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I’m afraid there is.
This might be my last lifeline to my mother. I drop my head on the envelope still laying on the table, stretching out my arms and setting my palms down flat on the table. I slightly tap the table, trying to calm myself.
This is ridiculous, Addison. Open the damn envelope.
After a few minutes, I sit up straight and pick up the envelope. Slowly, I pull together the gold brads and slip open the flap. I hear the locusts buzzing outside the window. I think they’re all chanting for me to hurry the hell up. I look up to my aunt, her mouth curving into a smile. I pull out the contents of the envelope.
My heartbeat races as I look through the papers. I’m looking for one thing and one thing only. Tears well up as I see what I’m looking for. A small envelope with my name written on the outside. In her writing.
Mom.
I drop the rest of the papers and hug the envelope against my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing tears to escape down my cheek. Hearing Amy stand up, I open my eyes.
“I’ll give you some privacy to open your letter,” she says, wiping away tears that have stained her cheek. I exhale loudly.
“Please stay,” I say, grabbing the hand she placed on my shoulder. “I want to open it later. Stay with me while I look at the rest of this?” I ask, peering up to her.
She smiles and sits back down. I gingerly place the letter back on the table, running my finger over my name. Warmness spreads through my body knowing her hand touched the pen that wrote that. I swipe my tears away, ready to see what else was in the envelope.
Glancing through the papers, I have to read through the legal jargon to get to the important stuff. When I find what it is I’m supposed to see, my eyes almost pop out of my head. My head snaps to Amy. “Eight hundred thousand dollars?” I say in disbelief. She gives me a lopsided grin.
“Keep reading.”
I look back down, scanning the document. It seems my mom had a million-dollar trust set up for me if she ever died. It explains the amount I received on my eighteenth birthday and how the rest would be given to me at either my college graduation or my twenty-fifth birthday, whichever occurred first. I keep reading, wondering what my aunt was referring to. I flip the pages until I’m done reading the trust. There’s one paper left that wasn’t attached to the rest.
It’s a statement. My eyes roam the page until it spots a number.
“HOLY SHIT!” I scream, jumping out of my chair almost knocking it over. My hands are shaking as I look to my aunt. She’s beaming. “Is this right?” She nods. “What the hell am I going to do with this much money?” I say, shaking the statement in the air. She laughs.
“Well, New York is kinda expensive.”
“Not that expensive.” I keep reading the total, thinking I misread it. But it hasn’t changed. “Why is it so much?”
“Well, it’s been in a financial investment account for thirteen years, untouched.” She shrugs.
“I don’t even know what to say.” A flush of adrenaline tingles through my body just thinking that I’m a millionaire.
“Now you can do whatever you want.” Amy stands up and walks over to me, pulling me in for a hug.
“Huh. I am doing what I want. I love forensics and can’t imagine doing anything different,” I say. “This money isn’t going to change my mind. But… maybe now I can buy a really cool apartment in the city.” Excitement races through me just thinking about it.
Syd and I looked at so many places online for me to live. I found an apartment, not too far from work, but it’s a room. Literally. Like one whole room and each wall has a different part of a whole house. Kitchen on one wall, bed on another, and couch on the other. Thank God I’m not claustrophobic. We laughed at how our tree house growing up was bigger than my apartment. I sigh. Thank God I only signed a three-month lease. I wanted to make sure I like the area before committing to a year lease.
“You can do whatever you want. You deserve it,” Amy says, leaning over and kissing me on the cheek.
* * *
“Oh, my God!” Sydney screeches. “My best friend is a millionaire.” She wiggles in her seat. We’re on our way to New York, and I just got done telling her everything that happened yesterday.
“Whatever,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“What are you going to do with all the money?”
“Well, first thing I’m going to do is pay off Ted and Amy’s mortgage. For all she has done for me it’s the least I can do.” My face beams knowing I can do that.
“You know what she’ll say about that, right?”
“That’s why I’m going to do it without her knowing. I’ll talk with my financial advisor and have him get all their information; he’ll write a check directly to the bank.” I smile mischievously.
