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Hard.
But a good send-off. Derek made it in time. It was good to have him here.
♥? When will you be back?
Next week. Will text details when I have them.
Reste forte, mon amie. See you soon.
Linney and Jake had met with the lawyer on the morning of the funeral. It was no surprise that Gran had left the bulk of her estate, including the house, to Linney. After all, it was the house that she had grown up in. There was some money Gran had divided between them, and Jake was to inherit many of her husband’s tools, untouched for decades now, if he wanted them. If not, they were to be donated.
Linney was surprised to hear from Mr. Graham again that afternoon. There was one more thing in her grandmother’s will that he wanted to discuss with her. “I can’t imagine what he wants,” she said to Derek, as they walked into town.
“You can tell me all about it when you’re done. Meet me at the park.” Derek was planning to say a quick hello to Danny, and then get them both a cup of coffee while he waited for Linney.
Linney sat down in the small law office—she loved the red brick farmhouse-style building with its steep dormer above the door—while she waited for Mr. Graham to finish with another client. She was intrigued. Surely they’d discussed everything when Jake was there.
“What do you want me to do about the royalty cheques, Linney?” The lawyer wasted little time with pleasantries.
Linney looked at him with confusion. “Royalty cheques?”
“The royalty cheques. There haven’t been any new books since you were young, but the older ones are still in print and bring in some money.”
“Books? I’m sorry, I don’t understand. What books?”
“Linney,” Mr. Graham started again kindly, “you know your grandmother wrote and illustrated children’s books under a pen name, don’t you? Ingrid Larsson.”
“I … I had no idea.” Linney looked as shocked as she felt. Gran had read Ingrid Larsson books to her when she was little, and she’d poured over the watercolour illustrations. How had she not known that those were Gran’s books?
She texted Jake right from the office. He hadn’t known either, but it did help explain how she’d managed a few extravagances. Gran’s royalties had topped up her husband’s pension and the life insurance policies on her son and daughter-in-law. The royalties weren’t large after all this time but they continued to come each quarter. And it turned out Gran had wanted them to go specifically to her. Linney left Mr. Graham’s office with an entirely new appreciation for her grandmother, and what she had given up to raise her.
“So?” Derek asked as he handed Linney a white cardboard cup as she approached him on the park bench.
“You’re not going to believe this. I still can’t!”
The look on Derek’s face as she explained told Linney he was as astonished as she was.
“And there are still royalty cheques. I have to figure out what to do with them.”
“Don’t make any decisions in a hurry,” Derek advised. They sat quietly, sipping their coffee, until Derek turned to her,
“I hate to do this, but I do have to fly back to Calgary tomorrow. “I need to wrap things up there. But if you ever need anything—even just to talk—I’m there for you. All you have to do is call. You know that, right?”
Linney nodded. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that you came. But it’s time I stood on my own.”
After Derek left, Linney went upstairs to Gran’s office. She started going through her grandmother’s papers and sure enough, right at the back of one of the drawers, she found a folder of correspondence between Gran and a literary agent dating back several decades. She leafed through the yellowing pages slowly. The agent had begged Gran to write more books but reluctantly accepted that the writer was too busy. Linney noted the date and winced. It was the year she came to live at Silver Lake. She shoved the folder back into the drawer feeling guilty that her arrival had been the cause of the end of Gran’s writing career.
A few minutes later, she came across another folder marked “drafts.” Linney’s eyes widened. There, in her grandmother’s handwriting was what appeared to be at least one full manuscript—maybe more, plus notes about other books she might have written. A treasure trove of ideas.
As Linney’s time in Silver Lake came to a close, Anna left her girls at home with Danny and the three friends cracked open a bottle of wine at Kirsten’s apartment. Linney asked their opinion about the house. She didn’t want to sell it, but she was hardly ever in Canada. It seemed silly to keep it just for sentimental reasons and to visit a few weeks each year.
“You could rent it out,” Anna suggested. “I’m sure Danny wouldn’t mind if we managed your place in addition to our cottages,” she said. “I bet we could even find a winter renter for you, so you could come home in the summer.
“How would that work?” Linney asked, intrigued by the possibility.
“Well, you could put a lock on one of the bedrooms and put everything in there that you didn’t want someone using. And your gran’s study, of course. And then the renter has access to everything else. You pay the utilities and internet, but make the rent high enough to cover it. At least that’s how we’re doing it.”
Three wine glasses were raised together to solidify the deal.
