Jane Eyre Austen (11 page)

He was silent for a long time watching her, until she finally turned her head catching his gaze.  His chocolate eyes had grown dark, and she wondered what he could be thinking.

The thoughts running through his mind would have pleased her no doubt.  He realized that she had created the dress, and it was a work of art.  All those times that he had teased her that she was accomplished, and yet it was true.  Remarkable, that a woman in her youth was so very capable of creating an exquisite dress; and at the same time care for her mother.  She was remarkable.  Very quietly he said, “It is a beautiful piece of art.  Obviously countless hours of work went into it.  It is exquisite and more than that, it is useful.  There is nothing inconsequential about the creation of your garment.”  He nodded politely and ducked back into his office.

Jane took several minutes before her breathing returned to normal and she was able to resume working.

That evening Ben and Patrick joined her at home along with the lawyer Charles LeClerc.  Jane had pictured a distinguished older man; instead she was surprised when the lanky, spiky bleach-blonde thirty year old sat down at the dinner table.  His forearms were covered in tribal tattoos, and he had gauges in his ears.  Jane quirked a brow in Ben’s direction and he shrugged.

“Chas, meet Janie.” Ben nudged her shoulder and she instinctively pushed her hand toward him.

He grinned, “Not quite what you were expecting.”

“No sir, I was expecting an overweight bald dude.  It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Jane answered honestly.

He chuckled, “Good to meet you too, Janie.”

James and Susannah joined them in the dining room and after dinner they sat around discussing the will over a couple of bottles of wine.  Chas drank water until he had read through the entire will twice, and then started drinking beer.

Chas tipped his glass toward Jane and finally spoke, “So do you want the good news or bad news?”

Jane grunted, “Good first, if you please.”

“It’s clear your Dad didn’t trust Richard.  This will is written with clear instructions that Jane is to handle the money.  Seems her Dad knew that she would be the one to care for his wife. 
That was also why at his death Richard received his full inheritance.  It is written clearly, in English, not legalese, that Richard has no further claim on the estate.  Her father also had made Jane the legal guardian of his wife, with James named as second, in case Jane was incapacitated.  He has written it clearly that Richard was to have no hand in the estate after his death.”

Chas raised an eyebrow, “Richard’s passing some nasty rumors about you.”

Jane nodded, “I’m aware of that, there’s not much I can do about it.”

Chas shook his head, “You misunderstand me, he’s trying to discredit you.  The legal loophole is to find a reason why you shouldn’t be allowed to manage your mother’s money.”

Jane paled; it made sense why Richard made the very open bidding for her services at the symphony benefit.  “But James would become the executor.”

Chas pulled at his collar, “Is James related to your mother, through blood I mean.”

“No, but neither is Richard.  James is my father’s cousin.”

Chas nodded, “Jane, your father changed his will when he was eighty years old.  I know that he was of sound mind, but I guarantee you that Richard’s lawyer will argue he wasn’t, and your mother isn’t.”  He paused, “I’m sorry, but it would be easy to argue that James forced him to change the will, that the two of you worked together to exclude Richard.”

A tear rolled down her cheek.  “How do I protect my mother?”

Chas flipped through the investment portfolio.  “You haven’t touched the dividends since your father’s death?”

“No.  Susannah and James started the bed and breakfast and with the life insurance we’ve been able to leave it untouched.”

He rubbed his eyes, “Well there’s two ways to look at that.  First is that you are being careful with the investments, protecting your mother’s future, and the second is that you are protecting the investments, cheating your mother out of proper care in order to have more money after her death.”

Jane slumped further down into the, “Oh my god.”

Chas looked grave, “I’m going to have to think about this.  I don’t have an answer for you right now on how to protect your mother.”  He looked at her carefully, “You’ve heard the rumors?”

Jane nodded, “I believe so.”

Chas shifted uncomfortably, “If there’s truth in any of them, it will come out in court.  You may wish to settle with Richard outside of court in that situation.”

“I understand.” she said quietly.

“Jane, are you prepared to fight him in court?  How do you want me to proceed?”

She looked at him, “Really?  Richard is a lying, greedy, piece of crap.  There is no one who would confirm any rumors.”

“I’m sorry, I had to ask.  If this goes to court, trust me, the questions will get very personal.”

Jane shrugged, “I don’t care.  He’ll end up looking like a fool for suggesting it.  I’ve never...”  She looked up at him, “Chas, of course there is no way for me to know everything he’s implied about my relationship with Patrick and Ben.  There’s also no way he can prove or disprove anything.  They are well respected in the community.  I dated Patrick for three years, and we remained friends.  He is my best friend.  I’m not worried about the rumors.”

Chas nodded, “I’ll look into possible actions you can take to protect the investments and your mother’s options.  Can you make copies of the will for me?  I don’t need the financial information.”

She shook his hand, “Of course, I’ll do that now.  Most importantly, I want to make sure he doesn’t have the ability to control her medical future.  Mom won’t survive a nursing home.  She’s peculiar, but not dangerous, and she deserves to live in her own home.  She functions better around her things.”  She gathered up her papers and faced him.

Chas clapped her on her shoulder, “Ok.  I’ll do some research for similar cases and see what I come up with.  I’ll be in touch.”

“Thank you, Chas.”

“You’re welcome Jane.  I’m sorry I had to ask upsetting questions.” he said sincerely.

Jane nodded, “I understand, I know I’m, uh, different.  I know that makes for more interesting fodder, and we certainly aren’t acquainted well.  I appreciate your help.”

As she got up to go to the office to photocopy the will she heard James, Susannah, Ben, and Patrick all arguing at once.

“Why now?” James asked.

Ben spoke up, “I believe Richard’s in a serious financial strain.  It could get quite embarrassing if he can’t turn it around quickly.”

“Could we hide some of the money?” Susannah asked.

Chas looked up, “Not now.  It would be too obvious and give some credence to Richard’s case that Jane is incapable of handling the money.”

James grunted, “He took his inheritance.  How can he have the legal right to interfere now?”

Chas shrugged, “He doesn’t, but it doesn’t mean he can’t take you to court and force you to spend a lot of money.  Maybe he’s doing this in hopes that you’ll settle.  How much of a financial strain is he in?”

Jane re-entered the room to hear Ben’s answer, “He overpaid by a couple of million for the property.  I would think if he could double his investors’ original investments he’d be happy to let it drop.  But that would be about six million total.”  Ben looked up at Jane, “I doubt you want to give the bastard a dime though.”

Jane sighed, “I don’t want my mother in a nursing home.  At this point I just need to focus on that.”

James muttered, “He’s not even worth a bullet.  I wish the man would just die.  Something simple, like a heart attack would be nice.”

Susannah shuddered and put her hand on James’ arm, “James, you don’t mean that.”

James shook his head, “I do.  The man has no right to interfere with this family.  I say right now we agree to never allow the man in the house.  We won’t go to social functions where he’s invited.  He’s to have no access to her or Jane for that matter.”

“Agreed,” Ben and Patrick said in unison.  Jane and Susannah nodded but Jane wondered how they would accomplish that.  Would they leave a dinner just because he was there?  James was too angry to discuss it, and she wouldn’t go against his wishes anyway.

She went to bed that night feeling miserable and guilty that she hadn’t protected her mother’s future that Richard could easily interfere simply because he had some genetic material in common.  He was crazy, she realized, crazier than her mother who would never intentionally harm another.  What if those genes were passed on to her?  Would she recognize that she was going nuts?  Having spent years concerned that she would become her mother, Jane realized that becoming her brother was a fate far more serious.

Sleep finally overtook her and she slept dreamlessly.

Gray sat with Clayton in his office that night, going over possibilities for his new factory site.  Clayton grunted, “I found out that it was the real estate agent who spoke to Richard about the place.”

“Not Ms. Eyre, then.” Gray said quietly.

“No.  This agent said Richard’s really screwed himself with this investment.  I think he’s hoping you’ll buy it regardless.”

Gray sat back, “And if I don’t buy it, what does he plan to do then?”

“Upscale retail.  It could work.” Clayton watched Gray’s eyes close in thought.

“He attacked her at the symphony gala.  She punched him, gave him a bloody nose and fifteen minutes later they were seated at the same table, he with his arm around her mother.  Why would a woman do that?  Why not expose the man?” Gray asked.

Clayton sighed, “Gray, women do all sorts of stupid things when it comes to domestic violence.  Maybe she doesn’t want her mother to know.  Maybe she’s embarrassed.”

“Maybe.”  He sighed, “It makes me want to hurt him though.”

Clayton smirked, “Feeling protective?”

“Yes.” He admitted, “Very.  I know she’s too young, but I can’t help myself.”

Clayton’s eyes warmed, “Well, we could screw with Richard easily you know.”

Gray’s eyebrows shot up, “How, exactly?”

“It’s a horrible investment for you; you’d have to hold on to it for at least a decade before you’d see even a slight profit.  Across the street is a small motel, you could purchase it and make it into a drug rehab facility.  It would definitely put prospective upscale tenants off for Richard’s project.”

“Could we really? The motel is for sale?” Gray asked, intrigued.

Clayton shrugged, “I talked to the guy and he’s willing to sell.  The thing is it’s already zoned for transient housing.  We could even keep it as a motel and just invite the parolees to move in for a good rate.”  Clayton leaned back, “But you’d get a better tax break donating it to a half-way house.”

“Clayton, that’s positively devious.” Gray said.

“Karen likes the girl; she says I’m an idiot to think she would be capable of doing anything untoward.” Clayton answered.

Gray grinned, “Do it.  Make it happen.”

The following morning Gray stopped by her desk on the way in, “Good morning Ms. Eyre.”

She nodded, “Good morning, sir.”

He regarded her carefully; she looked tired and just a little sad.  “Is all well with you and your family?”

She gave him a stiff smile, “Yes thank you.”

“Excellent, I am glad to hear of it.”  He leaned against the doorframe to Mrs. Fairfax’s room, “And you Jane, how are you?”

She blinked, “Fine, thank you.  And you sir?”

He winked, “Feeling quite good, dangerously so.”

He headed into the office leaving Jane confused.  Dangerous?  Did he realize how dangerous he was?  Was he referring to her or something else?  She turned toward her computer and forced herself to concentrate on the letter in front of her.  Use this time to escape from the worries that plagued her all last night.

After work she drove into the city, a small list of groceries that Susannah wanted her to get.  She parked near the park, and walked to Say Cheese, a specialty shop for cheese, wine, and dining.  She placed her order at the counter, adding a good bottle of red wine.  When she looked up to pay, she saw Gray walk by the window.  She loitered a few minutes more inside the shop, giving him time to walk further down.  She put the food in her car and drove down several more blocks until she was in front of Falletti Foods.

She was searching the meat counter when she felt him behind her.  She felt his gaze.  She turned around slowly, her eyes caught his and she nodded politely.  He approached her slowly, a shy grin.  He had shrugged off his jacket and tie, and looked younger wearing just a shirt with the first couple of buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up.