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“Some bullshit is what’s happened!” she scoffs, tossing back the rest of her beer before reaching to open up a new one.
“Marley, slow down,” I say, resting a hand over hers.
“Just sit and talk to me,” I say calmly and after a long sigh, she does.
She’s silent for a while, twisting her beer bottle around on the counter and staring off vacantly.
“The bank denied a loan I had set out for my vet office. Apparently, all that money I saved to chip away at my student loans wasn’t nearly enough to apply for a business loan. I’m fucked,” she says in defeat, and my heart breaks for her.
“I had no idea you were thinking about opening up your own office. Is the pay not good enough here? Do you need help?” I ask, worrying even more about the fate of my dad’s ranch and my role in it.
She brushes me off with a wave of her hand before sipping more of her beer.
“You guys pay me more than enough for the minimal hours that I have to work here. No offense to y’all, but I want my own office. I worked my ass off in school and there isn’t a town vet for another hundred miles. Nobody should have to drive that long if their animal is sick. Cannon Falls has never had a vet and I always wanted to be the first, but it looks like it’s far out of reach,” she says, wiping a tear from her eye in anger.
I don’t know what to say to her at this point in time. I feel as though any word would be useless right now. In a way, I know how she feels. I worked so hard in school to be in the literature world and one car accident took that all away from me in a heartbeat. I may be fortunate with what my dad left behind, but in a way, my dreams died with him that day.
I try to think of what he would want me to do in this situation. My father was a giving man. He loved his staff like family and would give them the shirt off his back if they needed it. The thought brings a light bulb to my head.
“Marley, there’s still hope-”
“There isn’t, Ali. The bank gave me a fat red X on the paperwork,” she says, and I offer her a kind smile.
“No, there is. My dad left a hefty fund behind not only for me, but for the business. There’s enough to put a down payment on a place and get you started. I can-”
“I’m not letting you pay for my new business, Ali. End of story,” she says stubbornly and I roll my eyes at her.
“I wouldn’t be paying for it. Think of it as an investment. You’re right, there isn’t a town vet or a vet for miles and Cannon Falls needs it. If I can spread my dad’s name and assets even more outside of this ranch, his legacy would be more than fulfilled. We could really go somewhere with this,” I say, and for a moment, hope flashes through her eyes.
“No offense, Ali, but you went to school for literature, and I went for medicine, we have no idea how to handle any type of finances or logistics,” she says, and I have to think for a moment.
“We don’t, but your mom does. She was the personal finance teacher for the high school for years and Dad hired her on to help with the books when she agreed to housekeep after the school lost funding. She’s an accounting wizard, Marley, and you know it.”
She’s silent for a while, mulling over everything I just threw at her. I can practically see the wheels turning around in her pretty head.
“It’s going to be a lot,” she says after a while, and I agree with her.
“It may be a lot, but will it be worth it?” I ask, and she looks up at me, her lip caught between her teeth.
“Yes,” she says quietly, a smile now lighting up her face.
It makes me feel good. It makes me feel hopeful. Things that I have not felt in quite some time. The fate of this place and my role in it may be unknown, but for now, I can help where it’s needed. I can help someone in need and my father would’ve done the same exact thing.
“We can at least look for a place tomorrow. There are a few vacant buildings I saw when I went into town with your mom the other day.
She nods and rests her hand over mine, her eyes glossy and a smile playing with her lips.
“Thank you, Ali. You have no idea how much this means to me,” she says, and I hold her hands in mine.
“Dad would want it,” I say, and she nods.
“He would be so proud of you,” she says, and I have to fight back tears for the second time today.
We finish chatting in the kitchen before Claire shows up and cooks dinner. I walk upstairs for a shower but end up lingering outside my father’s closed bedroom door. Beau follows me and whines at my side as my hand rests on the door.
I pat his head before taking a deep breath and opening the door, blasted by the scent of my father. Everything is exactly as it’s always been. His bed messy and unmade, his closet doors flung open. Everything, except for the small urn that rests by a picture of him and me on his nightstand.
I walk to it, tears clogging my throat as I realize this was the urn that held the ashes of the parts of him the doctors couldn’t save at first. It’s why his casket was closed. I hold it in my hands, crying softly as I bring it to my chest and hug it.
