Reese was in her office catching up on some paperwork when she heard a knock on her door. She looked up from her desk and called, "Come in."
"I hope I'm not interrupting," Vanessa said as she walked into the office.
"Oh, no. Come in," Reese welcomed Vanessa into the office and offered her a seat.
"I can't stay long," Vanessa said, opting to stand. "I have an appointment with Quentin to discuss the will. I just wanted to drop by to say hello and to thank you. I know you and Blaine went to a lot of trouble to find me."
"You don't have to thank me," Reese said shyly. "I wanted to do it."
"Well, I appreciate it all the same," Vanessa replied. "I should go. Maybe I'll see you later."
Reese showed Vanessa to the door, "Goodbye."
Reese returned to her desk with a sigh. She looked at her work briefly, but found she wasn't interested in working on it.
She was glad that they had found Vanessa and reunited a family, but somehow she felt less than satisfied. She wondered if it was a lack of closure on the case. Maybe she would feel differently if she had been the one to handle the will and see the sisters reunited, but somehow she doubted it. Maybe she had expected too much.
She did know that she was disappointed that the adventure was over and everything was back to normal. Her work just seemed so boring now. She missed the excitement and she missed Blaine as well.
She hadn't seen or spoken to Blaine since the night of the accident and what happened then was kind of a blur. She remembered screaming and then hearing a sickening bump as Blaine bounced off the hood. The car screeched as it accelerated down the street. She ran across the street to check on Blaine, who was lying motionless along the side of the road.
She, Cassandra, and Vanessa took Blaine and Lawrence to the hospital. Thankfully, both of them were fine, except for a few minor scrapes and bruises. The worst of it was the fact that Silas had gotten away.
"I should call to see how he's doing," Reese told herself, as she looked at the phone, but made no motion to pick up the receiver. When the phone buzzed on its own, she jumped.
"Reese, your 10:00 appointment is here."
"Ok, thanks, send him in."
"Hello, you must be Craig Sexton. I'm Reese Burroughs. What can I help you with?"
Craig settled into a chair in front of Reese's desk. "I need to sue someone. He's a musician I used to play with and he's passing off some of my songs as his."
"Ok," Reese said, taking out her notepad. "I'm going to need some specific details. Let's start from the beginning. When did you and, what was the man's name?"
"James Spencer."
"When did you and Mr. Spencer start working together?"
In the next office, Vanessa watched Quentin as he went over a stack of paperwork.
Finally Quentin looked up at her and said, "It looks like everything is in order here. I just need you to sign a few papers and as soon as the paperwork is processed you can pick up a check for the inheritance and the deed to the house."
"Ok," Vanessa said, subdued, as she signed the papers. She was still trying to grasp everything that had happened to her recently.
"Oh and there's one other thing. Mrs. May also left you this." Quentin handed Vanessa an envelope in exchange for the papers she had just signed.
As Quentin left to file the papers, Vanessa opened the envelope and started to read the letter inside.
Dear Dorothy Alice, the letter began. This letter is very difficult for me to write. I don't know when you will read this or what your life has been like, but there are things that I want you to know. I never wanted to give you up. I did it because I had to. I was unmarried when you were born and your father was away at war. My family wanted to save me the disgrace of being an unwed mother, so they sent me away and I put you up for adoption with the understanding that you would be placed with a good family. I don't know if that is what happened, but I hope it was true.
Your father never returned from the war and I married another man. We had two daughters of our own. I know my other two daughters were provided and cared for, but I always wondered about you. I wanted to make sure you were provided for as well, so throughout the years I saved money for you, hoping that it would find you someday. I hope you were never in need in your life, but whether you were or not, I want you to accept this small inheritance. If nothing else it will make an old woman feel a little bit of peace over something she's regretted for most of her life.
"I'm not sure if you know this," Quentin said as he entered the room. "But Mrs. May had two other daughters. They've expressed an interest in meeting you, if you are willing."
"Yes, I'd like that," Vanessa said as she returned the letter to its envelope and put it away in her purse.
"I'll call them and see if we can arrange a meeting."
"Before you do, I was wondering if you could help me with another matter, about my husband. When I married him, he was using a false name. I'm not even sure if we were legally married, but if we are, I want to file for a divorce. And I need to know if he has a claim on any of our property if it's in my name."
"I'll look into that and see if the marriage was legal, first. Then we'll decide where to go from there. What names did he go by?"
"When I met him, he said his name was Sebastian Barrett and that's the name on the marriage licence. His original name was Silas Rochester."
"Silas Rochester?" Quentin repeated. "I know that name." He excused himself and left the room for a moment. When he came back he returned with a file folder of information. "I handled his estate about 10 years ago when he was presumed dead. Oh, that's right," Quentin mumbled as he read through the details.
"What is it?" Vanessa asked eagerly.
"He didn't have anything left when he died."
"He told me that. He also said he spent his nephew's money as well. Is that right?" Quentin nodded. "How much money was the nephew supposed to get?"
"Quite a bit," Quentin answered. When he stated the sum Vanessa was stunned. Changing the subject he said, "I'll look into the details about your husband's name change and about your property and get back to you."
"Thank you," Vanessa said as she stood to leave. "I just want to make everything is in order."
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