“I haven’t won anything.”
He looked toward Declan.
“You think he’s saving you?”
“No.”
“Then why is he here?”
Grace glanced toward Declan.
He gave a small nod.
She opened the blue folder.
Ethan stared at it.
He had noticed the other folders.
Not that one.
Grace removed a single envelope.
Old.
Cream-colored.
The corners slightly worn.
Her father’s handwriting was on the front.
GRACE BENNETT.
PERSONAL.
DO NOT RELEASE UNTIL THE TRUST IS CHALLENGED.
Ethan’s face changed.
He recognized the handwriting.
Daniel Bennett had died four years earlier after his small plane crashed into Lake Erie during a winter storm.
He had been brilliant, difficult, suspicious of almost everyone, and never fully convinced Ethan deserved his daughter.
During their last Thanksgiving together, Daniel had pulled Ethan aside.
Grace never knew exactly what was said.
She only remembered Ethan coming back into the dining room pale and silent.
