a house. We didn’t even know each other. Not to mention the underlying fact that we kind of hated one another.
“Wait,” Daniel said, rising to his feet and leaning over the desk. “She gave them her house? Together? That’s so weird. Isn’t that pretty weird? You’re a lawyer. Is that normal will stuff? To tell people they have to live together?” Daniel’s words were coming fast in his excitement and amusement, and the attorney kept trying to begin answering as Daniel kept forming new queries.
“Dan,” I whispered, and my son stopped talking.
“It’s unusual, yes,” Augustus said. “But not unheard of. And she doesn’t stipulate that you must both live in the house at the same time, exactly,” he pointed out.
Relief washed through me. Right. We didn’t have to live together. Why was part of me a little disappointed?
“But we have to live there for six months to sell it?” Addison asked.
“Correct. Or a full year if you do not live there concurrently.”
“Together,” Addison clarified.
“Yes.”
She looked at me then, as if evaluating my potential as a roommate. I stiffened. Why was some part of me wishing she’d decide that she did want to live with me? I definitely didn’t want to live with her.
“And this house,” I began, already knowing the answer. “54 Maple Lane . . .”
“Oh, man,” Daniel breathed, a chuckle beneath the words. “That’s the haunted house in the middle of town!” Daniel laughed out loud now, rubbing his hands together with excitement. “You guys own the haunted house! That place is so creepy!”
“That’s enough,” I said, making my voice stern and hard, and then regretting being harsh with him. This was a lot for all of us to process.
Dan sat back down, but a second later he was speaking again. “And doesn’t it say anything in there about a car?”
I elbowed him in the ribs, but Anders dropped his head back down to examine the document. “Oh, yes, you’re right young man. There is a car. Part of the property.”
Dan’s head whipped around to look at me, excitement in his wide eyes. I tried to give him a stern parental look. We’d discuss Corvettes later.
For a moment, no one said anything. Then Addison stood. “Why would Mrs. Easter leave her house to us?” she asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”
The attorney sat back, causing his chair to emit a whining protest, and he rubbed one hand down his chin. “Filene had no children or close family. She was part of both the Tanner and Tucker families, so perhaps this decision felt like the right thing. Keeping the property inside the family.”
I shook my head. “Do you think she knew what she was doing? Giving something so big to both families? These particular families?”
“I assure you, she was quite lucid when we last spoke. Mrs. Easter was not suffering dementia.”
“I just don’t get it,” Addison said, sitting back down.
“There’s one other thing here,” the lawyer said, picking up the document and reading again. “A sum of two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars will convey with the house, to be used for the express purpose of enacting the repairs needed. This account is at the Singletree Credit Union and carries the names of both parties named herein. In the event the parties do not accept dispensation of the house and the sum, both shall be donated to the Singletree Historical Society with specific contents to be given to the Institute for Tasteful Taxidermy and the Chocolate Lab Rescue.”
I let out a whistle, long and low. That was a shit-ton of money.
“Would you like to dispute the trust?” Augustus asked.
For the first time since his pronouncement, Addie turned to face me, and as our eyes met. Something inside me wished fervently for her to say no. I didn’t understand why, but having Addison tied into something with me, even something this odd, gave me an unbidden sense of hope. Like I’d turned a corner in my life somehow.
But that was crazy. It had to be about the house, the money, the way it could change my life.
“I mean . . .” She said, trailing off.
“Maybe we should at least go see the house?” I suggested, looking for a way to prevent her rejecting this insane idea immediately. I was already envisioning the new addition to the store, my improved workshop, my furniture on display.
Her face cleared, the troubled furrow disappearing from between her brows. “Yes,” she turned back to Augustus. “Can we see the house?”