Chapter 33
It was mid-May and Jessica had enlisted Gary to be one of her t-ball coaches. One evening, Casey sat at the kitchen table coloring, with Daisy lying at her feet. Kaitlyn was cleaning up the dinner dishes, looking out the window. She laughed when she saw Gary and Jessica start to chase Buster after he stole the ball when Jessica dropped it. The doorbell rang. Daisy started to bark and followed Casey into the hallway to answer the door. Casey opened the door to find a woman standing on the porch.
"Hello." The woman said as she looked at the piece of paper in her hand and then at the number on the front of the house to verify that she had the right address.
"Hi." Casey said as Kaitlyn walked slowly into the foyer and up behind her daughter.
When Kaitlyn got a closer look at the woman, she knew exactly who she was.
"Can I help you?" Kaitlyn asked.
"I don't know. I'm looking for Gary Hobson." The woman said.
"Well, you've got the right place. Casey, honey, go and get Daddy." Kaitlyn said as she opened the screen door and held onto the dog.
Casey ran down the hall and into the kitchen.
"Please come in." Kaitlyn said.
A few seconds later Kaitlyn heard Gary come through the back door. When he entered the foyer. He was giving Casey a piggyback ride.
"Gary." The woman said.
Gary looked up to find his ex-wife standing in front of him. "Marcia." He said as he swallowed hard and walked over to Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn smiled.
"Honey, ah, this is Marcia." Gary stuttered. "Marcia this is my wife, Kaitlyn."
Kaitlyn and Marcia looked at each other and smiled awkwardly. "It's nice to meet you." Kaitlyn finally said. "Casey, come on honey, Mommy has to finish the dishes and you have to finish coloring that picture." She took Casey's hand and headed into the kitchen. "Come on Daisy." She called the dog who followed. Gary watched his wife leave the room and then turned to Marcia.
"What can I do for you?" Gary asked. Marcia looked at Gary.
"The bartender at McGinty's hesitantly gave me your address after I told him who I was. I needed to talk to you about something. It won't take long." She said.
"Well, ah, okay. Why don't we go into the living room." Gary said as he guided her in the right direction. Gary caught a glimpse of Kaitlyn watching him as he turned and headed into the living room. Marcia took a seat on the couch and Gary sat down in the chair.
"Your home is lovely." She said pleasantly.
"Thank you." Gary said skeptically. "Not to be inhospitable, but what exactly did you need to talk to me about?" Gary asked.
"Well, um, Gary my Grandmother passed away three weeks ago." She hesitated.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I always liked her." Gary said sympathetically.
"Thank you. She also obviously liked you." Marcia said. "You see, I never told her that we got divorced. I didn't really see her that much and I never really felt the need to."
"You're kidding, right?" Gary asked as he looked at her surprised. "It wouldn't have had anything to do with the fact that she liked me and she owned that company, would it?"
"Well…" Marcia hesitated. Gary could tell by her reaction that he hit the nail right on the head.
"Why don't you just get to the point and tell me what you're here for." Gary said slightly annoyed.
Before Marcia could answer, Casey came into the room followed by Jessica and the dogs.
"Daddy. Mommy says it's bedtime. Are you going to read me my story?" She said as she crawled onto his lap.
Kaitlyn walked in the room and said, "I'm sorry. Girls I told you to leave Daddy alone. Come on let's go get ready for bed." She said as she guided Jessica to the hallway. "Come on Casey." Jessica whistled and Buster followed.
"I'll be finished here by the time you get done with your bath. Then I'll read you your story, okay." Gary said as he kissed her nose.
"Okay, but tonight's story better be a long one." Casey said as she headed into the hallway. "Come on Daisy." The dog followed her upstairs.
Marcia just sat and stared at Gary.
"They are both very beautiful." She finally said with a smile.
"Thank you." Gary said.
"How old are they?" She asked.
"I think I know you well enough to know you really don't care how old they are. You just want to know if they're mine." Gary said coldly. Marcia looked at him surprised. "I think we need to get back to the real reason you're here." Gary said.
"Fine." She said angrily. "My Grandmother left the bulk of her estate to us."
"What do you mean to us? There is no us." Gary said.
"Well, like I said she didn't know that we were divorced. She drafted her Will under the assumption that we were still married. She left the bulk of her estate to you and me." Marcia said.
"I still don't know what you want from me." Gary said.
"Gary, I'm no estate attorney. I have consulted one, however, and it seems that legally, because you are named in the Will, I have to give you what she wanted you to have, unless I contest the will. Which will be a long drawn out process." She said. "In order for me to get my money quickly, you have to get yours."
"I don't want your Grandmother's money." Gary said.
"I don't really care what you do with the money. You can give it all to charity for all I care. Could you just sign the papers, please." Marcia said as she pulled the papers from her brief case. Gary hesitantly took the pen and signed the papers.
Marcia took the papers back from him and returned them to her briefcase. "A check will be delivered to you by the end of the week." She said as she stood and headed for the door. As she walked onto the porch, she turned around and looked at him.
"A little advice. You seem to have gotten yourself into a situation where you have two small children and a wife who is obviously adding to your brood. I doubt highly that the income you take in with your little bar is sufficient to take care of them. I suggest you keep the money. It looks like your going to need it. Oh and if you ever decide you want to get out of this situation, give me a call." She said smugly. With each word that came out of her mouth, Gary grew more furious.
"I really don't think I'll be needing your advice. I think I made a lifetime worth of mistakes when I married you. Oh, and to answer your question of earlier, Jessica is 7 and Casey is 4 and they are both mine." Gary said as he slammed the door.