Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
“Well?” Sara asked Julie minutes later. “What do you think of all this?” She pointed to the paper Scott had drawn on.
“Honestly?”
“Yes.”
“It sounds too good to be true. I guess the only thing we can do is to call this Erin person, talk to her, then see if we can’t make plans to go there on your way to Denver. I can take a week off, we could drive up together, but then I could fly home. I only have one question for you.”
“What’s that?”
“What do you think of all this?”
“If what Scott says is true, then I think this is a great opportunity. I don’t know if he’s lying to us, but I can’t see him doing anything like that, but it would be perfect for me after I complete my schooling.”
“So, it’s something you would want to do?”
“Yes.”
“What about the house here?” Julie asked as she waved her hand around the kitchen area.
“What about it?”
“Would you want to sell it? Rent it out? Leave it standing empty? That’s only if we both decide to move to Colorado, but I’m telling you now that I’m not making any decisions about our life here until I talk with Erin.”
“I agree.” Sara stood there lost in thought for several minutes before she lifted her head to stare at her sister. As her eyes cleared, she nodded once. “How about this?”
“What?”
“I have three weeks before I have to be in Denver. Why don’t we call Erin, talk to her, set up a date to go see her on my way to Denver, give us a couple of days there. As we wait to leave, because either way, I’m going to Denver, that’s a given, but why don’t we start going through things here. I hate to admit this, but it’s been ten years since Mom and Dad died and neither one of us have been inside their bedroom. It needs to be cleaned out.”
“I know,” Julie sighed deeply. “I know when I left for the Navy I thought you’d deal with it while I was gone. I know that was the coward’s way out, but I couldn’t deal with it and left it for you. I also know that was bad of me, but I just couldn’t seem to deal with it.”
“I know, that’s why I didn’t do anything. Let’s call Erin, then tackle that room today. I’m done with school, I only have to turn in my dissertation, and why don’t we load up their clothes in my car and I’ll drop them off to the second-hand store near campus tomorrow.”
“You’d do that?”
“Yes. I think once that’s done, then we’ll both finally be able to move forward with our lives. Mom and Dad left us financially set, and I didn’t have to take loans out for school, but I’m thinking if we like what Colorado has to offer, then we should put our stuff in our rooms, have an estate sale, and sell the house.” She looked at Julie with wide eyes.
“What?”
“Can we put a stipulation on the sale of the house?”
“What type of stipulation, and why?”
“Tell the real estate agent that we will not take any offers from Ass-Boom-Boom-hole Garrison. I can see how much his head will swell if he knew he had the Truman home to live in.”
“Oh, shit, yeah, I agree with that stipulation. It’s my understanding that we have the final say in who we accept an offer from.”
“Exactly, and since the house is in both our names, then we’ll both have the final say.” They high-fived one another, then Julie burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Do you think you’ll get used to living where it snows?”
“Oh, shit.” Sara looked at her wide-eyed again, then stuck her tongue out at Julie when she laughed. They quickly made another pot of coffee and with a fresh cup each, Julie pulled her phone and dialed, making sure it was on speaker. They exchanged frowns when a brisk voice answered.
“Riceman.”
“Hello, is this Erin?”
“Yes, who’s this?”
“I’m sorry, I’m Julie Truman, and you’re on speaker, my sister Sara is sitting next to me. Scott Gould gave us your number.”
“Ah, got it, you’re the two ladies he told me about. What did he tell you about Erin’s Way?”
Julie spoke for the two of them and told Erin everything Scott had told them. When she finished, she was impressed by Erin’s response.
“I’m so proud of my boy,” she said it like a proud Mom. “I didn’t think he was listening in class.” They all shared a laugh, then Erin turned serious. “Okay, yes, everything he said was true. Sometimes it’s better to see everything in person to get a feel of things. I’m going to be my normal self here and be brutally honest. I won’t invite you to even visit until I have a background check on you. Also, it’s not a requirement, but I prefer my workers to be challenged. Do either of you have a challenge?”
“I do,” Julie said. “I lost my left leg from below the knee when my ship went down. Thankfully, no one lost their life, but there were a lot of injuries. In case you didn’t catch it, I was in the Navy.”
“What did you do? Wait, let me get a paper and pen. My person to do background checks is Jake Cogburn from Brotherhood Protectors. He’s former military and hasn’t steered me wrong yet. Could I have your names? Let’s start with you, Julie.”
“Julie Truman, no relation to the former president that I know of.” They shared a chuckle, and Julie answered all of Erin’s questions, then Sara did the same.
“Okay, let me contact Jake first thing in the morning, and get him on this. Is there a time you’re thinking of being in this area?”
“I have to be in Denver in three weeks,” Sara began. “I’m taking three classes to further my schooling. I’m turning in my dissertation tomorrow, but I feel these classes will help my work tremendously. I know you didn’t ask, but they are the ins and outs of working with patients with PTSD and trauma.”
“Wow, yeah, I can see where they might help. How long are the classes?”
“Six months. I’ll be in Denver all that time, and if you get the background checks back in time, Julie and I would like to drive up, spend a couple of days going over the ranch with you, then I’ll drive to Denver, and Julie will fly home. Until we leave for Denver, we’re going to go through our house and get ready for an estate sale. Even if you don’t hire us, we’ll still have to go through the house.”
“May I ask why?”
“Our parents were killed ten years ago, and neither one of us wanted to deal with their personal items, so we just closed the door to the master and left it.” Julie sighed as she answered. “It’s time we went through it, and we’ll be doing that this afternoon.”
“I wish you luck. I had to do that with my parents, but I only did it because I wanted the larger room with the attached bathroom.” They shared a chuckle and then Erin told them she would get back to them as soon as she heard back from Jake. They hung up and the sisters sat there, lost in their own thoughts.
Julie turned to Sara. “I liked her.”
“Yeah, me too. I can’t wait to see what it’s like there.”
“I agree, but we can’t do anything until we tackle Mom and Dad’s bedroom.” Julie rose and went to the cupboards. She pulled out a box of trash bags and shook her head at her sister. “If we have to, we can just make a hole in the bottom of the bag, slip it over some hangers, and carry the clothes out that way. It would save us from having to lug boxes around.”
“Okay,” Sara said with a giggle as she went into the laundry room and came back with the small plastic tote that held rollers that you used to brush of clothes. With a grin she answered her sister’s frown. “In case the clothes might be dirty after hanging on the hangers for years. Unless you want to wash them.”
“Not really, but we’ll reserve that right until we get up there and see them.” They both heaved a heavy sigh as they turned and went up the stairs. At the end of the hall, they paused and Sara nodded to Julie to open the door. They braced themselves as they stood in the doorway, and were shocked by how neat and tidy it looked. Without saying a word, then entered and placed their items on the bed. The first thing they did was open all the curtains, and the windows to clear out the musty smell.
“Clothes first?” Julie asked.
“Sure, why not?” Julie went to their father’s dresser and instead of looking at every item, she opened a trash bag and started putting things inside. Both of them worked silently, and at one point, Julie came into her father’s closest and reached past Sara for a flannel shirt.
“I want one.”
“Me too,” Sara said as she grabbed one and they took them out in the hall to lay them on a table there before going back inside. Cleaning out the clothes and taking them down to Sara’s car took almost two hours, and on the way back up, they grabbed a water bottle and returned to the room. At one point Julie looked at her sister with a sigh.
“Should we get an appraisal on the jewelry?”
“Do you think it’s even worth anything?”
“I don’t know. I know the funeral home gave me their wedding bands because they couldn’t be buried with anything valuable. The only thing I can say is that if you drop off the clothes, I can go to the jewelry store tomorrow. I have the day off, but I won’t go here in town, I’ll go into the city. We don’t need to have the entire town know our business.”
“I agree.” Sara nodded and grabbed a bag and went to the bathroom. They ended up tossing the clothes from the hamper out, along with the make-up, shampoo, aftershave, and other items in the room. By the time they were done for the night, the only things left in the room was the furniture. They had washed all the walls, vacuumed, and even gotten the carpet shampooer out and cleaned the carpet.
When they left the room that night, they stood in the doorway, and both whispered, “Goodbye.”
The next day, both girls left the home at the same time and headed in the same direction. At one intersection, they went different ways, and knew they would be meeting later for lunch to discuss their next step in the possible move.
Julie arrived at a high-end jewelry store about thirty minutes after they opened and felt bad that she carried a reusable grocery bag with her. However, she held her head high as she walked up to the counter. She knew the woman behind the glass looked down her nose at her, but she didn’t care. After she placed the bag on the floor at her feet, Julie looked directly at her.
“I was wondering if I could talk to the person in charge, please.”
“We can’t help you.”
“I know you can’t,” Julie said in the same tone that the woman used on her. “But I’m sure your manager can.”
Before the woman could say a word, a middle-aged man came out from the back and asked, “Is there a problem here?”
“I told this woman we couldn’t help her,” the lady was quick to answer.
“And I told this woman, I wanted to speak to the person in charge.”
“Is there a problem?” the man asked, and ignored the employee.
“I don’t know if you can help me or not.”
“What is it you’re wanting?”
“My parents died a while back, and my sister and I couldn’t handle going through their things until yesterday. Since it’s been over ten years, we decided it is time to do it. We’ve donated all their clothes to the local charity, and we were wondering if we could have their jewelry appraised. I don’t know if you do something like that or not, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
“Do you have it with you?”
“Yes,” Julie said as she bent down and picked up the bag.
“Come on back,” the man said, and showed her where to come through the display cases. They both ignored the sputtering woman as they went ot the back. Julie sat where she was told to, and instead of getting the box from the bag, she just handed him the entire thing.
“Are you wanting to sell anything?”
“Not at this time, we’d like to know if it’s worth anything, or if it’s all costume jewelry. I do know that we want to keep their wedding rings. The funeral home told us that anything of value shouldn’t be buried with them.”
“That is correct. As sick as it sounds, and you only see it in the movies, but grave robbing is really a thing. Sometimes, a funeral home will contact us to get them a really cheap set of wedding rings to be buried with the deceased if the family is adamant they be buried with it.”
“Wow, I did not know that.” Julie sat there and watched as the man pulled out the first small box, and donned a pair of glasses with funny magnifying glasses attached. At one point, he was on the fourth box, he looked up and scowled at her.
“These belonged to your parents?”
“Yes, the box you’re going through now, and the next two are what Mom told me was family heirlooms that were passed down through the generations.”
“This next question is totally inappropriate, but I need to ask.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you destitute or hurting for money in any way?”
“No, my sister and I are set. We’re thinking about moving and downsizing, so that’s why I’m here. Is there a problem?”
The man refused to answer her, but he did grab a piece of paper and wrote on it. He handed it to her and grinned. “Based on what I’ve seen so far, this is what I’m offering to give you if you want to sell them today. If you want, we can even bring others in and have an auction if enough people are interested.”
Julie frowned as she took the paper, flipped it over and suddenly found herself with her head between her knees. She waved her hand and sat up slowly. “Are you shitting me?”
“No. I do have to ask you one thing though.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you related to the former president, Harry S. Truman?”
“I was told no, though my last name is Truman.”
“Well, from what I’ve seen so far, I would say that some of these jewels are from the Truman line. If you say they are family heirlooms, then I’ll take your word for it. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind if I called in some colleagues of mine to have a look at them.”
“But you haven’t seen everything yet,” Julie cried out. “I’d have to get my sister here to discuss this with her.” She didn’t wait for his response as she pulled her phone from her purse. She looked at him with a nod. “Go ahead and call your people.” They did what they had to and after the manager made his calls, he went back to inspecting the other boxes. When Sara arrived, three men had arrived before her and Julie jumped to her feet and took her sister to the side.
“What’s up?”
“The manager, I forget his name, said that some of Mom’s jewelry are from the Truman collection. I thought we weren’t related to the president. Oh, and this is what he offered us for the first four boxes, this is before he got to the bottom of the bag, they are doing that now.” They turned to watch as all four men opened the largest box and they all whipped their heads up and glared at the two women.
“What?” Sara asked in shock.
“Are you related to Harry S. Truman?”
“Not that I know of, I do know our great-grandfather, or maybe great-great-grandfather, I forget which generation, was named John Vivian Truman. I remember we used to laugh at his middle name.”
“Holy shit,” the original manager said. “John Vivian was Harry’s brother.”
“Wow, so these jewels are from them?”
“Yes,” one of the new people said, and held up a ruby and diamond necklace. He had something to his eye inspecting it. “I would bet that this was worn at one of the White House dinners by a family member. I recall seeing this exact necklace in a photo once.” Someone else pulled a computer closer to them and started pounding on the keys, then flipped it around for all to see.
Julie looked at Sara in shock.
“How long have you had these?” one of the other men asked.
“They were in our parents’ safe. They passed away ten years ago, and we just ignored their things until yesterday. I know it sounds heartless, but we couldn’t face everything at the time. See, they were killed by a drunk driver. It was so sudden, that after the funerals we closed their bedroom door and didn’t deal with it. We found those boxes of jewels in their safe in their bedroom.”
“How long ago did they pass?”
“Almost ten years ago.” The sisters remained silent as they men shook their heads and went back to what they had been doing. It was almost thirty minutes later when the original manger looked up and smiled at them.
“I’d like to make an offer on these.”
“Now hold on, Harold,” another man said. “I’d like to get my fingers in the pie.”
“No,” both Julie and Sara said as one. The men didn’t hear them as they began to argue. Julie had enough and let out a loud whistle. She shook her head at them when they glared at her.
“We said no, I only brought them in to be appraised. You did that. At this time, they are not for sale. If you would please box them up, we’ll be going. I know you’re disappointed, but this is a gigantic thing to think about. Before you say anything, we’re not strapped for money, and we are not materialistic people. We just wanted our parents’ jewelry appraised.”
They watched the men as they boxed everything up and put it back in the original bag. With it in her hand, Julie looked at Sara, and the younger woman looked at them. “Do not contact us. We will contact you if we decide to sell. If any one of you or an associate of yours contacts us, we will talk with a museum and donate the items.”
“NO!” they all yelled, but the sisters didn’t back down. With their business cards, written estimates, and the jewels in hand, they quickly left. Neither woman said a word as they stared at each other and immediately walked three blocks down and went into their bank. An hour later they sat at an outdoor patio at a trendy café and stared at each other in shock.
“Holy hell,” Sara said on a laugh. They had taken the jewelry directly to the bank to put in a safe deposit box. They didn’t want anyone to break in and try to steal them.
“Yeah,” Julie answered, and took a healthy sip of her wine that was just served. “We have a lot of thinking to do.”