Chapter 3
Kate had busied herself at Chapman and Hancock Law with enough work for ten lawyers. She preferred it to sitting idle. A heavy caseload made her happy. Right now her main concern was convincing a jury that her client couldn't possibly have committed the money laundering he was accused of. This case was going to require the ability to lie through her teeth, but she'd figure it out. She always did. With a 29-2 win-loss record, she only ever barely managed to not be convincing enough.
“There's a call for you on line three,” her assistant, Shelley, said peeking her head through the door of her office. “Mr. Collier.”
“Thank you,” she said as Shelley closed the door. She picked up the phone and clicked the Line 3 button. “Greyson.”
“Hi, Kate,” he greeted her. His tone as weary as she'd come to expect. They hadn't talked as much as Kate would have liked too, but as it goes, life seemed to have gotten in the way. Kate in her office and Greyson in the suburbs wrangling his two children. “It's been a month,” he reminded.
She glanced at the calendar. It had been thirty days exactly. It seemed like only yesterday that they'd said goodbye to Hope.
“It has,” she said, knowing exactly what he was talking about. The will. “I can come by tonight.”
“I'll take a casserole out,” he said. She wondered if the comment had made him smirk. They'd had a laugh over Hope's freezable casseroles list and a month later they were still eating on all that had been left by those wanting to help out. Not to mention the neighbors who had been stopping by weekly to drop off a meal and see if he needed any help. Or at least that's what Willa and Vanessa had told Kate. They had been far better friends to Greyson than she had. Guilt raked through her.
“I'll see you around six,” she told him when he didn't add anything to his statement. Of course he wasn't in a smirking mood. He was in a curious, anxious mood. His wife was gone and her final thoughts were about to be read to him.
“I'll see you then,” he added before she heard the click of the phone.
She looked at her clock. It was three-thirty. She'd give herself another hour of work before she ran home to change and head to Greyson's. She'd give herself one more hour to not think about what Hope wrote and sealed in that envelope.
* * *
“You're late,” Willa said when Kate walked into the kitchen at six-thirty. She'd kicked her heels off in the car, exchanging them for a pair of flats she kept in the backseat and ditched the belt that had cinched her pencil skirt in place. The damn thing was cute, but every time she sat down she felt like she couldn't breathe.
“I lost track of time,” she said, untucking her starched white shirt. She hadn't lost track of time though. She knew she was running late. Hell, Kate knew her schedule better than she knew anything else. If she was running late it was on purpose. A last-minute memo came in about a deposition Kate was working and she had to take a look at her notes before she called it a day at the office. If not, she would have ended up going back to the office after dinner and probably slept on the small sofa in her office to avoid the rush-hour traffic the next morning. At least by running late to dinner, she'd be sure to get a shower in the morning.
“It's okay,” Vanessa said, pulling open the oven door and checking the casserole. “Dinner isn't quite done yet.”
Kate admired how adorably comfortable Vanessa looked in a pair of black leggings and simple yellow tunic. By the end of her work day, she would have even traded outfits with Willa and that was saying a lot considering the flowy, maxi dress she was wearing featured every color of the rainbow in a mish mash of patterns. Kate was more of a black, gray, white kind of girl.
“You know even with reheating instructions,” Greyson said filling up the Marli's cup with milk. “I've burnt six of those damn things.” He paused.
“Seven if you count the cinnamon rolls you tried to make last weekend,” Beau said as he passed through the kitchen to the refrigerator. Kate stared at him for a second. He'd appeared to have grown a foot since she'd seen him last.
“Doesn't count,” Greyson said over his shoulder.
“Does,” Beau argued with a smirk as he pulled open the fridge and took out a can of soda.
“Water or milk, pal.” Greyson stopped Beau before he popped the tab on the Coke can. “Dinner, shower, bed,” he said. “You've got two weeks of school left and then we can talk about soda with dinner.”
“Seriously?” Beau asked as the women in the kitchen all watched on.
“You'll be up all night if you drink that,” he answered. “And then your sister will want one and I'm not fighting caffeine-riddled children tonight.”
Beau huffed as he exchanged the soda for a bottle of water before he exited the kitchen with a displeased look on his face.
“Good on you,” Vanessa told Greyson who was wearing the same look on his face.
“Don't be surprised if he doesn't speak to me during dinner,” Greyson said. “Kid can hold a grudge. Even over something silly like a soda.” He sighed. “I hate being the bad guy,” he confessed. “Do you know how hard it is to not just say yes to everything because I feel terrible that their mother isn't here.”
“I'm sure,” Kate said nodding in agreement. “But you know as well as we do that Hope would have said the same thing. He'll get over it. It's just a soda.”
“Next time, one of us can be the bad guy,” Willa suggested. “It doesn't always have to be on you.”
“We're here to help,” Vanessa said, placing a comforting hand on Greyson's shoulder. He smiled up at her.
“Can we not say anything in front of the kids about why you're all here tonight?” he asked. “I don't have it in me to explain wills to Marli tonight and I know she'll want to know exactly what it is.”
“Of course,” Kate said. He gave her a slight smile and carried the kids' drinks to the dining room.
“You really haven't peeked?” Willa asked.
“I really haven't,” Kate told her, earning a frown. “It was hard,” she admitted. “But I was trying to honor her wishes.”
“You did better than I would have,” Willa replied.
“Me too,” said Vanessa. “What do you think it says?
“Probably a list of books that help with the grieving process,” Willa said with a laugh.
“I'm sure,” Kate agreed. “Who knows with her. She had a lot of time to compile lists.” Kate thought about all the time that Hope had had to sit and write in her journal and on her laptop. Hours in Chemotherapy, followed by hours on bed rest. Never once had Hope said she was going stir-crazy. Never once did she say how unfair all of this was. The only time she ever saw Hope get emotional about all of it was when she talked about the kids. By the end though, it was almost as though she felt prepared to go. And maybe she did.
* * *
As soon as dinner was over and the children were tucked away for the night, Kate, Willa, Vanessa, and Greyson took seats in the den on the large sectional sofa to discuss their reason for gathering that night.
Kate sat her briefcase down on the coffee table and flipped the latches that held it closed. It might have been an old-school style of case, but it was practical. Kate loved practicality. She pulled the large manila envelope out. HOPE COLLIER'S LAST WILL & TESTAMENT was scrawled on the front in a very familiar handwriting.
“Are you sure you're ready for this?” Kate asked Greyson. “We can wait. It doesn't have to be a month exactly.”
“I'm ready,” he said after clearing his throat. “Are you?” he looked around the room at the three women. None of them spoke. “You know as well as I do that whatever is in there is for all of us.”
Kate nodded, and the others followed suit.
“It wouldn't surprise me if there were instructions for the entire neighborhood,” Willa said.
“She may even have the steps for world peace,” Kate added. Once the tension had been lessened, Kate slid her finger under the seal tab of the envelope and pulled the document free. One handwritten page. In her hands the paper felt so light, compared to how heavy it had felt moments ago when she pulled it from her case. “Here we go...” Kate began to read.
“I, Hope Elaine Collier, being of reasonably sound mind, declare that this is my last will and testament. Per my wishes, I'm asking that any named person(s) carry out my requests without question. Without protest. I mean it.
GREYSON –
My dearest husband...” Kate paused, giving Greyson a moment to collect himself and waiting for a signal that he was ready for her to continue. He nodded.
“You get to keep the kids.”
Kate's eyes went wide as she read the line and looked to Willa and Vanessa for a reaction before she turned to Greyson.
A deep laugh rumbled from deep in Greyson's chest, startling all three women in the room. Willa was the next to join in when she saw the downright glee on Greyson's face. Vanessa and Kate quickly followed suit.
“I'm sorry,” Greyson said, trying to reign in his laughter. They all took a moment to collect themselves. “Go on.”
“I'm sure you needed that laugh. And it's okay to laugh. Please don't let my death take the joy from you that I fell in love with. Don't stop making silly faces or talking in terrible fake accents. Don't stop going out of your way to make the kids smile when they are sad. You are strong enough to survive this, please don't lose any of yourself along the way.”
Kate paused when she saw the tears roll down Greyson's cheeks. Willa handed him a tissue from the box on the table next to her and wiped her own eyes as he did his. Vanessa kept her head down, unable to make eye contact with any of them. Kate kept reading.
“I'm sure you're wondering how I could possibly get all of my final wishes onto one sheet of paper and you're right... I can't. Please go to the hall closet and retrieve the box on the top shelf.”
Willa went to retrieve the box which was wrapped in a floral paper with a lid—blue watercolor flowers on a white background. Hope always was the crafty one in the group. She wrapped the best gifts, could decorate the heck out of a party and had placed every picture she'd ever taken in to a scrapbook that would make most mothers feel inadequate. She was pretty much Pinterest-incarnate.
Kate read on.
“I've had a lot of time to write down my thoughts and feelings about all of this. Believe it or not there is a not an official check list of things to do before you die. Instead of writing one, which I really wanted to, I decided that my time would best be spent writing to each of you. Greyson, Beau, Marli, and the three of you. Yes, ladies, I am sure you are all there. I know that you would never let Greyson or the kids do any of this alone and I am grateful for it.
The box itself is for Greyson. My dear, I'm putting you in charge of delivering the letters to the addressed person when the time is right. And also, opening yours when you're supposed to. Not all at once. I'll be watching...”
Willa handed the box to Greyson and he pulled the lid off. On the top was a letter addressed to him and underneath were stacks and stacks of sealed letters.
“In your first letter are the instructions for how this will all go. Or at least how I've played it out in my head a few hundred times. I hope that all of you will take my words to heart and know that I wrote each one with a heart full of love and respect for each of you.
All my love,
Hope”
“Wow,” Kate said. “This is so much more than I was expecting.” She shook her head. “I guess it silly to assume anything when it comes to Hope.”
“That is a lot of letters,” Willa said as Greyson thumbed through them.
He picked up the pile with the pink rubber band and examined the top. “These are all for Marli,” he said. “Birthdays, graduation day, her wedding day...” The tears returned to his eyes as he placed the bundle back in the box. There was a bundle with a blue rubber band that Kate assumed were for Beau and quite a few more underneath of it. She wondered how many were for her. Judging by the way Willa was staring into the box she was wondering the same thing.
“Excuse me for a moment,” Greyson said, standing and taking the box with him. He disappeared into his bedroom with his first letter.
“This is crazy,” Willa said. Kate nodded.
“Are you okay, V?” Kate asked Vanessa who hadn't so much as spoke a word since they sat down.
“I think so,” she finally said. “What do you think is in the letters?”
“I have no idea,” Kate replied. “I'm sure it's more than just lists judging by the number of them.”
“I can't wait to read mine,” Willa interjected. Kate wanted to agree with Willa's excitement, but couldn't quite muster up the enthusiasm. The unknown was not her favorite thing. Judging by Vanessa’s expression she wasn't too thrilled either.
“I'm nervous,” Vanessa said when they heard footsteps coming down the hallway.
Kate grabbed Vanessa hand as they waited for Greyson to tell them what Hope's next directions were. When he appeared with a smile and three letters in his hand, Kate took in a deep breath.
“These are for you,” he said, handing each of them their own letter. “To be read alone.”