12
JILLIE
It’s time for the reading of the Will. I already know who gets what, but the rest of the family doesn’t. We’re at home in the dining room table.
“Shall we begin?” Mr. Evansby, the attorney, asks.
I nod.
He rambles some legal jargon and I interrupt. “Can we skip this part? We already know Dad made the decisions. We don’t need to know the ‘heretofore’ and all that, do we?”
He looks around the table. “Is everyone okay with that?”
We’re all in agreement.
“Alright. I’ll just summarize each gift. To my sister Leah and her husband Michael, I leave $750,000.”
“To my nephews, I have put $50,000 for each of you into a trust to use for college. It’s not to waste, boys, but to better yourselves. Don’t let me down.”
Aunt Leah lets out a gasp of surprise. It doesn’t surprise me.
The attorney reads through a few names and items Dad wanted them to have. Eddie, Uncle Will, most of the employees he left some money to.
“To my daughter Jillie. You get everything else. The land, the business, the animals, the employees, the house, and any and all monies I have. You’re my shining star. Keep shining, my Jillie girl. I’ll see you from up here.”
A tear slides down my cheek. I knew he was going to do that, and now I know what I have to do.
I look at the attorney. “I can do anything I want with the items I receive?”
He nods. “Absolutely. They’re yours.”
“I’d like ask Aunt Leah and Uncle Mike if they’d be interested in taking over the business. You’re basically running it anyway,” I admit.
They look to one another. “That’s incredibly generous of you, Jillie. What would the terms be?” Aunt Leah asks.
“First, no employees will lose their jobs. That has to be a guarantee unless they’re doing a shitty job or something—no pun intended. Second, I’d still have a stake in the business, but I think if you’re going to run it, you should get the majority. Let’s say, an 80/20 split? Is that fair?” When they don’t say anything, I keep rattling on. “I don’t know how much the business makes or any of that. If you think 20% is too much, then we can talk about that.”
“No, no,” Aunt Leah says, tears streaming. “That’s perfect, 80/20. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know if you’d close everything down or sell. We’ve been so worried.”
“I’d never do that to you. You should have talked to me. I knew something was bothering you—more than just my dad. I also would like to gift you $250,000 so you can build a home here—one that’syours. One that’s big enough for these four boys. I don’t think it’s enough to finance the whole thing—”
“Stop,” Aunt Leah tells me. “You’re being so generous, Jillie.”
“You deserve this. I’ve always known who did what, when, and where. I can see it. We’re family, and I’m sure this is what Dad would have wanted. I think he was counting on it, actually. He mentioned you and Uncle Mike ‘running the joint’ on more than one occasion. It’s only right that it be yours. Besides, I really would like to keep this house how it is. I don’t think I could handle losing what’s left of Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and Dad,” I relent.
Uncle Mike leans forward and takes my hand into his. “I don’t know how to thank you, Jillie.”
“You just did, but no thanks are necessary. I can’t and don’t want to run the show around here. I’m sixteen, for goodness sake, and I think I’ll be spending the majority of my time in Shell Beach,” I confess.
Aunt Leah grins. “I had a feeling. Your Leo seems like a nice young man. Your dad would have put him through the ringer, but then he’d have been pals with him.”
“Maybe… probably.” I smile. “You’re all the family I have left, and I don’t want that to change.”
“Never,” Aunt Leah tells me. “Never.”
When Mr. Evansby leaves and I make my way up to my room—my Dad’s room, I figure I’m walking away with over a half mil. What the hell am I going to do with all the money? My mom’s and now my dad’s. Sheesh. I’ll donate some to charities, and I’ll need to invest this just as Dad helped me do when mom passed. I’ll ask Aunt Ruthie. I’m sure she has a guy.
I, too, have a guy… but a different type of guy. A guy who’s only been gone for four hours, and I already miss him like crazy. That thing with Ella. I lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling. I can’t believe he did that for her. I can see her asking, but no ordinary guy would agree to that. But I already knew Leo was extraordinary.
The Leo that’s mine is sweet and tender and loving and kind and would sacrifice himself to save someone else. The Leo that everyone else sees is selfish and arrogant and a major asshole at times.
He is quite the contradiction, but then again so am I. I need to chill with the drinking if I can’t stop Mean Girl Jillie from raging on Ella. She hasn’t really done anything to me, not really. Something tells me though that she’s going to, and when she does, it won’t be minor mean girl things. It’ll be major, and something I won’t ever forget.
There’s nothing I can do but wait it out and see what happens. I’ll be staying here another week then heading back to Shell Beach before Homecoming next month. There isno wayI’m letting Ella try to get my boyfriend to take her—and if I stayed here, I know she would.
She’s smart. So clever. Calculating. Just biding her time. That’s what has me worried. People like that are diabolical, and people like me are on the receiving end—especially when we have something they want, namely Leo.
She can do her best or worst, but Leo and I, we deserve a shot to see what could be. I’ve found a good group of friends. I think all of us together is going to be stronger than anything Ella can conjure.
