An Inheritance

Chapter 29

The thoughts of that night warmed Lauren as she sat on the step.  Abby moved in her lap trying to find a more comfortably place, but not finding any, stepped down and laid on her side next to Lauren’s thigh.  She still wasn’t in a restful position, but that really didn’t seem to bother her much. 

The name Lauren’s grandmother had put into the Bible would soon be put to ink.  She and ‘Wendell’ would marry once the cottage was completed and the bulk of the oppressive hot humid summer had passed.  The dream Lauren had had of a wonderful party taking place on her inherited property was that of the wedding for her and Sam.  Pastor Paul would officiate the service and the party would include half the town, or so it would seem.  

Her grandmother had probably envisioned this, along with a child or two.  But both she and Sam were pretty sure there would be three and she had enlarged the cottage accordingly.  Would they bring a new ‘Alma’ or ‘Wendell’ into the world?  They were certain of it; first a Wendell, and then an Alma.  Theywould be even more powerful than she and Sam together.  They would be brought up without the fear and trepidation that her own mother had felt.  Their instincts were to be embraced and enhanced.  With all of the uncertainties in this world, that was one thing Lauren and Sam would make sure of.     

And that third child?  He would be born without any of those ‘gifts’, but his gift would be to this land of theirs.  He would be the one to love and be the caretaker of this property.  It would be through him that this land would thrive and be there for generations to come.  His name would be ‘Sam’.  

The merging of Lauren’s and Sam’s families would go smoothly.  Abby had already met Sam’s young black Lab, Jake, and seemed to tolerate him well enough.  In fact, they seemed to get along really well as long as Jake realized that she was head of the household.  It had only taken a few swipes of her claws to make him only all too well aware of that fact.  

Lauren smiled and stroked Abby’s fur as her mind wandered to the time she spent in New Jersey and the events that took place there.  She had so much to do and even though the time there was so short, each day seemed like forever and she missed the life she had started in Slidell. 

She had been busy trying to organize the things in her condo into piles of ‘keep’, ‘trash’ and ‘give to charity’.  It had been hard going at first until she realized that there were very few things of importance here.  The ‘charity’ pile kept getting larger. 

Halfway through her kitchen cupboard, Lauren had put down the dish she had been wrapping and went to her computer.  She searched for a phone number and once she found it, she punched it into her phone.  She talked to the woman at the other end and jotted down the times they were open.  The next call was to Danielle. 

“ … I’m going whether you do nor not.  It would be as good for you as it will be for me.” 

“Not in my lifetime.  I don’t know why you even thought to do this.  Let things be.  There’s no reason to bring back the past.” 

“I understand your feelings, and I won’t try to guilt you into going with me, but I think you’re making a mistake.  I’ll call you tomorrow.” 

They said their goodbyes and Lauren grabbed her purse and headed out the door.  

The drive took less than twenty minutes; Lauren found the address she had written on the paper and turned into a spacious half-empty parking lot.  The one story structure was nestled in with several other nondescript buildings.  She took a deep breath, then got out of the car and headed towards the front door. 

The foyer was pleasantly decorated with warm green walls, gently flowered sofas and high-back chairs.  There were several people seated in groups and they gave Lauren a mildly interested once-over.  Lauren approached the young woman behind the wide curved wooden counter.  She was given instructions, signed in the logbook and took the swinging doors to the left.  This corridor was pretty much as expected; cream colored walls with what seemed like endless doors facing each other all along the way.