The sound of the doorbell almost made me want to hurl. I just had no energy to deal with Mr. Taylor. By the time I welcomed him into the apartment, Yanni had finally made it to the foyer, sucking cream cheese icing off her fork.

“Uhh, Ms. E’Baire, I didn’t expect you,” Mr. Taylor said, his eyes immediately drawn to her. Without waiting for further invite, he walked into the living room and sat, clutching his briefcase, in the chair closest to the door.

Yanni popped in front of me, taking the lead. “You’re the last person I expected to see here,” she said. “Texas not treating you right?”

“Texas is just fine.” Mr. Taylor glanced briefly in her direction, before turning to me. “Umm, may we talk in private?”

“Don’t mind me. I’m not going anywhere.” Yanni plopped onto the couch, balancing the saucer in one hand, while bouncing her legs back-and-forth across the chair’s arm. “So, what stipulations figure into Starlet getting this money?”

“Ms. E’Baire, that is none of your concern,” he replied, quite firmly. “Ms. Lovesome—”

“It’s all right,” I interjected. “I’m curious myself.”

He paused for a few seconds to rummage through his briefcase. Finally, he pulled out a folder, and handed it to me.

“These papers will brief you on how Mr. Lindsey set up his affairs.” He eyed Yanni uneasily and added, “Three quarters of the account is set up in a trust for the baby, Alexander, and the remaining quarter is left to his mother, which is you, Ms. Lovesome.”

“Okay, that’s all fine and dandy. But how much money are we talking?” Yanni asked between bites.

“Not to be rude, but those are questions I am only at liberty to answer for Ms. Lovesome,” he said, the firmness in his tone more pronounced.

“Mr. Taylor, how much are we talking?” I asked.

He cleared his throat, obviously irritated that he still had to answer Yanni’s original question. “Well, it is a hefty sum—”

I suddenly cut him off. “Mr. Taylor, would you like something to drink?”

“Yes, I would. Some water would be fine.”

I walked into the kitchen, trying to catch my breath. Even though I had a feeling how much money was involved, I didn’t really want to know. At least, I didn’t think I did.

I turned around hoping that Yanni was on my heels, but she wasn’t. I heard some murmuring in the living room and decided to take my time getting back.

When I finally returned, Mr. Taylor had beads of sweat on his head, and Yanni was leaning back on the couch looking like she had swallowed the canary.

“Here you go, Mr. Taylor,” I said.

I joined Yanni on the couch to gather my nerves. “So, back to the topic at hand. How much money are we talking?”

“Well, since you haven’t given me the authority to sell any stocks, at this moment, the estate has 2.5 million in stocks and about a million in liquid assets. Out of the stocks, you could get roughly 1.9 million dollars.”

And it seemed like the room stood still.

“Starlet, Starlet. . . .” I came through to find Yanni shaking me and my name being repeated through a heavy fog. The kind that doesn’t let you see two feet in front of you.

“What happened?” I asked, glancing from Mr. Taylor to Yanni.

“It doesn’t matter. Your ass is set,” Yanni screamed, jumping off the couch.

Mr. Taylor cut his eyes at Yanni and stood. “I know a few good financial planners that I could put you in touch with,” he said. “I’ll be in town until tomorrow afternoon. I’ll need these papers signed and notarized before I leave.”

With that he picked up his briefcase and hustled out of the apartment.

“So, when are you going to tell Alex?” Yanni asked.