He lifted his cup to her. “To you, Miss Jocelyn, as much a lady as ever lived.”
Jocelyn laughed. “What did you expect me to do? Throw a fit? Rage at a woman who left me no money in her will?”
“What would the Steps have done?”
“Did,” Jocelyn said, then she told him about the pieces of coal that Miss Edi had cut into jewel shapes and left for them. “I was back at work when they found out and I wouldn’t pick up the phone for their calls, but they left some blistering messages on my machine. I played them over and over. I don’t think I’ve ever had such pleasure.”
When Ramsey looked at her, she could see that he was still burdened by what he saw as terrible news.
“So tell me the whole story,” Joce said. “Why did your grandfather support a woman he wasn’t related to?”
“I don’t know, and neither does my dad. All we know is that Miss Edi’s family was the most prestigious in town, but Alex McDowell’s family was the wealthiest. We know that something bad…awful happened in 1941, and Miss Edi helped my grandfather Alex, but we don’t know the details. For most of her life, Miss Edi worked—”
“With burn patients all over the world,” Jocelyn said.
“Right, and she supported her brother and paid for the upkeep of Edilean Manor. When she retired, she moved to Boca Raton.”
“In a house near us.” Jocelyn had her knees drawn up, her arms around them, and she was listening to him intently. “Owned by your grandfather.”
“Yes. Between supporting her brother and keeping up the Manor, plus all she gave to people in need along the way, Miss Edi had nothing. My grandfather bought that house, and she lived in it rent free.”
“Why didn’t she go back to Edilean?” Joce asked.
“That’s part of the Great Mystery,” Rams said. “Dad said that Bertrand wanted to go to Florida to live with her, but Miss Edi said he had to stay in Edilean and look after the house. He had to keep it intact for the future. But neither of them married, and they left no heirs.”
“So he didn’t gamble the family fortune away?” Joce asked.
“No,” Ramsey said. “My dad said that Bertrand liked that people thought he was a compulsive gambler who spent everything on the ponies. Bertrand said it was much better than being known to be just plain broke.”
“So Miss Edi left me a white elephant.”
“Pretty much, yes. But the good news is that the house is yours, free and clear, so you can sell it if you want. It would probably bring in a million or so.”
“A million or so?” She sat still, hugging her knees to her chin, and looking at the water. “What about Luke? You said you pay his check. Weren’t you to be reimbursed when I inherited the money?”
Ramsey shrugged. “He doesn’t earn much, so I pay it out of…”
“Your own money,” Joce said flatly.
“Look, don’t worry about Luke. He’s not poor by any means. He has…other income.”
“What does that mean?”
“Telling you my cousin’s business is not something I’ll do. Let’s just say that Luke hasn’t had an easy life, but money isn’t his problem.”
She could tell that Ramsey wasn’t going to say any more about that. “What I don’t understand is how Miss Edi lived as she did if she had no money of her own. We went to the opera. She attended charity meetings, and I know she contributed. We did all this together. How could she do that if she had no money?”
“That was her job,” Ramsey said. “My grandfather set up a trust, and Miss Edi administered it. He knew his son, my father, would hate having to deal with all those meetings, so he left it to Miss Edi to do.”
“From a house in Boca?” Joce said. “Does that sound odd to you?”
“Yes and no. I think my grandfather trusted Miss Edi more than anyone else, and since she didn’t want to return to Edilean, where people still talked about the fact that she was an ‘old maid,’ it worked out well. And Dad said he thought she didn’t want to live with her brother.”
“And the cold hurt her legs.”
“I’m sure there were a thousand reasons for it all. I think my grandfather and Miss Edi worked it out so they were both happy with everything. My dad said she did a great job at administering the trust.”
“She spent a lot of money on me,” Joce said softly.