Nick laughed and flipped the backrest into place for Delaney. Like a perfect gentleman, he held the door for her. She knew she was drunk, her judgment impaired, but maybe he had changed. She looked at him cast in shadows, only the lower half of his face illuminated by a street lamp. She knew he could charm the pants off anyone when he wanted, and there had been a few times in her life when he’d been uncharacteristically nice to her. Like the time in fourth grade when she’d come out of the market with a plenty pack of Trident and discovered a flat tire on her bicycle. Nick had insisted on pushing it all the way home. He’d shared his candy with her, and she’d given him some of her gum. Maybe he’d actually changed and turned into a nice guy. “Thank you for the ride home, Nick.” Or better yet, maybe he’d forgotten about the single worst night of her life. Maybe he’d forgotten that she’d thrown herself at him.
“Any time.” A smile curved his sensuous mouth and he handed the purse to her. “Wild thing.”
Chapter Three
Delaney zipped her suitcase and looked about her bedroom one last time. Nothing had changed since the day she’d walked out ten years ago. The rose wallpaper, the lace canopy, and her music collection were all just as she’d left them. Even the snapshots stuck to the vanity mirror were the same. Her things had been kept waiting for her, but instead of feeling comforting and welcoming, the room felt oppressive. The walls were closing in on her. She had to get out.
Now all she had to do was listen to the will and, of course, tell her mother she was leaving. Gwen would do her best to make Delaney feel guilty, and Delaney wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation.
She left the room and headed downstairs to Henry’s office to hear the reading of his will. She’d dressed for comfort in a sleeveless T-shirt dress made of soft blue cotton, and she’d shoved her feet into a pair of platform slides that she could kick off easily during the long drive ahead of her.
At the entrance to the office, a long-time friend of Henry’s, Frank Stuart, greeted her as if he were a doorman at the Ritz-Carlton. “Good morning, Miss Shaw,” he said as she walked into the room. Max Harrison, Henry’s estate lawyer, sat behind the heavy desk and looked up as Delaney entered. She shook his hand and spoke to him briefly before taking a seat beside her mother in the front row.
“Who isn’t here?” she asked, referring to the remaining empty chair next to hers.
“Nick.” Gwen sighed as she fingered the three strands of her pearl necklace. “Although I can’t imagine why Henry would provide for him in his will. He’d tried to reach out many times in the past few years, but Nick threw every attempt back in his father’s face.”
So Henry had attempted a reconciliation. She wasn’t really surprised. She’d always assumed since Henry had failed to produce a legitimate heir with Gwen, he’d eventually turn his attention to the son he’d always ignored.
Less than a minute later, Nick walked into the room, managing to look almost respectable in a pair of charcoal corduroys and a ribbed silk polo the same color as his eyes. Unlike the funeral, he’d dressed for the occasion. His hair was pulled back, and he’d left his earring at home. His gaze moved over the room, then he took the chair next to Delaney. She glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye, but he stared straight ahead, feet apart, his hands resting on his thighs. The clean scent of his aftershave teased her nose. She hadn’t spoken to him since he’d called her “wild thing” the night before. She’d ignored him all the way to her mother’s house, feeling the same humiliation she thought she’d overcome years ago. She had no intention of speaking to the jerk now.
“Thank you all for coming,” Max greeted, drawing Delaney’s attention. “In order to save time, I would ask that you hold all questions until I am finished.” He cleared his throat, squared the documents in front of him, and began in his smooth lawyer’s voice, “ ‘I, Henry Shaw, now of Truly, resident of Valley County, State of Idaho, do make and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all Wills and Codicils I have made before this.
“ ‘Article I: I nominate and appoint my trusted friend Frank Stuart as Executor of this Will. I request that no Executor or successor in such capacity shall be required to furnish any sureties on his official bond…’ ”
Delaney looked at a point behind Max’s head and listened with half an ear as he read the part of the will that outlined the duty of the executor. She didn’t care about executor duties. Her mind was filled with more important concerns, like her mother seated on one side and Nick on the other. The two disliked each other intensely. They always had, and the tension that filled the room was almost tangible.
Nick’s shoulder brushed Delaney’s as he placed his elbows on the arms of his chair. His shirt grazed her bare skin, then was gone. Delaney forced herself to remain perfectly still, as if the touch hadn’t happened, as if she hadn’t felt the smooth texture of his sleeve on her skin.
Max proceeded to the section of the will that provided for Henry’s long-time employees and his brothers at the Moose Lodge. Then he paused and Delaney returned her gaze to him. She watched him carefully set one page aside before he continued. “ ‘Article III: (A) I give and bequeath half of my tangible property and half of my estate not otherwise disposed of hereunder, together with any unexpired insurance policies thereon, to my wife, Gwen Shaw. Gwen was an excellent wife, and I loved her deeply.
“ ‘(B) To my daughter, Delaney Shaw, I give and bequeath the remainder of my tangible property and the remainder of my estate not otherwise disposed of hereunder on the condition that she reside strictly within the city limits of Truly, Idaho, and may not leave, for a period of one year so that she may look after her mother. The subsequent year to begin upon notification of this Will. If Delaney refuses to comply with the terms of this Will, the property referred to in this Article III (B) shall pass to my son, Nick Allegrezza.’ ”
“What does all that mean?” Delaney interrupted. Her mother’s sudden grasp on her arm was the only thing keeping her from jumping to her feet.
Max glanced at her, then returned his gaze to the document on the desk before him. “ ‘(C) I give to my son, Nick Allegrezza, the properties known as Angel Beach and Silver Creek, to do with as he wishes, provided that he refrain from entering into a sexual relationship with Delaney Shaw for one year. If Nick refuses, or goes against my wishes in regard to this stipulation, then the above property shall revert to Delaney Shaw.’ ”
Delaney sat rigid in her chair, feeling as if she’d been zapped with a stun gun. Heat flushed her face and her heart felt like it had stopped. Max’s voice continued for several more moments, but Delaney was too confused to listen. It was all too much to take in at one time, and she didn’t really understand most of what had been read. Except the last part forbidding Nick to “enter into a sexual relationship” with her. That part had been a slap directed at them both. A reminder of the past when Nick had used her to get back at Henry, and she’d begged him to do it. Even after his death, Henry wasn’t finished punishing her. She was so mortified she wanted to die. She wondered what Nick thought, but she was too afraid to look at him.
The lawyer finished and glanced up from the will. Silence filled the office, and no one spoke for several long moments, until Gwen voiced the question on everyone’s mind.
“Is that legal and binding?”
“Yes,” Max answered.
“So, I am to receive half of the estate free of conditions, yet in order for Delaney to inherit, she must stay in Truly for one year?”
“That’s correct.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Delaney scoffed, trying her best to forget about Nick and concentrate on her own bequest. “This is the 1990s. Henry can’t play God. This can’t be legal.”