A person expects a little trouble at my age, but Mike...he was just a young man . I can't believe it! I'd give anything to be with you now!"
Noa imagined Wendell Carlson's dignified, but weathered face, creased with deep laugh lines . She could see his brown hair, threaded now with gray, limply falling over his forehead, and his eyes, which appeared often to laugh at the world, clouded with intense emotion . Noa tried to drive the disappointment from her voice . "I'll be fine . You just take care of yourself."
"What are your plans?"
"I'll lease the condominium and bring Cathy back with me."
"Good . I'm counting on you to start my Moroccan tour!"
After she hung up, she continued to think about him, how good he had always been to her, how much his call had comforted her . Wendell Carlson and her father had been as close as brothers . If Cathy didn't object, she would give him Dad's gold watch, the one that Mike always carried .
When Cathy hadn't appeared by three A.M., Noa began to wonder if she should call the police . She paced around and ended up in the hall corridor with the brilliant lights, which exaggerated what was white and empty.
Cathy's voice startled her, "Are you looking for me?"
Where had she come from? Certainly not from the outside entrance. "Where have you been?"
Without a word, Cathy bypassed her into the front room. "I asked you where you've been."
"Out," Cathy replied with an infuriating air of mock innocence , as if she had no idea what Noa was talking about . The girl wore jeans and a sloppy sweatshirt, but her eyes were carefully made up . Dark mascara made the yellowish flecks stand out, seeming to Noa to emphasize the surly defiance.
"I was worried about you."
"Look, I don't like you and you don't like me," Cathy responded angrily . "So don't pretend to be worried about me . I'm not your problem."
She hurried off into the kitchen, snapping on lights . "That's where you're wrong . I'm your legal guardian until you turn of age . That's twelve months from now."
Acting as if she didn't hear her, Cathy took a package of candy bars from the cupboard and began unwrapping one.
"You probably haven't even eaten supper . That's not good for you." As Noa spoke, she found a cup and reached for the coffee beneath the drip coffee maker.
"Neither is coffee," the girl retorted .
"We might just as well get along." Noa said, trying to sound matter of fact . "You're going to have to come back with me to Spain."
Cathy munched the candy bar, eyes regarding Noa with cool, impassive dislike . The surly look had spread downward to the pouting lips . "I'm not leaving New York City."
"This apartment will have to be leased . You won't have any place to stay."
"I have friends." Noa remembered Mike's letter, the reference to the bad company she had been keeping . Cathy's eyes narrowed . "You can't make me go to Spain with you . Not if I don't want to go . If I was you, I wouldn't even try."
What had Mike gotten her into? With effort, Noa bit back the bitter words that waited on the tip of her tongue . Daylight was only a few hours away . She had funeral arrangements to make, all of Mike's business to settle . Any showdown between Cathy and her would have to wait.
* * *
Mike's lawyer, who Noa saw a few days after the funeral, informed Noa that she was sole beneficiary of Mike's estate . Mike had worked for Intermax, a huge investment firm, and the mass of his money which amounted to a sizeable fortune had been put into short term investments.
The aging lawyer in a rambling way tried to explain why Cathy had been totally and legally disinherited . He used words like immaturity, emotional problems, but with a great reticence, leaving Noa the impression that he knew much more about her niece than he would ever be willing to reveal .
The vast amount of money he spoke of, which Noa for the first time thought about, did not pose any problems . She knew she could manage it wisely, invest in a future that would make
Noa imagined Wendell Carlson's dignified, but weathered face, creased with deep laugh lines . She could see his brown hair, threaded now with gray, limply falling over his forehead, and his eyes, which appeared often to laugh at the world, clouded with intense emotion . Noa tried to drive the disappointment from her voice . "I'll be fine . You just take care of yourself."
"What are your plans?"
"I'll lease the condominium and bring Cathy back with me."
"Good . I'm counting on you to start my Moroccan tour!"
After she hung up, she continued to think about him, how good he had always been to her, how much his call had comforted her . Wendell Carlson and her father had been as close as brothers . If Cathy didn't object, she would give him Dad's gold watch, the one that Mike always carried .
When Cathy hadn't appeared by three A.M., Noa began to wonder if she should call the police . She paced around and ended up in the hall corridor with the brilliant lights, which exaggerated what was white and empty.
Cathy's voice startled her, "Are you looking for me?"
Where had she come from? Certainly not from the outside entrance. "Where have you been?"
Without a word, Cathy bypassed her into the front room. "I asked you where you've been."
"Out," Cathy replied with an infuriating air of mock innocence , as if she had no idea what Noa was talking about . The girl wore jeans and a sloppy sweatshirt, but her eyes were carefully made up . Dark mascara made the yellowish flecks stand out, seeming to Noa to emphasize the surly defiance.
"I was worried about you."
"Look, I don't like you and you don't like me," Cathy responded angrily . "So don't pretend to be worried about me . I'm not your problem."
She hurried off into the kitchen, snapping on lights . "That's where you're wrong . I'm your legal guardian until you turn of age . That's twelve months from now."
Acting as if she didn't hear her, Cathy took a package of candy bars from the cupboard and began unwrapping one.
"You probably haven't even eaten supper . That's not good for you." As Noa spoke, she found a cup and reached for the coffee beneath the drip coffee maker.
"Neither is coffee," the girl retorted .
"We might just as well get along." Noa said, trying to sound matter of fact . "You're going to have to come back with me to Spain."
Cathy munched the candy bar, eyes regarding Noa with cool, impassive dislike . The surly look had spread downward to the pouting lips . "I'm not leaving New York City."
"This apartment will have to be leased . You won't have any place to stay."
"I have friends." Noa remembered Mike's letter, the reference to the bad company she had been keeping . Cathy's eyes narrowed . "You can't make me go to Spain with you . Not if I don't want to go . If I was you, I wouldn't even try."
What had Mike gotten her into? With effort, Noa bit back the bitter words that waited on the tip of her tongue . Daylight was only a few hours away . She had funeral arrangements to make, all of Mike's business to settle . Any showdown between Cathy and her would have to wait.
* * *
Mike's lawyer, who Noa saw a few days after the funeral, informed Noa that she was sole beneficiary of Mike's estate . Mike had worked for Intermax, a huge investment firm, and the mass of his money which amounted to a sizeable fortune had been put into short term investments.
The aging lawyer in a rambling way tried to explain why Cathy had been totally and legally disinherited . He used words like immaturity, emotional problems, but with a great reticence, leaving Noa the impression that he knew much more about her niece than he would ever be willing to reveal .
The vast amount of money he spoke of, which Noa for the first time thought about, did not pose any problems . She knew she could manage it wisely, invest in a future that would make
Similar Books
The Block
Treasure Hernandez
Bad Professor (An Alpha Male Bad Boy Romance)
Claire Adams
Coda
Liza Gaines
The Lesson of Her Death
Jeffery Deaver
Angered Seasons: The Worst Birthday Ever (Volume One)
Mireille Chester
The Seducer
Madeline Hunter
The Empress File
John Sandford
The Revenant
Sonia Gensler
A Presumption of Death
Dorothy L. Sayers, Jill Paton Walsh