THE LOVE WE LEFT BEHIND

The Will

Downtown Willow Creek hadn’t changed in fifteen years, a fact that made Lena’s stomach twist into a tight knot as she parked her rental car on Main Street. The same faded brick storefronts stood in a row; the same bell chimed above the door of the local bakery, releasing the scent of cinnamon and burnt sugar into the damp morning air.

It was five minutes to nine. She pulled up the collar of her trench coat, keeping her head down as she walked briskly toward the law offices of Harrison & Vance. She didn't want to be recognized. She just wanted to sign the papers and leave.

The bell above the heavy glass door of the law office clanged as she pushed inside. The waiting room smelled of stale coffee, lemon polish, and old paper.

"Lena Morgan," a warm, gravelly voice called out.

Arthur Harrison emerged from his office, leaning heavily on a cherry-wood cane. He had been her grandmother’s attorney for as long as Lena could remember. His hair, once a distinguished silver, was now entirely white, but his eyes behind thick wire-rimmed glasses were as sharp as ever.

"Mr. Harrison." Lena offered a polite, strained smile, stepping forward to shake his hand. "Thank you for seeing me so quickly."

"Evelyn wouldn't have had it any other way," the old man chuckled, though a trace of sadness lined his features. He gestured toward his open office door. "Come in, come in. Have a seat."

Lena walked into the wood-paneled office. The heavy drapes were pulled back, letting in the gray morning light. There were two leather wingback chairs positioned in front of Harrison's massive mahogany desk.

One of them was already occupied.

Daniel Carter sat with his long legs stretched out, his work boots crossed at the ankles. He wore a dark canvas jacket over a flannel shirt, his arms folded across his chest. He didn't stand when she entered. He didn't even blink. He just watched her, his slate-gray eyes entirely unreadable.

Lena stopped dead in her tracks. "What is he doing here?"

Mr. Harrison limped past her, moving behind his desk with a heavy sigh. "Take a seat, Lena. Mr. Carter's presence is required for the reading of the estate."

"He's not family," Lena protested, her voice rising in a slight edge of panic. She shot a glare at Daniel, but he merely raised a single, dark eyebrow in return, a silent challenge.

"Please, Lena," Harrison said gently, tapping a thick manila folder on his desk. "Sit."

Reluctantly, she took the chair next to Daniel’s. They were close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him, close enough to catch the faint scent of coffee and cedar. She rigidly kept her eyes fixed on the attorney.

"I have the probate documents ready," Lena said, digging her fingernails into the leather arms of her chair. "If I can just sign the transfer of deed, I’ve already contacted a realtor in the next county over to handle the listing of Rosewood House."

Daniel let out a low, humorless scoff.

Mr. Harrison took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Lena, did you speak to Evelyn at all during her final months?"

Lena swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "No. My grandmother and I haven't spoken since I was nineteen."

"I see." Harrison put his glasses back on and opened the folder. "Evelyn was a formidable woman. She loved you, Lena. Very much. But she was also... particular about how she wanted her legacy handled. Rosewood House has been in your family for four generations. She had no intention of letting it be sold to a developer."

"I'm her only living relative besides my brother, Ethan, and he doesn't want the house," Lena said firmly. "She can't dictate from the grave what I do with the property."

"Actually," Daniel said, his voice a low, rough rumble that sent a shiver down her spine, "she can."

Harrison shot Daniel a warning look before turning back to the documents. "Evelyn placed Rosewood House, and the entirety of her financial assets, into a conditional trust. You are the sole beneficiary, Lena. However, the inheritance comes with a strict stipulation."

Lena’s heart began to hammer a frantic rhythm against her ribs. "What stipulation?"

Harrison cleared his throat, reading directly from the legal document. "'The deed to Rosewood House, along with the attached liquid assets required for its maintenance and property taxes, shall be transferred to my granddaughter, Lena Morgan, on one condition: She must take up primary residence in the house for a period of no less than one calendar year, beginning within forty-eight hours of my passing.'"

The air in the room vanished. Lena stared at the attorney, her mind violently rejecting the words. "A year? I have a life in Seattle. I have a job. I can't stay in Willow Creek for a year!"

"If you break residency—leaving the property for more than seven consecutive days—the trust will be dissolved, and the estate will be donated in its entirety to the State Historical Society," Harrison said softly.

"She trapped me," Lena whispered, the blood draining from her face. She felt a sudden, suffocating wave of claustrophobia. "Why would she do this?"

"Because she wanted the house restored, and she wanted you to be the one to do it," Harrison said, turning to the next page. "Which brings us to the second condition. The estate must be brought up to modern structural codes while maintaining its historical integrity. To ensure this, Evelyn pre-funded the restoration and locked the estate into an iron-clad contract three months ago."

Lena didn't have to ask. She turned her head slowly, looking at the man sitting beside her.

Daniel met her gaze head-on. The cold satisfaction she had expected to find in his eyes wasn't there. Instead, there was only a hard, immovable resolve.

"Carter Contracting is legally bound to oversee the restoration of Rosewood House," Harrison explained, oblivious to the silent, crackling tension between the two of them. "Mr. Carter has full operational control over the renovations. You are required to reside on the property and facilitate the project."

"And if I refuse the inheritance entirely?" Lena asked, her voice trembling.

"Then you walk away with nothing," Daniel said quietly. "And Evelyn's estate goes to the state. But you never were one to stick around when things got difficult, were you?"

The insult landed like a physical blow. Lena’s vision blurred with a mix of hot anger and rising panic. She was trapped. Evelyn had used the one thing Lena couldn't abandon—her family’s legacy—to chain her to the town she had spent a third of her life running from.

Worse, she had chained her to the one man who had the power to destroy whatever was left of her heart.