I only feel a nod against my shoulder in response. The silence is overbearing. He's waiting for me to confess to him that I'm going to refuse all of it.
"Nathan is going to help me sort through it all with a probate attorney." I know his reaction to that news isn't going to be well received either so I continue, "I'd like you to be involved too. I want you to help me with this."
I feel his entire body tense at my request. I almost whimper out loud when his hands pull away from me. "I can't. I just can't."
I listen in silence for what feels like hours until I hear his breathing slow. He's fallen asleep. He's abandoned me with the burden of having to deal with Mark's estate all alone.
Chapter 9
"What about if I just handed everything over to Mark's mother?"
"It's not that easy, Ivy," Garrett Ryan, the probate attorney that Nathan introduced me to¸says as he leans back in his office chair. "It's more complicated than that. There are taxes and life insurance policies and Mark had holdings in many businesses overseas."
The words all run together in my mind. I had asked Jax to be here with me. His business mind can comprehend all of this much better than my creatively driven mind can. He'd refused. He claimed he was busy and didn't have the time.
"I'll explain all of this to Nathan." I know Garrett can sense my trepidation in dealing with the details of Mark's will. "I know legally he can't help you with the fine details of this but he can spell it out in layman's terms so it's easier to digest."
I smile at the muted suggestion that I can't absorb what he's telling me. I can't be offended. It's obvious that all of this is over my head.
"I'm going to work my way through all of Mark's assets and then we'll set up a meeting again." He stands and reaches his large hand over the desk towards me. I take it and he squeezes it. "I promise that Nate and I will get you through this."
I look up into his kind green eyes. "Thanks Garrett."
"There is one thing before you go." He shuffles through a few papers before he lowers his tall frame back into his office chair. "This business that Mark owned… Intersect Investments? You have shares in that too?"
I nod my head in silence.
"And Nate said your boyfriend has some also?" The question is laced with uncertainty. Garrett and Nathan had gone to law school together. I sensed that Nate was sharing much more with him about my life than just the required legal history.
"He owns the remaining shares, yes." I can't think past the words. Jax and I haven't discussed the ramifications of us owning the business together. My assumption that he'd want to join forces to bring the business back to life seems to be horribly misplaced right now. He hadn't brought up the possibility at all and that fact had been wearing on me for days.
"Do you two have a plan for how you want to move forward with that?" It's an obvious question. It seems innocent enough but it bites through me with the force of a rabid dog.
I pull in a heavy breath before I begin, "I haven't discussed it with him yet."
"That's interesting." The words linger between us. He doesn't offer anything more and I know that if I want to know what his inference was, I'm going to have to push.
"Why is it interesting?"
"Jax Walker is your boyfriend, right?" I'm surprised by the mention of Jax's name. He knows Jax? He's looked far enough into Mark's will that he knows who his business partner is?
"Yes. Jax and I are together." Why did I answer like that? We are together, aren't we? He's more than my boyfriend.
"His attorney…" the words trail as he glances at a pad of paper next to his phone. "Gilbert Douglas contacted me this morning."
I feel anger burn through me. "Jax's
attorney called you?" The question is almost rhetorical. Garrett already spelled it out to me. He knows the name of Jax's lawyer. Why the hell is Jax having his lawyer call mine when he can't even bring himself to say two words to me about any of this?
"He did." He nods his head as his eyes skim over the note pad. "He wants to know about the shares you've inherited. He's putting out feelers for what you might be looking for in exchange."
"Jax wants to buy the shares I inherited from Mark?" I push myself up from the chair as if that's going to give my anger more room to expand.
"He does. You can discuss those terms with Nate once we get through probate."
"That's not going to be necessary." I pull open his office door. "I'm dealing with this on my own."
Chapter 10