She’d had a call from Bonnie Templeton and asked Landry if he wanted to go with her to see the house, so they drove across the mountain to the other side of Virgin River and he was the witness to an emotional reunion. Kaylee, whose feelings seemed to be on a trip wire, cried as she embraced her old friends. It took a little while to get it under control and then they walked through the house with Paul and Landry.
“You’re going to want to start a list of things that aren’t quite right or damaged or any imperfections you find,” Paul said. “As far as I can tell, there’s nothing to prevent you from staying here. Everything has been tested and passed inspection.”
“I can’t believe how beautiful it is,” Bonnie said. “Better than when we originally bought it!”
“I think over the past twenty years it got a little run-down,” Gerald said. “It was past due a little facelift, but I wasn’t sure we were going to keep it.”
“Were you thinking of selling it?” Kaylee asked.
“We’d always intended to keep it in the family,” Bonnie said. “We thought the boys would want it, but they’re undecided. They’re scattered all over the place—two in California, one in Oregon, one in Arizona. They vacillate on whether they’ll actually use it. Each family has other ideas, their own vacation spots, closer to where they live. We might keep it a couple more years, then sell it if it doesn’t see much use.”
“It’ll be easier to sell in its current condition than before,” Bonnie said. “I’d offer it to you for the rest of the year but I suspect you’re settled where you are.”
“I’m pretty comfortable,” she said with a slight flush. “Plus, there are important dogs there.”
“You? Dogs?” Bonnie said.
“She’s come a long way,” Landry said.
“Will you break away from the writing long enough to join us for dinner? I haven’t been to Jack’s since last summer.”
“Sure,” she said. “And he would love to see you.”
Landry felt his phone buzz, pulled it out of his pocket and read a text. It was from Brie, asking him to come by her office at his earliest convenience.
“Kaylee, can you go with the Templetons to Jack’s and I’ll meet you there? I just got a text from a friend asking me to drop by. I shouldn’t be long.”
“Sure,” she said. “Take your time.”
Landry left while Kaylee and the Templetons continued to look at and praise the renovations on the house, much to Paul’s satisfaction. Landry wasted no time texting Brie that he was on his way.
It had to have something to do with the divorce. It could all be over in no time. Surely Laura had signed off on it. They had agreed long ago, if one of them wanted to divorce, the other would not make it difficult. And they had no common property.
When he repeated that to Brie she said, “Oh, but you do. Any property you acquired during the marriage or jointly own is considered part of the divorce settlement.”
“As I said, we don’t have any jointly owned property.”
“Don’t you have a house? Land? Maybe a retirement account? Equipment that you use in your business?”
“It’s not jointly owned. I inherited the house and land from my father a few years ago and Laura has never been a part of my business.”
“It would very likely be considered part of the marriage assets, since you’re still married. Just as her assets would be considered part of the marriage assets.”
“Unless she’s keeping something from me, she doesn’t have anything. In fact, I told you that over the years she’s had to borrow money from me, not that I was fool enough to consider it a loan. I think Laura spends whatever she has when she gets paid and isn’t much of a saver or investor. She lives well when she’s working and not as well when she’s not.”
“Explain your situation to me again,” Brie said. “You haven’t lived together in ten years, you discussed divorce due to your separation eight years ago and agreed on the terms—”
“There were no terms,” he said a little hotly. “I didn’t have anything but my art supplies, she didn’t have anything. We agreed we weren’t going to live together. We were friendly and she visited sometimes.”
“Define sometimes,” Brie asked.
“I saw her three or four times a year. I haven’t sent her monthly money or slept with her in eight years. I didn’t support her. I gave her loans because she was short. I knew they weren’t loans and I did it anyway.”