C H A P T E R • 48
My father’s widow made her entrance at Jackson & Robinson in a red suit and kid gloves, and when Attorney Robinson went over to greet her, her smile blazed at him in the dim conference room.
When Robinson returned to the head of the conference table, there was a smudge of red on his check.
Gary arrived and walked to the other side of the room.
A secretary handed out an asset list.
“What the fuck is this?” Viola waved the sheets at us. “This is what he has for me? An insurance policy? And only enough to finish the work we already started on the bar.” She turned to Robinson. “What is the date of this?”
“This was drafted in the last month. A very recent accounting.”
Viola’s chair fell against the floor as she stood up. “That stingy bastard. What the hell? After all this time?” She turned to me. “I’m going to be getting all the money back. If you fight me, I’ll win. I’m his wife.”
“I’ll tell you what I know about you fighting me,” I said. “My father probably didn’t leave you the money because you were cheating on him.”
She started to cry. “We married so I could take care of him and he was supposed to take care of me,” she said. “You don’t know how it was. I promised him I would tell him if it got to be too much. He would not look up and find me gone without a goodbye. It’s hard to be with a person who was sicker and longer than we expected, especially when it’s someone who is used to being in charge. But to do that, I needed to get away for a few hours. I had to find comfort, to get my shoulders rubbed, to have a glass of wine. Then I was able to come back and love him.”
When she walked out, Robinson spoke into his intercom. “Stop Viola. I’ll be right there. Excuse me.” And he left us.
Gary, who had also stood up and started to follow her out, sat back down.
“It looks like everybody wants to save the damsel in distress,” I said.
“She put the H in hustle, and I think your father and I both liked that about her,” Gary said. “But it is also her undoing. She and Cecelia were in way over their heads.”