children needed food, or anything? “I’ll be there as soon as I take care of this.”

Maggie knew she needed to bring closure to one more piece of Max’s puzzling life.

She pulled up to the storage facility office. The McDowell’s parked their pickup truck next to her. She asked them to wait there while she dealt with Louise.

Ah, Ms. Louise. You do not want to mess with me today .

She looked up as Maggie crossed the threshold into the office.

“Good afternoon, Louise. Remember me? Maggie Oliver. Max Oliver’s wife. I’m here to get some of those things from Max’s unit.”

Louise blew out of breath. “I told you, Mr. Oliver said—”

“He’s dead.”

Louise’s mouth clamped shut.

“If you need proof, I can get you a copy of a death certificate. But let’s just cut through some of the shit and get on with it.

Shall we? Max’s credit card payment won’t go through now.

I’m the executor of his will, so everything will be cut off soon.

You’ll want the unit emptied and I want the stuff that’s in there.

Let’s kill a few birds and get things rolling. Shall we?”

Louise stared at her, holding her breath. She reached for the envelope and pulled out the key. “Fine. Unit sixty-seven.” She slapped the key down flat on the countertop.

Maggie placed her hand over it and slid it closer. “Great. I’ll be back.”

She left and asked the McDowell’s to follow her to unit sixty-seven.

Once there, Maggie unlocked the padlock and opened the unit. Louise, or whoever, had placed all the totes and other items in basically the same position as before. She guided the McDowell’s to the left side and turned to them.

“I found this storage unit a few weeks ago. Max never told me about it. I was looking for something we put in storage years ago and discovered all this.” She pointed to the row of blue plastic boxes.

“These containers are all Caroline’s things, I believe.

I don’t know what is there, but I thought you might want them.

There is another one at my house. I will ship the contents to you if you leave me your address.

I took it because I wanted to find out more about who Max had been married to before me.

I never knew about your daughter. He never told me. ”

She looked at Caroline’s mother, who was in tears. Her father stood beside her, sniffling.

“I’m so sorry for what happened. I know that Max’s anger and his drinking caused her death, whether or not he intended to kill her. And I’d already concluded that Caroline had planned to leave him, or why else would she have boxed things up and labeled them like this, and had them ready to move?”

Mrs. McDowell went to a tote at the end and laid her hand on it. “These things have been here for over twenty years?”

Maggie gave a nod. “Yes, apparently. Like I said, I just discovered them recently. Max had stored them away, with some other things I have yet to go through.”

“We asked and asked for her things…” Mr. McDowell said. “He would never give them to us.”

Maggie’s heart went out to them.

Mrs. McDowell faced her. “He hurt you too, didn’t he? I tried to warn you, you know.”

She didn’t know what the woman was talking about. “Excuse me?”

“The postcards. Did you get them? Every year on June 18? That was the day she died.”

Suddenly, it all came together. The postcards were a warning from Caroline’s mother? “Oh, my goodness. I got them, but I had no clue what they meant.”

Caroline’s mom grasped her hand. “I prayed you wouldn’t suffer the same fate. And those beautiful children…” She glanced at her husband. “We always wanted grandchildren, but it wasn’t to be.”

Maggie sucked in a breath and released it slowly. “Thank you for your concern, Mrs. McDowell, and the warnings.” She patted the back of her hand, then nodded toward the items in the unit. “I can help load these in your truck, if you like.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Mr. McDowell told her. “If all the same to you, let us take our time loading and looking at things. We can padlock it back when finished.” He reached in to give her a hug then. “Thank you,” he mumbled.

“You’re welcome. Take your time.” Maggie gave him a quick squeeze back, then left them to their memories and their task.

The next morning at ten o’clock, Maggie and Julia waited for Jonathan Murray. His administrative assistant led them to his office, and they sat in straight-back wooden chairs in front of his desk. Apparently, it was court day, and he was fitting them in between cases.

He breezed into the office after a few minutes. “My apologies. I’ve a full day in court, but wanted to meet with you as soon as possible. I knew I’d have a small window, so I’m glad you could meet now.” He shook both of their hands and sat behind the desk.

“I’m eager to know about the will.” Maggie shifted in the uncomfortable wooden chair and wondered if he had placed them there intentionally. She couldn’t imagine lingering for a long time sitting there.

He made direct eye contact with her. “Well, things became simpler this morning. We should be able to take care of most things quickly, then get to probate, and settle.”

Julia leaned in. “That sounds like there are no complications. Correct?”

He smiled. “The one complication I expected removed itself.”

That made Maggie sit up straighter. “The Olivers?”

“I received a call from Maxwell Oliver before court. He and his wife are not contesting the will. We are moving forward with Max’s wishes as they stand.”

“Great.” Maggie relaxed a little. She didn’t care what the damn will said, she’d deal with it, but was just glad she could do so without complications.

He pulled out a large manilla folder and opened it on his desk. “Max’s will was simple and to the point. Shall I go through the chief points now, then give you a copy to take with you? Then next time, we can go through executor duties.”

“Sure. That’s fine.”

“Alright. You, Maggie, are the sole beneficiary and executor of his property and assets. Besides the house and the Escalade, Max owned very little property. The house is yours, transferrable upon death. No need to go through probate. We will get your name on the deed, and then you can do whatever you want with it, then. We will take care of that soon.”

Maggie blinked and glanced at Julia, who smiled. “Okay.”

“The Escalade is also yours, as well as any of his personal property in the home. There are no other personal property assets listed in the will.”

Julia kept nodding, looking at Maggie, wearing a slight grin.

“Max had no savings, but had quite a bit of money in a checking account. Your name is not on the account, but he made you the beneficiary. He likely has some bills, credit cards, and the like, which will fall to you to see paid. All of this will eventually go through probate, and then you can access.”

“I see.” She paused for a moment, wondering if he was going to say anything else. “What about his business?”

He looked up. “Yes. Honestly, there are some unknowns there and you might need to do some research. Apparently, he had a home office, and I hope there are records there, and an office in Brisbane.”

“He had a condo there, I believe. He worked out of it.” She looked at Julia. “And we have the contents of his home office, files and such.”

“Good.” Jonathan nodded. “There are options, I suppose, but you will want to determine if the business had debt, pay that off, and then dissolve it. Of course, that is up to you.”

Julia tapped her fingers on his desk. “So, you are saying he left the business to her as well?”

“Oh, yes. I guess I didn’t say that.”

“Just to be clear.” Julia caught Maggie’s eye.

She had no clue what to do about the business. Dissolving it sounded fine with her, but she’d consult Julia. Another day. “Is that all?”

He glanced at his watch, then shuffled through the file.

“Just one thing, and I’ll do this quickly.

” He hit the intercom button on his phone.

“Pamela? I need two copies of the Max Oliver last will and testament, including the information on the Oliver trust. I don’t see them here in my file. ASAP please.”

Maggie glanced at Julia.

“The trust. You know Max received funds monthly from a family trust. His father is the grantor, and his attorney is the trustee. Max named his children as the beneficiaries. The money will accumulate until each child is twenty-one years old, and then they each will get a share of the funds. The details are in the document.”

Maggie leaned closer. “Are the children specifically named in the trust?”

He glanced at the paperwork. “No. Apparently, Max wanted to leave that open-ended. In case he had more children, I suppose. It’s not uncommon.”

“I see.”

Pamela walked in with the copies, handed them to him, and then pointed at her watch.

“Yes. The time. I am sorry to leave so quickly.” He rose and gave them copies. “Look these over and I’ll be in touch. We will get started on probate soon.”

She supposed they would.

He stood, reached over the desk, and shook both their hands. “Make an appointment with Pamela for our next meeting.” Then he was gone.

Maggie clutched Max’s will in her hand and stood facing Julia, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Well, that’s done.”

Julia smiled. “Check.”