Lauren walked out of the cottage and sat down on the top step. The weather had been unusually cold the past few days, even for February, with the nights dropping down into the mid-30s. But although this morning was still chilly, from the sun breaking through the wispy clouds she could tell that today would be a great day and significantly warmer. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she looked around and rocked back and forth slightly. This is where she belonged … she absolutely knew it. As though to confirm that feeling, Abigail walked over and sat next to her, purring contently. Two friends surveying their land; completely at ease and comfortable.
Thinking back over the past several months, Lauren knew she had made the right decision, the only choice she could have made. She had gone back to New Jersey for Thanksgiving. Lauren turned in her resignation to the college and put her condo up for sale that same week. To the dismay of her realtor, Lauren had asked for a rock bottom price and it was sold the very next day.
Walking around her condo for the last time, Lauren only saw sterile white walls; a place that had been, although she hadn’t realized it, just a waiting room for her real life to begin in Slidell. There were no attachments here anymore … any remaining friends she had could visit her in Slidell, and if that didn’t happen, well, she knew she wouldn’t miss them.
Lauren now looked at the barn, almost completely rebuilt. It was a large barn, much larger than before. She had conferred with Fred Stanley, the contractor her grandmother had selected, and changed the plans that originally had been paid for. In addition to a large storage area, a section was set aside for Sam and his students to do their testing and experimentation of the samples they took from the bayou. It was to be a real lab, with all the high-tech necessities that the school could not provide. Another change was the addition of a second story one-bedroom apartment adjacent to the loft. It too was to contain all of modern necessities to make living there palatable.
At first Lauren hadn’t realized why she had insisted on the apartment, that was, until Thomas Williams showed up. Thomaswas a young man who years earlier had come to her grandmother in trouble. He was another teen who Grandmere Lebeaux was able to steer in the right direction.
Alma had seen something in him that others hadn’t and took him in to stay with her. To earn his keep she had him work in the garden and help her in the green house. At first resistant and combative, Thomas began to see the wonder of working with growing things. With Alma’s help and encouragement, he had gotten his GED and was able to secure financial aid to go to LSU, where he was now a junior.
The news of Grand-mere Alma’s death had hit Thomas hard; she was his rock and mentor. During his winter recess from school, he had come back to Slidell to visit with his parents and had introduced himself to Lauren. They had hit it off very well and she enjoyed his eagerness and quirky nature; no longer the bad boy. Through their discussions, Lauren offered him a job during the summer where he could stay in the barn-apartment rent-free for helping in the garden and green house. There was not enough work for a full-time job, so he was free to work wherever else he wanted as long as he had enough time to help out here. Thomas jumped at the offer.
Lauren pulled Abby up onto her lap. A feat much harder than it used to be. Abby’s swelled belly told of the kitties nestled inside. Lauren hadn’t even known she was in heat, much less how Abby found a mate. But Abby was content and happy and Lauren was thrilled that her friend would have a family. As soon as the word went out that she was expecting a litter, each kitty was spoken for, no barn cats from Abby, that was certain.
Lauren knew that in a number of years out, Abby would have another litter including two calico cats; one male, one female. Another abnormality, since almost all calicos are females. They would remain as part of Lauren’s family; but she didn’t want to think that far down the road, didn’t want to think of her life without her dear friend Abby.
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An Inheritance
قصص عامةLauren heads to Louisiana to attend to her grandmother's 'estate' ... she had never met her and in fact, none of her relatives had even known she had still been alive all of those years ... as Lauren unravels her grandmother's past, she begins to un...
