Authors: Trisha Grace
Going into his room, he slammed the door behind him—right in Joanne’s face.
“Ty!”
He closed his eyes while Joanne continued shouting for him from behind the door. He wasn’t in the mood to entertain her, he never was.
He sat on the ledge by his window and gazed out of his house. He’d wanted to go back to the mansion for the longest time. Not to visit his grandfather, but to look at the house he’d grown up in.
He hadn’t been back there since his parents’ funeral.
He remembered everything about that day. He remembered crying his eyes out when they lowered the coffins. He remembered Marianne embracing him while his grandfather turned his back to him and walked away. He remembered how he’d called after his grandfather, only to see him getting into a black sedan.
His grandfather didn’t bother to turn back and offer him a hug or even some kind words.
Instead, almost as soon as the funeral was over, his grandfather got someone to pack up his things and ship him and Marianne off to another house.
Every day, he waited for his grandfather to come for him or at least to visit him, but he never came.
Each time the phone rang, he would race to it, only to hear another unfamiliar voice.
Not once did his grandfather call to check on how he was doing.
Once he was out of sight, he was out of his grandfather’s mind.
Why should he go to his grandfather’s funeral when his grandfather had never bothered to look him up for the past twenty years?
He never understood why his grandfather was so cruel to him. He was just an eight-year-old who didn’t know any better.
Marianne had told him that his parents’ death was an accident and it wasn’t his fault.
Then why did his grandfather punish him by abandoning him when he needed his grandfather the most?
Tyler crooked his lower jaw and tightened the grip on his phone. Just when he made up his mind on not attending the funeral, his phone rang with another call from another unknown number.
He sighed and picked up the call. “Hayes.”
“Tyler Hayes?”
“Yes.”
“Good evening, Mr. Hayes. I’m your grandfather’s lawyer, Joel Sawyer. Your grandfather had insisted that I read the will in front of you, Miss Marianne West, and Miss Kate Mitchell after the funeral. You will need to be present before I can reveal the contents of the will.”
Tyler rolled his eyes.
He didn’t need any more money. The company that his parents was running became his when he turned twenty-one. There was only one thing he wanted—the mansion.
The mansion that he grew up in and was ripped from after having his parents taken away from him.
“Let me know what the contents are over the phone. You can call me after the funeral.”
“There’s a clause stating that if you do not turn up, no one else on the will gets anything.”
Tyler drew in a long, frustrated breath.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hayes. I’m merely following your grandfather’s instructions.”
Though he wasn’t willing to attend the funeral, he couldn’t allow the bad blood between him and his grandfather rob Marianne of what she rightfully deserved.
For the past twenty years, she was all he had. She was his only family; she was there for him when no one else was. He couldn’t allow his anger to blind him to that fact.
He sighed and said, “I’ll be there.”
Chapter 2
A solemn atmosphere enveloped and percolated through the Hayes mansion as Kate listened to all the condolences. Though she’d been at the mansion so many more times than the other guests, she couldn’t help feeling out of place.
Tyler should be the one speaking to the late Mr. Hayes’s friends, the one listening to their condolences, not her.
She scanned the room of unfamiliar faces for the umpteenth time and finally spotted Tyler.
Recognizing him was much easier than she’d expected.
He hadn’t changed much from the younger version she’d seen in the photo albums.
His dark brown hair was shorter than it was in the photographs, and his bangs that nearly reached his eyes were pushed to the side.
She leaned against the wall and watched him move around the living room in a black suit.
It wasn’t the time to notice how well the suit fitted him or to admire the broad shoulders that made him the perfect rack for any style of clothes.
Her foot inched forward, but she paused when she saw him brushing his fingers across the surfaces of the furniture in the living room.
She took her eyes off him and glanced around the room.
The late Mr. Hayes kept the design of the house almost exactly as it was before the tragedy occurred.
The coffee-brown leather couch that took up the largest space in the room, the chocolate-brown coffee table that sat above the furry beige rug, and the bookshelf against the white wall had all been around even before Tyler was born.
Even the renaissance wall finishes were exactly the same.
The late Mr. Hayes only added some new pieces of furniture to replace the space where the grand piano used to be. Besides that, nothing much had changed.
The whole place was like a time capsule.
It must be difficult for Tyler to see the house after so many years.
She walked over and asked as she neared him, “Tyler Hayes?”
His head snapped up, and he frowned the moment he laid eyes on her. “Kate Mitchell?”
“Yeah, that’ll be me.”
His head bobbed up and down while his eyes scrutinized her.
“Is something wrong?”
“I was expecting someone … older.”
She looked around and laughed softly. “I guess I’m pretty young among this crowd.”
“You said you were his friend, so I thought …” Then he shrugged, not bothering to complete his sentence.
Kate smiled. “He wasn’t exactly my friend. He was sort of my grandmother’s friend.”
“Sort of?”
“It’s complicated.”
Tyler gave her a look over and turned his back to her.
She thought Tyler would prefer some company, but she supposed she was wrong.
She pursed her lips and tucked her hair back behind her ear. “I’ll leave you alone.”
“Wait,” he said and turned back to face her.
She stood where she was, her brows raised, waiting for him to say something.
“Never mind,” he continued after a moment.
Kate could sense his hesitation. She watched his eyes sweep the room, observing the different faces.
She understood his silent struggle; neither of them seemed to belong where they were.
Moving next to him, she said, “I don’t know most of them either. I believe they used to work with your grandfather in the past. Some of them are from the elderly home where he volunteered. He made some good friends there.”
Tyler crossed his arms across his chest.
“I’m sure you have questions.”
“How long have you or your grandmother known him?”
“Around five years.”
He nodded, his eyes still on the strangers in the room.
In the few minutes that Kate had spent with Tyler, she realized he wasn’t a man of many words. She glanced around and thought about slipping back into the crowd and away from him, but she didn’t want to be rude. “Do you want me to introduce some of his friends to you?”
“No.”
Kate noticed Tyler drawing in a long breath as if her mere presence was annoying him.
She was trying to be nice, but it seemed he preferred her gone.
So she smiled and, with a light touch on his arm, walked away from him.
Tyler looked at Kate while she strode away. Her chestnut hair was tied up in a bun with the shorter strands falling out. He hadn’t noticed much about her except for the small, friendly smile she had on.
She was right; he did have questions. He had so many questions, but he didn’t think anyone could provide him with an answer.
He stared at the room filled with strangers, uncertain about what to do with himself.
When he had rejected Kate’s offer, he’d braced for some form of coaxing or whining. Instead, she merely smiled and gave him space.
For the first time that day, something other than the harrowing memories of his parents’ death got his attention. He observed Kate while she conversed with a cluster of elderly men.
Even with the sweet smile she had in place, Tyler could see the grief in her eyes.
How did she grow so close to a man who was so cold toward him? Why would she mourn the passing of a man so heartless?
Taking his eyes off her smile, he gave her a head to toe scan.
A black sash was tied around her waist and into a knot on her back. The ends of the sash flowed down toward the edge of her dress.
The heels she had on accentuated her slim legs. In her heels, she stood half a head above his shoulders.
He took a step toward her. One step, and that was it. He didn’t know what he was doing.
Her conversation with the elderly men was none of his business. He gave another look around the house before turning and walking out toward the back.
Kate saw Tyler bolt from the house and figured he probably needed some time and space. She wanted to follow after him, to make sure he was all right, but she couldn’t walk out of the house while everyone was still there.
By the time the guests left, the sun was already beginning its descent. The orange tinge streamed in through the long windows and cast a warm glow into the house, bringing along with it a hint of sadness. She took a sip of the coffee in her hand and gazed out at the distant horizon.
The mansion was set wide apart from the rest of the world, and the acres of land around the house belonged to the late Mr. Hayes. Surrounding it were never-ending trees that acted like a moat, keeping the house from the outside world.
She never understood what the late Mr. Hayes loved about this house. Looking out from where she was felt so lonely. She couldn’t imagine how forlorn he must have been living all alone in the huge mansion.
Among the trees, a lone figure sat with one of his legs stretched and his back against a tree.
She set the coffee down on the table and strolled toward him, pausing when she was a few steps away. “Are you all right?”
“Is everyone gone?”
She nodded. “Except for Marianne and Mr. Sawyer. Marianne’s clearing away the food.”
Tyler let out a heavy sigh. “Well then, let’s see what the old man has in his will.” Tyler got to his feet, dusted off the dirt on his pants, and headed toward the house.
Kate walked alongside him, tempted to observe the real-life manifestation of the boy from all the stories she’d heard.
She wanted to tell him how sorry the late Mr. Hayes was for abandoning him after his parents’ death. She wanted to let him know that he was always on the late Mr. Hayes’s mind.
But she knew in her heart that he wasn’t ready. Her words would only end up pushing him away.
“Did you come alone?” Kate asked.
“Yeah. Just here to sit in for the will,” he said a moment later.
If Kate hadn’t known his story or seen his taut jaws when he took in everything within the house, his words would’ve made her think he was a cold-hearted person.
They returned to the mansion and headed into the kitchen in absolute silence.
Tyler wasn’t ready to listen to anything that she had to say, and it was too hard for her to listen to what Tyler thought of his grandfather.
She didn’t blame Tyler for being angry, but she couldn’t bear listening to anyone speak badly of the late Mr. Hayes, not today.
By the time they got to the kitchen, Mr. Sawyer was already seated at the head of the table. The sixty-one-year-old veteran lawyer sat rigidly, his arm placed stiffly over the black folder on the table.
Kate took a seat across from Tyler and turned to Mr. Sawyer.
“Since we’re all here, I shall begin. Miss Marianne West.” Joel Sawyer faced the elderly woman seated next to him. “Mr. Hayes left you ten percent of all the money he had in his possession; that will be equal to slightly over four million dollars.” Turning his focus to Kate, he continued. “You, too, Miss Mitchell. You will receive ten percent of the money. The rest will go to Mr. Tyler Hayes.”
Kate blinked when she heard Mr. Sawyer’s words. The late Mr. Hayes had always treated her kindly, but four million dollars? There must have been a mistake.
She shook her head, but Mr. Sawyer interrupted her before she could speak.
“There’s more.” He glanced at Tyler and her, his lips pressed into a thin line. “All the estates that the late Mr. Hayes owned will go to Tyler Hayes; all except this mansion.”
Her jaw dropped while the loud scraping of Tyler’s chair against the floor pierced through the air.
“There must be a mistake,” Kate said, leaning forward on the table as Tyler stormed away.