I didn’t want to obey a word he said, but I sat down and tried to keep my composure. I knew lashing out at Jake wouldn’t change the instructions my mother had left. I wanted to ask more questions, but at that point, I could barely breathe. I was on the verge of hyperventilating, and the last thing I wanted was for either of those two to give me mouth-to-mouth.
“Take slow, deep breaths, Miss Roberts,” my lawyer coaxed.
“In and out deeply,” Jake chimed in.
I stared into his eyes. “I’m not giving birth here, and even if I was, you sure as hell wouldn’t be my labor coach.”
“C’mon, Ashly. I’m just trying to help.”
“Shut up, Jake,” I said. “I don’t need your help. I don’t need anything from a coward like you.”
He let out a huff and turned back to the lawyer. “What are these so-called stipulations?”
“Miss Roberts’s mother, Virginia, chose several locations around the world that you must visit together. Everything will be paid for, and you will be given an ample allotment of funds for food, personal items, and traveling expenses. In order to fulfill the requirements, you will have to provide a photograph of the two of you together at each destination.” He then turned his gaze to me. “Your mother referred to these as ‘Kodak moments’. When you obtain all the pictures, come back to my office for verification. If they are legitimate, each one of you will be given twenty-five million dollars of your mother’s fortune.”
Jake and I met each other’s gaze, staring for a long, stunned, silent moment.
Finally, he let out a long breath. “Whoa. I can’t even imagine that amount of money. It’s just…huge.”
My lawyer crossed his hands on the cherry wood desk. “Each picture must be an eight-by-ten, depicting something that proves you were at each destination together.”
“So no Photoshopping, eh?” Jake joked.
Rolling his eyes at Jake, Mr. Shelby continued, “Virginia paid in advance to have the photos examined for originality and authenticity. I wouldn’t dream of making that mistake.”
“How long do we have for this little globe-trot?” he questioned.
“You must complete the entire trip, stopping at each destination one after the other, within the next twelve months.”
“And exactly where do we have to go?” I asked.
He handed me the list.
As I looked down at the names of the exotic locations, I couldn’t believe it. “What the…? Japan? South Africa? Paris?” I shook my head. “None of this makes any sense. My mother was on hefty morphine in her last days, and she babbled a lot of incoherent stuff. I think we should consider that and burn this will. She clearly wasn’t of sound mind when she—”
“Burn it?” Jake said in disbelief. “Why? Just because I’m in it?”
My lawyer looked at me. “Miss Roberts, your mother made this will a few weeks after she found out she had cancer. She was, in fact, of very sound mind at the time, and this was what she wanted. If you are successful in this endeavor, there is a video diary that will be shown to you, and her reasons will become clear. However, you must first complete the task in good faith.”
It was such a bizarre request, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why the heck my mother would want me to spend time with a man she openly deplored, the selfish jackass who had left me at the altar and embarrassed our entire family. I didn’t understand any of it. Worst of all, she hadn’t even discussed it with me; as far as I knew, my mother never kept secrets from me. Frustrated, I handed the list to Jake.
He studied it closely. “We can get some of these done fast.”
I bit my lip hard and didn’t say a word.
“We just have to be together in the picture, right? But we can be far apart, no handholding or smooching?” he asked.
I shot him a glare.
“What?” he said. “I know you’ll bite my head off if I invade your personal space, so I’m just asking. Always good to read the small print.”
“You won’t have to worry about that,” I said smugly, “because I don’t want the money. You can go on this little adventure by yourself.”
Mr. Shelby turned to Jake. “I’m sorry, but if Miss Roberts doesn’t go with you to the locations, the contract will be null and void.”
“And what about the money?” I asked.
“It will be held by this office indefinitely.”