The Secret Between Them. Cathryn Parry

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СКАЧАТЬ with, and Joe had remained adamant that his therapist should be Jessica.

      “Why?” she’d asked him.

      “Kyle was responsible for your injury when he deliberately flooded the ice that day,” Joe had said. “It’s his fault you were hurt and left skating.”

      Her blood had turned cold. Kyle had had nothing to do with her injury or her decision to pull out of skating.

      She pulled Joe’s letter from her purse, took her time opening it, drawing one finger inside a crease in the envelope flap, making a long, slow, jagged tear in the heavy paper as she eased it open.

      “What are the terms?” Sebastien was asking Natalie. He drummed his fingers on the table. “May I read the will?”

      “Yes, of course, if Jessica would like.” Natalie nodded at Jessica. “First, though, let me give you an overview, in layman’s terms.”

      “Great.” Sebastien crossed his arms. “We’re listening.”

      Natalie pursed her lips. “As I explained to Kyle Northrup, his stepfather’s intent was to keep the skating rink open to the community. As such, he believed it best that Kyle have assistance from Jessica. Jessica, he believed, had knowledge from the figure skating community and Kyle from hockey. It’s a twin rink facility, and, in that business, the love, knowledge and understanding of both worlds is important for success. Joe believed that you two were his best hope.”

      “I don’t have love for ice rinks,” Jessica said flatly.

      “What are the terms?” Sebastien asked Natalie.

      “If Jessica agrees to participate, then in six months an assessment of the business will be completed. If it’s profitable, then half the business is Jessica’s.”

      “Can she force the sale of the business at that point?” Sebastien asked, cutting to the chase.

      “If she chooses to sell at that point, then Kyle will have first option of purchase,” Natalie said quietly.

      “He gets to set the price?”

      “No, an independent assessor sets the price based on the rink’s business value.”

      “Will they take into consideration the value of the land?” Sebastien asked. “Because let’s not kid ourselves. The land attached to the rink is the valuable part. I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t developers chomping at the bit to purchase it, tear down the old rink, and build something a lot more profitable, like condos or a modern hotel.”

      Silence filled the room, as Jessica stared at the half-torn envelope, her thumb still.

      “I’ve always found that the bank assessors take all factors into consideration,” Natalie said calmly.

      Jessica glanced up at her. She gave the lawyer credit for poise.

      Natalie looked her square in the eye. “I won’t pretend this isn’t unorthodox. Believe me, I consulted with other specialists in estate law before agreeing to go forward with it. His will may be irregular, but it is legal.”

      Sebastien put a hand on Jessica’s. But the strange thing was, instead of comforting her, it made her seize up inside. Warning bells were going off all over.

      “What if the rink isn’t profitable?” Sebastien asked. “What then?”

      “Then it’s sold to the highest bidder and Jessica gets half.”

      “So...Jessica has to participate for six months to get the deal,” Sebastien said. “What exactly does participate mean?”

      Jessica felt like throwing up. She’d made a conscious decision never to participate in anything related to that world again. The loss of control she’d suffered—the manipulation—had nearly destroyed her. She’d had to lie to get out of it, and that lie was the reason Joe blamed Kyle for her injury, which then led to Kyle leaving Wallis Point.

      And the fact that Sebastien was even asking this stuff when he knew how upset she was... She clenched her hand into a fist and put it in her lap.

      Natalie was answering him. “It means...” The lawyer glanced at her as she spoke. “It means that Jessica needs to put in a good faith effort, specified as attendance at the rink at least thirty hours per week.”

      “I can’t do that,” she blurted. “I have a job, commitments.” I have dreams. She gritted her teeth and stared at Sebastien.

      After their talk on Saturday morning, they’d had a great weekend at his place. They’d walked on the beach, watched movies in bed, cooked. She’d never felt happier with him.

      But now...after what she’d told him about her mom and her, he could just do this? Sentence her back to those days?

      Sebastien turned to Natalie. “Thirty hours per week is a lot. Will she be compensated for those hours?”

      It was as if she was watching from outside her body. A feeling of betrayal came over her. Her heart felt as if it had stopped in her chest. She was sure her mouth had dropped open.

      Natalie smiled sadly at Jessica, and Jessica felt her face heating. Natalie saw her embarrassment, but Sebastien apparently didn’t.

      “The agreement doesn’t specify a payment,” Natalie said gently. “I’m sorry.” She stood. “I’ll leave a copy of the will here on the table. Perhaps you’d like to read it, along with Joe’s letter, and I’ll be back in twenty minutes to discuss it further.”

      “Yeah,” Sebastien said, glancing at Jessica for the first time, and giving her a “buck up” smile. “I need to talk with Jess.”

      Natalie set the document on the table, then shut the door on her way out.

      Jessica’s hands were still clenched in fists in her lap. She stared down at Joe’s letter. Halfway opened. The jagged rip she’d made but couldn’t finish.

      “Jess,” Sebastien said softly.

      “Jessica,” she said woodenly. “I’m Jessica.”

      “Jessica, I know you don’t want to do this. Honestly...do you think I like being on the road all the time? I don’t. But, Jess, I do it. I do it because it pays well.”

      She swallowed. Gazed at her thumb, the cuticles ragged. “I know about not having money.” She’d supported herself, all that time. All those years, alone, away from her mother. “I did it...” To save my soul. “...because I was being destroyed, and destroying other people in turn. It needed to stop. I needed to keep myself safe.”

      I’m not a machine, she added silently.

      He took her hand, smoothing over the jagged cuticle with his thumb. “I care about you, Jessica... I really do want to marry you,” he said quietly. “But I don’t...I never wanted to get married without being in the right financial place to support a family. I’ve been saving, but it’s not happening the way I’d hoped. I won’t lie, it’s tough out there. The economy is lousy, and this inheritance of yours is easy money. If you did this, if you sacrificed for us the way I’ve been sacrificing СКАЧАТЬ