Page 32 of This Memory (Moose Village #3)

Brystol

I’d always assumed that people gathered in a stuffy office when someone passed away and a lawyer read the will. That wasn’t the case. There was no official reading at all. Apparently, that was mainly only done in movies.

Evelyn and Denny did have a will, and it was updated after the confirmed pregnancy.

Gavin and I were currently walking up to the building in Lake Placid that housed the law firm of Hoffman and Bryer.

Mr. Thomas Hoffman was a probate lawyer who’d gone to law school with Evelyn and Denny.

Turns out, we didn’t have to call their office that Friday because Mr. Hoffman called me first.

Denny had given Gavin a letter a few months back, with his and Evelyn’s wishes on what to do if anything should happen to them.

Evelyn and Denny had stipulated if anything should happen to either of them.

They wanted to be cremated, and their ashes spread out to sea, preferably off the coast of Massachusetts.

Denny had made all of those arrangements, and I loved him even more for doing so.

Selfishly, I was glad we didn’t have to go through the process of a funeral.

I wasn’t sure it was something I could do .

“You okay?” Gavin asked as we stopped outside suite 200.

“I think so.”

He gave my hand a light squeeze, and we walked in. The receptionist looked up and smiled warmly. Her blond hair was cut in a cute bob, and her blue eyes were warm and calming.

“Ms. Duggan, Mr. Quinn?”

We both nodded, and Gavin replied, “Yes.”

Standing, she walked around her desk. “First, let me give you my condolences. Mr. and Mrs. McCain were such wonderful people.”

I swallowed back my sob.

“If you’ll have a seat in here, Mr. Hoffman will be right in,” she said, escorting us into a small conference room.

“Thank you,” I said, as Gavin pulled out a chair for me at the table.

“Would you like anything to drink?” the young woman asked.

“Water for me, please,” I replied.

Gavin smiled politely. “Nothing for me.”

The door shut, and we both looked around the room.

“The night they died,” Gavin started to say, staring at a framed photo of New York City. “I told Declan I wasn’t sure how they were going to be able to travel back and forth to Boston so much with a newborn.”

I watched him as he spoke, not taking his eyes off the photo.

“I made a mental note to ask Denny about it. Would they stay in Moose Village, or did they plan to return to Boston?”

“They were going to move back to Boston,” I said softly .

Gavin snapped his head around to look at me. “What?”

“Evelyn told me they planned on keeping their house in Moose Village, but they’d be moving to Boston full time. I think their firm had wanted them there full time anyway, so it would have happened with or without the baby.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I ran my finger in a circular pattern on the wood table. “Evelyn asked me not to. She said Denny wanted to be the one to tell you.”

“They were planning on taking the baby away from us?”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed sadly. “It’s their baby.”

He smiled slightly and shook his head. “I guess they would’ve had that right.”

All I could do was nod and whisper, “Yeah.”

The door to the conference room opened, and a man about our age entered. He had short brown hair and dark eyes. He wore black slacks, a blue button-down shirt, and a blue tie. His polite smile didn’t reach his eyes, though.

“Thank you both for coming in. I’m Thomas Hoffman,” he said, placing a file in front of him and reaching his hand across the table to each of us in turn. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

I could see the grief on his face. “I’m sorry for your loss, as well. You briefly mentioned going to school with Evelyn and Denny.”

His smile grew a bit warmer as he sat down across from us.

“We did. Denny and I met first, and then he introduced me to Evelyn. We all got jobs in Boston after law school. Evelyn and Denny at Hammer and Hammer, and I worked for my father’s law firm.

We branched out to Lake Placid, and I was so happy when Evelyn and Denny said they were moving to Moose Village and would work remotely, half the time there and the other half in Boston.

We always said we’d get together more often and…

” His voice trailed off momentarily before he cleared it and went on.

“We just never made the time for anything other than business.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

Mr. Hoffman waved it off, but I could tell he was just as torn up about losing his friends as Gavin and I were.

“I know this isn’t typical, but I wanted to meet with you in person because of the circumstances of the situation. Evelyn and Denny updated their will when they found out you were pregnant, Brystol. I thought it was a good idea…I just never dreamed it would be needed.”

Gavin handed me a tissue when the tears started. “Thank you,” I managed to get out. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hoffman.”

“Please, call me Thomas.”

With a nod, Gavin replied for both of us. “Thomas, it is.”

“This is going to be pretty straightforward. As I’m sure you know, neither Evelyn nor Denny had any close relatives. Their will didn’t change, save to add who’d become the baby’s legal guardian if anything should ever happen to them both.”

He looked between us, and I squeezed Gavin’s hand and realized I was holding my breath. I slowly let it out as I waited for Thomas to go on.

“This probably won’t shock either of you, but you’re both named as the child’s legal guardians. It was their wish that you would legally adopt the baby once you were married.”

Gavin and I exchanged surprised looks.

“May I ask exactly when they updated their will?” Gavin asked.

Thomas looked at the will. “October fourteenth. ”

I let out a half sob, half laugh, as Gavin smiled and shook his head. “Even then, they could see what took us forever to figure out.”

I sniffled and nodded.

Thomas smiled. “I assume you’re both in agreement with the guardianship of the baby?”

“Yes,” I said quickly, as my hand went to my stomach.

“Yes, of course,” Gavin replied.

With a nod of approval, Thomas went on. “Evelyn and Denny left everything to the baby in a trust, except for the house in Moose Village. Any other property will be sold by me and put into that trust. I’ll continue to manage it, unless you’d like to—”

Gavin held up a hand. “They trusted you, and so do we.”

“Thank you for that, Gavin.” Clearing his throat and shifting in his seat, Thomas let out a breath and moved on. “Regarding the house in Moose Village, they left that to you, Brystol.”

My mouth fell open. “What?”

He handed an envelope to me and then gave one to Gavin.

“They wrote you each a letter. It was their desire that you have the option of moving into the house…in the event they both…” Thomas looked away to regain his composure.

When he recovered, he gave me a sad smile.

“In the event that they passed together, they wanted you to have the option of living in the house where the baby would have grown up. Since she…or he…isn’t yet born, you can do what you want with the house.

Move in, sell it…it will be yours to do with as you please. ”

Looking to Gavin, Thomas smiled. “Denny would like for you to have his golf clubs, even though, and I quote, ‘You suck at golf.’”

Gavin laughed.

“In all seriousness, he also left you the deed to his mother’s home in Moose Village, for you to do as you see fit.”

“Don’t they rent that out?” I asked.

“They do.”

Gavin squeezed my hand, then said, “If you wouldn’t mind finding someone to manage the property and putting rental proceeds into the baby’s trust as well.”

Thomas looked taken aback for a moment. Then a smile grew across his face. “I see why they both loved you guys so much. Yes, I’ll take care of that for you. There’s a separate account set up, as well, from Denny’s mother’s estate, which pays for the upkeep of the house.”

Gavin nodded as I sat there, listening to everything but feeling like I was a million miles away.

“I’ll put this in probate and it should all clear through quickly, since it’s pretty cut and dry. For now, though…” He slid a set of keys across the table to me. “The keys to the house.”

I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. “What about everything inside the house? They had some pretty expensive artwork and other things.”

“It’s all yours, Brystol. You can do whatever you wish with everything. Once we clear probate,” he added.

The three of us sat in silence for a moment before Thomas spoke again.

“I did forget to mention that a portion of the estate will be set aside for your medical bills, Brystol. The will wasn’t set up for that, but I know the arrangements that were made, since I drew them up, and I’d like to honor their agreement. ”

Tears stung the back of my eyes. All I could do was nod .

“Do either of you have any questions for me?”

I looked at Gavin, who replied, “I can’t think of any right now.” When he looked at me, the best I could do was shake my head.

Thomas stood. “Of course, I’ll keep you updated on everything, and you can expect monthly reports from me on the trust. I’ll bring in a financial adviser, as well, since they owned several different stocks. I’m a lawyer, not a numbers guy.”

Gavin stood, and I followed.

“Thank you, Thomas,” I said, as I walked around the table and hugged him. Gavin gave him a brief hug as well, before both men motioned for me to walk out of the room first.

Gavin and I remained silent nearly the entire drive back to Moose Village. When I realized where he was going, I looked at him. “You’re going to the house?”

He nodded. “Are you okay with that? I should have asked. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.”

We drove through town and up into the mountains. Evelyn and Denny didn’t live on the lake, but above it, with a beautiful view of both the water and the mountains in the distance.

“Do you remember the first time you met Evelyn?” Gavin asked.