All of this greeted me the moment I entered the house. I hadn’t realized how late it was. I’d missed the post-funeral reception and I was relieved, even if it meant hearing every detail later from my mother. Baxter hung back and didn’t even check my pockets for treats. He could have been more stressed by the changes in his life than I realized.
Mom gave me a hug and told me again she was worried. Seth caught my eye and tilted his head toward the door—he wanted me to go outside with him.
“Where were you? With everything that’s been going on, you could have left us a message,” Vi said.
I found it harder to believe that they were truly worried as much as suspicious I had been investigating on my own. Dad would certainly have heard on his scanner if I had been in any further trouble.
“I had to meet with Mr. Worthington after the funeral, and then I went to Alex’s place for a little while. I didn’t know I needed to check in with everyone.” I was feeling surly and a bit like a teenager again. I definitely needed my own place
“Oh. Well, we just figured we’d all come back here afterward. We have to make a plan for what to do next,” Vi said. Mom nodded, and Seth flicked his eyes to the door again.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He’s reading the paper in the dining room. Why did you have to meet with Rupert? Does it have to do with your work situation?” My mom put on her concerned expression. This was a clever maneuver to find out what had happened in my work situation. If I needed a lawyer, she’d know something.
“Let’s go sit down. I need to talk to everyone.”
Seth slumped and shook his head.
We invaded Dad’s quiet time. Tuffy and Baxter joined us—Tuffy on Seth’s lap, and Baxter as far from me as he could get. I wondered if he blamed me for Tish’s death. I wondered if he could still smell the blood. What was I going to do with him?
“Mr. Worthington asked me to meet with him in regard to Tish’s will.”
“Oh,” Mom said, and began smoothing the fringe on the tablecloth.
“It seems that Tish left everything to me.” Just like ripping off a Band-Aid—quick and painless.
“But I thought she—” Vi began. My mother quickly put a hand on her arm to interrupt.
There was a moment of silence as Vi and Mom exchanged a long look.
Dad broke the tension. “She left you the house and Baxter?”
“And some money. She had saved quite a bit.”
Even the dogs seemed to hold their breath.
“What are you going to do with it? Sell it? That house was your parents’, you know.” Vi got her finger ready in case waggling was needed.
“Vi, it’s okay . . . ,” Mom began.
“No, it’s not. You should have the house.” Vi shot a glare in my direction.
“No, I’m not going to sell it. The terms of the will are unusual but very clear. I have to live in the house for at least a year before I can sell it. Otherwise, it goes to charity.”
The ladies gasped at the same moment as if they were taking in the same breath.
“It wouldn’t revert to Rose?” Vi said.
“I don’t know what any previous will contained. I’m just telling you what I know. . . .”
“Then you’ll be here in Crystal Haven for a year?” Mom couldn’t cover the smile.
“What about your job? You worked hard for that.” Dad was always the practical one.
“I think I can get a leave of absence,” I said. Usually when you quit, you got to leave, but I didn’t want to have that conversation right now. I decided to play my trump card. “Plus, I’ll be able to take Baxter, and he won’t have to live here.”
Vi looked from Mom to Dad. “We should talk to Rupert. Or get our own lawyer. If you two want the house back, we should fight for it!” Vi stood as if she would go pull the lawyer out of the front closet.
Mom grabbed her hand and pulled her back into her seat. “We aren’t going to take Clyde to court, Vi.”
Vi glanced at me and looked away. “Right, of course not.”
“It’s not like we were planning on moving, Frank,” Mom said to Dad.
He nodded and sighed. “Of course not. I just thought we might get our own place again someday. . . .” He didn’t look at Vi.
“It’s just a year, Dad. Who knows what will happen?” I said.
Dad smiled. “The good news is, we get to have you close by again.” Dad put his hand on mine.
Vi clapped once and grinned. “I knew it! Didn’t I tell you she’d be coming back to stay, Rose?”
“I don’t remember, Vi. Did you?”
“Absolutely. I knew it.” Vi looked around the table daring anyone to refute her claim.
*
While Mom and Vi discussed Tish’s funeral, her will, and what it all might mean, Seth and I snuck outside.
He threw a tennis ball deep into the yard and both dogs ran after it, side by side, Tuffy at full tilt with his short legs blurring beneath him, Baxter in long, loping strides.
“Seth, what’s up?” I said when he seemed to be taking an enormous interest in his shoelace.
“I have something to show you,” he said.
Seth headed for the back of the yard, where my father had built a small tool shed. He looked toward the house before opening the door and reaching behind some sacks of mulch.