Heiress

Cleta squealed and grabbed the white bear with a red ribbon around its neck.

“Aw, Dad, I’m too big for a teddy bear,” Tim said, but he picked up the large brown bear.

Smiling, Allison said, “Looks like I’m left with the black one. Thanks a lot, Dad.” She didn’t want to dim her father’s joy by not being appreciative, but she was concerned about Beatrice’s attitude. What had happened in Columbus to distress her mother? How could she be mourning for a brother with whom she’d had so little contact for years?

Tucking the brown bear under his arm, Tim said, “The bear is nice, Dad, but I’m interested in other things. Give us the scoop. How much did we get?”

Charles dropped his head, refusing to look at his children. Beatrice stared at the floor, her face ashen, so it was easy to guess from their dismay that the Sayres hadn’t been mentioned in the will. Cleta and Tim certainly looked woebegone, but Allison wasn’t surprised. Was she the only one in the family who hadn’t expected a windfall? Crushed as she had been by Donald’s perfidy, Allison hadn’t given any thought to Uncle Harrison’s illness and his subsequent death.

With a sigh, Beatrice fastened her eyes on her son. “You didn’t get anything!” She pulled a large envelope from her purse. “According to Harrison’s lawyer, with the exception of a few bequests to some of his employees, my brother bequeathed his entire estate to Allison. He gave us a copy of the will.” She started to hand the document to Allison, but Tim grabbed it from his mother’s hand.

“But why Allison? Why her and not me?”

Charles took the will from Tim and gave it to Allison, whose hand was shaking so badly she couldn’t hold the envelope and it dropped to the floor.

“Harrison must have had his reasons, but he didn’t choose to tell us. Stop being selfish and congratulate your sister for her good fortune,” Charles said.

“Well, if I can’t have it, I’m glad that he chose Allison instead of Cleta. You’ll divide with me, won’t you, Allison? Cleta never would. How much is his estate worth?”

“We don’t know. Since neither Beatrice nor I was named in the will, we had no right to inquire. Harrison’s lawyer did give us that copy of the will, but Allison will have to go to Columbus to find out all the details.”

Allison felt as if she were observing the scene in their living room from another sphere. Beatrice looked as though she would burst into tears at any minute, and that troubled Allison. Had Beatrice herself expected the money? Charles watched his wife with anxious eyes. Tim wore a petulant expression. A broad smile brightened Cleta’s face.

After Allison’s first wave of surprise passed, an excitement started building within, and she picked up the envelope, opened it and began to read the will, noting immediately that the document had been validated three years ago on her twenty-first birthday.

“Isn’t that a coincidence!” she exclaimed. “Signed on my birthday. Uncle Harrison couldn’t have known that.”

No one answered, and she continued to read. After she passed the introductory legal jargon, the wording was very simple. Five people were listed for bequests based on a percentage of Harrison’s total estate, with the balance to be given to “my niece Allison Sayre.” This balance included the Page Publishing Company, a home in Victorian Village and whatever investments and securities Harrison owned at the time of his death.

“Oh, this is great,” Allison said. “Just this morning, I prayed for God to give new direction to my life, and here it is, offered to me on a silver platter.”

“I don’t want you to take it,” Beatrice said quietly.

Her family stared at her, speechless, and Charles was the first to find his voice.

“Not take it?” he shouted. “Why would you want Allison to turn down an estate that might be worth several million dollars?”

Beatrice regarded her husband in amazement. “Charles, think a minute. It’s the only sane solution.”

“Mother,” Allison said, “why can’t you be happy for me? Ever since Donald married and started bringing his wife next door, I’ve been miserable here in Chicago. This will give me something else to think about. Are you disappointed because he didn’t name you in the will?”

“I didn’t expect anything from Harrison, but I don’t like the idea that he favored you over the other children. That isn’t fair. Besides, you’re not mature enough to take over his estate.”

“I’m not a child anymore, and I’ve had some experience in the publishing business. Perhaps that’s the reason he chose me.”

Cleta spoke for the first time. “I think you should take it. If the money had been left to me, I’d rush out of here for Columbus so fast you couldn’t stop me. Not take a few million dollars! Mother, you must be joking.”

“We’ve tried to teach you children that money isn’t everything, but if you’re determined to accept it, Allison, then promise me that you’ll liquidate it the minute the estate comes into your possession. I don’t want you to go to Columbus.”

Trying to think of a way to answer her mother, Allison hesitated as she glanced through the document again. She read the names of the others that Harrison Page had listed: Celestine Handley, Adra and Minerva McRamey, Thomas Curnutt and Benton Lockhart.

Benton Lockhart! Surely not the Benton Lockhart she had once known and had never forgotten. A photo of that dynamic young man had brought him to mind today, and here was something else to evoke his memory. Seeing that name convinced Allison that she would definitely go to Columbus and at least find out what was involved in accepting Harrison’s property.

“That’s a promise I can’t make right now, Mother. I must go to Columbus and find out what is involved. Maybe I won’t want to live there, but I have to find out for myself. Will you go with me to investigate? I don’t want to go alone.”

Beatrice stood, and her visage was stony. “No, I won’t go with you. This move may very well ruin your life, and I won’t be a party to having you wreck the life-style we’ve worked for years to achieve.”

She stalked out of the room, and as Allison heard her steps, heavy and deliberate, on the stairway, she turned to Charles questioningly.

“I’ll go with you,” he said quietly. “After being gone this week, I can’t be away from work long, but I’ll arrange for a couple of days, as you will have to do, and we’ll take a plane for Columbus. I believe you’ve made the right decision.”

The following Sunday, Allison and Charles waited at O’Hare Airport for a plane to Columbus. Sleet pelted the large windows in the waiting area as Allison tried to be patient. The plane was already an hour late, which meant that their arrival in Columbus would be well after dark. It was a good thing they had allowed two days for the trip instead of only one. Their appointment with the lawyer, Thomas Curnutt, was scheduled for nine o’clock tomorrow morning, with a flight back to Chicago in midafternoon. Allison was eager for the meeting, but she knew she couldn’t hurry the plane, so she took a book from her purse and started to read. In a short time, passengers from the incoming jet came through the walkway, and soon the call was given for loading. It was obvious that the airport authorities were moving the planes as fast as safety rules permitted to avoid a big buildup if the airport had to be closed because of the weather.

Their plane arrived in Columbus two hours late, but since no one was meeting them, it didn’t matter. Heavy clouds had hidden the ground all the way across Indiana and Ohio, but as they approached Columbus, the plane reached a lower altitude and Allison saw the wide fertile fields of western Ohio give way to a metropolis spread around the banks of the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers, and as they neared the airport, she was amazed at the cluster of tall buildings in the downtown section. The city wasn’t as large as Chicago, but it displayed an interesting skyline, and Allison looked eagerly at this capital city that might soon become her home.

Intermittent rain was falling when the plane landed, and since they hadn’t checked any luggage, Charles motioned Allison toward the lower level of the terminal, where ground transportation was available. Her father arranged for a van to take them to a downtown hotel, and it was almost seven o’clock when they registered and took the elevator to adjoining rooms on the third floor.

“Will a half hour give you time to freshen up for dinner?” Charles asked, and when Allison nodded, he said, “Come into my room when you’re ready.”

Allison was ready in fifteen minutes, as was Charles, and as they waited for the elevator to take them to the restaurant, Allison said, “I’m not hungry.”

Charles gave her a hug. “I know that, but you’re going to eat anyway. Stop being nervous—this is going to work out fine.”

Tears welled in Allison’s eyes. “I hope so, but I’m scared.”

“I know that, too,” he said as he gently squeezed her shoulder.

Charles, who always had a healthy appetite, ordered a full meal, and when Allison asked for a salad only, Charles said to the waiter, “Add a bowl of vegetable soup and some crackers to her order. Also, we’ll have pie for dessert.”

He reached across the table and took Allison’s hand. “Listen to me, Allison. Harrison should not have loaded all this on you without telling you first, but that was his way. The man was self-centered, and while he seems to have had an excellent head for business, he didn’t know much about dealing with his family.”

“Why didn’t he ever come to see us?”

Charles shrugged and leaned back so the waitress could arrange their beverages and salads. He took Allison’s hand again as he said a prayer of thanks for their food.

“You know very well that I’ll miss you if you leave Chicago, but I honestly feel that your future lies here in Columbus.”

“I’ve been very unhappy for two years. I couldn’t live at the house anymore and see Donald bringing his wife home to visit. It helped to go into the apartment, but it will probably be better if I leave Chicago.”

Sternly, Charles said, “It’s time for you to stop this yearning for Donald. You would have had a miserable life married to a man who was in love with another woman.”

“I decided last week while you were gone that I was going to bury the past.”

“That’s good. When Donald refused to marry you, he was simply living by the Golden Rule, the way I’ve taught you children to live, and it’s time for you to forget him and go on with your life. Frankly, I question you ever had a deep love for Donald—he was just a habit in your life. You two were friends and little more, I think. He was your first boyfriend, Allison, but I don’t think you and Donald shared the strong feelings necessary for a good marriage.”

Allison stared at her father as if he didn’t know what he was talking about, but perhaps he was right. He hadn’t steered her wrong yet.

The next morning Charles ordered a taxi to take them to Curnutt’s office on South High Street.