Lightning Strikes (Hudson 2)

I smiled, closed my eyes and said, "I won't disappoint you, Grandmother."

Epilogue

.

No one bothered much with me before or

during the funeral and its aftermath. Brody was the only one who really spoke to me, asking me questions about England and telling me about-his school year and his achievements in sports. He was still a good prospect for a football scholarship. Alison avoided me constantly, which was just fine with me. She looked annoyed about having to attend her own

grandmother's funeral. Most of the time, she stayed in her room, sulking.

It was really Jake who kept me informed about the time and place for everything. I rode to the funeral in the Rolls with my great-uncle and my great-aunt. Everyone else was in a hired limousine. Great-uncle Richard really didn't know all the details of the will yet and was simply anxious to get back to his precious England and his own work. Great-aunt Leonora played the deeply saddened sister, but she would brighten like a spotlight whenever some old friend approached her and she had an opportunity to describe and brag about her wonderful life in England. Very quickly, it all turned into more of a social event and I retreated to my own room to wait for the eventual outcome.

Grant paid me one final visit before the reading of the will. He came to my room, the maid's room, the day before to make one more attempt at what he called "a reasonable solution."

For any other man, I thought, this would be a very embarrassing and difficult meeting. After all, he was face to face with his wife's illegitimate daughter.

However, he handled it as if he were just the opposing party's attorney, keeping it formal, correct.

"I thought if we could have one sensible conversation, we could avoid anything unpleasant for all concerned," he began.

"It's too late," I said uncharitably. "I have had nothing but unpleasantness here."

"Which is my point. Why continue that? I could," he continued, "convince Victoria to agree to be more generous with the compromise. How does half a million dollars sound?"

"Disgusting," I said. I turned on him. "Whatever makes you think my relationship with my grandmother could have some price tag put on it? What right do you have to assume things about me? What do you know about my dreams, my sense of responsibility and love toward this woman who has given me so much? I'm not some sort of blemish you heave makeup over and forget."

He stared at me. Despite his purpose, he looked like he appreciated me.

"I'm just trying to make things right." "For whom?"

"Everyone," he insisted.

"Grandmother Hudson," I replied, "has already done that."

He nodded, saw he could get no further, shrugged and left me.

Grandmother Hudson's attorney, Roger Sanger, a man in his late fifties, called me to personally tell me he would be conducting the reading of the will the next day. I told him about Victoria's objections and how she might be taking it all to court.

"I know all about it," he said. "I spent a lot of time with Mrs. Hudson, and Victoria knows I was a witness to the will. There was nothing wrong with Mrs. Hudson's mind and she knew exactly what she wanted to do. Victoria has spoken to me a number of times about this. I think she finally understands."

"We'll see," I said. I knew Victoria was not the sort of person you could read and then predict what she would do. To me, after what she had tried to do with the letter she had sent to my great-uncle, she was a viper.

Brody and Alison weren't at the lawyer's office, as my mother had said. She and Grant had sent them home. It was a very dry and official meeting. Victoria grimaced with pain every time my name was mentioned.

When it ended, my great-uncle and great-aunt were the most shocked. They had yet to be told all the details. Perhaps Grant still had hoped to clear it up beforehand. Except for their astonishment, very little was said and it felt like another funeral. Mr. Sanger spent time afterward with me, discussing some of the legal paperwork.

Great-uncle Richard and Great-aunt Leonora had booked themselves on a flight back to London immediately afterward. They said good-bye to everyone and Jake took them to the airport. By this time Great-aunt Lenora seemed quite dazed and confused by all the events and every time she looked at me, her eyes widened. Before they left, she did come to me to say, "You're almost richer than we are."

"I always was," I told her. She had no idea what I meant. Great-uncle Richard didn't even try to say goodbye to me.

My mother came to see me before she and Grant started back home.

"I really don't know how all this will come out, Rain," she said. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to stay here for a while," I said. "I will probably return to England for the next semester and continue pursuing my dramatics career."

"You want to stay in this big house by yourself?"