The Upward Ripple

“You have a lakefront property. A four-bedroom cabin to do as you please. And you have the three hundred thousand too.” He shook his head. “I would hardly consider that a homeless situation.”

“Three hundred thousand?” she scoffed. “That is a fraction of what I am owed!”

Nate raised an eyebrow over the other.

“What you are owed? What do you mean what the hell you are owed?”

“I was married to your father for years! I took care of his wife before she died and then I took care of him!”

“Well, you are an everyday Mother Theresa, aren’t you?” Nate asked angrily. “The only person who was ever owed anything was my mother. You owed her your honesty and trust but what did you do? You crept in on her husband before her body even got cold!”

“You cannot blame me for falling in love!”

Nate rolled his eyes.

“Falling in love?” he asked. “That is what you think happened?”

“We did fall in love!” ‘

“No, you preyed on a gullible man. You started playing your cards early, long before my mother passed away. You always had an agenda and you got it. I am however not sorry that things did not work out the way you would have wanted and believe me, Elise, hell will freeze over before I see you get an additional cent of my father’s hard-earned money.”

He got up and sighed loudly.

“You and Buck have forty-eight hours to vacate the premises. You can take him to your lake house for all I care but I am selling this house. That is a promise.”

He turned around and began walking away but he stopped in his tracks when she announced that she would be contesting the will. A smile played on his face as he turned around.

“You know, Elise, I would love to see you do that because maybe you are too ignorant to note the small quote on the will that says you only get the money and the house if you do not contest the will. So, go ahead Elise, make my day. Contest the damn will.”

He turned back around and made his way to the front door.

“Forty-eight hours,” he called out without turning around and then walked out of the house. He exhaled deeply when he stepped outside the house. He had done it. It was over. The worst part of the whole thing was finally over.

                                                            *****

Cynthia’s week was packed. Between filling in her boss on what had happened with her meeting with Nate Duncan and following up with him and then there were the two open houses she had. By Monday, she had already closed the deals on the two open houses. The only pending business was the Duncan property. She woke up to a message from Nate asking to meet at the Duncan house. After a quick shower, she chose to go with an elbow-sleeved round neck pencil dress and a pair of nude stilettos. Her long hair was pulled back in a bun and when she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she smiled. She had come a long way from trying to piece together flea market pieces in an attempt to look presentable to now being able to afford clothing store merchandise and looking perfect in whatever she chose.

She ran her hands down the sides of her body and bit her lower lip. She did not know what it was about her latest client. Her mind kept on wandering to Nate. To their first meeting. She did not know what it was about him. Matter of fact, she had never really met anyone who made her heart race the way he did. At the back of her mind, she knew that she was perfecting her look not just because it was standard but also because she was doing it for Nate. She tried pushing the thought to the back of her mind, but it was impossible not to think of him. She was practically counting the minutes until she saw him again, a feeling she had never really had before and because of that, she was nervous and confused all at the same time. She turned on her side and frowned. That outfit just felt wrong all of a sudden. She changed into a black skirt and a red loose-fitting chiffon blouse. The only thing she kept was the shoes. At least, she was not in an outfit that made her feel like she was trying too hard to get Nate’s attention.

The plan was for them to meet at the Duncan house. Obviously, the week had been busy for Nate as much as it had been for her. She did not know how Nate had worked it out with Elise because in the few unfortunate occasions she had met with her, Cynthia had concluded that she could not stomach the woman. She had never managed to make her mind about who Elise Warner-Duncan really was. All she knew was that Elsie was once a nurse who struck gold when she married the grieving billionaire widower Nathaniel Duncan and thought that her new status as the wife of an influential man like Nathaniel gave her the right to be her own version of Kim Kardashian. She lived her life mainly all-over social media, taking trips to every fashion capital known to man and all the tropical locations that she could master. Cynthia had never known Elise to do anything else. Matter of fact, the few weeks she had stuck around after her husband’s death was perhaps the longest, she had ever stuck around Colorado. Of course, being that much younger than Nathaniel had not really favored her. She was at that point in her life where she had more money than she knew what to do with and unfortunately for her, her husband was not up to the constant travelling. She practically had to drag Nathaniel from coast to coast as she lived her best life. For Nathaniel, the move to Colorado was supposed to be his second and final act. He had already lived his life travelling around for business as well as pleasure. Colorado was supposed to be where he calmed down; his preferred destination for his sunset years. But not so much for Elise. The marriage was the first step to a whole new different life.

When Cynthia drove into the Duncan property, she found Nate’s bike already there. She took a long, deep breath and unbuckled her seatbelt before she stepped out of her car. She looked around and took a long, deep breath before she began walking towards the house. A moving truck was just pulling out as she approached the front door. She knew that it was carrying the last of Elise’s property but at the same time, she could not help but wonder what exactly was in that truck. It was not like she had a lot of possessions in her name.