Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (53 page)

"First, let’s start with the AIS
agreements and contracts." He slipped me a folder. "You should read
those over and sign in the flagged places; red flag is signature, yellow flag
is for initials."

"Can I just do it now?" I
furrowed my brow. "You're my lawyer, I assume you looked over these pretty
well when you had them drawn up. It would be safe for me to sign."

He cleared his throat.

"Well, um, you can, but you will
need Lillian’s signature as well on the final page."

Confusion washed over me. "I don’t—"

Devlin sighed. "Aidan, there are
things about your grandfather you didn’t know much about. One of those things
would be the fact that your grandmother was vested."

"Yes, the foundation, but Lilli has
already—"

"No." He shook his head.
"Your grandmother was vested in AIS. She held twenty-five percent of the
company."

"What…I—"

"When Isobel passed, it was
returned to your grandfather until he remarried. Olivia, then, became the
vested party."

"So, my uncles are only vested in
twenty-five percent?"

"Henry and Liam hold twelve percent
of the company each, leaving you, obviously, with fifty-one percent of the
vesting." He paused, waiting for my reaction.

"But…my marriage is only agreed for
four years. What happens then?"

"Lillian will remain vested until
death."

"Are my uncles aware?"

He was already shaking his head.

"No. They are not aware of
Lillian’s vesting. It is held in the securest confidentiality, obviously for
her safety."

I nodded. "Okay, well, I
will…um…I’ll take this home tonight. You will have them back tomorrow."

"Great." He smiled and then
pushed a dark mahogany box toward me. "This is the next thing that I need
to go over with you. I am not exactly privy to the contents."

"What is this?"

"The white envelope on top is a
letter from your grandfather and inside the box are personal items your
grandfather wanted passed to you."

"Okay, is there anything..?"

"No, this is it for now." He
smiled and put his hand out to me. I took it and shook. "Give me a call if
you have any questions."

"I will. Thank you." He nodded
and left my office.

I picked up the dark, heavy, wooden box
and carried it over to the coffee table in front of the large, leather couch in
my office. Taking a deep breath, I opened the white envelope with my name
scrawled in my grandfather’s handwriting.

Aidan,

Since you are reading this, you have
accomplished all that I asked of you. I have always been extremely proud of you
and am more proud of what you have accomplished. You are a brilliant man who
will do the best for AIS and our family. So tell your Uncle Henry to shove it!

I could almost hear him laughing his
deep, breathy laugh as I read.

My boy, you lost your parents too early on to
truly understand the love that was shared between them. You also never got to
experience the love of your Grandma Isobel, and I am forever sorry you didn't.
She was an amazing woman, whom I loved till the day I died. She was forever the
love of my life and I lost her too soon.

I know that the anger you have surely felt
toward me has consumed you, but I also hope that my conditions have pushed you
to see the love around you. Hopefully, you have found someone who you love and
who loves you the way I loved Isobel.

There is a hidden safe at the mansion that
only I know of, your uncles are not aware. In the game room, behind the bar
there is a black button under the locked cabinet. Press the button and it will
reveal the safe.

The safe can be opened by entering the security
code: Isobel.

Inside, you will find items that belonged to
your grandmother as well as your mother. They are yours to do with as you wish,
though I do hope you learn more about both your grandmother and mother. Perhaps
you will understand a little more about why I put you in this position to begin
with.

I love you, my boy.

Grandfather

I refolded the letter and placed it back
on top of wooden box.

"I need a drink." I stated to
the empty office and got up to grab a glass.

Sitting back down with the bourbon in
hand, I opened the small box.

Inside were pictures of my parents, my
grandfather and grandma Isobel. There were also pictures. A few were of me as a
baby and then a child but one picture caught my attention immediately. It was
one of the few color photos of grandma Isobel. I'd seen photos and paintings of
her but she was usually older in them. She looked to be my age or younger in this
picture. She had long, wavy, auburn hair and pale skin. Honestly, aside from
the hair, green eyes and freckles, she resembled Lilli. They were both thin
with pale skin, an enchanting smile and almost had that same shaped face.

The next photo was of her around the same
age with my grandfather holding her. I had already known that I resembled my
grandmother, having her same hair and eyes, but I guess I never realized how
much of me was like my grandfather. His arms were around her waist and she was
leaning into him with her eyes closed and his face nuzzled into the side of her
face with his eyes closed. It was an extremely personal moment.

There was a stack of old yellow envelops
tied together with brown twine. I pulled the twine knot loose and picked up one
of the envelopes.

"My Dearest Isobel"

They were letters to my grandmother. I
carefully slipped the yellowed paper out and unfolded the delicate sheet. Once
I began to read the letter, I realized my grandfather had written love letters.
I put the letter back down for a moment. It was way too personal.

I reached for my glass of bourbon and
took a large gulp before picking the letter back up and continuing to read. A
few hours later, I placed the last letter back into the box. I sat awestruck
for a moment.

My grandfather wasn’t a harsh man, but
the romantic feelings and the love in those letters was a side of him that I
had never seen before. I had never witnessed it with Grandma Olivia and I
immediately felt a little angry that she didn’t get that from him. Sitting back
into the couch, I thought over the words that he had written to my grandmother.

It was clear, from the letters, she had
initially held little interest in being with him and was, in fact, being
courted by another man. He pursued her without abandon. I had deduced from the
letters that he had been traveling in the same circles as Isobel for a couple
of years before even realizing she was there. He was always busy working to
build a life for himself, that is, until the moment he was introduced to Isobel
at a party. It was almost like he had been rendered helpless at the sight of
her and, from that moment on, he became enthralled with building a life for
her. The grandfather I knew was not a man who believed in love at first sight,
at least I didn’t think he had.

After a few conference calls and late
meetings, I left the office for the night. I arrived home at seven thirty in
the evening and assumed Lilli was in bed or had fallen asleep reading in the
library. So, when Jay greeted me at the door and took my briefcase, I was
surprised when he told me ‘Mrs. Iverson would like you to join her in the
dining room’. He smirked at my shocked expression and took my things to my
office.

I loosened my tie and slipped off my
jacket as I walked toward the dining room. When I looked up from folding my
jacket, I saw Lilli coming toward me from the kitchen. She looked gorgeous in a
green, spaghetti-strap dress that flowed down to the floor. She actually had to
fist part of the material as she walked so she didn’t step on the hem. I
immediately smiled and she smiled back.

"I didn’t think you would still be
awake." I gently wrapped my arms around her as she kissed my cheek.

She shrugged. "I wanted to surprise
you."

I smiled. "Thank you, but you need
your rest." I kissed her forehead.

"I’m fine." She laid the palm
of her hand against my chest. Before she could push back away from me, I
covered her hand with mine and kept it against my chest.

"Hungry?" She asked while I
held her forehead against my cheek.

"Definitely." I let her slip
from me but made sure to keep her hand in mine. She pulled me toward the
kitchen and out to the back patio.

The patio was lit with torches and there
was a table set for two. I smiled when it sunk in that she had planned all of this
for us. I pulled out her chair for her to sit down and then took my seat.

"What is all of this about?" I
asked as I pulled myself close to the table.

She shrugged and slightly blushed,
making me more anxious to hear her response.

"We haven’t gotten much time
together alone. I thought it would be nice."

I smiled and nodded, though I could tell
she was holding back. There was more that she wasn’t telling me. Before I could
say anything else, Rachel appeared with two plates.

"Thank you, Rachel." Lilli
smiled at her warmly and Rachel rubbed her back and winked at her.

"Thank you, Rachel." She
smiled at me and turned to head back into the house.

"How was your doctor’s appointment?
You haven’t said anything, so I assume that everything is okay?"

I watched her chew the bite she had already
taken before she answered.

"Yes, everything’s good. I should
hear back in a couple of days about the blood test." She took a large
drink of water.

"Test?" Worry creased my
forehead.

She nodded. "Yeah, I had to have
blood taken to test for gestational diabetes." Lilli put another forkful
of pasta in her mouth.

"You have diabetes?" I was
confused.

Shaking her head she swallowed. "No.
Well, I don’t think so. It’s a type of diabetes that can develop during
pregnancy." She shrugged. "The test determines if I am developing
it."

"Do they think you are?"

She shook her head.

"What does it mean if you are
developing it?"

"Means I will have to adjust my
diet or I could need medicine to control it." Lilli looked up from her
plate and clearly saw the worry lines etched into my face. She smiled and
tilted her head. "The doctor doesn’t see any signs of it, so don’t worry
so much. It’s something all pregnant women get tested for."

I exhaled a breath and continued eating
my meal. She could have mentioned that before I had a momentary panic attack.
We continued to talk over dinner, having a light conversation and catching up.
I pushed my plate away, having finished, and the conversation switched back to
the babies.

"So, baby names…" Lilli
started.

"Yes?"

"I’m assuming you would like to
name the boy after you?"

"Well, it is tradition. However, if
you don’t want to then—"

"No, no, that’s not what I’m saying."
She shook her head and put her hand up. "I think that it would be nice to
carry on your family name."

"Oh, okay." I smiled,
extremely happy that she wanted to name the boy Aidan Walsh IV.

"Any ideas for the girl?" She
furrowed her brow as she asked.

I shrugged and sighed.

"Honestly, I hadn’t thought too
much about the names." I looked up and saw her face fall slightly.
"Did you have a suggestion?"

Lilli sucked her bottom lip into her
mouth and then started to chew on it. She needed to stop that before I stripped
her down and took her right here on the patio.

"I've been working with a few ideas
but I don’t think I'm ready to share them yet."

"Come on." I pressured with a
crooked smile.

"No, not yet." She shook her
head.

Before I could press further, she sat up
straighter and leaned back, pressing her left palm to her stomach.

"Are you alright?" Getting to
my feet, I quickly moved next to her before she could answer.

She nodded before answering in a groan,
"I’m fine. One of them has taken a liking to my rib cage."

I flinched a little at the thought and
then I placed my hand on her stomach. "Wow, is that..?"

"Yep." She groaned, clearly
still uncomfortable.

I could feel the hard lump under her
skin and a chill rolled over my body at the thought of feeling that push into
my rib cage.

"I need to get up." She said,
pushing her chair back. I helped her stand.

Lilli stood and started walking around
the patio.

"Ah, much better." She
breathed deep and exhaled.  With a slow turn, she caught me watching her. "Standing
seems to make more room in there. The pressure on my rib decreases."

All I could do was nod.