My will is included in the envelope, and it states that my land and house belong to you girls as well, but that it’s mine as long as I am alive. I will live in it until that time and will be grateful to have you as my neighbors.
Get in touch with our lawyer if anyone gives you an ounce of trouble about our wills and what we want done.
Sincerely,
Amos Landry and Ora Mae Stephens
P.S. Amos’s handwriting really does look like chicken scratch.
Anna Rose looked up from her letter, but Jorja barely noticed. Taryn had dissolved into tears. Clinton slid off his stool, grabbed a roll of paper towels, and handed it to Taryn. She peeled off two and passed them over to the other side of the worktable.
“That must’ve been some letter,” Clinton said.
Anna Rose shoved hers over to him. “Read it and weep with us. We didn’t even know those two folks so well, and yet theyknowus.”
Jorja tried to dry the tears, but they just kept coming. “Now I really feel guilty about not visiting Nana Irene more often.”
Clinton scanned through the letter and handed it back to Anna Rose. “I don’t envy you ladies the moment when Linda and Kaitlin find out.”
Jorja folded her letter and started to put it back in the envelope when she realized it held another piece of paper. She pulled it out and unfolded it. “This seems to be a letter just from Amos. His handwriting really isn’t good, but I can read it.” She gasped when she scanned down through it and then looked up with tears in her eyes. “It seems that Ford and his friends were still in the barn at dawn after our graduation, and Amos overheard them bragging about how many girls they had drugged the night before. Ford bragged that he got the best prize because he got a virgin, and ...” She looked up at her cousins and blushed. “And ...,” she stammered, “and Ford named me.” She went on to read out loud:
“Times was different back then, and Ford’s family was pretty big in town. It was well known that they could buy him out of any trouble he got in, and besides we didn’t have an ounce of proof other than what I heard, and the folks around here wouldn’t take my word for anything. I kept it a secret, other than telling Ora Mae, and we kind of nudged each other to leaveour land and houses to you girls. It seemed the right thing to do to make up for the way you’ve all been treated, and besides, Ruby and Irene have been among the handful of folks who treated us and Forrest right.”
Clinton slapped the table so hard that two vases fell to the floor and broke into a million pieces. “Does Irene know?” he growled.
All three women shook their heads.
“We didn’t even know until Jorja told us since we’ve been back this time,” Taryn answered.
Jorja couldn’t take her eyes off the letter. “Amos says that he tore down that barn and put up ‘No Trespassing’ signs all over his property after that happened.”
“And to think that Ford Chambers helps with the youth at the church and does volunteer work with the sheriff’s department,” Clinton snapped. “A fine upstanding citizen he is. Are you all right, Jorja? I know this happened years ago, but that kind of thing can cause problems for years.”
“It has caused her too much grief,” Anna Rose said. “And even after ten years, the memories hang on like a bulldog, right, Jorja?”
Jorja finally had the courage to raise her eyes. “Yes, they do, and the guilt that goes with some of them feels like it will suffocate me at times. I got pregnant that night and lost the baby before the second trimester.”
“Holy crap!” Clinton gasped.
“But I’m getting better now,” Jorja declared. “Us cousins have formed a therapy group. Sometimes we throw things at trees and sometimes do crazy things like kissing the Blarney Stone. Working together these weeks has helped me more than y’all will ever know.” She paused. “And I pray every night that the Lucky Shamrock really does bring all of us good luck.”
“If y’all need me, I’m more than glad to sit in on your therapy sessions,” Clinton offered. “It’s kind of what I do with the men and women I work with.”
“You are welcome anytime, and I might need a meeting of some kind tonight since Zoe has been ripped away from my heart,” Taryn admitted.
“Sweet Jesus!” Anna Rose finally exploded. “What are we going to do with acres and acres of watermelons and two houses?”
“Harvest them and maybe live in the houses?” Clinton suggested. “Maybe build a third one if you are tired of living together? You’ve got some decisions to make this week—but right now, we’ve got a huge casket piece to make.”
“And a couple of really nice arrangements to put together to set at each end,” Taryn said. “One from us and one from Forrest. We should close the shop so every one of us can attend the funeral tomorrow morning.”
“I’m not leaving Shamrock,” Jorja whispered. “Nana Irene and Ruby need us, and this gives us a place to live and a farm to run.”
“Me either,” Anna Rose said. “I’m going to be a watermelon farmer, and I hope Forrest will teach me what I need to know. Taking pictures and being semi-famous for my art has been fun, but it is time to move on.” She stopped and nodded toward Taryn. “You need to do the same.”
“I’m in,” Taryn said.
Jorja shifted her gaze over toward Clinton.
