Chapter 3

KENNEDY WAS STILL HUNG over from tears and jet lag as she and her sisters stepped into the attorney's office the day after the funeral. The drive to Johnson City had been a blur, but at least there'd been coffee - Athena's doing, so it'd been excellent. Maggie gave their name to the fifty-something receptionist, and in a matter of minutes, the four of them were escorted into an office full of leather and wood and law books.

The attorney, Robert Barth, came around his desk, offering a hand to each of them in turn.

"Thank you for coming to the service yesterday," Pru said.

Kennedy fixed her attention on the man as she shook hands, noting the receding black hair, the faint paunch beneath his well-cut suit. He was close to forty, with laugh lines around his brown eyes. She had no memory of seeing him at the funeral. Then again, a stampede of elephants could've trooped through and she probably would've missed it. Her entire focus had been on Ari, her sisters, and that dreadful, dark hole in the ground.

"I would've been happy to come to the house."

"We thought it best to handle things here," Maggie said.

"Of course, of course. As you wish." Robert gestured toward a small conference table surrounded by six, low-backed leather chairs. "Please, sit. Can I have Marlene make you some coffee? Tea?"

Maggie and Athena declined. Pru asked for coffee. Kennedy would've given her right arm for a properly-steeped cup of Irish breakfast tea, but she figured that the best on offer here would be weak tea bags, so she demurred as well, grabbing a chair at random and sinking in.

After rummaging around his desk for a moment, Robert came to join them. "I still can't believe she's gone. You know, I was one of her first fosters?"

Pru jolted. "Oh? I didn't realize."

"It's been a long, long time. I was with her for about nine months, while my mother went through rehab and got her life back together."

"You were able to go home again?" Athena asked.

"I was."

"Lucky," she murmured.

Kennedy wanted to reach out a hand to her sister. Athena hadn't been able to go home, and she'd never fully gotten over it. But at the opposite end of the table, Athena was out of reach. She wouldn't have appreciated the gesture anyway.

"Joan always kept tabs on me," Robert continued, smiling a bit in memory. "Came to my high school, college, and law school graduations. She gave me my first briefcase. Anyway, I've been handling her legal affairs ever since."

Memory lane. Everybody at the reception yesterday had wanted to walk down it, share their story for how Joan had come into their lives, how she'd improved it. There were so, so many stories. The fact that there'd be no more made Kennedy heartsick. The world wasn't ready to do without her. Kennedy wasn't ready to do without her.

Evidently sensing they were ready to get down to business, Robert cleared his throat and unfolded the papers in his hand. "Joan had me draw up her will years ago, with modifications as each of you were formally adopted. I'll just read it through, then address any questions you may have."

He launched in. By the second line of legalese, Kennedy was already tuning out. She'd always had a crappy attention span, especially for things that had unnecessarily formal or complicated language. It was part of the reason she'd done so poorly in school. If not for Pru and Maggie, the chances of her graduating at all would've been pretty slim. College hadn't even been on her radar, and she'd much preferred all the hands-on learning she'd done over the past ten years. Still, none of that had adequately prepared her to understand any of this.

Realizing Robert had finished reading, Kennedy struggled to focus. "I'm sorry. I'm having a little trouble concentrating. Could you sum that up in plain English?"

"Of course. She's bequeathed a lengthy and specific list of items to you and your sisters, as well as various other friends or former fosters. I'll certainly provide you with that list. As you know, y'all are her only family, so the house and acreage it sits on, as well as the trust that has covered most of the upkeep on the property, is left to the four of you, equally. The property has been in Reynolds hands since the mid-1800s, so she was very clear that it go to y'all."

So home would remain home. That was good.

"What about the lien?" Maggie asked.

"Lien?" Kennedy asked.

"A few years ago, the house needed some significant repairs. Mom took out a sizable loan against the property to do it. At that time, there was no reason to think she wouldn't be around to see that it was fully paid off before we inherited."

"Wouldn't the trust cover that?" Athena asked.

"She didn't want to pull that much out at that time." Maggie shrugged. "It was her decision. I didn't question it."

"Officially, the estate will go into probate until any debts are settled," Robert explained. "Depending on how complicated things are, that can take anywhere from a few months to years."

"Does that mean the house just sits until things are settled?" Pru asked, aghast.

"There's no reason you can't continue to use the house, if that's what you want. Another option would be to sell the property. That would satisfy the debt outright."

"No." They all but shouted it in unison.

Robert smiled. "Glad to hear it. As executor, I'll obtain a current copy of all the loan paperwork, find out the outstanding balance, and the like. And I'll follow up on everything else to do with Joan's estate - her retirement accounts, life insurance, the trust, and other assets, etc. - to see that things are settled as easily as possible and with as little fuss for you as necessary. And, of course, I'll keep you apprised every step of the way."

"So, if we want to keep the property, we have to see that the lien is paid, correct?" Maggie asked.

"At the end of it all, yes."

"Okay. Then we need to make a plan that enables us to do that, and to manage upkeep on the place, as well as property taxes, etc."

Kennedy had no idea how they'd do such a thing, especially as they weren't all actually staying in Eden's Ridge. She couldn't see Maggie leaving LA or Athena walking away from her Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago. And even if she herself stayed, what help could she really be? She didn't have Maggie's business mind or Pru's deep connection to the community or even Athena's drive. All she had to offer was a strong back and a willingness to pitch in however she could. She just hoped it would be enough.

"With the probate, you have time to sort it out," Robert assured them.

Well, thank God for that. "What about Ari?" Kennedy asked. "Are there any provisions for her in the will?"

With a look of regret, Robert shook his head. "I know she intended to add her once the adoption was finalized, but it didn't get that far. I'm afraid her fate is in the hands of the state."

"We'll add it to the agenda for the family meeting," Maggie said. She gathered her coat. "We appreciate everything Robert. If you'll forward me copies of all the financials to go over as you get them, I'd be much obliged."

"Happy to."

He passed on copies of the list so they could begin locating and distributing assorted mementos to their respective recipients. And then they were out of the office, back into the chilly March sunshine.

"I'm glad that's over," Athena said.

Mouth set in a grim line, Maggie just shook her head. "It's only just beginning."

* * *

"I heard down at the Snort and Curl she still has a voice like an angel." The voice of Esther Vaughn, administrative assistant and dispatch for the Stone County Sheriff's Office - definitely not an angel - echoed through the air duct to where Xander was just shutting the back door of the building.

At the sound of it, the nagging headache throbbing behind his eyes ratcheted up a notch. If the beauty shop was already talking about Kennedy's return, it was only a matter of time before he started getting harassed about it. He wasn't in the mood. His sleep had been interrupted to take a call about a prowler skulking around Elvira's Tavern at two in the morning. The prowler had turned out to be a bear digging through the dumpster out back. By the time Xander had made it home again, he couldn't go back to sleep.

"A damned shame about her mama." This from Jarvis Riley, their jail administrator. He'd been a few years ahead of Xander in school.

"Wait, now. Who is this woman?" Chief Investigator Leanne Hammond. The new girl.

Essie sighed in that way Xander had seen her do over the romance novels she kept in her desk for lulls. He knew where this was going, so he quickened his pace and strode into what constituted the bullpen, glaring at the cluster of his coworkers. "She's talking about my high school girlfriend. Because, in case you haven't figured it out in the last six months, not enough happens around here for people to talk about more current events."

"Kennedy's back in town after how long? That is a current event," Jarvis argued.

"The last thing she's thinking about is me." And hey, that's par for the course. At least she has a good reason this time.

"You've seen her then?" Essie asked, not looking in the least embarrassed about being caught gossiping about him.

"You know I was at the funeral yesterday." Though seeing her at a distance probably wasn't what Essie was fishing for.

"How did she look?"

Sad and lost and so fragile, a stiff wind might've broken her. "Like she'd just lost her mother," Xander snapped. His tone of rebuke had absolutely no effect.

"You know that's not what I meant," Essie said.

"I know what you meant," he gritted out. "This is not a social visit. Not a return to the Ridge for some happy occasion, where we sat around and shot the shit, talking about the good times. Her world's just been turned upside down. And I'm sure as soon as the fallout is sorted, she'll be off to Venezuela or Greece or New Zealand or wherever the hell the wind blows her. Again." Xander heard the bitterness in his voice and couldn't seem to stop it.

"I gather you were the dumpee in this scenario," Leanne said.

"Brilliant deduction. So glad you're our Chief Investigator."

His snarl didn't faze her in the least. "What happened?"

"I'm sure if you head on down to the Snort and Curl, they'll be more than happy to fill you in, since nobody has enough going on in their lives to talk about something else."

Essie opened her mouth, as if to save Leanne the trip.

"Don't y'all all have work? 'Cause if you don't, I'm sure I can come up with more paperwork," the sheriff boomed.

Just fucking perfect.

But they all suddenly found something else to do.

"Xander, see you in my office?"

"Yes, sir." With one last glare, he took the save, shutting the door to the office behind him, as was expected.

"So Kennedy came home after all," Buck said conversationally.

"Her mother died. Of course she came home." Having seen her, he couldn't quite believe he'd doubted she would for a moment.

"How are you feeling about all this, son?"

Xander leveled his father with a flat stare. "What? We're gonna talk about feelings? Really?"

Buck had never liked Kennedy, and he'd made no secret of the fact that he was glad she left. She'd been the only thing he and Xander had ever really disagreed on.

"She walked away from you without a word all those years ago. There's no shame or surprise in having some unresolved...stuff about it."

"Stuff," Xander repeated. Well, that was one word for it.

After two glorious years together, they'd been on top of the world, full of excitement and plans to see the world - or as much of it as they could fit in after graduation. Being a practical sort, Xander had thought they should work through the summer and build up a little bit of cash before they left. She'd agreed. Then, graduation night they'd had a huge fight. He'd been drunk and stupid and said things he didn't quite remember. But he remembered enough to know he owed her a huge apology when he sobered up. Except when he'd showed up at her house the next day, he discovered she'd bailed on him, leaving town without a word. He'd been devastated.

Xander wished he was too manly to admit that, but she'd gutted him. And by God, he wanted answers from her. Ten years later and he was still pissed, still hurt that he'd had no chance to apologize, to explain himself. But seeing her again yesterday, there'd been other "stuff" there, too. He didn't want to think about the other stuff, and he sure as hell didn't want to talk about it with his dad.

"I can assure you there's no stuff. I'm not some lovesick puppy in danger of being led astray. Kennedy settled things between us years ago, and that's the end of it. No matter how much people around here insist on gossiping to the contrary." It was a partial truth. She'd ended it. He planned to settle it now and get his answers before she left again for parts unknown. She owed him that much.

Something in Buck's face relaxed. Relief at not actually being forced to go through with the feelings talk? "Glad to hear it. If you were going to cast your eye on a Reynolds, you'd do better with Pru. Now there's a fine woman."

"Don't even go there, Dad. Pru's like my sister. Always has been."

"Too bad. Your mama and I always liked her."

Xander bristled at the reminder that his parents - or at least his father - had never approved of Kennedy. Xander had never cared, but she'd wanted so desperately to be accepted by his family. It had always felt cruel that they'd denied her that. And why did he even still care? They were both grown adults, neither of whom needed his parents - or anyone else's - approval.

Old habits, he decided. "Was there something you actually needed? Or was this just some attempt to play Dr. Phil?"

"Got some process papers that need delivering today."

Thank God. He was ready to get back to doing his actual job. "Okay then. Who and where?"