Wash

Jake and I met each other’s gaze, staring for a long, stunned, silent moment.

Finally, he let out a long breath. “Whoa. I can’t even imagine that amount of money. It’s just…huge.”

My lawyer crossed his hands on the cherry wood desk. “Each picture must be an eight-by-ten, depicting something that proves you were at each destination together.”

“So no Photoshopping, eh?” Jake joked.

Rolling his eyes at Jake, Mr. Shelby continued, “Virginia paid in advance to have the photos examined for originality and authenticity. I wouldn’t dream of making that mistake.”

“How long do we have for this little globe-trot?” he questioned.

“You must complete the entire trip, stopping at each destination one after the other, within the next twelve months.”

“And exactly where do we have to go?” I asked.

He handed me the list.

As I looked down at the names of the exotic locations, I couldn’t believe it. “What the…? Japan? South Africa? Paris?” I shook my head. “None of this makes any sense. My mother was on hefty morphine in her last days, and she babbled a lot of incoherent stuff. I think we should consider that and burn this will. She clearly wasn’t of sound mind when she—”

“Burn it?” Jake said in disbelief. “Why? Just because I’m in it?”

My lawyer looked at me. “Miss Roberts, your mother made this will a few weeks after she found out she had cancer. She was, in fact, of very sound mind at the time, and this was what she wanted. If you are successful in this endeavor, there is a video diary that will be shown to you, and her reasons will become clear. However, you must first complete the task in good faith.”

It was such a bizarre request, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why the heck my mother would want me to spend time with a man she openly deplored, the selfish jackass who had left me at the altar and embarrassed our entire family. I didn’t understand any of it. Worst of all, she hadn’t even discussed it with me; as far as I knew, my mother never kept secrets from me. Frustrated, I handed the list to Jake.

He studied it closely. “We can get some of these done fast.”

I bit my lip hard and didn’t say a word.

“We just have to be together in the picture, right? But we can be far apart, no handholding or smooching?” he asked.

I shot him a glare.

“What?” he said. “I know you’ll bite my head off if I invade your personal space, so I’m just asking. Always good to read the small print.”

“You won’t have to worry about that,” I said smugly, “because I don’t want the money. You can go on this little adventure by yourself.”

Mr. Shelby turned to Jake. “I’m sorry, but if Miss Roberts doesn’t go with you to the locations, the contract will be null and void.”

“And what about the money?” I asked.

“It will be held by this office indefinitely.”

Jake looked at me with his eyes wide. “Ashly,” he said softly, “if you don’t do it, I’ll get nothing.”

“Yeah, I got that much, Einstein.”

“There’s so much I could do with this money. And why give away your inheritance to a lawyer? I can’t believe you’d do that just to get back at me. At least if you go, you’ll get half of what your mom left behind.”

“I don’t care about the money,” I said. “Revenge is so much sweeter. Maybe that’s why Mom planned it this way. She knew I’d sit here and let you suffer, you pitiful idiot. How’s it feel for someone to dangle something great in front of you, only to have it snatched away?”

“I’m so, so sorry.”

“Is that all I get? Some lame apology? I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with you, a man I foolishly loved and cherished. But you threw me under the bus for your freedom. You’re pathetic! What was it Nadia called you? Despicable!”

“Maybe you two need some time to think,” the attorney said. “Now that the will has been read, you have one week to change your minds. If you’d like to proceed, just contact my office and come in and sign the papers.”

“I don’t plan on changing my mind. If my mother thought I was gonna prance around the globe with this idiot and smile for pictures, she was sadly mistaken.”