Ally sat down on the piano bench.Teddy sensed something and moved to sit at her feet, his eyes watching her movements.With one hand she rubbed over his soft fur and tickled behind one of his floppy ears.“It’s silly to wish that tomorrow was behind us, I know.We will get through it.Same as always.”She just wished she felt as certain as she was trying to sound out loud.Annie had always had the ability to sound confident and look for the silver linings and all the good things.Ally wished she could have bequeathed to her those attributes in her will.Why hadn’t they had more time for her to learn more from Annie?Annie…the woman who had risked a chance on taking an orphan from the streets of New York under her wing, giving her a roof, a job, and an opportunity for a better life.
Ally had left that uncertain, frightened mouse of her young self behind thanks to Annie’s tutelage.Only she hadn’t taught her by book lessons and tests.She had taught her by living life each day…facing good and bad and making the best choices.When she failed, she learned from it.And she never repeated her mistakes again.And facing another night in an empty apartment with just herself and Teddy was only the beginning of yet another lesson.
Sleep wasn’t all that much after they returned home.With Teddy on constant watch from his bed beside hers, she didn’t close her eyes until the early morning hours.Arriving at her first job as cashier at a popular bakery and café right off Broadway, she felt the effects by mid-morning.Then she had to rush to be on time to meet the five-year-old twins she did after-school sitting with at one o’clock.By the time their aunt arrived to take over since Ally had arranged to leave before six due to her meeting with Mr.Jacobs, she was filled with both a headache and a draining tiredness.She knew a lot of it had to do with anxiety that overshadowed the lack of sleep and uncertainty of what was to come.The secretary showed her right to Mr.Jacobs’s office upon her arrival.
“Come in, my dear.Have a seat.You are punctual as always.”He spoke from behind his massive oak desk strewn with papers and open law books and empty coffee cups.“What would you like Clara to get you?Coffee, soft drink…”
“I’m fine.I just need to hear what you have to tell me.”
“I see.I can understand.There are several things to get through so let’s just jump right in.”He slid his glasses from the top of his head to rest on the bridge of his nose.He picked up the top paper from the stack in front of him and cleared his throat.
He read the brief will about Annie being of sound mind et cetera and Ally listened to each word.Then he paused and she knew that the real items were about to begin.
“I’ll summarize a lot of this, and you will have a copy of all these papers handed to you by Clara when you leave.But let’s get to the main points.You are her beneficiary of all she left.There are a few requests of odds and ends she left to certain acquaintances and those will be dealt with.I am the executor, and my office will help you in any way we can.”
“She left me her apartment?”Ally managed to ask that question for her own peace of mind.But it didn’t elicit the answer she hoped.
“She left you instructions on what she wanted done with it.While it would certainly be correct for you to think that it was part of her estate, she left instructions to you for what she wanted.She wants the apartment to be sold.In fact, she had already secured a person who wanted to give the asking price and take possession of it as soon as possible.”
“What am I to do?Where do I go?I don’t…” She stopped when he held up his hand.
“Annie knew that you would not need the apartment, but you would need the money from its sale plus her savings to handle her wishes for what she needed you to do.I will simply list it and then we can discuss the questions you might have.”
Ally fell silent.Her world had imploded even more than she had dreaded.And there was more to come.
“Annie’s cremated remains are to be taken, by you, to Destiny’s River, Texas.I believe she had often thought of it and shared her feelings about it with you?”
Ally could only nod in agreement.How was she to make this happen?
“As you know, she has an automobile stored on the outskirts of the city.I believe she gave you driving lessons in it.Anyway, I have seen that it is in top condition and ready to transport you and her to Texas.She ensured that you would have more than enough funds to take the trip, and then to set you up for a year once you leave Destiny’s River…should you want to do so.She wrote instructions as to what you were to do once you arrived there.And she also left another letter for you to read in hopes of understanding why she placed this…her final wish on this earth…in your trusted hands.
“She never had children or any family to speak of over these many years, until there was you.We had many talks over that time, she and I, and I can say with all candor that she saw you as her family.She was proud of you, how hard you worked, how much you cared for others and herself, and she wanted nothing but to leave you well able to continue to find your own dreams.But first, you’ll take her where her heart never left.To the place she always considered home even though she was so far from it in miles.Rest this evening and read her words and then call me.You and I will begin this journey to send you on your path to Texas.”
It seemed with each step she took from the lawyer’s office to the subway…the same word kept repeating in her head.Texas.She had listened to the stories Annie told of her life there.It always seemed like a far-off country in Ally’s mind.One she never imagined ever to see.Now she was expected to make the trip on her own to this foreign land.It was so far away from what she knew.From anyone who knew her or she them.But it was Annie’s request of her.The last one she would ever make.And she hadn’t ever asked much of herself while she was alive.But Ally owed her so much.Taking her to where she’d longed to be for so many years.And then leaving her there.
It would be very hard.But she would do this last thing for the only person who had showed her what it was she wanted…to have memories like Annie did of a beautiful place where love grew, and people were welcomed, and families could flourish and grow.Texas.Would it welcome her, too?
Chapter Two
“Catnip.That’s whatyou are.”
Sheriff Matthew Parker shouldn’t be surprised by much that his ten-year-old daughter might come up with, but her words as she slipped into her seat belt, and looked smugly over at him, made him stop in his tracks.“Where did you get that from and what are you doing repeating such craziness?And what do you know about catnip?”
She rolled her eyes and took a quick sip from the straw in her chocolate milkshake.“Come on, Dad.Everyone says that.I even heard my aunts both say it.And it means that all the single girls in this town think you are hot stuff.You need a wife, and they are lining up to apply.That’s catnip to them, Dad.”
Matt shook his head.“It’s about time I have a conversation with my sisters.The rest of the town I can’t do much about, but those two need to remember you are an impressionable child with big ears!”He turned the key and the engine in his truck roared to life.He squelched the urge to hit the loudspeaker button on his official vehicle and announce once and for all to the world that he, Matt Parker, was not in the market for a wife and when he was, it was his business and not theirs.He often wondered if he could back that up with writing tickets to those who repeated such garbage.
“It’s okay.But they do have something.You aren’t getting any younger, Dad.And I could use another girl in the house.You know, to help me win arguments about clothes and stuff.”
Those words caused him to shoot a quick look in his daughter’s direction.Had he missed something?Neglected something?It wasn’t easy being the town’s sheriff and a single dad of a precocious and way too smart for her own good female child.Luckily, they came to a halt at a red light.
“Have I missed something?Have I not done something right?Is there something we need to talk about or ask one of your aunts about?”
Jillie shook her head.“Relax, Dad.You are great…ninety-eight percent of the time.”
“Only ninety-eight percent?What have I missed?”
“You don’t get a perfect score…no parent does.Now, maybe if you let me go to bed later once in a while during the week…that might push you up to a ninety-nine.”
