Inheritance (2/30)
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Kevin climbed out of the car, stretching and grinning at the feel of his protesting muscles. The trip may have started out pretty bad, but last night sure made up for it. He looked out at the…useless land and tried to figure out why his father would have spent so much money on it. It didn’t make any sense.
He half-listened to Tommy and Sarah argue while his mind tried to work out the answer. The problem was he never understood most of the things his father did.
“He was still our dad,” Tommy said emphatically, and Kevin turned his attention back to his siblings.
“Not just ours,” Sarah shot back.
Kevin turned to Sarah. “Excuse me? What exactly does that mean?”
Sarah sighed. “He had another kid. With Holly.”
Kevin turned away, putting his hands behind his head, trying to absorb the shock. “Of course. And, wow, does...does Mom know about this?”
“No,” Sarah said.
Kevin looked at Tommy, who just shook his head.
***
They were all in slightly better moods after they found the safety deposit box and discovered the true value of the land. After their moment of celebration, they turned back to the box and looked at the rest of its contents. Sarah pulled out an envelope addressed to their mom and put it aside. Then she pulled out another, legal-sized envelope. She opened it, removing the papers inside. She sat down slowly as she realized what they were. She cleared her throat.
“It looks like he hired a private investigator who, I imagine illegally, got a hold of some records.”
“What are you talking about?” Kevin asked.
Sarah began flipping pages around, handing them to Kevin. “Scott Wandell, adopted by Bertha and Walter Wandell. Born in 1980, grew up in Oxford, Mississippi. Dad made contact with the Wandells when Scott was still a baby, drove there once - I vaguely recall that. He said he wanted to talk to various contractors and growers in the south. That must have been when the picture was taken. He’s set up a trust for him. He gets whatever the current value of that account is at the time of Dad’s death plus two million dollars from Holly’s share of the land.”
“Holy crap,” Tommy observed.
***
Kevin hurried into Sarah’s office, closing the door behind him quickly. He turned around, ignoring Tommy’s and Sarah’s identical looks of surprise at his frenzied entrance.
“What’s going on?” Sarah asked.
“I just met someone.”
“Alert the presses,” Tommy said dryly.
“Shut up. I got hit on at the gym. By Chad Barry.”
Sarah burst into disbelieving laughter. “OK. Sure.”
“I did!”
“Kevin, you are so full of yourself. Chad Barry has had, like, 10 girlfriends in the last year.”
“I’m telling you - ”
“Could we please talk about the topic of this meeting?”
Kevin sighed, disappointed that he didn’t get to share his story and hesitant about the new subject. “What are you guys thinking?”
“I think we should definitely keep this to ourselves. Only the three of us and Uncle Saul know. I think we should keep it that way. We can’t hide the fact that we have to give Holly her share of the sale of the land, but there’s no reason for Mom or Kitty or Justin to know that that’s two million less than half the total.”
Kevin stared at the floor. Finally, he agreed. “You’re right. It will hurt her too much. We keep it quiet and simple.”
“So what are we going to do about…Scott?” Tommy asked.
Kevin bit his lip. “Dad’s last wishes and the, you know, legal paperwork make it clear. He has to get this money. So we have to find him and, at the very least, go through a lawyer or something to give him the check.”
Tommy nodded slowly in agreement. “What about Holly?”
“What about her?” Sarah asked.
“Do we tell her we know? Do we swear her to secrecy?”
“Look, she doesn’t want this getting out any more than we do.”
“But she has to sign off on the sale of the land,” Kevin pointed out. “She’ll know the final sale price.”
“OK,” Sarah interrupted. “I’ll deal with Holly; I might actually enjoy putting her on the hot seat.”
“And Scott?”
Sarah sighed. “I'll talk to the private investigator again. He should be able to find him. And I’ll tell Saul to keep it quiet.”
Kevin shook his head as he exhaled, still not quite believing the whole situation.
***
Kevin grinned happily as he stretched out along Chad’s body. He made a small, content noise and nuzzled his cheek against Chad’s shoulder. Chad chuckled.
“Comfortable?” he asked quietly.
“You make a good pillow,” Kevin replied, laughing.
“I almost hate to leave after a compliment like that.”
Kevin opened his eyes, staring dully ahead. “But…”
“Yeah.”
Kevin sighed, rolling off Chad and trying not to reveal his disappointment. Chad sat up, reaching to the end of the bed for his discarded shirt. As he pulled it on, he looked over his shoulder at Kevin.
“Michelle’s still pressing me about Valentine’s Day. Are you going to the party or not?”
“Who is this guy?” Kevin asked, annoyed.
“I don’t know, just some friend of Michelle’s.”
“What a glowing reference.”
Chad snickered, leaning down to kiss Kevin. “What do you care? You’re not going to fall for him anyway.”
“How do you know?” Kevin asked, fighting a grin.
“Because you’ve already fallen for someone else.”
“Really?” Kevin feigned. “Who?”
“If I didn’t have to go,” Chad threatened jokingly.
He climbed off the bed then, and Kevin rolled after him. He ended up on his side, his hand spread out on the sheets still warm from Chad’s body.
“I’m not going to go,” he finally said. “I can’t spend the entire night faking with Michelle’s friend when you’re the one I want to be with.”
“I want to see you,” Chad said quietly. “Even if we can’t be together, I - ”
“We can’t always get what we want, Chad,” Kevin informed him, partially surprised at his refusal. He didn’t think he could refuse Chad anything.
Chad smiled sadly at him and slipped out the bedroom. A few minutes later, Kevin heard the front door close. He fell back onto his pillow with a sigh, trying not to feel sorry for himself. He was sleeping with Chad Barry; he could make a few sacrifices, for crying out loud.
His phone rang then, and Kevin turned to look at it. It rang again as he contemplated whether he really wanted to answer. Finally, he reached out, grabbing the phone and bringing it to his ear.
“Yeah?”
“He found him,” Sarah said, sounding kind of funny.
“What?”
“The private investigator. He found…him. Scott. He’s here in L.A.”
“He is?”
“Mm-hmm. Student at a culinary school and part-time cater-waiter. He’s lived here since he was 18.”
“OK, so…we hire a lawyer to contact him. I could probably get someone at the firm - ”
“No,” Sarah interrupted.
“No?”
“I have to meet him. I want to. Don’t you?”
“Not…really.”
“You’re not even a little curious?”
“Maybe a little. But it’s not like we’re suddenly going to be brothers or anything. So we’re related, big deal. He’s not a Walker, not really. And besides, what makes you think he’s going to want anything to do with us? He has his own family.”
Sarah sighed. “I know. But I think I’ll regret it if I don’t try. So I’m calling him into the office. Do you want to be there?”
“I don’t think so,” Kevin said, before adding more certainly, “No.”
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Kevin climbed out of the car, stretching and grinning at the feel of his protesting muscles. The trip may have started out pretty bad, but last night sure made up for it. He looked out at the…useless land and tried to figure out why his father would have spent so much money on it. It didn’t make any sense.
He half-listened to Tommy and Sarah argue while his mind tried to work out the answer. The problem was he never understood most of the things his father did.
“He was still our dad,” Tommy said emphatically, and Kevin turned his attention back to his siblings.
“Not just ours,” Sarah shot back.
Kevin turned to Sarah. “Excuse me? What exactly does that mean?”
Sarah sighed. “He had another kid. With Holly.”
Kevin turned away, putting his hands behind his head, trying to absorb the shock. “Of course. And, wow, does...does Mom know about this?”
“No,” Sarah said.
Kevin looked at Tommy, who just shook his head.
***
They were all in slightly better moods after they found the safety deposit box and discovered the true value of the land. After their moment of celebration, they turned back to the box and looked at the rest of its contents. Sarah pulled out an envelope addressed to their mom and put it aside. Then she pulled out another, legal-sized envelope. She opened it, removing the papers inside. She sat down slowly as she realized what they were. She cleared her throat.
“It looks like he hired a private investigator who, I imagine illegally, got a hold of some records.”
“What are you talking about?” Kevin asked.
Sarah began flipping pages around, handing them to Kevin. “Scott Wandell, adopted by Bertha and Walter Wandell. Born in 1980, grew up in Oxford, Mississippi. Dad made contact with the Wandells when Scott was still a baby, drove there once - I vaguely recall that. He said he wanted to talk to various contractors and growers in the south. That must have been when the picture was taken. He’s set up a trust for him. He gets whatever the current value of that account is at the time of Dad’s death plus two million dollars from Holly’s share of the land.”
“Holy crap,” Tommy observed.
***
Kevin hurried into Sarah’s office, closing the door behind him quickly. He turned around, ignoring Tommy’s and Sarah’s identical looks of surprise at his frenzied entrance.
“What’s going on?” Sarah asked.
“I just met someone.”
“Alert the presses,” Tommy said dryly.
“Shut up. I got hit on at the gym. By Chad Barry.”
Sarah burst into disbelieving laughter. “OK. Sure.”
“I did!”
“Kevin, you are so full of yourself. Chad Barry has had, like, 10 girlfriends in the last year.”
“I’m telling you - ”
“Could we please talk about the topic of this meeting?”
Kevin sighed, disappointed that he didn’t get to share his story and hesitant about the new subject. “What are you guys thinking?”
“I think we should definitely keep this to ourselves. Only the three of us and Uncle Saul know. I think we should keep it that way. We can’t hide the fact that we have to give Holly her share of the sale of the land, but there’s no reason for Mom or Kitty or Justin to know that that’s two million less than half the total.”
Kevin stared at the floor. Finally, he agreed. “You’re right. It will hurt her too much. We keep it quiet and simple.”
“So what are we going to do about…Scott?” Tommy asked.
Kevin bit his lip. “Dad’s last wishes and the, you know, legal paperwork make it clear. He has to get this money. So we have to find him and, at the very least, go through a lawyer or something to give him the check.”
Tommy nodded slowly in agreement. “What about Holly?”
“What about her?” Sarah asked.
“Do we tell her we know? Do we swear her to secrecy?”
“Look, she doesn’t want this getting out any more than we do.”
“But she has to sign off on the sale of the land,” Kevin pointed out. “She’ll know the final sale price.”
“OK,” Sarah interrupted. “I’ll deal with Holly; I might actually enjoy putting her on the hot seat.”
“And Scott?”
Sarah sighed. “I'll talk to the private investigator again. He should be able to find him. And I’ll tell Saul to keep it quiet.”
Kevin shook his head as he exhaled, still not quite believing the whole situation.
***
Kevin grinned happily as he stretched out along Chad’s body. He made a small, content noise and nuzzled his cheek against Chad’s shoulder. Chad chuckled.
“Comfortable?” he asked quietly.
“You make a good pillow,” Kevin replied, laughing.
“I almost hate to leave after a compliment like that.”
Kevin opened his eyes, staring dully ahead. “But…”
“Yeah.”
Kevin sighed, rolling off Chad and trying not to reveal his disappointment. Chad sat up, reaching to the end of the bed for his discarded shirt. As he pulled it on, he looked over his shoulder at Kevin.
“Michelle’s still pressing me about Valentine’s Day. Are you going to the party or not?”
“Who is this guy?” Kevin asked, annoyed.
“I don’t know, just some friend of Michelle’s.”
“What a glowing reference.”
Chad snickered, leaning down to kiss Kevin. “What do you care? You’re not going to fall for him anyway.”
“How do you know?” Kevin asked, fighting a grin.
“Because you’ve already fallen for someone else.”
“Really?” Kevin feigned. “Who?”
“If I didn’t have to go,” Chad threatened jokingly.
He climbed off the bed then, and Kevin rolled after him. He ended up on his side, his hand spread out on the sheets still warm from Chad’s body.
“I’m not going to go,” he finally said. “I can’t spend the entire night faking with Michelle’s friend when you’re the one I want to be with.”
“I want to see you,” Chad said quietly. “Even if we can’t be together, I - ”
“We can’t always get what we want, Chad,” Kevin informed him, partially surprised at his refusal. He didn’t think he could refuse Chad anything.
Chad smiled sadly at him and slipped out the bedroom. A few minutes later, Kevin heard the front door close. He fell back onto his pillow with a sigh, trying not to feel sorry for himself. He was sleeping with Chad Barry; he could make a few sacrifices, for crying out loud.
His phone rang then, and Kevin turned to look at it. It rang again as he contemplated whether he really wanted to answer. Finally, he reached out, grabbing the phone and bringing it to his ear.
“Yeah?”
“He found him,” Sarah said, sounding kind of funny.
“What?”
“The private investigator. He found…him. Scott. He’s here in L.A.”
“He is?”
“Mm-hmm. Student at a culinary school and part-time cater-waiter. He’s lived here since he was 18.”
“OK, so…we hire a lawyer to contact him. I could probably get someone at the firm - ”
“No,” Sarah interrupted.
“No?”
“I have to meet him. I want to. Don’t you?”
“Not…really.”
“You’re not even a little curious?”
“Maybe a little. But it’s not like we’re suddenly going to be brothers or anything. So we’re related, big deal. He’s not a Walker, not really. And besides, what makes you think he’s going to want anything to do with us? He has his own family.”
Sarah sighed. “I know. But I think I’ll regret it if I don’t try. So I’m calling him into the office. Do you want to be there?”
“I don’t think so,” Kevin said, before adding more certainly, “No.”
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