Free Fancy Dancer by Fern Michaels Page A

Jake or if there was anything I could do. What can I do for you gentlemen?”
    One of the Symon brothers opened his briefcase and pulled out a thick stack of papers. He licked his finger as he flipped from page to page. “Ah, here it is. If you will just sign here on the dotted line, we can get on with business.”
    Suspicion ringing in his voice, Alex asked, “Sign what? I’m a lawyer, as you well know, and I never sign anything I haven’t read.”
    “Then by all means, young man, read away,” the brothers said in unison.
    “Wait a minute here. It will take me all day to read through this stuff. Cut to the chase and tell me what it is. How did you find me, anyway?”
    “We looked you up in the phone book, then we stopped by your office, and a young lady said we should try to find you here. Here we are. We might be old, and we might even look old, but we pride ourselves on being up-to-the-minute where business is concerned. What you have in your hands is Jake’s mother’s will. She provided for you and your mother. Of course, the names were blank until we were able to fill them in when we located you. We haven’t been able to close out Selma’s probate because this has been hanging over our heads since she died eighteen years ago. Now we would like to close it out. Is there a problem?”
    “Well, yes, sir, there is. My mother and I don’t need or want anything from the St. Cloud financial empire.”
    “Son, this has nothing to do with Jonah St. Cloud or St. Cloud anything. This is Jake’s mother’s estate. She was a fine, wonderful lady. I can’t be sure about this, but my brother and I think she did it for Jake because she didn’t ever want him to feel guilty that no one looked after you and your mother. She truly believed that one day you would surface or somehow Jake would find you on his own. Selma was always a forward-thinking woman. We also want you to know that Jake was relentless over the years in trying to find you and your mother.
    “Please, don’t let silly pride interfere and ruin something that is meant to be quite wonderful. You must accept the inheritance. After that, you and your mother can do whatever you want with the money. Tell me you understand everything I’ve just said.”
    Alex’s head started to buzz. He didn’t know what to do or say, so he just nodded.
    “Then sign here, and my brother and I will walk all this over to the courthouse. We can start transferring assets and monies first thing tomorrow morning,” Estes said, or maybe it was Elroy. Alex signed his name on so many papers, he thought his wrist would swell to twice its size.
    “Doesn’t my mother have to sign anything?”
    “You have her power of attorney. We established that before we came here. We’re done now, and may I say that my brother and I are more than pleased that we finally put a lid on all of this and can breathe easier. It’s been a terrible responsibility weighing on us both that we couldn’t honor our client’s last wishes,” Elroy said. This time Alex knew it was Elroy because he’d been staring at him the whole time he was speaking.
    “I don’t understand any of this,” Alex mumbled.
    “Yes, we can see that,” the Symon brothers said in unison.
    “We took the liberty of working up a balance sheet for you. Actually, we did three—one for Jake, one for you, and one for your mother, for easier understanding.”
    Alex’s hand was shaking when he reached across the table for the two sheets of paper. His eye went to the bottom line. That’s when he slipped off his chair and slid to the ground.
    “I thought that might happen,” Estes said fretfully. “We should have prepared him, Elroy.”
    There was no sympathy in Elroy’s voice when he said, “Well, he would have fallen off the chair at that point, anyway. See, he’s coming around. Help him up, Estes.”
    Estes reached out a bony hand and struggled to pull Alex to his feet. The three men looked at one another, and they all smiled