“That man still holds a torch for you,” Greta commented, smiling widely.
“What torch?” Eric asked in confusion, leaning forward to be part of the conversation.
“Get back,” Greta warned, “and put on your seatbelt!” The two of them bickered back and forth while Allegra looked on in fascination. Greta had always been a wild card, but her parenting skills were way out there. She couldn’t find anything wrong with it because the two had a very close bond that was touching to see. Eventually, Greta pulled up to Ashlee's well-maintained home. Her beat-up old car wheezed slightly before sputtering to a stop. The old car did not match the pristine surroundings, which gave Allegra a sense of satisfaction.
“If you ever want to sell that car…” Allegra started, but Greta cut her off with a snort.
“Nice try, sweetie, but old George is going to drive me around until one of us gives out.”
Allegra pouted slightly and the three made their way into the suburban dream house. As soon as she walked through the front door, a hush fell over the townsfolk and they took their time to give her a distasteful once-over. Allegra held her head high and walked straight to the food table, helping herself generously to the finger foods assembled like decorations.
“You’re wanted in the study,” an old lady informed her with her nose in the air. Allegra gave her a grateful smile, swallowing her annoyance and her food. She followed the old lady to the study down the hall and was surprised to find that the room was full of people. Ashlee and her family sat at one side, while a collection of older ladies sat on the other side. To the untrained eye, it seemed like they had nothing in common. But Allegra knew that they were all bound by something stronger than glue, their distaste for her. She sat down humbly, trying to hide the blue paint streak on her dress. Unfortunately, Ashlee's hawk-eyes caught it and she was treated to another haughty glare.
“Now that we’re all here,” the lawyer, Mr. Carey, said sternly, “we can begin.” He held on to a few pieces of paper with even typing and looked around the room as if to build anticipation.
Allegra raised her brows at him when he gave her a stern glance and he puffed up angrily. The next half hour was filled with legal jargon and the assigning of books to her book club friends. She contented herself with looking around the study. Picking up small clues about Ashlee’s life. The room was impeccably designed, and the walls featured pictures of her idyllic family life. She truly seemed to be living the American dream.
“And lastly, I bequeath my entire estate to Ellie Smith and Ashlee Mathers.” Allegra was jerked back into the present with a startled gasp. Ellie had gone white and Ashlee was fanning herself with her hands.
“The Wickers estate and fortune?” she breathed, her eyes sparkling. “Why would she do something like that? It is so kind!”
“Yeah, why would she do something like that?” Allegra asked suddenly, her heart dropping to her feet. She had not expected everything, but she had hoped for some sort of sign that her great-aunt felt the same about her.
“Oh,” Ashlee declared, “here we go!”
Mr. Carey and the old ladies leaned forward, eager to be the first to see what was about to happen. They had sensed the friction like sharks can sense blood and now they were finally about to see some action.
“Excuse me?” Allegra asked through clenched teeth.
“You’re always causing trouble!” Ashlee stated, her shrill voice climbing a few octaves.
“And you just love it,” Allegra sneered. “It gives you a little entertainment for once.”
“How dare you!” Ashlee shrieked, standing up. “I invited you into my home!”
“I’ll leave as soon as someone tells me what is going on,” Allegra said calmly, crossing her legs and keeping her gaze steady. “Is that legal?” she asked Mr. Carey.
The man bobbed his head like a chicken. “Completely legal. Ashlee found it in the deceased’s belongings.”
“And that is the most recent copy?” Allegra asked, frowning slightly.
"Give it a rest!" Ashlee yelled, losing her calm. Allegra frowned at her and raised her eyebrows. "You meant nothing to her! Of course, you weren't in the will. Let me ask you, when was the last time you even saw her?"
Allegra opened her mouth to answer, but Ashlee cut her off, “I remember! Ten years ago! She cut you out of her life, and for good reason. You haven’t been back five minutes and look what you’ve done! We couldn’t even bury her because of you!”
Allegra held her head high and looked around the room, very aware of all the eyes on her. Truthfully, she could not say anything in response, and it made her feel terrible.
Chapter Four
"I hate her, and I hate what she stands for," Greta declared ominously, swerving the car to avoid a few potholes. Allegra held on to her seat and closed her eyes while Eric, who was quite used to this sort of thing, tumbled around gleefully. "You know what, I bet she didn't even know Grumpy Dot all that well." Allegra nodded along but clenched her eyes shut as Greta went around a corner too quickly.
“Well, I’m sure Grumpy Dot knew what she was doing,” Allegra said sagely, sighing in relief when Greta stopped at the stop sign.
"I disagree!" Greta said vehemently. "She must have been out of her mind! Leaving that cow everything." The car went silent and Eric looked at his mother with wide eyes. She looked at him in the mirror and grimaced guiltily. "I mean, not Ellie. I like Ellie." Eric nodded and continued playing with the art supplies that were lying around.
“You know, it is a bit strange,” Allegra mused.
“Finally, a proper reaction!” Greta declared, zooming off again, causing Allegra to lurch forward. She grabbed at her seatbelt and closed her eyes again. After what seemed like an eternity, Greta stopped in front of the newspaper building. “You know what I don’t understand…” Greta continued to rant as they walked into the historic building. Allegra found herself milling around as Greta began working on the pictures that she had taken at the memorial. “I’d really like to give her a piece of my mind…” she rambled on. Allegra nodded and waved at Bud, Greta’s quiet husband. Bud acknowledged her greeting and turned back to his computer.
“What do you think, Allegra?” Greta asked, turning to her with a frown.
“I think that something fishy is going on here.”
“What do you mean?” Eric asked, popping up from his drawings.
“Grumpy Dot hated Ashlee as well. Now, she dies suddenly and leaves half of her money and estate to her? I understand Ellie, she always had a soft spot for her. Besides that, she would have left me her typewriter. She promised she would.”
"It is fishy," Greta nodded. "What do you think, Bud?" Bud looked up from his workstation and blinked owlishly through his glasses. He shrugged and looked back at the computer, typing furiously.
“Sorry about that,” Greta said sheepishly.
“No,” Allegra held up her hands, “I get it. Don’t bug a writer who is in the zone.”
“That’s right,” Greta gasped, “I forgot you were a writer.”
“An aspiring writer,” Allegra corrected. “I haven’t done anything toward that yet.”
“That’s why Dot wanted to leave you the typewriter.”
“She knew it would mean a lot to me,” Allegra admitted sadly, looking down at her hands. Maybe Ashlee was right. Maybe Grumpy Dot had purposefully removed Allegra from her life. The thought hurt her a lot more than she was willing to admit.
“That’s it!” Greta stated. “That will is a fake, and we are going to prove it.”
“You’ll need evidence,” Bud said wearily from his workstation. Allegra and Greta looked at each other in surprise. “I do listen to you,” Bud defended when he saw Greta’s shocked expression.
“What do you propose we do?” Allegra asked curiously.
“In my experience, when it comes to something as serious as a will, people choose to create a draft first,” Bud explained, finally turning away from his computer. “Grumpy Dot k
ept all her receipts, which means she was a woman who planned ahead. She would have kept an original draft of her will. All you need to do is find the original and compare it to what Mr. Carey read.”
“That is true,” Greta agreed. “She would have written a draft first. We could also contest the will. We could say that she was not in her right mind. You knew her well enough to give a statement,” she gestured to Allegra. “What did her handwriting look like on that copy? Was it all shaky?”
“It was a typed document,” Allegra said, realizing what had been bothering her about the situation.
“Grumpy Dot hated computers,” Greta said, voicing Allegra’s thought, and the two of them stared at each other, annoyed by the entire situation. Nothing was normal about these circumstances.
“Someone might have typed it up for her,” Allegra pointed out. “She did sign it.”
“It is a lot easier to forge a signature than someone’s handwriting,” Bud said gravely, tapping on the desk as he considered the series of events.
“We have to look in that house,” Greta breathed in excitement.
“The house that now belongs to Ashlee?” Allegra asked skeptically.
“Oh please,” Greta waved the fact away. “She’s too busy reveling in the attention. Besides, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to pick a lock.”
“You can pick a lock?” Eric piped up, looking eager. The adults grimaced and looked away, unsure how they would be able to explain themselves out of the situation. Allegra looked down at the little boy who was staring up at her with big, innocent eyes. She shook her head and shrugged.
“Yes, she can,” Bud answered drily, “which is why we will have to pick her up from the police station at some point in the next few days.” Greta shot him a glare and he held up his hands in surrender.
“Maybe you shouldn’t pick locks,” Eric said worriedly.
“I agree,” Allegra nodded seriously.
She should not pick locks, but that did not stop her from picking the locks to Dot’s back door about half an hour later. As Greta had predicted, Ashlee was not surveying her new property but was safely entertaining guests back in town. The lock gave way, and the two crept into Dot’s old home. Allegra looked around her, saddened by all the memories. The air felt stale, everything was squeaky clean and left in the last position she had left it in. It was an unpleasant feeling, seeing the house without the original occupant.
“We should probably look in her room,” Allegra said, clearing her throat uncomfortably.
“That would be the first place they would check,” Greta said suspiciously, opening the cupboards and looking at everything as though it were a clue. Allegra chuckled at her antics and made her way to the front room. Great-Aunt Dot had inherited a substantial sum from her wealthy husband. The two had built a massive house to start a family. Unfortunately, things did not work out that way, and Dot had been left in the big house all by herself. Allegra walked through the familiar house, not really looking for the will, but enjoying the feeling of nostalgia. She did not want to think about the fact that this might be the last time she would be there.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. The two women looked at each other, startled. Greta motioned with her head to the back door, and the two began to make their way to the exit. A loud voice stopped them.
“I know you’re in there. Come out, right now!”
Greta looked at Allegra with a panicked look, and Allegra shook her head and shrugged. This had often happened as teenagers. She and Greta would do something courageous and daring, but not all that legal. They would then be caught because they were clumsy troublemakers, and Allegra would cover for the two of them while Greta provided the distraction that often allowed them to escape. She motioned for Greta to hide, and she ducked behind a massive armchair.
“Hello,” Allegra said brightly, opening the door with a flourish. Surprisingly, it had been left unlocked.
“I have called the police,” a strange man said, glaring at Allegra.
“Why would you do that?” she asked amiably. The man in front of her wore an expensive tailored suit and had taken care to smooth his dark hair back. He wore expensive clothes, but he still had a greasy look about him. He narrowed his slit-like eyes at her and fixed his gold cuff links ostentatiously.
“I know that Ashlee Mathers and Ellie Smith own this house now. You are trespassing.”
“Technically,” Allegra began, leaning on the doorpost in an effort to appear casual, “but I am Dot’s great-niece. I’m just saying goodbye to her.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re trespassing,” he sneered.
“How about this?” she said soothingly. “I leave the house and wait for the police to show up.”
“That is exactly what you will do,” he seethed. “I am going to escort you out myself.”
“What a gentlemanly thing to do,” she commented brightly, closing the door behind her. He scoffed again and waited for her to walk out in front of him before following her.
“I see you’re just like Dorothy,” he commented. “You always have something to say.”
“It runs in the family,” she quipped drily, growing tired of the insufferable man.
“Yes, well,” he said casually, “I won’t have to deal with it much longer.”
“Careful now,” Allegra warned, “whoever moves in next might be much worse.”
“I doubt it,” he sniffed. “I am going to buy this house from Mrs. Mathers and tear it down.”
"What?" Allegra cried, turning to him angrily. He smiled thinly and waved, before walking away. Before she could say anything, she heard a car pull up behind her. She turned, expecting to see Greta. Instead, an amused looking Matty waved at her from the police car.
“I knew I’d be getting a call like this with you around,” he teased from the window. She glared at him and stomped up to the car before getting in and slamming the door shut. Matty smiled comfortingly and drove off, a lot more quietly than Greta would have. The two settled into a comfortable silence and Allegra allowed her thoughts to drift as she watched the coast fly by. Matty would check up on her from the rearview mirror every now and then, but for the most part, he left her alone.
“Where are we going?” she asked as they drove onto Dock Street.
“You look like you could use a break,” he said, parking the car. She gave him a strange look but got out of the car. They walked along the dock, past all the shops, and out onto the beach.
“I’m sorry all this happened as soon as you came back,” he said sympathetically. She shrugged her shoulders, not really having a reply. They were the only two on the beach since the sun was just starting to set. In the distance, a man was walking his dog, but otherwise, the beach was deserted. It was a calming environment.
“Do you remember when we’d have bonfires on the beach?” she asked suddenly.
“Yeah, and we’d bring s’mores and just play music,” Matty smiled fondly at the memory.
“We felt so grown up,” Allegra laughed, “but really, we were just kids.”
“It was fun though,” Matty defended, “a lot better than actually being grown up.”
“Have you noticed that our generation complains a lot about the fact that we grew up?” she mused. Matty laughed and bent down to pick up a stone. He flicked it expertly and watched as it sailed through the air and landed in the water with a splash. “You can’t skip a rock on the ocean,” she informed him teasingly.
“You know, I remember you telling me that,” he said, shaking his finger at her. “You’re such a know-it-all.”
“Hello, sheriff,” a smooth voice called out. Matty sighed and rolled his eyes. Allegra looked curiously at the man who had approached them. He was the one who was walking the dog. Something about him seemed familiar to Allegra, but she couldn’t quite place him. He was a handsome man, with dark eyes that looked right through you.
“Yeah, hello,” Matty greeted begrudgingly before turning back to the sea.
“Hi,” Allegra greeted, taken aback by the icy atmosphere between the two.
“Hello,” the man greeted, looking amused at Matty’s reaction. Allegra held out her hand, and the man’s dog launched forward, eager to be petted. She stooped down and ruffled the adorable creature’s ears. “She likes you,” the man commented, tugging slightly on the leash.
"And I like her," Allegra said, giving the dog one last pat. "I'm Allegra.” She held out her hand for the man to shake. He looked at her curiously, and she retracted her hand awkwardly.
“Not Allegra Mitchells?” he asked slowly and Matty grumbled under his breath.
“The very same,” she declared, smiling broadly. He was probably another one of the townsfolk who had heard so much about her. None of it good, of course, which meant that his reaction was going to be interesting. Allegra found that it was best to smile when you knew something bad was coming. A smile always made you look prepared.
“No way,” he grinned, catching her off guard. “I don’t think you recognize me, Gypsy” he chuckled when he saw her bewildered reaction. “I’m Jason Ramirez.”
“Jason?” she gasped, and he smiled widely. “You look so different!”
“Well, the last time you saw me I had a ponytail,” he defended.
“Oh, that awful ponytail,” she chuckled, teasing him playfully.
“Hey! You said you liked it!” he said indignantly, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“I was sixteen! I lied!” He laughed along with her, and Allegra was surprised at how well they still got along. Things had been complicated between them as teenagers, and she was worried that he would still harbor a grudge. She was relieved that he had let the past go and was hopeful that the two could part as friends.
“What do you do now?” she asked curiously.
“Well,” he said uncomfortably scratching his cheek, “I sort of run the fair.”
“That still exists?” she asked in surprise.
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