Cheating a bit…but I can’t keep up with Theo Semper 
Chapter 2 continued.
“Rather than read all of the legalese I will cut to the chase Lee. The house you are presently in was left to you. It is free and clear and has no debts or attachments to it. Your grandmother has requested that it stay in the family and it cannot be sold under any circumstances.
The lawyer looked up at her over his glasses as if to gauge her response and then continued. “Unfortunately there isn’t much left in her bank accounts. The balance in her savings is five hundred and forty two dollars and sixteen cents. This is yours to spend as you wish. I can give you the papers to take to the bank so they can sign it over to you.”
Lee hoped she wasn’t showing her disappointment but she was hoping for a bit more than that to keep them going until she came up with a plan.
“There is no cash left because Miss Mary sunk all of her life savings and her investments into Mirror Bay.”
“Mirror Bay? What is that?” Lee looked up puzzled.
“It’s a new development on the Northern side of the island.”
“But over there is just bush and goats,” the frown she’d been trying to hide was now more pronounced.
“Well lots of people have been eyeing that area even before the volcanic crisis began but no one wanted to invest the time and money to go in and map it out,” the lawyer explained. “Your grandmother had no such inhibitions. She came to me with a plan to do the grunt work and when the time was right she was going to sell it.”
“What? Are you serious? Where did she get that kind of money?”
“Your grandmother was the smartest woman I know, which is why I never charged her,” he replied laughing. “She taught me everything I know about negotiating deals. I was only along to look official. She did all of the talking. Lee the truth is she got the land almost dirt cheap because at the time when she purchased it the owner was trying to leave the island. He’d already lost all of his real estate in the south and swore never to return to Montserrat. I believe he actually thought he was pulling one over on Miss Mary, when she agreed to buy it,” he explained.
Lee looked stunned. She had no clue about this women he called her grandmother. Her mother had barely mentioned her after the Christmas of 1992 when she’d come to Montserrat for a long overdue visit. She was hearing a different side of Miss Mary and she wanted to know more.
“So no development has gone on over there? Is it worth anything?”
“Well on the surface nothing has happened but we have two developers interested in putting down properties there; a boutique hotel with a marina and the other a gated-residential community. That is why I called you. As the sole remaining heir, you get to decide who gets the rights to develop the property or if you want to do it yourself.”
Mr. Albert put down the papers, which he hadn’t really needed since the meeting began, and looked straight at Lee.
“Lee your grandmother took every bit of her pension, life savings and other investments and bought that land. She does not want it sold but if that is what you want to do, the company who wants to put down the hotel has made a very generous offer for the entire property. If you want to just head back to your life in the UK you can consider it. However, let me tell you that I know your grandmother didn’t hide her desire that you would return and take over the development. Turn it into something special.”
“Property development is outside my skill or even interest Mr. Albert. I don’t know what to tell you,” Lee didn’t know what to feel anymore. “I will have to think about it and let you know.”
“Do that. Here is some information on the property and also the offers from the developers,” he said standing and approaching her with the papers. “Your grandmother was very proud of you. She followed every success and even those events that you considered failures. She would tell me, Al, this will make Lee stronger. She probably doesn’t feel that way now, but it will all work out for good.”
“I miss her,” Lee sobbed. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come before.”
“Don’t do that to yourself. Your grandmother is a prayer away and oh, I almost forgot,” the lawyer walked to a painting in the wall and moved it to uncover a safe. He quickly unlocked it and handed Lee five leather-bound books.
“These are yours. Miss Mary wanted you to have them,” he said.
Lee added the books and the paperwork to her bag and said a quick good bye to the lawyer. She needed to get some fresh air and absorb what had just happened.
………..
A cool breeze welcomed her outdoors and she turned towards the Riders where she was to meet Matt and the kids. Was she ready to see them? No, but she couldn’t leave them with Matt for much longer. She’d already taken up so much of his time.
Who was he anyway? She didn’t know much about him. She would make it her business to find out more about what he did and his life. He’d already become so involved in hers.
Lee spotted a bank and figured it made sense to go and change out the pound notes she had. As it happened to be the same bank that her grandmother banked at she decided to have the savings account transferred to her then. One good thing about small islands, there was hardly any traffic inside and so she was attended to almost immediately by the accounts manager. Lee was pleased to see that they were a totally tech savvy and offered electronic banking, so it wasn’t long before she’d ordered checks and had some cash to get a few items the children would need.
She did a quick calculation and figured she had enough cash to hold them until the end of the month which was still three weeks away. At the end of that time she would need to have income coming in. Sigh, an easy fix would be to take the money on the table which would make her an instant millionaire a few times over. But is that what she really wanted?
She heard them before she saw them. The kids were laughing and taking turns at a photo booth with Matt. His laugh was generous and he was being as silly with the poses as they were.
Was this guy for real? Where were his skeletons and how frightening were they?
Nandie spotted her and would have taken off across the street but Matt grabbed her in time. As soon as Lee’s feet touched the pavement, her two-year-old scrambled away from Matt and ran on unsteady feet towards her.
“Hi princess. You missed me?” she asked planting kisses all over her face.
“Mommy princess,” Nandie said rubbing her nose on her mother’s.
They gave each other Eskimo kisses for a while before Jaden came over and embraced her around her waist.
“Hi Jay. You guys having fun I see,” she said taking hold of his hand and walking towards Matt and Renee.
“Yes. Matt gave us a tour of the town and then we had some ice cream while we waited for you,” he replied.
“No food?” Lee looked up quizzically at Matt.
“They wanted to wait until you got back to eat. So if you are ready, we can go down on the bay and grab some fried fish lunch at Moose’s,” he suggested.
“Sounds good and I’m starving,” she replied.
They all headed towards the truck and Lee slowed her pace so Renee could catch up.
“Everything okay honey?” she asked, lifting Nandie a bit higher on her hip.
“No mom. It’s not okay,” Renee answered. Her mood seemed to have changed the minute she spotted her mother. Where had the giggling twelve-year-old gone?
Lee wasn’t up to another argument so she just left it. What could she say anyway? Renee had spoken the truth, things were not okay.
The ride to Moose’s Place was not long and the lunch crowd had thinned out so it wasn’t hard to get a table. They placed their orders and the kids all wanted to go and look at the ocean and the nearby fish tanks while they waited.
Lee sipped her drink and smiled as the kids seemed so at home near the sea. Renee’s sulky face had disappeared and Lee was now beginning to believe it was only done for her benefit.
“Are you okay Lee?” Matt asked, searching her face for the answer.
“I’m fine but I suppose you are asking me how the meeting with Mr. Albert went?” she said.
“No. I asked you if you were okay. That is all.”
“I’m fine Matt or at least I will be once I figure out what to do.”
“You will. Don’t worry about it and you can trust your spirit to lead you right.”
Lee took a sip of her drink before replying. “I don’t know anything about trusting my spirit. I’m not that tapped in to this higher power you seem to be in to. I just know that I’m here and I have to take care of my children.”
“Whether you like to believe it or not God is who brought you here and you can trust that this will work out,” Matt countered, turning to check on the kids and dismissing a need for her to respond.
“Who are you anyway? What do you do?” Lee figured it was better to do some asking of her own.
“I’m a carpenter,” was his only response as he dispensed with the straw and just drank straight from the glass.
“Oh. What do you make?” she wasn’t about to be put off by his brief answer. There was something about him that said he was more than a carpenter.
“I make whatever my clients ask me to make within reason as I do have my limits.”
“And what would those limits be?” she kept the questions coming because she didn’t want him to ask her more about the lawyer’s visit and her plans.
“I don’t build coffins and tree houses.”
“Are you afraid of heights?” she continued the interrogation.
“Let’s just say I prefer my feet on the ground.” Matt played with the droplets on the glass but didn’t break eye contact. “Anymore questions?”
She was tempted but stopped herself. “Nope. That will do. Food is here.”
The waiter was laden down with the plates of fried snapper, rice and peas with veggies, salad and fried plantain. The kids didn’t need to be called as they’d kept one eye on the table the entire time. Jayden offered to bless the meal and this got Matt’s attention. Lee just bowed her head and didn’t bother to answer the question in his eyes. She was denying any knowledge of God but obviously the children had been made aware there was one. Her issues with God were her own. She didn’t stop her mother from taking them to church or teaching them to pray.
As she delved into the fish her throat clogged up even more as she remembered the weekend fish fries with her mother. Without fail, her mother would have fresh snapper every Friday afternoon and no one was ever turned away. She helped Nandie with her fish careful to remove all of the bones but kept her eyes down. She didn’t want to speak to Matt. His eyes kept touching her face from time to time and she didn’t want him to see how she was hurting.
Filed under: 30-Day Challenge
