The man who had introduced himself as David went back into the house. Was it his property? Well, that seemed like the best tactic at the time. It very well could be true, he hadn’t seen the will yet. But possession was nine-tenths of the law, and David knew the law well enough to try to bend that last tenth to his will.

And Franny – she was something special. If there was anyone who would be named in the will, he thought it might be her. So, hedging bets meant making friends with her, as well.

Just as his father, Douglas, had done.

What had surprised David the most was the actual wedding. Not that he hadn’t been invited to it, that was completely within character of his noble father. He’d been shocked that the elder man had been able to convince the art professor to do it.

After all, she had terrific medical insurance from her days at the university. The marriage, legally, was all about making sure his father would be covered when it was his turn. Neither of them thought Marilyn would go first.

And that lack of anticipation of the worst case scenario was likely, very likely, to work in David’s favor. The professor had arranged her will to take care of his father. If he was lucky, they hadn’t thought about his father’s survivors.

David had hoped to surprise Douglas with this visit, but he was pretty sure Leo would call his father right away. By now, Douglas was probably figuring out how to get back over to this little house and garden that had served as his love-nest for just a few months.

David figured he could be well-settled in by the time his father arrived. He counted backwards: five, no, six years since their last encounter in person.

He’d be ready for this one. He went into the kitchen, which had been left intact. This town – he’d had no trouble finding the spare key under a flower pot, and no one had even thought to take any valuables out of the house. There was even some coffee in the cupboard, He made a pot, and unloaded the rest of his belongings from the car he’d parked down the street. Why not move in? Let his father figure out how to get him out of the house, if he really wanted to.