3. Victoria
3
VICTORIA
I trudge into my apartment, feeling like half the woman I am. Throwing my bag on my sofa, I barely register the contents spilling out as I slump down next to it.
“Worst year ever,” I say out loud to no one as I rest my head back on my plush sofa. My eyes coast around my space. Even though it is spotless and decorated just how I like it, it feels empty. I look to my side and pick up my handbag to find my cell, and as I do, a letter falls out. Grabbing it, I realize it is the legal letter from the kitchen counter, which I forgot all about after catching Josh and Natalie. I flip it over and again see the details of a law firm from out of town.
“Whispers?” I say to myself as I carefully open it. My heart rate increases as I try to make sense of what I am reading.
An aunt who died? An estate? Whispers? I rub my eyes before I grab the envelope again to ensure it is, in fact, addressed to me. Hearing my cell vibrate, I pull it out with a groan. Josh has been calling me nonstop, and I swear if it is him, I am throwing my phone against the wall. But thankfully, it’s my mom.
“Hey, Mom,” I say in a sigh.
“Hi, sweetie, how are you doing today?” She asks the same question she has every day since I threw out my fiancé. She didn’t like him either, so we are both moving quickly through the grieving process. Although the logistics of canceling a wedding venue and all the additional plans has hit me harder than I was expecting.
“Well, I have officially decided that this year Mercury must be permanently stuck in retrograde,” I tell her, unsure what I’ve done to inflict such bad karma on my life.
“What happened now? Josh didn’t come back to the apartment, did he?” she asks, because when he came back a few days ago to gather his things, I had to call the super to get him out. He was adamant that he was staying, that we could make it work, that sleeping with his colleague was just a one-time thing. It seems Josh doesn’t like being told no, and the whole thing left me feeling a little unsettled.
“I wish that was it,” I say, tears threatening, but I sniff them back. This is not going to break me.
“What is it?” I hear what sounds like her cooking. She loves to cook, especially in her beautiful and spacious kitchen—the kind you don’t typically find in New York City, at least with a reasonable budget. Her desire to leave the city finally took over in her older years, and she now has a nice, safe community and a good number of friends in Connecticut.
“Well, my fiancé cheated on me, I lost my job today, and oh, and I just got a letter from a law firm in a small country town that says my aunt Marie died. I think that is what people call a trifecta.” I scoff and rub my eyes, hoping I don’t get a headache.
“What happened to your job? And wait! Oh my God, what happened to Marie?” she asks, her voice rising as her words topple over each other.
“So I do have an aunt Marie?” I ask, confused. I thought surely the letter was incorrectly addressed or something since I have never heard of her before.
“I need wine,” she says under her breath, and I huff a laugh as I hear her open the bottle. “Okay, let’s start with work. Tell me.”
I imagine her leaving whatever deliciousness she was making out on the counter as she heads to her living space, sitting on her sofa, her legs curled underneath her as she gives me all her attention. I miss her. My father left us when I was only little, and since then, it’s always been just Mom and me. I was devastated when she said she wanted to leave the city. Years of working two jobs just to get me through college, the cold, dark winters, and the masses of people all burned her out, which is why the quiet of the suburbs called to her.
“Basically, they are restructuring. The advertising sales are now being run from corporate, and my entire team and I were let go today,” I say, blowing out a breath. I didn’t love my job, as selling advertising space in magazines was never a career dream of mine. But it paid the bills, and I was good at it.
“Are you okay for money?” she asks, and I sigh.
“I haven’t had any leave in years, and I got a nice commission the last two quarters, which I was saving for the wedding. It’s not much, but I can afford to take my time and find the right next step.” My fingers play with the paper from the letter that sits on my legs. “So I have an aunt Marie?” I ask, moving on to the other topic that has spiked my interest.
“You do. She was your father’s older sister. I met her a few times when you were younger. She had a small farm a few states over handed down to her from your grandparents. Even though she was a cranky woman, when we visited, she was totally enamored with you,” Mom says, and my eyebrows rise.
“Really? I can’t remember it.” Frowning, I try to think back.
“You wouldn’t. You would have only been five or six. She was much older than your father, she had some animals, and she spent all day taking you outside, showing you how to milk a cow and grow vegetables. Of course, you just ended up muddy, but she enjoyed it. It was a highlight for her since she didn’t have any kids of her own,” my mom explains, and I find myself smiling.
“So what happened to her?”
“When your father left us, I lost contact with his family. When your grandparents passed, no one else ever reached out except once, and it was Marie. I got a letter about a decade ago from her, asking about you, and I sent her a long letter back, with photos. We exchanged Christmas cards for a little while, but that was about it. It’s sad to know she has gone.”
“She left me her house,” I tell her as my eyes flick through the letter again.
“What?” My mom shrieks so loudly that I need to pull my phone from my ear.
“Her house and… farm?” I say as I quickly read through the letter again. “And a small amount of money. She left me everything…” I say in surprise and awe.
“Oh my God. In Whispers?” Mom asks, and I look at the address in the letter.
“Yes. Do you think that is where Dad is?” I ask, more scared than hopeful. He wasn’t a nice man, and all I know of him is that he ran off with a mistress and never looked back.
“No, I doubt it. He hated anything to do with the outdoors. He grew up there but couldn’t wait to get out of the place and never went back after college until we went with you. Being a city girl, I never pushed it either. He also never got along with Marie. They didn’t see eye to eye, and I would be surprised if she ever saw him after our last visit when you were a child. Maybe that is why she left you everything instead of him. You are the only grandchild on that side of the family, her only niece. There was no one else.”
I sigh a heavy breath. The family dynamics sound too dramatic for me to even comprehend.
“What should I do?” I ask, knowing she will tell me exactly what she thinks .
“What do you mean? You need to go!” she says, and my brow crumples.
“What?” I sit up straight, my heart picking up pace at the thought.
“You thought the universe was delivering you bad karma with Josh and now your job, but what if the universe was pushing you to go to the exact place you need to be?” While she has always been a little woo-woo, I like her optimism.
“But I can’t leave, I’ve got—” I start to say, and she cuts me off.
“A loving fiancé and a wedding to plan? A fantastic job that is offering you a promotion? Victoria, can’t you feel the opportunity in this?” She’s almost pleading with me.
“Mom! It is a farm, in a town I have never been, far away from the city. I have no idea what I am meant to do with it,” I tell her with a shake of my head she can’t see. She has clearly had too much wine. This is crazy. I can’t live on a farm. I have never even been out of the city much before.
“Well, you could sell it, take the money, and then sit in the city and figure out your next steps. Probably get back into advertising, find another Wall Street guy…” she starts.
“Or?” I prod. None of that sounds appealing at all, and her lack of enthusiasm matches mine at those options.
“Or you could take yourself on a wonderful adventure and flip your life upside down,” she says, and I know she is smiling just from the tone of her voice. She has always been adventurous.
“I’m not sure…” Looking back over the letter, I notice there is a deadline, and it’s only a few days away.
“You loved that farm when you were little, and for Marie to leave it to you tells me that you had an impact on her as well. She obviously didn’t leave it to your father, wherever he is now.”
“Will you come with me?” I ask. Could I really just pack up my life as she is suggesting?
“Oh no. I had my adventure out here already. Besides, I think this might be good for you and exactly what you need. You just turned thirty. There is no better time to really spread your wings.” As she sighs longingly, I can tell she’s getting serious.
“The city isn’t going anywhere, sweetie. If it doesn’t work out, you can always sell, return to the city, and get back to the life you had.”
Maybe she is right. Maybe this is the universe telling me to take a chance and do something new.
“Who knows, maybe you can renovate the old place. Turn it into one of those beautiful interior countryside bed-and-breakfast farm stay thingies. You are so good at decorating and designing,” she says, and I bite my bottom lip. That is a secret dream of mine. To renovate a home and make new from old. At the mere mention of that possibility, my stomach flutters in equal parts fear and excitement. And suddenly, I know what I want.
“I’m going to do it,” I say, determination filling me. Mom is right, I need an adventure. What else have I got? Sure, there is Fiona, and my beautiful apartment, but I can keep it here, leave it waiting for me for a few months until I work out if I am coming back or not.
“Great! I’m so excited for you, sweetie! Let’s book your plane ticket,” she says quickly, and we chat for the next forty-five minutes, making arrangements. She tells me everything she knows about Marie and Whispers, and before long, I have already started a new Pinterest board.