LITMIR.BIZ

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One

      JORDAN WAS still holding Maddie’s hand when Fitzwalter opened the file in front of him and lifted the papers. Out of the corner of her eye, Maddie studied her sister. Jordan’s lips were pressed tightly together and her eyes were totally focused on the attorney.

      She was nervous, Maddie realized. And it went beyond the fact that they’d just met. Since her chair was located at the right of the desk and angled in a way that gave her a view of the other occupants of the room, she took a moment to study the other Wares.

      With his arm draped casually over the back of his wife’s chair, Carleton appeared to be perfectly at ease. But there was a stiffness in his shoulders and his mouth that belied that. At first glance Dorothy appeared to be bored, but her hands were clasped so tightly in her lap that the knuckles had turned white. Adam sat poker-straight, his hands gripping the arms of the chair.

      If there was one thing her father had taught her it was the importance of reading facial expressions and body language. According to Mike Farrell, it was an essential skill in all kinds of activities—from playing poker to bargaining for a price on his cattle. Two things were clear to Maddie. The other Wares’ nerves were stretched as tightly as Jordan’s were. And the family didn’t seem to be very close-knit.

      Why not? Had any of them provided support for Jordan as she’d dealt with the terrible news of her mother’s death? Something tightened around her heart as Maddie recalled the numbness and the piercing pain she’d felt when her father had passed on a year ago. That had been sudden too. She still felt guilty about the fact that she’d been at a jewelry show in Albuquerque, and Mike had suffered a heart attack while he’d been out checking some fences. Alone. Cash Landry, her neighbor and lifelong friend, had found the body the next morning.

      Since she’d never met Eva Ware, Maddie couldn’t know exactly what Jordan was going through. Was there someone her sister could turn to as Maddie had been able to turn to Cash? As Edward Fitzwalter donned a pair of reading glasses, she linked her fingers with Jordan’s.

      Gripping the papers in two hands, Fitzwalter peered over his glasses, first at the Wares and then at Jordan and Maddie. “My plan is to make this brief. If any of you want a complete draft of the document including all the whereases, wherefores and so on, I’ll be happy to make a copy. But if no one objects, I’ll get right to the bequests.”

      Silence reigned in the room. When the attorney shifted his gaze back to the paper he was holding, Jordan’s fingers tightened on Maddie’s. She was worried about the contents of the will. Maddie’s heart sank. Of course she would be. So would everyone in the room. The only reason that Eva Ware would have requested her presence today was because she’d left something to the daughter she’d deserted. And that something would be taken out of someone else’s inheritance.

      “To my personal design assistant Cho Li, I leave the sum of five hundred thousand dollars so that if he chooses, he can retire. But my hope is that he’ll remain in his position until the new owners of Eva Ware Designs get up to speed.”

      Dorothy Ware whispered something to Adam and he jerked forward in his chair. “New owners? Who are the new owners?”

      Fitzwalter glanced up. “I’ll get to that part sooner without interruptions.”

      Adam opened his mouth and then shut it.

      “To my brother Carleton, I leave all of my shares in the Ware Bank. I hope that he’ll finally make the fortune he’s always believed I’ve prevented him from getting.”

      Maddie noted that the news didn’t seem to make Carleton very happy.

      Fitzwalter cleared his throat. “The rest of my estate, including stocks, bonds, cash, Eva Ware Designs, my fifty-percent share of Ware House on Long Island and my New York City apartment, I leave to my two daughters, Jordan and Madison, to be shared equally. It is my sincere hope that they will run Eva Ware Designs together. However, there is one requirement. They must change places and walk around in each other’s lives for three consecutive and uninterrupted weeks beginning within seventy-two hours from the time this will is read. If they refuse to fulfill the terms as I’ve set them out or if they don’t stay the course for three weeks, my fifty percent of Ware House will go to my brother Carleton. Everything else, including the business and my apartment, will be sold and the profits divided equally among all my surviving relatives.”

      Jordan’s mouth dropped open, and this time Maddie thought she knew exactly what her sister was feeling.

      Dorothy touched Adam’s arm and he leapt out of his chair to plant both of his hands on the desk inches from the papers that Fitzwalter had just set down. Anger radiated off of him in waves, causing Maddie to sit forward in her chair.

      “That can’t be right. I’ll be the chief designer now that Aunt Eva is gone. She should have put me in charge. She always led me to believe that one day I would step into her shoes.”

      “He’s right.” Dorothy Ware spoke for the first time. Unlike her son’s, her voice held no trace of emotion.

      Unperturbed, the attorney met first Dorothy’s and then Adam’s eyes. “I assure you that Ms. Ware’s will is in perfect order.”

      “No,” Adam argued. “She had to have changed her mind since she wrote this. She was…busy. She just didn’t have the time to see you about it.”

      Fitzwalter slipped the papers back in the file. “She came to my office two weeks ago and reviewed every detail.”

      Adam’s face had colored to a deep red, and for a moment, Maddie was afraid that he was going to shove the oak desk over on the attorney when Carleton’s voice intervened. “Adam.”

      The younger man drew a deep breath and backed away from the desk. As soon as he was a safe distance away, Maddie turned to Jordan and spoke softly. “I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t she leave the business to you—and why would she want us to change places after she’s kept us apart all these years?”

      “I’ve got a theory about that.” Jordan glanced over at the other Wares who’d gone into a small huddle.

      Maddie looked too. Dorothy was speaking, but her voice didn’t carry, and from the expression on Adam’s face, he didn’t like what he was hearing.

      “Let’s blow this scene,” Jordan whispered. “I’ve got a reservation at an inn in Linchworth. I wanted you to myself and I thought staying over would be better than battling rush-hour traffic back into the city.”

      They’d made it nearly to the front door when Adam caught up with them. He grabbed Jordan by the arm and jerked her around to face him. “You can’t get away with this.”

      The fury in his voice sent Maddie into action. Enough was enough. She gripped the arm holding Jordan. “Let my sister go.”

      “What?” Adam sent her a startled look.

      Maddie placed both hands on his chest and gave him one hard shove into the wall. “Just because you’re frustrated by the terms of your aunt’s will doesn’t mean you can manhandle my sister. Got that?”

      Adam stared at her. “You shoved me.”

      “I did.”

      “Adam.” The cool tones of Dorothy Ware’s voice carried the length of the hallway.

      “This isn’t the end of this,” Adam said as he pushed himself away from the wall and strode back to his mother.

      Jordan waited until they’d collected their bags from the butler and run down the steps to the waiting limo. Then she whirled to face Maddie. “I’ve wanted to give Adam a good shove for years.” She pulled Maddie into a hard hug. “I guess I’ve been waiting for my superhero sister to do it for me.”

      JORDAN LED the way into the suite she’d rented in the Linchworth Inn. She hadn’t said a word to Maddie during the five-minute ride in the limousine. In spite of the distracting and somewhat amusing altercation with Adam, Jordan knew her head was still spinning

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