Chapter 1 #2
“If you’re not willing or able to meet both requirements established by the trust, the property will be turned over to the town of Friendship,” he said.
Why would Lollie do this to me?
I met Jaime’s gaze, giving her a slow shake of my head.
She held up her hands, shrugged. “You could always return it to the Native Americans it was mostly likely stolen from.”
I muted the call while Frank went on about the town taking the farm. “She did that about forty years ago. Gave back a ton of land.” I paused as Frank shouted to his assistant. “It pissed off her family in a big way but she didn’t care.”
“I like this lady,” Jaime replied.
“And the second requirement,” Frank continued, “was most important to Lollie. Her family has lived and worked that land since the early 1700s and she wanted that family presence to continue. In order for you to fully inherit the property at the end of the provisional year, you must submit proof of marriage or domestic partnership to the estate within that year.”
“So,” I started, pausing for a gulp of my shameful sangria, “I have to move to Rhode Island, live on a farm, and get married? And I’m the only one who can do this? Not my stepdad’s kids or literally anyone else?”
It sounded like Frank was shuffling papers on his end.
“That was Lollie’s choice. However, you’re welcome to cede the property to the town.
It would end a three-hundred-year-old tradition of a single family working that farm, though I understand not every tradition was meant to continue for perpetuity. I’m sure Lollie understood that too.”
“I wasn’t even her real family.” It sounded like a pathetic excuse coming out of my mouth.
It felt that way too. Grandma Lollie had been as real as it got for me.
I’d never been close with my mother or stepdad.
If I’d been anything for them, it was a logistical nightmare.
I’d only met his kids a few times but they all had ten or fifteen years on me, and their lives were in different places. “She was my step -grandmother.”
“As I mentioned, Lollie believed you’d know what was best for the farm.” Frank made a loud nasally, gargly sound. “If I understand correctly, Lollie’s other grandchildren have expressed limited interest in even visiting the family land.”
“I mean, we could check in with them again, right? Maybe they’ve changed their minds.”
Frank laughed. “I’m afraid estates don’t work that way, Miss Zucconi.”
“Okay. Since I’m not getting married and I can’t move to Rhode Island, I guess I can’t accept this inheritance,” I said, and those words stung.
I hadn’t been to the farm in years, since shortly before Grandma Lollie moved down to Florida and leased it out to a young couple to manage the tulip growing, but it existed in my mind as a place that would always be there for me.
Until now.
“Don’t make any decisions today,” Frank said. “It’s yours for the next year. Give it some time. There’s no need to turn over the property to a municipality any sooner than necessary. Take the year. In the meantime, I’ll have my assistant overnight express the keys and paperwork to you.”
After I provided Frank with Jaime’s address, he ended the call, and my gaze landed on the overflowing boxes and baskets lining the wall.
Everything I owned was packed into those containers.
There was a time when I’d promised myself I was finished living out of a suitcase.
That my life wouldn’t be about portability anymore.
That I wouldn’t be halfway here or there. That I wouldn’t live like this anymore.
And here I was, thirty-two years old and right back in another temporary situation with no clue what came next.
Except…I could decide what came next.
My life didn’t have to revolve around anyone else. Not anymore.
I could do whatever I wanted.
Jaime peered at me. “How are we doing?”
I shrugged. “Okay.”
“Is this it? Are we getting married?” Jaime asked.
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“I’ll do it for you,” she repeated.
“We’re not getting married. I’ll get struck by lightning if I think about marriage for more than a few seconds and you’ll probably lose all your chaos bi credibility, not to mention. Everyone knows your stance on monogamy and legally binding unions.”
“We could have an open marriage,” she said.
I really could not ask for anyone better than Jaime.
“You’re too good to me. And you’re kind to offer.
But everything I know about farming could fit into this glass.
” I held up my drink. “I don’t know. This whole thing is ridiculous.
I can’t…I mean, I never actually liked living in that town.
But I was kinda happy on the farm and it’s not like—well. Hmm.”
I counted the containers. It wasn’t that many. If I organized it just right, I could fit everything into my car. I could pick up and go. I could go right now if I wanted. I didn’t need to wait for the keys. I knew where Lollie hid all the spares.
Aside from the fact I could leave, it seemed like I should . Grandma Lollie’s farm was the only place that ever felt like home to me and I had this narrow bit of time before I’d lose it. I had to go there while it was still mine.
“What are we thinking?” Jaime asked. “I know that look. You got that same look when you decided to completely overhaul the apples and pumpkins unit two days before the start of school a few years ago. It’s your crazy scheme look.”
I tore my gaze away from the boxes and smiled at Jaime. She taught first grade next door to my kindergarten classroom. “No crazy schemes,” I replied. “Good news for you though.”
“And what would that be?”
“I’m getting off your couch for good.”
“And where will you be going, doll?”
I drained the contents of my glass. “I’m moving to Rhode Island tomorrow.”
She flopped back against the cushions. “This is it, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“The start of your villain era,” she said. “The ‘no fucks given, ask me if I care, throw out your whole life and start over just because you feel like it’ era.”
I thought about that for a second. It was true, I didn’t have any fucks left.
And if my shameful sangria and midday pajamas were any indication, I did not care.
All I had left to do was throw out the remnants of my life.
And the idea of that felt like the first breath of fresh air in far too long. “Yeah. Maybe.”
* * *
“I want to support you,” Jaime said as I shoved another box into my back seat. “I also want to make sure you’re not diving headfirst into a depressive, destructive situation.”
“I have a reasonable amount of depression,” I said from inside the SUV.
Two days after talking to Frank, I’d consolidated my things down to the essentials, taken a leave of absence from my school, and felt truly, actually alive for the first time in too long.
“The appropriate amount. All things considered.”
“And how about the destructive? Taking a year off from school and leaving me with god only knows who to teach with has to be a pinch destructive.”
I leaned out of the SUV to catch her gaze. “I’m sorry about that,” I said. “I didn’t mean to screw you over in the process. I just—” I stared down the street for a moment.
“You need a break from it all,” she said. “I get it. But what do we even know about Friendship? The name alone is suspicious, and just because it’s a small town doesn’t make it a good place to live.”
“It’s a sleepy little town on the Narragansett Bay.
A cove cuts right through the middle,” I said, using my hands to illustrate the two sides.
“One side of the cove is old family farms and the other is pretty much wooded suburbia with houses and schools all built in the last century. Not much to it.”
“Answer me this,” she said, her hands settling on her hips. “Will there be bears?”
“What? No. At least I don’t think so. No, no bears. I never heard about bears when I lived there in high school.” I stared down at the sidewalk. Shit. Now I was wondering about bears.
“And what are you going to do on a farm?” Jaime continued. “I’ve known you for six years and not once in that time did you give me the impression that you know anything about tulips or how to grow them.”
I laughed. “I don’t. I have no clue what I’m going to do with the tulips or the land or anything.
But I’ll substitute in the local school district and—I don’t know.
” The upside to living with my ex in a condo he owned for the past two years was I had a comfortable amount of savings.
I could be a little reckless right now. The engagement ring tucked into my wallet’s coin purse promised I could be slightly more reckless if necessary. “I’ll figure it out as I go.”
The only plan was that I didn’t have a plan, and that wasn’t going to slow me down. It was senseless but so was the rest of my life right now. Might as well stop trying to fight it.
She handed me the last laundry basket, one filled with bedsheets, a cast iron Dutch oven, three boxes of Cheez-Its, and a tangled mess of charger cables.
“I expect regular check-ins with you. I’m not talking about a few texts here and there.
You’ll video call me, understand? Don’t make me introduce myself to the Friendship Police Department and send them out on a wellness check. ”
“I’ll call,” I said. “We haven’t gone more than a few days without talking in years. You think I’m going to start now?”
She waved her arms at my SUV. “You’re starting a lot of things that you don’t usually do. I just want to be clear about the ground rules. And don’t eat a whole box of Cheez-Its on the drive. You’ll get a stomachache and then you’ll be in a terrible mood.”
“Okay, Mom,” I teased.
“You joke but I’m completely serious,” she replied. “I know how you get when you binge the Cheez-Its.”
“I’ll call you when I get there,” I said, stepping forward to pull her into a hug. “Thank you for Mommying all over me.”