to open a facility of her own, to assist the kind of indigent people she works with, and start a foundation of her own, in the way she can do the most good, with the freedom she needs to do so exactly as she wants. I have every confidence that she will do a wonderful job of it, on her own. And through her, I am able to help people I have never assisted in my lifetime. I hope that this bequest will somewhat improve her poor opinion of me as a very selfish man. I have indeed been one, but my wish is to help her, and through her these needy people, now.’ ” Timmie’s eyes were swimming with tears as she listened. She had never expected this from her father, and her sisters and mother were smiling with approval through tears as well.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said in a whisper, deeply moved by his bequest.
“Your father and I did some research, and the amount he bequeathed you seems as though it would adequately cover the purchase of a house as he described, and what you’d need to get a project like this off the ground.” And then to qualify it to the others, “Yours is the largest bequest he made.” Everyone nodded, and the girls didn’t seem upset, although Bertie looked tense. It sounded like too much money to him, and he doubted that his father had four times that amount to leave to all of them, not even close.
“ ‘And to Juliette, my beloved daughter,’ ” Arnold went on, “ ‘I want to leave her the gift of time, so that she can hire people to work at her bakery, a manager so that she can get away, travel, and live more extensively than she has for several years. I am leaving her enough to pay for some staff, to make improvements to the sandwich shop, and enlarge it if she wishes. But my darling Juliette, I want you to go out and live. You’re a wonderful woman, and you need to see more of the world than you do now.’ ” He had left her a handsome amount, though much less than what he’d left Timmie, and she sobbed in gratitude. Juliette had never needed or wanted a lot of money, and his bequest seemed more than generous to her. She smiled through her tears as she looked at her sisters and squeezed Timmie’s hand, sitting next to her. She had no jealousy for what he had left her older sister—she wouldn’t have known what to do with that amount. And if Timmie opened a homeless shelter of some kind, even on a small scale, she would need far more money than Juliette needed to improve and staff her bakery so she could get away from time to time. He had calculated well and tailored his bequests to meet their needs, just as Arnold had said. And he had clearly put careful thought into it.
“ ‘And to my very beautiful youngest daughter, Joy,’ ” Arnold continued, “ ‘although I know her mother does not approve of her acting career, I believe she has real talent and I would like to be the angel who helps her to fulfill her dream. My bequest to her is to hire a decent manager, hopefully the best in L.A., to help get her career off the ground, and attract a better agent. I am giving her enough to take acting lessons from the best teacher in L.A., and enough to live on for two years, so she can stop working as a waitress and concentrate fully on furthering her acting career, so she can have the success she deserves.’ ” He and Arnold had figured out an amount that would allow her to pursue some avenues that hadn’t been open to her before because she didn’t have the money, and stop working as a waitress because Véronique would not fund a career she didn’t approve of. Joy sat beaming as she listened, looked apologetically at her mother, and was relieved to see that she was smiling, too. They all were. And she knew that what he’d left her was more than enough to give her a big push professionally. It was exactly what she needed and sounded perfect to her.
By then Bertie was squirming in his seat and looking impatient. He was tired of hearing about the girls
“I don’t know what to say,” she said in a whisper, deeply moved by his bequest.
“Your father and I did some research, and the amount he bequeathed you seems as though it would adequately cover the purchase of a house as he described, and what you’d need to get a project like this off the ground.” And then to qualify it to the others, “Yours is the largest bequest he made.” Everyone nodded, and the girls didn’t seem upset, although Bertie looked tense. It sounded like too much money to him, and he doubted that his father had four times that amount to leave to all of them, not even close.
“ ‘And to Juliette, my beloved daughter,’ ” Arnold went on, “ ‘I want to leave her the gift of time, so that she can hire people to work at her bakery, a manager so that she can get away, travel, and live more extensively than she has for several years. I am leaving her enough to pay for some staff, to make improvements to the sandwich shop, and enlarge it if she wishes. But my darling Juliette, I want you to go out and live. You’re a wonderful woman, and you need to see more of the world than you do now.’ ” He had left her a handsome amount, though much less than what he’d left Timmie, and she sobbed in gratitude. Juliette had never needed or wanted a lot of money, and his bequest seemed more than generous to her. She smiled through her tears as she looked at her sisters and squeezed Timmie’s hand, sitting next to her. She had no jealousy for what he had left her older sister—she wouldn’t have known what to do with that amount. And if Timmie opened a homeless shelter of some kind, even on a small scale, she would need far more money than Juliette needed to improve and staff her bakery so she could get away from time to time. He had calculated well and tailored his bequests to meet their needs, just as Arnold had said. And he had clearly put careful thought into it.
“ ‘And to my very beautiful youngest daughter, Joy,’ ” Arnold continued, “ ‘although I know her mother does not approve of her acting career, I believe she has real talent and I would like to be the angel who helps her to fulfill her dream. My bequest to her is to hire a decent manager, hopefully the best in L.A., to help get her career off the ground, and attract a better agent. I am giving her enough to take acting lessons from the best teacher in L.A., and enough to live on for two years, so she can stop working as a waitress and concentrate fully on furthering her acting career, so she can have the success she deserves.’ ” He and Arnold had figured out an amount that would allow her to pursue some avenues that hadn’t been open to her before because she didn’t have the money, and stop working as a waitress because Véronique would not fund a career she didn’t approve of. Joy sat beaming as she listened, looked apologetically at her mother, and was relieved to see that she was smiling, too. They all were. And she knew that what he’d left her was more than enough to give her a big push professionally. It was exactly what she needed and sounded perfect to her.
By then Bertie was squirming in his seat and looking impatient. He was tired of hearing about the girls
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