The next morning since the family was going into town and Dom had left the night before, Doc decided he wanted to get a little fishing in. "I'll catch 'em if you'll cook 'em, Hawke!" So that was the plan for the day.
Caitlin dressed Emily in a warm red sweater dress and white leggings to go with her little black Mary Janes. She curled the girl's hair with her curling iron and pulled it up into a red and white bow. She even got out her little pearl earrings and necklace for her and the child looked adorable.
Caitlin dressed in a nice dark brown suede skirt and a forest green sweater with her tall leather boots. The pair went downstairs to wait on Hawke who took his turn cleaning up and shaving. He dressed in dark jeans with a tan suede blazer over one of his plaid dress shirts. He figured they looked like an average family going to church or something.
Caitlin had gone ahead and packed Emily's tote in case she got bored and had thrown a few snacks in it just in case. Who knew how long today's outing would take? Their first stop would be breakfast at the hotel restaurant where Hawke would drop off what he and Doc found the day before with Gideon and Rossi and then they'd head to the attorney's office. They also needed to make arrangements at the funeral home. Hawke figured he'd do that while Caitlin took Emily to a few of the local shops. Maybe get a few ideas of what to get her for Christmas.
With their plan set, Hawke led the girls out to Doc's helicopter and they took it up. Doc waved to them from the porch and then went back in with the dogs to get his fishing gear.
It was a short trip from the cabin to Fox Ridge and soon they were ensconced in a booth at the restaurant with Gideon and Rossi. Hawke handed over the envelope of items they'd collected and they kept their peace, not saying anything in front of Emily. After everyone finished eating, Caitlin took Emily to the ladies' room and Hawke filled in the two FBI agents on what they'd discovered.
"Trophies," Gideon said with a frown. "Looks like you found his cache of trophies, if he goes back there and finds them gone he's going to be angry."
"He's gotta know with the way the police and your agents have been going around that mountain that they'd be found," Hawke said.
"A rational person would be, this guy isn't rational," Rossi said with a shrug as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Well, I just hope what we've found helps," Hawke said with a sigh. "I wish there was more I could do but Doc and I can't make good time in all this snow and we didn't get out at all the other day during the storm."
"We didn't either. We couldn't have found our own asses with both hands if we'd tried in that mess," Rossi told him and Hawke laughed.
"Dom had security brought in from the FIRM yesterday because Caitlin and Emily were decorating the cabin for the holidays while we were out. He didn't want the girls up there alone and I'd have had a conniption if I'd known they were there alone," Hawke said. "Did Michael get you the equipment he mentioned?"
"Yep, all of the empty cabins have been set up so if anyone enters them they'll get a signal and notify us here immediately," Gideon answered. "Thank you for pulling in what you could with him."
"Anytime, this mess has sure put a damper on the holiday up here. Usually this place is more packed than this," Hawke said with a shrug. Not that he cared, he liked not having too many tourists about but it wasn't right either.
The girls soon returned and Rossi and Gideon said their goodbye's and thanks for breakfast which Hawke had sprung for. "Well, we better head over to this attorney's office."
He picked up Emily and carried her on his hip and tangled the fingers of his other hand with Caitlin's. It was a short walk from the hotel restaurant to the lawyer's office and the morning air was cool but not nearly as cold as it was up on the mountain. When they walked into the warm office, a dark-haired secretary greeted them.
Hawke explained that a Mr. Johnstone had called him, and informed her of his name.
"Oh yes, he's been expecting you. You can go on in," she told them and they walked through a pair of double oak doors into the man's office. It was a nice office but not overdone and not posh at all which made Hawke feel a little more relaxed.
A short man with silver hair at his temples stood up and walked around the desk to shake Hawke's hand. "Mr. Hawke, thank you for coming in on short notice," the man said. He had a pleasant voice and a kind face.
He turned to Caitlin and welcomed her and Emily as well and asked them to have a seat. Caitlin settled Emily in a chair with her coloring book so she wouldn't get bored listening to the adults. The child started coloring right away and tuned out most of what they were talking about.
"Mr. Hawke, I called you because Esme Williams was one of my clients. I handled Charlie's will as well and I also handled everything when young Jillian and her husband Robert passed. Robert had no siblings either and his parents were not in good enough health to take little Emily at the time. Marion has since passed and Jacob well, he's in a nursing home now. So, Esme, being a woman of her years knew she had to make arrangements for Emily should something happen to her. She must have just thought it was a good time to do it in the last several months, maybe the things happening around here prompted it. I can't say," the lawyer explained.
He paused and looked down at the paperwork on his desk. "Now, Mr. Hawke, how long have you been friends with Esme Williams?"
"To be honest I've known her my entire life. She and Charlie had been neighbors since before my grandparents passed. I grew up knowing them, knew Jilly too but she was much younger than my brother and me. We spent a lot of time at the cabin as kids, even after my grandparents were gone. Even after my parents died, Dominic Santini, our guardian would take us up to the cabin. When I came back from the war and settled at the cabin, I talked with Esme often and helped her out with a few projects around her place once Charlie was gone. I'd spent some time with both she and Emily ever since she took her in after the accident. So, I guess in a way I've been friends with her 36 years, my whole life," Hawke explained.
"I see, well then this explains her addendum she added this summer to her will. Mr. Hawke, I see you already have Emily in your custody, the Sheriff explained that situation to me. I'm to inform you that Esme Williams named you as guardian to Emily Louise Black in her will."
Hawke blinked, he was stunned. "But…I mean that's wonderful, we were planning to adopt her anyway but Esme never told me anything about it," Hawke said as Caitlin took his hand and squeezed.
"She may have been waiting for the right time, Mr. Hawke, it isn't an easy subject to broach with someone after all and she was a healthy active woman for her age. She probably assumed she'd have the time to talk to you," Mr. Johnstone said then.
"So, what does this mean?" Caitlin asked.
"Well, ma'am it means that the state can't interfere with Mr. Hawke adopting Emily officially since he's been named as guardian by her previous legal guardian. It also means that he'll need to be executor of the child's estate since she's a minor," the lawyer explained.
Hawke sat back in his chair and looked at Caitlin and back at Johnstone. "What exactly does an executor of a child's estate do?"
"Well, you might talk to your former guardian Mr. Santini, I'm sure he can give you a little personal advice there but basically you are the child's personal representative in legal matters dealing with the estate. Generally, the law doesn't allow minors to directly receive inheritances so you work with a fiduciary to help manage the inheritance in the best interests of Emily. All court fees and estate bills will be paid first and then proper probate notices will be made. I have a listing of all properties, accounts and so on in Esme's will so that everything can be transferred to the fiduciary on a special form for probate," Johnstone explained. "I imagine the legal department at the FIRM will be able to help you out as well."
"Okay. Well the Williams' were great people but not rich so I figure it is the cabin and land and the bakery that are the largest assets," Hawke said.
"There's some personal property like her truck and she did have a modest life insurance policy, funeral insurance and some savings, all of which goes to Emily. Now in the case of the bakery, she noted that she would like to leave it to Sarah if she wants it."
Hawke nodded. "I sort of expected that anyway. Not like Emily is old enough to run it and I certainly can't."
Caitlin and Johnstone both laughed a little at that.
"We don't have to begin anything today of course, I just wanted you to be informed about it all and have the worry of the state coming to take Emily off your mind. You may still get a visit from child services, just to see how she's doing. She will also continue receiving benefits from a couple of different places, as an orphan she receives a Social Security benefit from her parents, she also has some insurance distributions from her parents' deaths and now from Esme's," Johnstone explained.
"Yeah, I remember Sinjin…my brother, and I got things like that. Dom handled it all for us until we were 18," Hawke said, remembering a little about it. "What he didn't use to feed and clothe us, he put away in savings for both of us. We will likely not need to use those funds at all and will put it all back for Emily's college and so on."
Johnstone smiled and nodded. "That's good to hear. Now, I'm going to give this to you because I know you need to make arrangements," his eyes slid to Emily and he didn't want to say the word funeral. Hawke got his meaning though and took the envelope, it had a name of a funeral home on it. "This is what Esme had already arranged."
Hawke nodded and looked at Caitlin. "Listen, Mr. Johnstone, now that I'm going to have Emily to think of and Caitlin and I are engaged, we plan to marry next month. We might want to come back here and talk with you about taking care of things like this for us. It isn't something I want to think about but it will need to be done."
Caitlin frowned but she knew Hawke was right. They'd need to make a will just in case for Emily's sake.
"I'll be glad to do it, Mr. Hawke," Johnstone said.
They thanked the man, took the paperwork he'd given them along with the envelope and left. In the lobby as they were putting their coats back on, Hawke looked at Caitlin seriously.
"I'm going to go see these folks," he said holding up the envelope so she could see the name. "Why don't you and Emily go shopping? See if you can get an idea what she wants for Christmas or something?" Hawke offered and handed her some cash. She frowned at the cash and he closed her hands around it.
"We are getting married, Cait. What's mine is yours, so don't argue," he said seriously.
"Okay, okay. Kiss me then to pay your dues," she said with a grin.
"Ah, I love paying my debts to you," he teased as he gave her a soft kiss.
Emily was looking at the fish tank in the lobby of the office and not paying any attention to the adults around her. She had heard some of what they talked about, she didn't understand but she knew it had to do with her granny being gone. It made her sad but she didn't want to get upset and worry her new parents so she just tried to ignore how much she missed granny.
After finalizing everything at the funeral home, it took Hawke stepping into several stores before he located Caitlin and Emily. They were in a children's clothing store and Hawke smiled as he watched Emily model a new casual jacket. Her other one had been torn so Caitlin was getting her a replacement. Of course, it was pink, but this one had white fake fur around the hood. Caitlin got her matching gloves and a scarf to go with it.
"Anybody hungry for lunch?" he asked and Emily nodded.
"Can we get pizza?"
"Sure can," he said as they paid for their purchases and headed out.
He made sure to steer them far away from the bakery just in case it would upset Emily and found a newer Italian place which also served handmade pizzas that had opened earlier in the year. They were seated and the waitress came around to give them glasses of water and take their orders.
"Grandpa would like this place," Emily said as she wiggled a little in the booster seat so she didn't have to sit on her knees like she did at home.
"Yes, I think he would," Caitlin answered with a grin.
"What if we get a couple pizzas to go just in case Uncle Doc doesn't have any luck fishing today?" Hawke said with a grin.
Emily nodded happily at that.
Hawke noticed that a couple of older women kept looking at Emily and he figured they were probably people who knew Esme and had heard the news. He hoped they would just leave without bothering them but he sighed heavily when he saw them pay their tab and head toward their table.
"Emily, dear?" One of the women said and Caitlin looked up at them, feeling the same worry that Hawke was.
"Hi, Mrs. Charlotte," Emily said with a smile.
"Oh, I thought that was you. I, uh…" she paused and looked at the two adults at the table. How did you tell a 4-year-old you were sorry for their loss?
"Hi, Mrs. Charlotte, was it? I'm Caitlin O'Shannessy and this is Stringfellow Hawke, Emily's legal guardian. How do you know Emily?" Caitlin said trying to head off the awkwardness as much as she could.
"Oh. Well, we go to the same church. I just wanted to tell her that I was glad to see her and that we missed her on Sunday," the woman said trying to cover for her faux pas.
The other woman with her had just smiled and gave a little wave to Emily.
"She wasn't really feeling up to church this last Sunday but maybe this week?" Caitlin asked Emily and Emily nodded a little nod.
"I do miss, Macy and Kim," Emily said referring to her friends in Sunday School class.
"Well that is understandable…what with…well…with it as cold and snowy as it has been, attendance has been a bit low," she said trying to just gloss over it all.
"We should be going, it was nice to meet you Miss O'Shannessy and Mr. Hawke," the other lady in a purple dress said then. "My name is Patricia Seaton. My husband Daniel is one of the doctors at the hospital. We were just heading there to take him something to eat. You all have a nice day," Mrs. Seaton said as she tugged on her friend's arm and they left.
Hawke looked at Caitlin after the ladies left and they both were relieved that went better than it could have.
That evening Caitlin and Hawke were struggling with whether Emily should attend the funeral for Esme or not. Her age made it difficult for them to decide and they turned to their friends Doc and Dom to ask their advice after Emily had been put to bed for the night.
Dom was quiet for a while as he thought about the problem but Doc seemed to have an opinion.
"Emily is smart for her age, she understands that her granny went to heaven, like her parents. She knows that they didn't come back and knows that granny won't either. If you explain that is a special ceremony to say goodbye to her granny it might just make it easier for her in the long run. If we try to protect kids too much sometimes it just makes it worse when they are older. I think you should leave it up to Emily, explain it and ask if she wants to go or not," Doc said reasonably.
Dom sighed heavily. "I didn't hold you and Sinjin back from your parent's funerals and you'd already attended your grandparent's funerals when you were close to Emily's age now. It is ultimately up to you and Caitlin, you're her parents now but keeping her from having the chance to say goodbye might be worse for her like Doc said. The child is smart, let her make the decision."
"As much as I want to protect her from everything you might be right. I don't want to deny her the chance for at least some closure if that is what she wants," Hawke said after a moment.
"I hate it but for the same reason, I want to protect her from everything. She already understands that granny is gone. Nothing is going to take that pain away. She needs to be able to say goodbye if she wants and to see how many people loved her granny too. In some ways to know she isn't alone, that there are others who miss her granny," Caitlin said softly.
"So, it's decided then," Hawke said softly. "We'll have to talk to her about it, tell her what it will be like and what to expect and let her know that it is okay to cry as much as she wants to. And let her know that it is her choice."
"Exactly, she needs to know that it is okay to be upset," Caitlin said softly. "I get the feeling sometimes when she gets real quiet that she is trying to hide her fears and pain."
"Me too. I've noticed it a few times the last several days. Especially when she's being clingy with you, Cait. She tends to stick very close to you, a step behind or right at your side or wants to crawl up in your lap or mine when normally she's pretty independent," Hawke said as he leaned forward to reach for his cup of tea.
"She got that way with us at the hanger that day, just a little while after lunch it seemed like Dom had a little shadow everywhere he went. He ended up sitting down in his chair with her in his lap and took a little siesta while I cleaned up some of the mess from when she'd made decorations. It seemed a little out of character for her to settle down like that. She never actually slept. I could see her watching me with those big blue eyes of hers but she just laid quietly on Dom's chest listening to his heart. It wasn't until he started to snore that she perked up and started to giggle," Doc said honestly. He hadn't told them about that yet because he didn't want them to worry, he figured from what he knew from school and training that it was normal for a child who'd just lost their parental figure to do that.
"Not even related to you and she takes after you, String," Dom said with a shrug. "You always got real quiet when you were upset too as a kid. It took me a while to really catch on to that."
Caitlin sighed and leaned over with her head on Hawke's shoulder. "I am not looking forward to the next few days," she admitted. Hawke reached around her and pulled her close to his side.
"We'll get through it together."