The Shadows Trilogy (Box Set: Edge of Shadows, Shadows Deep, Veiled Shadows) (21 page)

The next morning, in David’s car on the way to the funeral, Ellie questioned her decision.

“I really appreciate you taking me to this funeral, David, but I don’t know if this is a good idea,” she fretted. She realized if she kept pulling at a thread on the sleeve of her sweater she’d probably unravel it.

“Nothing is going to happen at a funeral, Ellie,” he reasoned. “If there is one place that people are on their best behavior, it’s at a funeral.”

Ellie had to admit that his logic made sense.

They arrived at the funeral home, and David placed his hand against the small of her back and led her into the foyer. A large placard indicated that the Coulter funeral was to the left. Ellie could hear the distraught weeping from all the way down the hall.

Jenny stood outside the door next to a table that held a sign-in book. She was openly crying, and was being comforted by a woman that Ellie knew all too well: Jake’s mother, Kathryn. Kathryn saw her, and the frown tightened on her face. Both women were enveloped in a deep shade of purple.

Kathryn had never fully approved of Ellie, especially her foster care background. Ellie had always felt like Kathryn had tolerated her for Jake’s sake, but once the decision to divorce was final, she had made it clear that she had no interest in further contact.

Ellie saw Kathryn whisper something in Jenny’s ear, and Jenny’s sobs instantly stopped. They both turned and silently watched Ellie and David approach.

“Kathryn, Jenny,” Ellie said.

“I’m surprised to see you here, Elizabeth,” Kathryn said. She was the only one to ever call Ellie by her formal name.

“Just because Jake and I got divorced doesn’t mean that I didn’t still care what happened to him,” Ellie said defensively. “I feel awful about what happened.”

“Yes. I understand that he was on his way back from having gone to see you,” Kathryn said. “Although in talking with Jenny, we have no idea what about.”

She kept her arm protectively around Jenny, who sniffled and glowered at Ellie, but said nothing.

“He had a few things that came up that he wanted to run past me,” Ellie said. She had no desire to try explaining Jake’s revelations to these two women who were obviously distraught.

“Like what?” Jenny chimed in. “He didn’t tell me where he was going. That seems pretty suspicious.”

“I have no idea why he didn’t tell you,” Ellie lied. “It wasn’t a big deal, but it was really between Jake and me.”

Ellie watched Jenny square her shoulders. Even in her distressed state, she was still lovely. Her heart ached for the baby that was going to grow up never knowing his father.

“Hi, I’m David Mitchell. We met the other day,” David interrupted and drew the women’s attention. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

He shook both women’s hands, and Ellie watched in amazement as they both started talking over each other in response.

“Dr. Mitchell, it was so good of you to come,” Jenny said breathlessly.

“You were so good to take care of our Jenny the other day in her time of need,” Kathryn said right on her heels.

David nodded and smiled. “It really was no problem. It’s my job. Is this where we sign in?” He pointed at the sign-in book. “We’ll just go ahead and do that and head inside. We don’t want to take you away from your other friends and family.”

Ellie could see that Jenny was going to say more, but then a few more people arrived behind them, and the two women had no choice but to greet the newcomers. As soon as Ellie was inside she felt like she could breathe again.

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” David whispered in her ear as they settled into a pew.

“You apparently have the ability to charm rattlesnakes,” Ellie whispered back. “I’ll have to remember that.”

David flashed her a knowing grin and rested his hand on her knee. She relaxed instantly.

She looked to the front of the room. The casket was closed. It was surrounded by several bouquets of flowers. There were about twenty people already in the room, some sitting, some kneeling and deep in prayer. Ellie recognized some of Jake’s high school and college buddies, but others she could only assume were friends of the family that she had never met. She and David sat in silence and waited for the ceremony to begin.

Ellie knew that she couldn’t put if off any longer. She motioned to David to stay put and then she got up and walked up to the front of the room. She stood in front of the casket and wondered what she was thinking coming here. She saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head. There was no one there. Strange.

She finally made the sign of the cross because it seemed the appropriate thing to do and nodded to the casket, and then she turned to walk back to her seat. A somber man in a gray suit passed her and gave her a tight smile. It was Barry James, Jake’s best friend. Barry had always been nice to her, even when things with Jake had gotten nasty. She wondered if it was because he knew about all of Jake’s transgressions and had felt guilty about knowing.

She settled back into her seat next to David, who searched her face to see if she was okay. She patted his arm and then closed her eyes for a few minutes, taking a few deep breaths. She just had to make it through the ceremony now.

A few minutes later, Kathryn and Jenny walked down the center aisle and took their seats at the front of the room. The ceremony was brief. Barry got up and said a few words, and most of the people in the room broke down in tears. Jenny was sobbing again, and Kathryn did her best to comfort her. Ellie felt a tinge of anger that she had never been shown that kind of empathy, even when all of the awful things came out about what Jake had been doing behind her back.

As if he sensed her distress, David moved his arm behind her and she was able to slide closer to him. She had moved on, and she needed to focus on her future. Finally it was over, and she and David slipped out the door while everyone gathered up front around Kathryn and Jenny.

“There, now you can say that you did the right thing.” David squeezed her shoulders as they walked out the front door into the cool November air.

“I guess so,” Ellie said. “Now I just have to work on moving forward and putting this all behind me.”

“I am ready, willing, and able to help with that,” David said. He opened her car door for her and pecked her cheek as she got in.

Her cell phone chirped just as they pulled out of the parking lot.

“Hey, gorgeous. Hope everything was okay today.” Kevin’s voice echoed in the interior of the small car. “You think you’re going to be okay on your own tonight?”

“I think the worst is over, Kevin. I’ll be all right,” she said, glancing sideways at David.

“Everything going okay with you and David?” he asked.

“Just fine,” she replied, blushing furiously.

David looked over at her and grinned. She knew he could hear every word.

“How much longer are you going to keep the shop closed? I heard Melanie is just throwing fits about losing her favorite writing haunt,” Kevin said.

“I think we should be back in business next week,” Ellie said. “That will give me time to get inventory done again, and maybe get the hang of this whole computer thing.”

“Do you think it would be okay then if Eric and I took a little break? Get away for the weekend? We’ve had this little outing planned for the last couple of months, but if you need me, I’ll stay.” The words tumbled out of Kevin’s mouth, and Ellie realized that he had been looking for the right opening to bring it up.

“Of course you should go,” she said. “You and Eric deserve the break. Really, I’ll be okay.”

“Okay, thanks, Ellie. You are a stellar boss,” he said.

They chatted for a few more minutes about things around the store, and then Ellie hung up. “Sorry about that,” she said.

“No problem,” David replied. “I think it’s great to let Kevin have some time off. I’m happy to take his place this weekend. I’ll try to rearrange my schedule so I have the evenings free.”

Ellie’s stomach did a little flip-flop. She could have David all to herself for the weekend? Things were looking up.

“I don’t want to be any trouble,” she murmured.

She felt a finger on her cheek and she looked into David’s eyes.

“You are the furthest thing from trouble I can think of, unless you count the part where I lost my heart,” David said quietly.

Ellie didn’t know what to say, but she knew one thing for certain. “I know exactly what you mean,” she said. She was ready to jump in with both feet.

Over the next few days, Ellie threw herself into her work. Kevin and Eric decided to leave on vacation early, and David was busy at the hospital, although he tried to call at least once each day to check in. Ellie had settled into Linda’s house and had established a comfortable routine, but she couldn’t wait to see David again.

She called the local technical college and asked if there was a student who would be interested in making some extra money. They sent over their best and brightest, a quiet boy named Joel, who helped Ellie set up her entire network in the shop. Luckily, Joel was as patient as he was brilliant, and he was able to guide her through how to use each piece of hardware and software that he assured her was going to “transform her business.” He also said he’d help her set up a website for the shop. It was all over Ellie’s head, but she nodded in agreement to whatever he said.

Three days after the funeral, the phone rang. Ellie thought it was probably David checking in. She left Joel in her office and grabbed the phone in the back.

“Ellie’s Coffee Isle,” she said, a bit out of breath.

“May I speak with Elizabeth Coulter please,” the deep voice said on the other end.

“Speaking,” she said, slightly annoyed. It sounded like a telemarketer, because no one called her Elizabeth unless they didn’t know her.

“Ms. Coulter, this is Vincent Thomassen,” the man said. The name sounded vaguely familiar, and Ellie realized why just as he confirmed it. “I was Jake’s lawyer for your divorce proceedings. I am very sorry to hear about your loss.”

“Oh yes, Mr. Thomassen,” Ellie said. She still felt a heavy knot of guilt in the pit of her stomach every time she thought about Jake, but she had stopped randomly crying, which she took as a good sign. “What can I do for you?”

“I actually need you to come down to my office,” he said.

“Why?” she asked.

“There are a few things regarding Mr. Coulter’s will that I need to discuss with you,” he said after a brief pause.

“Jake’s will?” Ellie said. She was shocked that Jake had ever had the foresight to create a will. “I don’t understand what that has to do with me. We’ve been divorced for months now.”

“Yes, of course.” Mr. Thomassen cleared his throat and Ellie felt stupid. Of course Jake’s lawyer would know how long they had been divorced. “But I think it’s best to discuss this in person. Are you available this afternoon?”

“I guess so,” Ellie said, feeling a sense of dread. “Are you sure we can’t discuss this over the phone?”

“Yes, I’m quite certain,” he replied. He gave her the address of his office. “Will two o’clock work for you?”

Ellie glanced at her watch. It was already noon. She tallied all the things that she had left to do in her head, but she knew there was no way that she could wait to find out what he wanted to talk to her about. “Okay, that should be fine.”

“Excellent. I will see you then,” and he hung up.

Two hours later Ellie sat in Vincent Thomassen’s waiting room, her knees shaking underneath her somber navy blue skirt. She had gone home and changed, not wanting to meet Jake’s attorney wearing blue jeans.

A bored receptionist had taken her name and waved her into a chair. The woman had to be at least seventy years old by Ellie’s estimation, and she was chewing bubble gum like a teenager. Her aura was a pale honey. She didn’t seem to have a care in the world. A typewriter that could be possibly as old as the receptionist sat on the desk in front of her, and she alternated between typing a few words and then answering the phone.

“Mr. Thomassen is currently in a meeting,” was the answer to each call, and she scribbled notes on a notepad. Occasionally she would look in Ellie’s direction and smile patiently. “It’ll just be a few more minutes,” she assured.

Ellie just nodded, and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself. Vincent Thomassen’s waiting room smelled like sour smoke, and she wondered if clients still lit up there, although smoking was banned in public buildings in Hennepin County.

The office was located downtown in a tall building on Seventh Street. Ellie had forgotten how unnerving it was to drive around downtown, and had gotten lost trying to find a parking garage that was within walking distance of her destination.

The room was painted a light gray, and the shades looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in years. The sky outside was gray, as it so often was in November in Minnesota. The chairs might have been comfortable twenty years ago, but now the cushions were hard and Ellie shifted about trying to get comfortable.

The new things in the room were the magazines on the table, and she had already tried thumbing through the latest edition of People. It had not held her interest for longer than thirty seconds, though, and she finally put it down after trying to read the same story for the third time.

Finally, the door to the inner office opened, and a large balding man in an expensive suit stood there. Both Ellie and the receptionist looked up expectantly.

“Ms. Coulter?” he said in the same gruff voice that Ellie remembered from their earlier phone conversation. His aura was gray. He was indifferent, and Ellie didn’t know if she should take that as a good sign or not. She nodded and he motioned for her to come into the office. As she brushed past him, he said to the receptionist, “Hold my calls, Darlene.”

Ellie stood just inside the door until he pointed to the chair on the other side of a heavy mahogany desk. The desk was covered in piles of paper, and Ellie couldn’t see a free spot on the entire surface.

She reluctantly sat down with her purse in her lap. Even that barrier gave her little comfort as she watched Vincent Thomassen watch her. After a few moments of silence, she couldn’t stand it any longer.

“What’s this about, Mr. Thomassen?” she asked.

Mr. Thomassen finally sat in the chair across the desk from her and sighed. “What was the date of your divorce, Ms. Coulter?”

“Jake brought me papers to sign sometime in early spring and said it would take about two to three weeks for the divorce to be final. I don’t remember the exact date,” she said.

He pulled a file from underneath a stack of papers on his left side. Ellie could read “Jacob Coulter” on the printed tag identifying the file.

“You never had legal representation in these proceedings, correct?” he asked.

Ellie immediately grew defensive at the man’s tone. “No, I didn’t feel it was necessary. I sent Jake a check for the court costs, and the paperwork was all very straightforward. We discussed it and agreed that it didn’t make any sense for both of us to get attorneys since we agreed on everything. Jake said it wasn’t an issue for him to take care of it.”

“Well, that is part of our problem, I think.” Mr. Thomassen paused again. “We’re in a bit of a snag now, you see.”

“Why is that?” Ellie asked.

“You may or may not have been aware of this, but Mr. Coulter was reluctant about getting divorced,” he answered.

Ellie’s feeling of dread grew. “At first, yes, I know he was. But I signed the paperwork he gave me, so I knew that he had finally accepted that it was over,” she said.

“How familiar are you with the divorce process?” he asked.

“Jake told me I just needed to sign the papers that he gave me, and then it would be filed with the court. A judge would sign off on it, and then it was done,” she said.

“Did Mr. Coulter advise you that the divorce had been finalized?” he asked.

“Yes, I just told you. He called and said he got the letter in the mail and that everything was done. I actually didn’t hear from him again until just a week ago,” Ellie replied.

“And therein lies the issue, Ms. Coulter,” Mr. Thomassen said. “As I mentioned, Mr. Coulter was entering into this whole process with great reluctance.”

“I wish you’d get to the point, Mr. Thomassen,” Ellie said.

“Mr. Coulter never filed the paperwork with the court,” Mr. Thomassen bluntly stated.

His words hit Ellie like a punch in the stomach. “What?” she said a bit too loudly. “What do you mean?”

“He was holding off, perhaps to get his feelings in order on the matter. I didn’t know that he still intended to get divorced until I spoke with him about that matter a few weeks ago. He indicated to me that he had put it off intentionally, and since you already believed that you were divorced, he didn’t see any reason to hurry things along until some recent changes in his life.”

Ellie was barely listening, and Mr. Thomassen paused. “We were actually supposed to meet next week. He was eager to get the process finalized.”

“Well, no wonder. His girlfriend is going to be giving birth any day now,” Ellie snapped.

“He had mentioned an intention to get married in the near future,” he confirmed. He waited for Ellie to process the information. “I know this may be difficult for you, especially considering the circumstances. But we will need to discuss the terms of Mr. Coulter’s will.”

“What?” Ellie said. He had her attention again, but her mind was spinning. Is it possible she had been so stupid? She had completely trusted Jake and he hadn’t given her any indication that he was deceiving her. She felt like a complete idiot. Suddenly things that Jake had said during those late night phone calls made complete sense.

“Since you and Mr. Coulter were officially still married, that would make you his widow. All of Mr. Coulter’s estate is legally yours.”

Ellie stood up in alarm. “WHAT?” she cried. “No. No. No. This isn’t happening. That’s not possible.”

“Perhaps you should take a few moments. This must be a shock,” Mr. Thomassen said, leaning back in his chair.

“A shock? No, why would you ever think that?” Ellie ranted. “You’ve just told me that not only have I been married all this time, but now I’ve inherited Jake’s estate by default.”

“That is the long and short of it, yes,” he agreed, his fingers forming a triangle in front of his face.

“How was this even ethical?” she said as she started pacing the room. “Isn’t there some law against deception like this?”

“It was my understanding that my client intended to get divorced at some point,” Mr. Thomassen said calmly. “He stopped communicating with me earlier this year, and I did not receive any communication from you or a legal representative who was looking after your concerns. As far as I knew, the two of you had worked things out.”

“I just don’t understand how this could have happened,” she said. She gnawed on her fingernail as her mind tried to process what was happening.

“Regardless of how it happened, it is a reality,” Mr. Thomassen replied.

“What about Jenny?” Ellie saw a potentially explosive scene about to unfold in her future.

“Mr. Coulter’s current will does not provide for Ms. Marks. I believe it was also his intention during our upcoming meeting to update his will to accommodate for her,” he said pointedly.

“Does she know yet?” Ellie asked.

“No. She and Kathryn Coulter are due here in about an hour to discuss the specifics of Mr. Coulter’s will. I thought it best that I advise you prior to that meeting, as I’m sure this news will be…unexpected,” he answered.

“You don’t think she knew that Jake hadn’t filed the papers yet?”

“Do you think she knew?” He threw the question back at her.

Ellie thought back on Jenny’s reaction at the hospital. If she had known this… Ellie shook her head.

“I would think not either,” he said.

“I need time to think,” Ellie said. “This is all a bit overwhelming.”

“Of course,” Mr. Thomassen said. “I can have the necessary papers drawn up for your signature next week.”

“What do you need my signature for?’ she asked.

“Transfer of assets papers, and that sort,” he said as he started shuffling papers about.

Ellie wondered how he could keep anything straight with the mess on his desk.

“I don’t want it. Any of it,” she said, putting her hand down on the pile in front of him, drawing his attention back to her face. “Let Jenny have it.”

“I would advise that you take some time to think about that, Ms. Coulter,” he replied. “If that is what you want, then we can do that. But you’ve been through a great loss, and I think it would be best if you took some time to process this. There is the matter of your former home as well as Mr. Coulter’s business holdings.”

Ellie sat back down in her chair, exhausted and overwhelmed. She couldn’t think anymore. “I don’t want it,” she said flatly.

“Here’s my card.” Mr. Thomassen pulled a business card from his left-hand drawer. “Think about it over the weekend. If that is still your decision on Monday, then give me a call and I will draw up the paperwork.”

Ellie stood and took the card. She shook her head again. “Fine,” she finally said. “You’ll hear from me on Monday.”

Mr. Thomassen nodded and then shuffled some more papers around, revealing a phone. He picked up the receiver and dialed.

“Darlene,” he grunted, “bring in my messages, will you?”

Ellie realized her appointment was over. She walked toward the door as it opened to reveal the wizened old woman, who nodded in her direction before dismissing her as well. Glancing at her watch, she realized that Kathryn and Jenny could potentially appear at any moment, and that was one confrontation she intended to avoid until she could get this whole mess settled. She left the building as quickly as she could, ducking her head the whole way.