Any Other Love
Page 26
Someone was trying to get ahold of her.
Glancing at Sean’s back, she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello, this is Attorney Damien Ward again," the voicemail began. "I’m looking for Ms. Rowan Ellis. It is extremely important that you contact me as soon as possible regarding an urgent family matter." He left his phone number and encouraged her to call him back immediately.
She bit her lip. It sounded important, but she couldn’t discern the nature of the call from his voice. He seemed calm and collected, not the bearer of bad news. And though his Connecticut area code made her inclined to take him seriously, there was a part of her that realized he could be a scam artist.
But scam artists didn’t call repeatedly in the same day, at least not in her experience. Usually they waited twenty-four hours, or called from different numbers without leaving voicemails.
Maybe it wasn’t anything to worry about. If something had happened to her parents or siblings, one of her family members would have called. Not some lawyer. At least, she thought so. Sometimes her family acted so indifferent toward her, she supposed it was possible that they would alert her passively.
The lawyer had said "urgent family matter." Maybe her parents were getting divorced. But they wouldn’t need her approval for that.
Her brow furrowed. There was that time her father had a questionable relationship with one of his students. A professor at Naugatuck Valley in Waterbury, he’d been spending a lot of time with an eighteen-year-old in one of his philosophy classes. Though rumors flying around said they were having sex in his office, the investigation had been dropped and he’d been cleared. At the time, Rowan’s mother hadn’t even been jealous. She suspected her parents had somewhat of an open marriage. Maybe something like that was going on again, and her father had to go to court.
She wanted nothing to do with it.
Picking up her fork again, she decided not to call Ward back.
∞∞∞
Her shift at Sean’s ended at one in the afternoon. She escaped into the steamy summer air and headed toward her car. With the rest of the day wide open, she should hit the beach or do something equally relaxing. Every bone in her body ached for a nap, though. She’d only slept four hours the night before.
She slid into her car and gingerly touched the steering wheel. Grimacing, she pulled her hand away. She turned the key in the ignition and blasted the air conditioning. It didn’t take long for cold air to come out, but it would take a few minutes until the steering wheel was cool enough to touch. She pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her pants and reached for the cord that connected her phone to the stereo. The screen of the phone lit up, the familiar Connecticut number flashing.
Rowan sighed. As much as she didn’t want to get involved with her family’s affairs, she felt bad for wasting the lawyer’s time. It wasn’t his fault that her family was a train wreck. She pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Oh!" He sounded surprised. "I was going to leave you another voicemail." He chuckled. "My name is Attorney Damien Ward. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you."
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I’ve been working." Testing the steering wheel, she deemed it cool enough to grip. Holding the phone to her ear with one hand, she used her other hand to guide the car out of Sean’s parking lot. Though it was illegal to drive in New Jersey while using a phone without a hands-free earpiece, she’d mastered the art of dropping her phone at the first sight of a patrol car.
"Are you working now?" the lawyer asked in his smooth baritone.
"No." She turned onto the street and headed toward her apartment.
"I’m afraid I have some bad news." He hesitated for a moment.
Rowan’s heart pounded in her chest. Suddenly she wasn’t so sure that it had anything to do with her family’s antics. Something awful had happened.
"I’m your aunt Katherine’s attorney. I handle her business affairs, and her estate," he continued.
Rowan’s heart dropped into her stomach. She swerved onto the shoulder of the road, throwing the car into park.
"Your aunt wanted me to notify you immediately, should anything happen to her. I’m so sorry, Ms. Ellis. Katherine passed away last night." His voice, filled with regret, was suddenly drowned out by a high pitched ringing in her ears.
A sob escaped her lips. Not Katherine. Though they had their problems, she loved her aunt. Katherine had been the only member of her family to treat her like a normal person. It couldn’t be true. "How?" she gasped.
The attorney sighed. "Cancer," he said, voice breaking. "She didn’t want anyone to know."
Tears gushed down her cheeks. She sat numbly, the engine still running. Cold air blasted against her face, but she didn’t feel it.
"The wake is tomorrow night," Damien Ward said. "I’ve made all of the arrangements according to her final wishes. I’m so sorry, Ms. Ellis."
Rowan suppressed the urge to scream. This couldn’t be real. Instead, she slammed her fist on the steering wheel. Pain jolted through her arm, but it was nothing compared to the ache in her heart. She would never get the chance to make up with her aunt. Suddenly she felt childish for running away. At the time, she’d felt double-crossed. That job at her aunt’s bakery was supposed to be hers. It was the whole reason she’d gone to a technical high school and studied culinary arts. But her aunt had given it to someone else instead, and Rowan had decided to move on, out of state. She’d barely spoken to Katherine over the last two years. Now she would never make amends. Her shoulders slumped. She’d been so, so stupid.
"Ms. Ellis?" The lawyer’s tone was gentle. "Your aunt wanted to make sure that you were taken care of in her absence. She’s left her house to you. I can meet you before the wake tomorrow to give you the keys."
She barely heard him. It was all too much. She didn’t want the house. She wanted Katherine.
"I’m so sorry," he said again. "I know this is a lot to absorb. But she made it very clear that I was to tell you about the house right away, so that you wouldn’t have to stay with your parents."
She almost laughed. Even in the afterlife, her aunt was still her ally. Guilt roiled through her stomach. She’d been a stupid teenager. And now she would never be able to fix things.
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Copyright
MAIETTA INK
Any Other Love
Copyright 2017 by Elizabeth Campbell, writing as Elizabeth Barone
All Rights Reserved
Version 1.0 | Last Updated: August 17th, 2017
Cover photography by iampixels via iStockphoto
Cover designed by CJPB Designs
These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic or mechanical—without permission in writing from the author.