Chuckling I said, “yeah, no thanks.”
“Stubborn, but alright.”
The door opened and Sierra popped into the office dropping her backpack on the floor. Her hair was wet like she just showered and her face was free of makeup. Her smile was tentative and I returned one of my own politely.
“Ms. Occho thanks for coming. It hasn’t been easy tracking you down.”
“I’m here now.”
“Yes, she is. Francesca.” I warned my lawyer to behave.
“So, we’re here today at the request of my client to transfer some property and funds into your name that were left to him in an uncontested will. I have advised my client against this and if you would like legal counsel of your own, we can wait before we proceed for you to obtain a lawyer familiar with these matters.”
“No, that’s alright. I hadn’t planned on staying long, but if we can wrap this up, I’d appreciate that.”
“Very well.” Francesca read out the terms I wanted and I waited for Sierra to give me a respo
nse of some kind. To fight it at least and demand more or throw it all in my face. I didn’t care about that. I cared that she’d left this chasm of ten years between us with not a single explanation that had nothing to do with our communication getting lost in translation. She did this deliberately and all I wanted was to break through her walls and understand why for my own closure.
Without a word she slid the documents over and signed each one before taking her copies and leaving with the same amount of fanfare she entered the office.
“Sierra.” I stood up to stop her from leaving. My chest tightened with the same anxiety of her abandoning me even though I knew the official transfer would take sixty days due to some obscure estate law.
She winked giving me a smile ducking her face away. Her hand touched my chest lightly in a friendly pat as she spoke. “I appreciate it, Andy. I really do. At least now I won’t have to stay in the hostile across the street.” She shrugged leaving me slack jawed as Francesca reviewed the signatures and arranged the piles of papers orderly.
“Stay Andrew.” Francesca said giving Sierra the opportunity to slip out as I sunk back into my chair.
“Yeah?” I asked putting my head between my knees to regulate my breathing. Francesca sat next to me rubbing my back in a motherly sort of comfort.
“Please consider the divorce papers. You need to let her go, for your sake.”
Francesca helped me up and I left walking back to the pub passing the hostel where I knew she was staying at least for tonight. I walked inside the pub and up the back stairs to my apartment on the top floor where my windows overlooked her.
Her light was off.
She was so close and yet so far.
Again.
7
Sierra
I no longer had rights to the winery, but the small house on the hill was mine outright. Whatever deed had been signed over to me included that structure and all of its contents. I was grateful even if it sat on the property I once grew up on and even if it was run down and barely standing, it was something. A far cry better than nothing.
Andy had been more than generous including a monthly stipend to pay for repairs and upkeep on the cottage if I wished to stay. The only caveat was that I had to occupy the property for a full sixty days. Two months of having to sleep under the roof, buy groceries in the store, find transportation besides the college uber. As was typical Andy fashion he found a way to get what he wanted forgetting about what I might want just to punish me.
I wasn’t even angry with him because I felt like I deserved it. I was lucky he sent me off from the lawyer’s office with a cashier’s check to advance me some money. I rode my new bike down the long drive careful to avoid the ruts made by jeep wheels and heavy summer rains. There was a battered overhang I could park under and my grandfather’s rocking chair had been placed on the small porch. Inside dust collected and sheets covered the minimal furniture left. It was a nomad’s paradise.
I glanced up at the main house where my old bedroom and memories were and wished the current occupants free from Nona’s busybody ghost if she haunted the place. Knowing her, it was possible and since I found the crystal and candle shop in town, I made a mental note to grab some sage next time.
Just in case.
I fished out the key from the envelope I had been keeping in my jacket pocket and opened the door. I flicked the switch and luckily the electricity wired out here worked sufficiently. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like someone had come in at some point and stocked the canned goods and fluffed the pillows on the full-sized bed that dominated the space. It was clean for a place that hadn’t been used in years and spent more time collecting dust and adolescent dreams. As far as digs went, I would be okay staying here until I decided what to do further.
I couldn’t sell it outright which would have been helpful to my current financial issues, but it was mine to live in as long as I stayed. I’d have to reread all the legal documents once I’d had a chance to unwind.
It might have been said that you could never go home again, but I hadn’t felt at home since I’d come here to begin with. The only thing that resonated were the smiles on Andy’s face and the candy treats he’d give to me. I now knew they came from his meager boyhood savings from doing odd jobs at the bar for his grandfather, and a paper route through town that had him cycling past my house on early mornings before I even woke.