Iris, Peter, and the Holcombs maintained business at the private resort in Antigua as Julia mulled over all that had happened before and after the fire.
Apparently, Jack did not want me to inherit anything from him upon his death, Julia thought. He had me cut out of the will quite a while back, long before the house went up in smoke. The money originally had been intended to be bequeathed to Jack’s favorite charities such as Greenpeace, Nature Conservancy, and Oceana Foundation. When Mr. Reginald informed me of this, I was absolutely livid! To spite Jack, I had Mr. Reginald handle the will for me without Jack’s knowledge, of course. Since the poor dolt had entrusted the will to Mr. Reginald, I had Mr. Reginald do a simple cut-and-paste job and print a revised copy of the will in which I’d been reinstated. All mention of Jack’s favorite charities had been removed. Therefore, I would inherit the World Ecological Corporation. Since I had never been interested in owning or running the business, I sold it to some major international banking institute in New York and subsequently gained more profits in the process.
Julia softly patted the back of her head.
Iris picked up a sterling-silver serving tray replete with an antique silver-plated tea pot, matching tea cups, sugar bowl and creamer, plus two halves of buttered toast, a sliced onion bagel with cream cheese, and a small glass of orange juice, and set the tray on the coffee table.
“I heard on the radio that the earthquake was centered somewhere in Los Angeles,” Iris said to Julia as she nervously wrung her hands.
“I know,” Julia said. She sat on the couch with an investment magazine on her lap. Iris poured tea into a cup and handed it to Julia, who took it and sipped it, then set the cup on her lap on top of the magazine. “Dolph called a moment ago. He was fortunate to get through to me, what with the phone lines being down. He said the earthquake was pretty strong and that there is a lot of damage. It looks like we may have to wait a few days for things to settle a little before we fly to Los Angeles.” Julia closed her eyes for a moment. “My ‘trump card.’” She opened her eyes. “It is most important that I make sure my ‘trump card’ is okay, therefore I am going to have to go to Los Angeles sooner than I thought. When I am ready to go, you and Peter will come with me.”
“Yes, Mrs. Windom.”