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Kenzie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, Uncle Jake was standing right in front of her.
He was a tall man, very handsome with classic good looks. He had that sharp jaw that women seemed to love, was built kind of like a bear, and had bright red hair just like her mom. They looked so much alike it was almost hard to look at him.
He reached out a hand and when Kenzie took it, he pulled her to her feet, "You ready kiddo?"
"Nope. Not at all. But let’s do it anyway." Hand in hand, they walked slowly to the lawyer’s office door and Uncle Jake knocked.
They heard rustling and a small thump as if something had been knocked into, and then the door opened. Standing there was her mom’s lawyer, Mr. Fielding. He was a very short man, maybe two inches taller than Kenzie and she was only five feet and two inches. He had salt and pepper hair, brown eyes, clean shaven, and was at least seventy-five years old.
He was also the clumsiest person she had ever met. Kenzie was sure he could knock something over without moving a muscle.
Which he demonstrated as he closed the door behind them, then immediately bumped into the coat rack next to the door. He quickly grabbed it while greeting them over his shoulder, "Hi! Sorry for the delay, please take a seat."
She and her uncle shared a glance and tried not to laugh. Jake was a bit more discreet than Kenzie, covering his mouth with a hand to hide his smile. But her, nope, she snorted out a quick laugh then tried to cover it with a cough.
Neither were fooled.
As Mr. Fielding rounded his desk and took a seat, he just smiled at her. "Damn things seem to always be in my way. My wife says I have two left feet." He scooted his chair in a bit and reached for a folder on his desk.
"First, I am so very sorry for your loss. Megan was a wonderful person, and I will truly miss her. I know this is the last place you want to be right now, so why don't we get right to it?" he asked gently.
Uncle Jake gave a slight nod and reached over to grab Kenzie’s hand again.
Mr. Fielding opened the folder and removed a document. After taping it on the desk to straighten all the papers, he turned it around and placed it on the desk in front of them. Glancing at the page, the first words she sees are“Last Will and Testament of...”
Then she stops reading. She doesn’t want to see anymore.
Instead, she looks toward the large bay window on her left side. It's a beautiful day. The sky is a bright clear blue, not a cloud in sight. It would be a perfect day to read by the lake, or maybe take the boat out. Her Mom liked to sit out on the dock with her feet in the water and just soak up the sunshine. She was a red head though, with very fair skin, so inevitably she would burn because she always forgot sunscreen.
She thought back to just a few weeks ago. It was a day just like any other, and a conversation they’d had so many times before.
Kenzie watched as her mom filled a glass with iced tea, then grabbed her book off the counter and headed to the front door,“Mom if you’re going to read outside don’t forget your sunscreen, and maybe put on a hat to protect your face.”
"Putting on sunscreen wastes valuable time that I could be out in the sun my little Mac. And what is a little burn when I can soak up all that vitamin D?" She said with a big smile on her face as she walked outside, not a care in the world.
And of course, Kenzie followed her out, "But Mom, sunburn is bad for you! It causes skin cancer, and all you do is freckle more anyway."
"Ah little Mac, you worry too much. Life is meant to be lived. Relax, you're going to get wrinkles."
"Kenzie! Are you listening?" Kenzie snapped back to the present and looked at her uncle. She just shook her head. They both knew she hadn’t heard a single word that was said.
"No, I'm sorry. I got lost in my thoughts."
She glanced at Mr. Fielding who gave her a small, indulgent smile. They both knew her and knew very well how lost in her head she got sometimes.
"As I was saying dear, your mother made things very simple. You are her beneficiary. You will get everything, including both houses, and the cat. Jake, I know you and Megan spoke and you said you didn’t want anything, so she wrote that in as well. She told me to leave it at that, and not to drag it out. So, I'm just going to give you these papers to look over and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out, okay?"
"Wait, that's it?" Kenzie asked as he stood up. Uncle Jake also stood and shook Mr. Fielding’s hand.
"Yes dear. Your mother knew it was coming and she said she told you everything you would need to know. She said everything is yours, and you know the path you must take. I'm not sure what that last part means, but I assumed you would."
Standing slowly, she nodded at him, slightly dazed. The path she needs to take. Kenzie wasn't sure she was ready for that, but her mom was always right. The idea made her anxiety start to spike, and she felt a slight itch under her skin.
She needed to go for a run. She hasn't gone since the last full moon, before Mom died. There she said it. Megan Lord, her mom, her favorite person in the world, died.
Suddenly Kenzie couldn't hold it in anymore. Right there in the middle of Mr. Fielding’s office, she burst into tears for the first time. Big ugly tears, sobs wracking her body as she tried to calm herself. She felt her uncle wrap his arms around her and that was all it took. She quit trying to hold the tears in and just let them flow.
"Oh Kenz, I'm so sorry baby girl." He gently rubbed her back as she cried all over his shirt. Kenzie felt someone shove some tissue into her hand and knew it was Mr. Fielding. He was so sweet, which made her cry even harder.
