Why are you here?Her mind screamed at the lawyer.She didn’t know how much longer she could take all this chit chat before she lost it.
But her mother’s voice was in her mind’s eye, and it reigned her in.
Always be nice and treat unexpected visitors like an invited guest in your home, Jenna.You never know if they’re having a bad day,she would say.
She’d say it even after a visit from Mom and Dad’s exceptionally prying neighbour Rita Rose.She was a lonely lady who made up all kinds of excuses to visit, and Dad would make up quick excuses to get out of the house when she arrived.
This woman reminded her of Rita Rose and Jenna bet she would talk all day if she could.
“What brings you by, Ms.Bradley?”Axel suddenly asked, probably thinking the same thing Jenna was thinking.
Thank you!Jenna silently praised.
A sudden quiet sliced through the room, heavy and expectant, making Jenna’s heartbeat thunder in her ears.
While she’d been tuning out Sally and thinking about Tim, Axel had moved to stand beside the couch on Jenna’s side.
There’s no easy way for me to say this…” Sally finally said with a frown.
Jenna’s breath stalled.Every instinct screamed that her life was about to tilt sideways.
Say what?Would she lose Axel and Nick?My goodness they’d only been here a couple of days, and she couldn’t stand the thought of losing them.
“As you know your closest neighbour Sam went for an operation.”
“That’s right, cataract surgery,” Jenna said.
Relief poured through her.She was here to update her about Sam.Now she recognized the name.Her business card had been on Sam’s refrigerator door.
Her relief however was short-lived.
“Cataract surgery?Is that what he told you?”Sally said with a chuckle.
Jenna nodded, not liking where this conversation was going.
“He actually went for heart valve surgery.There was a risk as with all operations.He knew he might not make it,” Sally said.
“What?”she whispered.
Her chest tightened.Why would Sam lie?What else hadn’t she known?
What was Sally trying to say?That there were complications?Was Sam going to be gone longer than two weeks?There was no way he could run his place after such a huge surgery.She would have Nick or Axel stay there with him full-time until he was better and she would drop in every day with baked goods for him.
She would take care of him too.All would be good.
“I am sorry to tell you this, my dear, but Sam didn’t make it.He named you as sole beneficiary to his estate, and I am the executor of his will.”
Jenna blinked, struggling to understand what Sally had just said.The words didn’t land all at once.They hit in pieces, sharp and disbelieving, like her mind refused to assemble them into meaning.
“I don’t understand.I know he has a heart issue.He’s on blood thinners, and drugs to keep his valves strong.Why wouldn’t he tell me he was going for a serious operation?I would have taken him in and stayed with him.”
She recalled Sam’s last visit just a few days prior, remembering how happy he’d been when she’d offered him the baked goods, and she’d found it odd that he’d hugged her for the first time.That hug replayed in her mind.It felt heavy with unspoken goodbyes she hadn’t recognized at the time.
Sam was dead.
A sudden rush of hot tears stung her eyes as she struggled to keep her composure.
“Did he suffer?”Her voice cracked.
