Special Delivery

by Judi Lynn

  Mom reached for Karli’s hand, and Karli squeezed Mom’s to comfort her.

  “And we can’t load nothin’ in our cars ahead of time?” Sylvie asked.

  “If you take so much as a salt shaker and I hear about it, you lose your inheritance.”

  Sylvie bit her bottom lip. Kurt and Ida nodded.

  Everett gave a professional-looking smile. “Good. Now that you have all the information you need, there’s really nothing more to do except to show up at the graveside tomorrow at one and then come to my office.”

  Karli hurried to ask, “Are we allowed to bring flowers?”

  “What for?” Ida stared. “He’ll be ashes by then, and no one will be there but us.”

  “Just a sign of remembrance,” Karli said, defending herself.

  Sylvie snorted. “Always wastin’ your money.”

  But Everett looked pleased. “That would be nice.” Then he gave a brief nod and left.

  Karli had expected the bickering to stop, and it did. Each sibling grabbed for his laptop and started researching how much each thing in the house might be worth. She shook her head, and she and Mom got ready to drive to Neil and Sue-Ellen’s florist shop to order flowers.

  When they returned to the house, Keagan’s mail truck was parked in the drive and he was carrying two casseroles to the door. Karli hurried to take one and Mom rushed to let him in.

  Keagan motioned to the rectangular dish. “Mom sent a taco casserole. The deep, oval dish is from Tyne. Here.” Keagan pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. “Salsa verde chicken with herbed cornmeal dumplings.” He shook his head. “Fancy. I couldn’t remember the name.”

  Karli smiled. “Thanks for both of them. They smell delicious. Do you want to stay for a quick lunch?”

  He glanced to the kitchen where Sylvie, Ida, and Kurt were listing prices to each other. “No, I won’t stay. I won’t intrude on your grief.”

  Right. He couldn’t stand the three grifters. She waved as he pulled away. She’d see him at Axel’s service tomorrow.

  Chapter 47

  Karli and her mom woke and started packing. Karli had run to town yesterday to buy a cat carrier. She was taking Dusty with her. She hadn’t seen a mouse since she got the cat, but Sylvie, Ida, and Kurt could figure out how to fight vermin on their own.

  Karli hadn’t brought a lot with her, so there wasn’t a lot to tote to her car. She and her mom went through the motions. She felt numb. Couldn’t concentrate. Keagan’s dishes were already in her trunk, and she put her suitcases next to them. Mom helped her carry out the stained-glass lamp and wall clock. They even deflated their air mattresses and Karli stowed hers and the blankets she’d brought in the back seat of her Dodge. Once they left the lawyer’s office, Mom planned to head back to Indy. Karli would grab Dusty and do the same.

  She and Mom dressed in black slacks and sweaters, then decided to drive to Ralph’s to eat. Karli was hungry, but had no desire to fix anything. It had been fun to cook meals for Axel, but she’d be damned if she’d cook for the fab three.

  People nodded and offered sympathy when Jules led them to a table, but considerately left them alone. When they finished eating, they drove to the cemetery and arrived a few minutes before one. Keagan was already there, dressed in a charcoal-colored suit. Karli’s mouth went dry. He looked good in a crisp, white shirt with its collar slightly open. Two big flower arrangements bordered the family headstone.

  “One from my family,” Keagan said, “and the other from you two.”

  * * * *

  He glanced at her car, saw the bedding on the back seat, and his lips pressed in a tight line. “So as soon as the day’s done, you’re out of here?”

  “I can’t stay in that house with Sylvie, Ida, and Kurt. I just can’t do it.”

  “I couldn’t either. They’ll be gloating and arguing over who gets what.”

  She took his hand. “You could drive to Indy to see me.”

  “When do you start your new job?”

  “Not for another week. If you come, you could stay at my apartment and I’d show you the sights.”

  “That would be nice. We could say our goodbyes.” She could see the pain in his eyes.

  She wanted to kick herself. She’d hurt the nicest man she’d ever met. “Are you all right?”

  He took a deep breath. “This is why I swore off anything temporary. It always hurts when it ends. This is worse than losing Cecily.”

  Her heart clenched. She was suffering, too. She didn’t want a goodbye. She wanted Keagan. She glanced away, trying to regain her composure. Her mom was studying her, her expression pinched.

  A car door slammed, and Sylvie, Ida, and Kurt walked toward them, dressed in jeans and old shirts. Karli’s fingers curled into her palms. “Couldn’t you have dressed up a little?”

  “What for?” Sylvie shrugged. “It’s not like Dad’s gonna see us.”

  A man in a dark suit walked toward them and nodded to an employee ready to lower Axel’s ashes into the ground. “Are you ready? Does anyone want to say anything before he turns on the machine?”

  Mom blew a kiss at the urn. “Farewell, Dad.”

  Karli took a deep breath and pressed her fingers to her throat. Keagan put his hand on her upper arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. The whole thing took less than fifteen minutes, and then Keagan invited Mom and Karli to ride with him to Bloomington.

  Kurt loaded Sylvie and Ida into Axel’s truck and left before them.

  No one talked on the ride. Karli’s thoughts were too jumbled. How could she have grown to like a mean old man? And how did she fall in love with Keagan?

  The lawyer’s office was in a three-story brick building on the top floor. Once they entered the vestibule, his secretary showed them into his office. “He’s expecting you.”

  Directly in front of them, Everett Lansing sat behind a huge, mahogany desk. In front of it, six green leather chairs were lined in a semi-circle. A long sofa huddled in front of a floor to ceiling bookcase on one side of the room. A fireplace occupied the opposite side. The room was elegant and understated.

  Everett motioned for them to take seats. Sylvie, Ida, and Kurt sat next to each other on one side. Keagan, Karli, and Mom sat on the other. Everett quirked a brow and smiled. “Axel’s will is simple and to the point. He was of sound mind when he signed it, so there’s no room to contest it. Axel cashed in his stocks and bonds, which he bought when he was a young man, and he’s dividing the one hundred fifty thousand dollars equally between Sylvie Dalton, Kurt Crupe, and Ida Mendolls, since they came when he asked them to. From his savings, he’s declared each of his twelve children will receive ten thousand dollars.”

  Karli couldn’t believe it. The old man was rich and lived like a pauper.

  “And the house and property?” Sylvie demanded.

  Everett looked at Keagan. “Everything else goes to Keagan Monroe on the condition that he lives there for one year with Karli Redding.”

  Karli gasped. Had she heard right? She could feel her cheeks burn and glanced at Keagan. “Can Axel do that?”

  Everett glanced at the papers on his desk. “He could and did.” He looked at Keagan. “Axel said you’re a stubborn, young man. Will you abide by his terms?”

  Keagan’s cobalt-blue eyes lingered on Karli, but his lips lifted in a smile. “If I have to, I have to, but what if she says no?”

  “Then you lose it all.”

  Karli bit her bottom lip. Keagan loved that house as much as she did. She wouldn’t take it away from him. What the hell was she was thinking? Why would she leave a house she loved and a man she was crazy about? She raised an eyebrow. “Axel only forced Keagan to stay with me one year?”

  Everett chuckled. “Axel said if you couldn’t catch him by then, you weren’t half the girl he thought you were.”

  Karli looked smug. “It won’
t take that long.”

  The lawyer laughed and folded his papers. “In that case, Axel’s will is settled.”

  “That’s not fair!” Sylvie stood over Everett’s desk, glaring at him.

  The lawyer’s voice turned soft, but menacing. “If you want to dispute this will, be warned, Axel said to make it iron-clad, and if the judge rules against you, any legal action of yours and my clients will come out of your pocket.”

  “The old bastard.” She turned on her heels and stalked to the door. Kurt and Ida followed.

  Kurt stopped and turned. “When will we get our money?”

  “My secretary has a check for sixty thousand dollars for each of you, if you stop at her desk.”

  The three left the room, their expressions set and angry.

  Karli’s mom looked from Karli to Keagan and back again. “You two are going to share Dad’s house?”

  “We sure are.” Keagan pulled Karli into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. “And that house is going to be filled with love again.”

  Her mom hugged herself, and Everett cleared his throat. “Go home and be happy.”

  Holding Karli’s hand, Keagan led her out of the office. Her mom followed with a glow on her face.

  Once the door closed behind them, Mom asked, “This is sort of sudden, isn’t it?”

  Karli shook her head. “I love him, Mom. I can’t leave him.”

  The secretary smiled. “I’m so happy for them. Everyone’s heard that Mill Pond has a way about it. Those two were meant for each other.”

  Mom gave a slow nod. “I believe you’re right.”

  Chapter 48

  When they reached the house, Kurt’s old, rusted car sat near the barn and Axel’s pickup was gone. Sylvie and Ida’s cars were gone, too, along with all of the fine china and silverware, every picture on the wall, and anything else they could tote with them.

  Keagan shrugged. “I don’t care. Do you, Karli?”

  She shook her head. “I want to make this house ours.”

  “Ours.” He tasted the word and liked it. “Will this work for you? I know you didn’t want me to lose the house, but what about your job in Indy? I don’t want you to lose something you love because of me.”

  She went to wrap her arms around his waist. “Silly. Nothing’s more important than you. Besides, I have an apartment in Indy. I’ll stay there and work three-day shifts, then I’ll come home to you and Dusty. Will that bother you?”

  He raised his hand to touch her cheek. “Not as long as you’re mine. Marry me, Karli.”

  “Yes!”

  Tears streamed down her mom’s cheeks. Karli turned to her, but Mom waved for her to stay with Keagan. “Tears of joy,” Mom said. “I’m so happy for you!”

  Karli glanced out the window across the field to Keagan’s parents’ house in the distance. “Do you have to take care of a hundred acres now?”

  Keagan chuckled. “My dad and Stuart will farm them, if we can afford to keep them. We might have to sell part off to pay for the taxes, but we’ll keep a big yard for ourselves and I’ll make the barn into a studio.”

  “Which bedroom do you want upstairs?” she asked.

  She’d caught him by surprise. “Um, I don’t know. Why?”

  “Because I’m sleeping wherever you are.”

  He liked the sound of that! “In that case, Brad and I will move my bed so that it’s here tonight.”

  Her mom sighed. “You know, I dreaded coming here when Keagan called me about Dad, but look how well it worked out! I’m going home to tell your dad. Congratulations!” She wrapped them both in a quick hug and left.

  Alone, Keagan looked around the house, then looked down at Karli. “Axel’s made me a happy man.”

  “He’s made us both happy. Now kiss me.” She tilted her head toward his lips.

  “Glad to oblige.” There was no bed in this house he wanted to lie on, but there was a couch in the living room. And later, much later, he’d coerce Brad to help him bring his bed and clothing over. Brad could keep the furniture for the apartment, so it wouldn’t take long for him to settle in here. With Karli. For keeps.

  About the Author

  Judi Lynn received a master’s degree from Indiana University as an elementary school teacher after attending the Fort Wayne campus. She taught 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades for six years before having her two daughters. She loves gardening, cooking, and trying new recipes. Readers can visit her website at www.judithpostswritingmusings.com and her blog, www.writingmusings.com.