Page 125 of The Work Wife

“What is it?” Wes was trying to keep the company from needing even more legal documents.

“You made Jamie the beneficiary of your life insurance, but you never signed over the rest of the money you got from your inheritance.”

“But you said I was being foolish.” His attention was strained between his mother and the pile of crap that was the TriPlex Building.

“I’m afraid I was jealous, Wes. I tried and tried to get my marriage to work, and you just stumble into something with your co-worker.” She waved her hand. “It was a little hard to believe, but I’ve seen how happy you are when you’re talking about her. I decided to trust your judgment. If it feels like the real thing to you, then I will take your word for it.”

She plopped the papers down and turned to go. “Have your assistant contact Albert to stop in and explain everything when you have a minute.”

“I don’t have an assistant yet and I don’t think I’ll ever have a minute.” If he did get a minute, he didn’t want to spend it with the musty old lawyer. “Did you already look over everything?”

“Yes. I’m the one who told him to write it up. Do you want me to go over it with you?”

“Wes, you coming? We’re up.” Benji leaned into his office, reminding him about a meeting he wasn’t prepared for.

“Shit. Who is it again?” Wes fumbled through the piles on his desk.

“Dexter. You can look off my screen. I’ll meet you in conference room three.”

“Okay. I’ll be right there.” Where the hell was conference room three? Wes bumped his coffee and it fell on the stack of papers, barely missing the new documents his mother had given him.

“Do you want me to hold on to them so you don’t misplace them?” she offered, stepping closer.

“Actually . . .” He whipped through the pages and saw his name and Jamie’s name throughout the document. At the bottom there was a place for him to sign.

He found a pen and made his mark with a flourish, then folded them back up and handed them to his mother with a big smile. “Here. Go ahead and take them.”

Her lips were pulled together in that lemon pucker expression. He’d never figured out if she was angry all the time or she just looked that way.

He couldn’t deal with reading anything else into it at the moment. Nor did he have the time. He was happy to have one thing done today. And hopefully she would leave him alone.

“How long do you think you’ll be? Maybe I could wait and we could get lunch,” she suggested.

He needed a break. He couldn’t deal with her and her blatant lack of emotion. He decided he owed his brother one.

“Did Benji tell you he’s dating a rock star?” Wes said with a big grin.

His mother gasped in shock.

Before she had the chance to ask any questions, Wes rushed out of his office to head to the meeting, already forgetting the name of the client.

* * * *

“Jamie, you have a visitor,” Cindy announced at the doorway with a smile. Jamie was also smiling. It was impossible to stop after the news she’d gotten regarding Holly’s pick on the Atlantic Global building. She’d loved Jamie’s design and signed off on the final contract.

She’d left Wes a message but hadn’t heard back. She was contemplating going to New York to tell him in person. She missed him so much she was looking for every opportunity to go see him. But this was a very good reason.

“Thank you, I’ll be right out.” Jamie should have asked who it was. Maybe then she wouldn’t have been so visibly shocked when she walked into the lobby to find Mrs. Archer waiting for her. The original Mrs. Archer.

“Hello, dear. I stopped by at lunchtime in the hope I might be able to steal you away for an hour.”

“Uh, sure.” She paused. “Weston’s not here.”

The woman smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile. It was the smile Jamie had seen on snakes in cartoons, when they were tricking the mouse to come closer.

“I know. I was in his office this morning to take care of some business before coming here.”

Jamie must have looked like she was struggling with the math. It was a four-hour drive. She’d been in Wes’s office this morning and it was almost noon?