“Thank you,” Landon told her.
Verity held out their hand, and Landon took it, following them down the hall. In front of the closed office door, Verity turned and gripped Landon by his shoulders.
“You’re okay,” Verity said softly.
“I’m okay,” Landon repeated; this routine, unfortunately, nothing new for them.
“I’ll be there with you.”
Landon nodded and chewed his lower lip between his teeth nervously. Verity reached up and tugged it free, then slid their arm around Landon’s shoulders and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” came the muffled reply from behind the door.
Verity looked at Landon and stepped out of the way. Landon twisted the knob and pushed the door open. He was instantly relieved to see no one besides someone whom he assumed to be Mr. Henchen in the room.
The attorney was an older man, large with an imposing figure. He stood behind his desk and extended his hand to Landon then to Verity, although with a more quizzical look on his face.
“This is my best friend, Verity Jones,” Landon explained as he took a seat.
“Ah.” Mr. Henchen scratched at his cheek. “Duly noted.”
Verity took the seat beside Landon and twined their fingers together in front of their chest, elbows resting on the arms of the chair.
“Well.” Mr. Henchen shuffled some papers around and adjusted his glasses. “Mr. Miller,” he started, but Landon cut him off.
“Just Landon, please.”
“Right. Landon. First off, let me offer my condolences regarding the loss of your grandfather, Mitchell Miller.”
Landon responded with a perfunctory nod, even though everyone in the room had to know his grandfather’s passing was no substantial loss to him.
“As you were the only living next of kin, the eldest Mr. Miller has allocated the fair majority of his estate to you directly.”
Landon coughed and choked, then beat his fist against his chest. “What?”
“Mr. Miller indicated he wished to donate one million dollars to charity, split equally four ways between three of his choosing and one of your own.”
Verity coughed out a surprised sound and glanced over at Landon as Mr. Henchen laid the top piece of paper face down on his desk before continuing.
“As I said on the phone, he leaves you his home in Pasadena, where he resided until his death. I have a file with the estimated property value and most recent appraisals. If you choose to sell, I can get you in touch with a trustworthy realtor.”
The attorney continued, “Mr. Mitchell held approximately five million in liquid assets and, as he neared his final days, he arranged to have most of his additional properties sold. The balance of his cash assets is just under ten million dollars.”
“Fuck me,” Landon muttered under his breath.
Mr. Henchen looked up at him sharply, and Verity chastised him silently.
“Unfortunately,” Mr. Henchen continued, “there was one property besides the main estate he was not able to sell. It’s still listed, but you can do with it as you wish now.” He slid a manila folder across the desk; Landon picked it up and flipped it open.
The property in question was obviously abandoned. Judging by the brick facade and arching stained glass, it looked to be an old church. Landon flipped to the second page in the folder. It was a printout of a map with the building location circled. Landon remembered enough to know the location from stories he’d been told as a child.
“Oh, it’s a lovely church, Landon. A beautiful place from another time, tucked just outside the city against the foothills. When your grandpa was very young, he proposed to MawMaw on the steps there, and she told him no.” Landon’s mother smiles mischievously.
"She said no?” Landon asks, six years-old and horrified. His grandfather scares him, and he couldn’t imagine anyone, especially MawMaw saying no to him.
“She told him no four times before she finally said yes. Right there on the stairs of the church. They got married there a year later.” Landon’s mother strokes her hand through his hair and smiles again.
Landon couldn’t imagine his grandfather as ever being the sentimental type, but maybe he was wrong. It was easy to make assumptions when you didn’t take the time to get to know people. He closed the folder and handed it over to Verity.
