Oh Lordy, no.Not Ben Tilghman.
Mr.Tilghman hated me after my eighth-grade rocket project accidentally set his mailbox on fire and burned down his fence.“No conflict of interest there.”I didn’t try to hide my sarcasm.“There’s got to be someone outside of town that can help me with this.”
“I can ask around for you.Maybe there’s someone if you drive over to Raleigh?”
Raleigh was a little over an hour away.Doable, but irritating.“I don’t have that kind of money sitting around.”I had that much in student loans and twice that in my own mortgage.
The lawyer stared at me.
I blinked back.
“Can I sell the house to pay it off?”I asked.
“As I already said, the house and land belong to Vinny, and he can’t make decisions on the proceeds until he's eighteen.That means the money from a sale would go into the trust for holding.”He cleared his throat.“Best if you speak to Josh about it.Maybe you two can work something out.You could work for him for a while.We sure do need a new farm vet in town.”
Now I wished I’d agreed to get a bottle of water.“I’m not trained to do rural animal medicine.”
He shrugged, the kind of indifference that made it clear this wasn’t his problem.“You need to pick up Vinny at the elementary school by four today.He’s in after-school care until then.I’ll have Evelyn prepare temporary legal guardian paperwork.”
“Okay.”The word came out thin.“When I pick him up… What do I tell him?Where does he go tonight?”
“He’s been staying with the neighbor, Darlene, for the past three nights.Very kind of her.She’s leaving tomorrow to be with her daughter in Charlotte.To see her first grandchild.She can’t keep him another night.”
I dragged a hand down my face, forcing myself to breathe.“I don’t know how to do this.How do I handle talking to him about losing both his parents?”
He gave me anothernot-my-problemshrug.“I assume he’ll go with you to Philadelphia.You either accept guardianship or the court will appoint someone else.I strongly advise against letting it reach that point.”He slid his glasses back on.“You also need to go to the funeral home tomorrow to make decisions about the service and burial.You know, flowers and such.”
I hesitated, then asked, “Is there money set aside for the arrangements?I just want to make sure everything’s handled properly.”
“Yes.The will specifies that savings and retirement accounts will cover the expenses.”
That seemed oddly specific when there wasn’t much in savings.
Dad being dead felt unreal.I expected him to jump into the room with a giant “Gotcha” at any moment.
“They wanted to be buried, not cremated,” the lawyer droned on.“The plots were purchased many years ago.I already posted the obituary in the paper so people will know the memorial is taking place this Saturday.I contacted the Methodist minister who had time at three in the afternoon.”
The rest of our meeting involved many signatures.
On my way to the lawyer’s lobby a man called out, “Wait up, Erika.”
I turned, expecting there to be another packet of papers needing a signature.A strikingly handsome man several inches taller than me, sun-kissed and stylish with dirty-blond hair, wore a perfectly tailored gray suit.He grinned and held out his arms for a hug.
I did a double take.“Knox?”
He pulled me into him and kissed me on the cheek.He smelled of the kind of aftershave that whispered of something luxurious and unforgettable.“You were supposed to text me when you got in.”
“I’ve been busy,” I hedged with the lie because I wasn’t ready yet to see old friends.
“We have to get drinks while you’re in town.”
“Sure…yeah.We need to.I guess you never know when you might need a kissing date.”I tried to force myself to seem happy to see him, even though I had whiplash from my dad’s will.
“I don’t need kissing dates anymore.This isn’t high school.Everyone knows I’m gay.”He’d almost been outted as a sophomore, before he was ready for everyone to know.Realizing someone was about to hurt him something awful all those years ago, I claimed we’d been making out on a date the night before.Periodically, Knox had continued to use me as a shield in school.And since graduation, he was the only person from town I kept up with.
He said, “I’m so sorry about your parents.My offer to help you with whatever you need while you’re here stands.If you need a place to stay or an errand run, let me know.”
“Thanks.This is a lot.”My phone rang.A sense of familiarity, almost but not quite relief, went through me to see the number.“I’ve got to take this.Can we talk later or get together for coffee?I’m sorry.”I rushed outside to answer, “Hi, Jay.”
