Mariah Stewart: Hard Truth

“I’ll do the pond and the garden and the plot,” Lorna had replied, forcing herself to smile back, as if they were discussing nothing more important than what stores to stop at on their next shopping trip. “We’ll hold off on the Limoges.”

“It’s up to you, sweetheart.” Mary Beth had closed her eyes and added, as she nodded off, “But we used to have a porcelain box shaped like a fancy little shoe. I think that would be highly appropriate, don’t you?”

Lorna had smiled in spite of herself. Her mother’s love of shoes was legendary.

The phone rang, startling her. She went inside and picked up the kitchen extension, but by the time she got there, the caller had hung up.

“Probably a wrong number, anyway,” she muttered as she replaced the receiver.

She walked from room to room, wondering what to do with herself. The television she’d brought with her was in the back of her SUV, but there was nothing she felt like watching. She’d been debating whether to go to the expense of having the cable connected, since she wasn’t sure how long she’d be staying, but decided that was just one more decision to put off until tomorrow.

In the meantime, she’d bring in her laptop, check her email to make sure there was nothing from a client that needed to be handled immediately, and then she’d turn in early. She was tired from driving and from the emotional ordeal of coming home for the first time since her mother had moved in with her. So far she’d been okay-a little unsettled, but okay. She wasn’t sure how the rest of the night would play out, though. She’d never slept alone in this house that she and her siblings had long ago accepted as having unseen occupants.

“You still here, Uncle Will?” Lorna called from the front hall. “ ’Cause I’m going to be around for a while and I’d appreciate you letting me get some sleep, okay? I’ll mind my business if you mind yours…”

She was grinning as she went outside to bring in her computer and a few other items, the television included, just in case she was unable to sleep and needed an electronic diversion. The entire family had long recognized that her great-uncle Will Palmer had remained in the house since his passing in the 1940s. His was a benign if sometimes disconcerting spirit, and over the years they’d all come to accept his presence. Actually, for the most part, they ignored it. Though it had been such fun as a teenager to tell the stories about his sightings. Invitations to sleepovers at the Stiles’ house were prized by Lorna’s and Andrea’s friends-especially slumber parties where there was safety in numbers. There were those who even today would swear to having encountered Uncle Will in the upstairs hall or in one of the bedrooms, but whether such sightings had really taken place had not seemed to matter. Uncle Will’s ghost had found a place in local legend.

The phone started to ring again while Lorna was setting the television onto a kitchen counter, and she grabbed it on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“So how is it?” True to form, Lorna’s sister, Andrea, didn’t bother to identify herself, but jumped immediately into conversation. “What’s it like there?”

“Quiet.”

“Where’s Mom?”

“Still in the back of the car.”

“You haven’t scattered the ashes yet?”

“Christ, Andi, I’ve only been here a few hours.” Lorna was grateful that her sister couldn’t see her face at that moment. “Let me get unpacked, okay?”

“Well, I’d have thought that would have been the priority.”

Easy for you to say, since you’re there and I’m here.

“My priority was unlocking the front door, getting something to eat and something cold to drink. There’s no air-conditioning here, you might recall, and the temperature is-”

“Okay, okay, so you’ll take care of it tomorrow. I don’t know how you can stand having them just sit there. The whole idea makes my skin crawl. I wish she had wanted to be buried, like Dad did.”

“Well, she didn’t, so we have to respect that, don’t we?” Lorna replied tersely.

“I suppose.” Andrea sighed as if somehow she’d made a huge concession on Lorna’s behalf. “Where are you sleeping tonight?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Is Uncle Will still there?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been here long enough to find out.”

“Let me know if he prowls around tonight. He might not like anyone being in the house, now that he’s had it to himself all this time.”

“I doubt he’ll notice.”

“Are you all right there by yourself?”

“Sure. I’ll be fine.”

“Is there anything I can do for you while you’re there?”

“I don’t know what you could do from Oklahoma, Andi.”

“What do the new houses look like?” Andrea said, changing the subject abruptly.

“I haven’t seen them yet. I thought I’d walk across the field tomorrow and take a look.”

“I hope they’re not tacky boxes.”

“I doubt they are. The builder told Mom they’d be selling for a lot of money.”

“That’s good. How was the ride to Callen?”

“Long and hot. I’d forgotten how far a drive it is.”

“You figure out yet how long you’re going to stay?”

“I have no idea. Andi, we talked about all this. I don’t know what’s the best thing to do with the farm. I hate to sell it, but none of us wants to live here. You have your home and your family out there in Oklahoma, and Rob has his life in L.A. I have my business out in the western part of the state-”

“Which you can run from Callen. You do it from home, as it is. Why can’t you run it from Callen?”

“I can, and I will, for a while. But just because I don’t have a husband and family in Woodboro, or because I don’t have to go into an office every day, doesn’t mean I don’t have a life there. I have friends, I have a social life, and I’d appreciate it if you’d respect that.”

“I do respect that,” Andrea soothed. “I just meant that right now, you’re the logical one to deal with all this. Neither Rob nor I are in a position to take off for a few weeks. We’re lucky that your accounting business is such that you can work from anywhere.”

“Oh, the wonders of technology and computer systems that interface.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You said your computer hooks into your clients’, so you can travel back and forth. When was the last time you went into any of your clients’ offices?”

“I do an in-house audit twice a year for each client.”

“And you have how many clients?”

“Twenty-two.”

“Well, there you go, then. Your business is a success, you only have about a month and a half when you need to be on-site. The rest of the time, you can work from Callen.”

“I don’t plan on being here long enough to worry about it. You wouldn’t be having second thoughts about selling the farm, would you?”

Andrea’s hesitation spoke volumes.

“I just want what’s best for everyone,” she said. “Maybe we could keep the house and a few acres.”

“I thought we already agreed that it would be best for everyone if we sold the entire property.”

“I think we need to discuss it a little more.”

“If you were undecided, you should have said something before I drove across the state to get the ball rolling on the sale.”

“I simply think we shouldn’t be too hasty.”

“Andrea, I will stay here long enough to take care of our business and to carry out Mom’s last wishes. But I have a life in Woodboro, and I intend to return to it. This is a temporary stop for me. If you want to hold on to the farm, I suggest you and Jerry find a way to buy both my and Rob’s shares and move yourselves out here.”