“We heard the conversation,” Taryn told her.
Anna Rose stared at the one with her name on it. “I never knew that she and Amos were such good friends, but back when we were living here, we didn’t pay much attention to the folks that were older than us.”
“And they didn’t have kids,” Taryn added.
“Now I feel guilty for not going to church with her,” Jorja said with a sigh. “She’s such a great cook and always bringing food to folks who were sick or who had babies or to those who were grieving. I’m hoping this has one of her special recipes.”
The bell above the door let them know there was another customer, so Jorja got up and headed out front. “Don’t open those until I get back.”
Anna Rose figured that Jorja had been right. They had probably each inherited a copy of Ora Mae’s famous recipes. Maybe the key was that they were Amos’s favorite recipes, too. But even with only the anticipation of some silly recipes, Anna Rose knew she wanted to be there for moments like this with her cousins and hoped they did, too. After the way she’d felt when she first arrived in Shamrock, that was just barely short of a miracle.
“Recipes for what?” Clinton came through the back door and took his place on the barstool where he always sat. “What did I miss this morning?”
“Hello, Jorja.” Forrest’s eyes were red, probably from crying, and he held his hat in his hands. “I need to buy one of them flower things that go at the end of a casket for Amos Landry.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss, Forrest,” Jorja told him. “Linda and Ora Mae have both been in this morning.”
He took a red bandanna from his pocket and wiped a fresh batch of tears from his cheeks. “Thank you. Amos was like a father to me. But Linda wasn’t nice to him, and Kaitlin was even worse.”
Jorja laid a hand on his shoulder. “I can’t imagine losing my father.” She needed to be strong for Forrest, so she blinked back tears, but she really wanted to wrap him up in her arms and weep with him. She had felt pain—maybe not the kind he was experiencing—but hurt came in all forms.
“It’s tough,” Forrest said and tucked the bandanna into the hip pocket of his jeans.
Jorja took her place back behind the counter. “Do you want to look at a book to decide what you want?”
“Yes, thank you,” Forrest answered.
She flipped one of their sample books around so he could leaf through it, but after turning only two pages, he pointed at one. “Like that, only scatter some red roses in it. Ora Mae said she would have her casket piece done up with roses and that Amos liked the ones that grew on the fence out at the farm.” He removed his wallet and laid several bills on the counter.
She made change and handed it back to him. “Thank you, Forrest. And again, I’m real sorry about Amos.”
“I appreciate that. We kind of knew his time was short, but I wasn’t ready to give him up.” Forrest ducked his head and headed for the door.
“No one ever is,” Jorja assured him.
She took the order to the back room. “Can you believe that his niece, Linda, haggled over the price of a plant? Ora Mae spends a fortune on a casket piece, and Forrest buys the biggest, nicest wreath we sell?”
“Yes, I can,” Anna Rose replied. “Where do you think Kaitlin learned her ways?”
“The apple never falls too far from the tree,” Taryn reminded them, and then tore into the envelope with her name on it.
Anna Rose did the same; she took one look at the stack of papers and passed them over to Clinton. “You’re the one who knows about legal stuff. What is this all about? I thought we’d be opening up copies of her cookbooks, not what appears to be a will.”
Clinton glanced down at it. “It is the last will and testament from Amos Landry.” He flipped through a couple of pages. “He’s leaving his house and all his belongings jointly to Taryn O’Reilly, Anna Rose Duquette, and Jorja Butler. He is leaving his niece, Linda Sullivan, one dollar, and he’s already set up a trust fund for Forrest Flannigan but asks that you three please keep him on as the foreman of the ranch.”
“He did what?” Taryn gasped.
“Holy crap!” Anna Rose whispered.
“Why would he do such a thing?” Jorja asked and gripped the edge of the table to steady herself. “Mine has two legal documents in it. Would you take a look at this one?” She shoved it across the table toward him.
“I guess you need to read those letters to know the why, but this looks pretty solid to me,” Clinton answered. “There’s a lawyer’s card attached to it with a sticky note that says he will be at the church after the funeral to answer any questions. It says for all three of you to read the letters. Looks like y’all have come into a windfall that will help you put down roots if you have a mind to do so.”
All three women opened their letters at the same time. Tears flowed down Jorja’s cheeks as she scanned through hers and then went back to read it more carefully.
I’m writing this for me and Amos both because he says his handwriting looks like chicken scratching. He’s right. It does, and we’re sitting here on my porch as I write this laughing like teenagers. We plan to give copies of our new wills to you in the next couple of weeks, unless one of us kick the bucket before you leave town. Amos has pancreatic cancer and only has afew weeks left, but we can both see he’s getting weaker with each passing day.
We knew that you and Taryn were just normal, ornery teenagers that got a bad reputation mainly because of other folks. One of us might have poor eyesight and the other one can’t hear so good, but we aren’t wearing blinders when it comes to seeing what’s really going on, both in the past and right now. There’s not much two senile—that’s what folks call us—old people can do with nothing but hearsay, but we know. And it’s for that cause that we changed our wills and have not changed our minds one bit since then. Irene and Ruby were always so good to me and Amos. Irene taught Bible School with me and talked about you girls all the time. She and Ruby both knew that y’all weren’t treated right, so we’re kind of making up for all that now. Their money is tied up in the shop, and all you have to live in is that tiny trailer out back, so we’re hoping that this will help you three girls have a place and land of your own so that Ruby and Irene can have you close by in their golden years. We know Ruby and Irene will be delighted.
