Bette looked at him thoughtfully, and then pursed her lips. She shook her head and then answered, “No, I haven’t Jackson. There hasn’t been time.”

He bit his lower lip. “So we keep things as they are for the meantime?”

She nodded and then sighed, “Yes, as we discussed.”

After a short pause, she continued, “I know that this delay in my attending to all the assets that have been passed to me isn’t what you and Peter may have expected, but …”

He shook his head and set down his glass, waving both of his hands emphatically as if to deny what Bette was implying. “No .. no, Bette. Don’t think that way. This is not about what Peter … or I… expected. Not anymore. He made his decision and he was quite comfortable about it, to leave things to you, I mean. So, please: don’t take this as pressure to move you to think about what Peter expected or wanted ….”

Bette felt Tina’s embrace tighten a little bit, as if to assure her also, of the blonde’s support about how Bette wanted to proceed. She and Peter had talked about Peter’s will one afternoon before they’d all left for Virginia. Through that conversation, the blonde came to know about what was in it well before Bette came to know of it, in the aftermath of the sniper attack on Peter’s estate. Peter had assured her repeatedly then, and even after, when Tina and Peter had talked privately in his estate, that he had purposely left out any directions about where he wanted Bette to direct his assets. “That would defeat the whole purpose of what I’m trying to do by passing all these to her, or her foundation, Tina. So, if there’ll come a time when you think she seems to be flagging or is uncertain about why I’m doing this, try to assure her that I’m trusting her judgment.”

Jackson continued, “I just wanted to check with you about your own … um … will… before you left, because we do need to sit down and talk about that. Since … well … since so much has changed for you.”

Bette pursed her lips, and then gave him a half-smile, half-frown. “The most I’ll say, Jackson, is that I plan to start consolidating things. This is why I wanted access to the pre-existing accounts of Peter’s foundations – and why I didn’t want any new accounts opened despite how much things have changed. At least for now. The old accounts are going to help me execute the first phase of my plans. Once I get the first phase of my plan through, we’ll sit down … the three of us … you, Tina, and I, and I can then describe to you the succeeding phases of this plan. Ok?”