Chapter 1 #2
Ignoring her sister for talking to the receptionist, Serenity told her that she was here to talk to a gentleman by the name of Brenin Savage. She was smiled at and told that he was running slightly behind. That he asked for her to go to his office.
“Thank you.” She went through, and Beth was stopped. “She wasn’t told to come, so however you want to deal with her is up to you.”
“Serenity Jamestown. What a thing to say to her.” Beth smiled at the woman. “Helen Jamestown was my sister, too. I think there has been a mistake in having me come to the meeting as well.”
“You’re not named in the will. There is no reason for you to be here.
” The woman, Caroline Snapps, sounded like she’d dealt with people like Beth before.
Going into the office just as she was telling her that she could wait in the lobby, Serenity made her way to the office to have a seat.
She didn’t care what they did with Beth. She was here for Helen.
She could see the elevators from where she was seated and watched the door.
Serenity didn’t know where Beth was, not that she cared, but she was looking for the man who had gone out of his way to help her sister.
He’d not been an attorney for a long time but had written out Helen’s will for her as a favor.
Helen knew all kinds of people who would do anything for her, and she was glad that she’d thought of getting her will done.
It would save her a lot of time and money.
There were a couple of men getting off the elevator when she heard the door ding.
It couldn’t have been them because they seemed to be about her age.
When an older man got off, she waited for him to come to the office when she was suddenly in a closed office with one of the good-looking men who had come off it before.
“My name is Brenin Savage. You must be Serenity Jamestown.” She took his hand and felt something like an electrical shock run up her arm.
When he didn’t mention it, neither did she.
“I’m sorry for your loss. Helen was a wonderful person, and I enjoyed working with her.
She talked about you and your sister all the time. ”
“Beth isn’t here. Should she be?” He told her not unless she wanted her to be. “Not really. If you need me here, then she can wait and see if I can tell her what happened.”
“Helen said that there was tension between the three of you. I would have thought that, being as close in age as you are, you, Beth, and Helen being triplets, you would have been closer. I guess not.” She shook her head and had to look away when she thought of Helen being gone. “I’m sorry. Let’s get this started.”
After Brenin read the will, she made notes on what was expected of her.
The only thing that was different in her mind from what Helen had put on paper was that at the moment of her death, she owned the house where Helen lived.
There were insurance policies that were to be used for her hospital stay, as well as the headstone that had been ordered.
“She paid off her credit cards and bills when she was told that she only had a few years to live the first time. Then, when she’d gotten sick this time, she made sure that everything was paid off that she could and made arrangements with the hospital about her final bill.
Helen was very organized.” Serenity said that she’d always been.
“She said that you were as well. That’s where she learned to get things organized for you. ”
After he was finished with everything that he had to tell her, Serenity asked him what she was to do now. He told her that she could live in the house or not, but he’d recommend selling it. He said that it would do well on the market and that she’d make some money off of it.
“She had everything set up for me, didn’t she?
” He said that she did. “I don’t know what to do now.
I thought that I’d have to be here for a while to get things going.
Now that it’s in my name, I can take my time selling the house.
I have to get it empty right now, but other than that, things are going along well. ”
“She loved you very much.” Holding back tears, she nodded at the man. “If you don’t mind, I can take care of selling the house for you when you leave. If that’s what your plan is. I know of a couple of buyers right now that would take it off your hands.”
“It is. My plan to leave, I mean. I don’t have any use for the house, and I don’t know that I could live there with all the memories.
I used to live there with her before I went to college.
” Like he cared, she thought. “I should get out of your hair. I’m sure you have better things to do than to listen to a grieving woman complain about having everything set up to not fail like she did for me. ”
“You take all the time you need. If you’re selling, then I can take care of the toys she had in the yard.
There were plenty of them.” She said she’d seen them last night.
“I’ll have someone come by and see if they want to put them in the nursery for other kids.
The local pack has a baby sitting program going on, and I’m betting they could use them. ”
“Donate them to them.” He asked if she was sure. “Yes. I have no use for them, and the money isn’t going to be used for anything but put in my savings account. Just tell them that they came from a friend of yours and that’ll be the end of it.”
“Thank you. I’ll tell them just that. They’ll love them.
” She nodded again and said it would be one less thing that she’d have to worry about.
“We can have an auction to get rid of the rest of the things in the house if you want. She said that she had books and other items to help the kids with preschool. Is that all right?”
“Yes, of course. Sell it all. In fact, see if the pack would like to have the paperwork that she had when she was working with the kids to help them out. And the house can be auctioned at the same time as the furniture if you think that’s all right.
You’re making things easy for me to deal with.
I can’t thank you enough for that.” She thought of the clothing.
“She didn’t have much in the way of clothing, and I’ve been sorting through it since I got here.
I’ll donate it too and hope someone can use it. ”
“Good.” He made some notes, and she stood up. “I have your phone number if anything comes up that I need to talk to you about. Correct? When are you leaving?”
“Yes. And I’ll be here for another week.
The grave stone is supposed to be finished by the end of next week.
I have the two weeks off to deal with anything else, and I’m going to take them.
I’ve not been here in a long time, and I might have a look around town for a bit.
” He told her that changes are going on around town.
“I noticed the sidewalks. I didn’t think Mr. Trail was ever going to get them finished up. ”
“My cousin is the mayor now. Ace Savage. He and his brother Tank have been making lots of improvements on things. You should see the pool. It’s twice as big as it was, and there is a handicapped lift there now.
Just in the last six months, things have been really rolling.
” She asked if their names were really Ace and Tank.
“Ace is Ace. I think his mother didn’t like him all that much.
The same with Tank. But Tank’s first name is Sherman.
I honestly don’t know why he doesn’t go by Sherman.
But he played football in high school, and that’s where the nickname came from.
” The two of them laughed, and it felt good to do so.
When she left the office, feeling lighter than she had in a while, she didn’t see Beth and was happy for it.
As she was driving back to Helen’s home…
she supposed it was her home now, she thought about how she was going to stop by and get her a hot chicken sandwich and go to Helen’s grave to share it with her.
That had been something that the two of them had shared a lot since they were children.
Of course, Beth hated them; they were too messy, but they didn’t care.
They’d eat them daily if they were given the chance.
After picking up what she wanted, she headed to the Dresden Cemetery and sat down on a blanket that she’d put in the car earlier this morning.
“You did a good job, Helen.” She took a bite of her sandwich and smiled. “They’re just like they were when we were kids. Just as messy too.” She ate the rest of it and left the other one on the headstone nearby. She’d end up eating it, but for now, it was fine where it was.
“I was thinking about you this morning when I was getting ready. I’ve been thinking about you a great deal, as a matter of fact.
” She finished the second sandwich and leaned against the headstone that was there for their parents.
“Beth is being her usual self. She keeps telling me that you told her to leave, but I think it was more like you couldn’t stand her anymore, so you got her out of your hair. ”
Looking around the cemetery, she could see that the headstones that were around had been set up after falling over.
She remembered coming here as a kid and helping out with that project.
It had been something to do for their senior mission.
Helen had been there too, but not Beth. She’d been more than likely afraid of getting her nails broken or something.
When she looked at the place where Helen was buried, the fresh dirt making her realize that she really was gone, she started crying again.
“I’m going to miss you.” She put her hand on the cold earth. “You and I got along so well that I would sometimes forget that we were sisters and not best friends. I guess you were my best friend now that I think about it.”