One Millhaven Lane Read Online Free PDF Page B

had.
    Harry handed her a copy.
    She turned to the last page. "Eighteen years ago. The year I left the Grove."
    "Seems your mother was thinking hopefully."
    "It appears that way." Asia turned her gaze from Harry and stared into space. She couldn't fault her mother for ensuring that her grandchildren would inherit Asia or Bobby's share in the event that either one or both of them had passed on.
    "I expected everything would be cut and dried," she said absently before bringing her thoughts back to the problem of her twin. "That's hardly the case now with this latest revelation. Since we both own the house, Bobby will need to execute the transfer deed." She looked at Harry for confirmation.
    He nodded.
    "That means I'll have to locate Bobby and if I can't, I'm stuck to pay the property taxes and house insurance — "
    "Keep your receipts. I'll see you get reimbursed for half the cost once the house is sold."
    She saw that as little consolation, considering the upset she'd just received. "I don't see any point putting up the house for sale if one of the owners can't be found to transfer ownership. It wouldn't be fair to the buyer."
    Asia stood and paced, damning her brother. On the bright side, this glitch afforded her a reason — one she could live with — for staying in the Grove for a while. She'd be free to pursue a relationship with Nate and determine for certain whether her love for him had withstood time. She looked over at Harry when he cleared his throat.
    "Someone is interested in the property, so it might not be a matter of if, but when."
    "How interested?" She came around to the front of his desk and sat.
    "Extremely."
    "Bugger." If there was a chance that this would turn out a forthright matter, she'd ask who wanted her mother's property, but as it stood, she believed the house might never get transferred, not if Bobby had any say in the matter. He'd draw this out until earth's end if it would give her grief. She sighed again.
    "I don't know the first thing about locating someone. I could hire a private investigator. That'd probably be easiest. Can I deduct that cost from my brother's share of the proceeds?" Before Harry spoke, she raised her argument. "My mother named me executrix of her estate and it's a legitimate expense. He's just going to squander the money anyway." God, Mom, why'd you make out your will the way you did?
      "Aren't you tight with our Deputy Chief of Police? Maybe he can help."
    "We were friends once, a long, long time ago, Harry." She wouldn't tell him that they'd reconnected. If things didn't work out for them, they'd be the talk of the Grove. Again. She wouldn't knowingly subject herself to that embarrassment. In some ways, pity was as wounding to the ego as malice.
    Harry came forward in his chair, rested his forearms on the desk and said, "A word of unsolicited advice?"
    She nodded. "Of course."
    "Work out your differences. There isn't a couple who should be together more than you and Nate."
    After a failed marriage and a dozen of unsuccessful relationships, she'd tend to agree. "I'll keep that in mind." Without a pause, she regained the subject and asked, "Has anyone actually seen Bobby?" She still couldn't believe her brother had the audacity to return to the Grove after the crimes he committed. "He could be dead and someone could have assumed his identity to extort money from my mother."
    Harry didn't answer. He simply peered at her. Too polite, perhaps, to tell her she grasped at straws and to accept the truth.
    "Identity theft is on the rise," she said, attempting to redeem herself after that insane idea. She waved her hand in the air dismissively. "That would be too simple a solution. Where my twin is concerned, I should anticipate the unpredicted." She envisioned her mother on the phone with him, asking if he was eating properly, if there was anything he needed. "I wonder how they kept in contact. If she called him..." Then she remembered. "I didn't keep a copy of her last telephone