The Widow and the Will Read Online Free PDF Page A

once was. She was always behind and ashamed at the reminder texts and voicemails that rolled in from the office manager. Tess was pretty sure it was only pity that kept her employed.
    As she came through the door of the apartment, the landline phone was bleating its annoying robotic ring. Sighing, Tess dropped her keys and purse to the floor. She was in no hurry to answer it; the relic of an answering machine she used would take a message. She really didn’t have any reason to keep the landline. Anyone Tess ever wanted to speak with called her on her cell. But Jack’s voice was still on the machine. She stood next to the little black box and its phone in the cradle, waiting for the caller to reveal themselves.
    “Hi! You’ve reached Jack and Tess. We can’t take your call so leave us a message and we’ll get back to you later.”
    Since his death, Jack’s voice always had a way of bringing tears to her eyes, but this time it didn’t. Cocking her head to the side, she smiled a little. Maybe I am getting better .
    “Good afternoon, this is Melissa from EJR Insurance calling for Tess Kingston. If you could please give us a call back at–”
    Tess lunged for the receiver and snatched it up.
    “Hello?” she asked, her tone cautious.
    “Hi! May I please speak with Tess Kingston?”
    “Uh,” Tess stuttered, “what is this regarding?”
    “It’s a personal matter, ma’am. Is Mrs. Kingston available?”
    Tess held the phone away for a second and frowned at it. “Well, I am Mrs. Kingston.”
    “Mrs. Kingston, my name is Melissa and I’m calling from EJR Insurance. It has come to our attention that Jack Kingston passed away this past December. On behalf of the entire company, we’d like to express our deepest sympathies to you.”
    Pinching the bridge of her nose, Tess forced herself to be polite. “Thank you.”
    She heard Melissa take a deep breath. “I’m very glad to have reached you, Mrs. Kingston. Every year, we do a periodic check of the death records for any of our client’s names and Jack Kingston appeared. You are the named beneficiary on a life insurance policy he purchased in November of this past year.”
    “What do you mean?” Tess sat down heavily on the couch. “Jack didn’t buy any life insurance.”
    “Yes, ma’am, he did. It’s our policy at EJR to confirm the identity of beneficiaries before we disburse any payouts. If you provide me with an email address, I can send you a letter with a confirmation number and security code. When you receive it, call us back and you can speak to one of our benefits agents.”
    “Okay. When should I expect it?”
    “I’ll process the letter today and it should arrive within the next twelve to twenty-four hours. What’s your email address?”
    “It’s Tess Langford twelve at my mail dot com.”
    Melissa repeated it back and spelled it as well. “Do you have any other questions for me?”
    Tess snorted. “Well, yeah, about a million, but I’m guessing you can’t really answer any of them. I guess I’ll just wait for the letter.”
    “That’s probably best, Mrs. Kingston,” Melissa agreed. “From all of us at EJR, please let me extend to you our deepest sympathies once again. We are so very sorry for your loss.”
    Tess rolled her eyes, despising the phrase but knowing it was what people said. “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome. Goodbye.”
    “‘Bye.”
    Tess put the phone back into the charging cradle, staring at it with confusion. So Jack had taken out an insurance policy and not told her. It was weird, but not completely surprising. Jack had always been a spontaneous and impulsive guy. Someone had probably said something to him about how they would need to get life insurance now that he and Tess were getting married. Still, she thought, why wouldn’t he have said something to her?
    Should she wait until she got the email? Or should she get up and start rifling through his office for paperwork? Tess didn’t know what to do. The