“O-okay,” Maria stammers and right as they start down the worn path that leads to the barn, a police car turns off the road onto the driveway, followed by an ambulance.
“Mom,” Everly says again, voice breaking.
I force a smile. “It’s going to be okay.”
Chapter Thirteen
JOSIE
Josie
* * *
“It’s legit.” Louisa sets the stack of papers down on the kitchen table, looking around at all of us. Mom, Dad, Louisa and Ruby all got to Silver Ridge this morning after I called them yesterday to tell them about Aunt Kim. Elijah is on his way, though he doesn’t really need to be here.
It was Aunt Kim’s wish not to have a funeral but, instead, be cremated and have her ashes scattered in the pasture. But not where the horses graze because she wasn’t sure if eating human remains was bad for horses or not—which is something she oddly specified in her will.
“Are you sure?” Dad asks, not doubting Louisa’s skills as a lawyer, but more out of shock of everything that happened. He just lost his sister, after all.
“Yeah. She had a lawyer draft this all up and he was good. They thought of everything and even set aside the funds necessary to cover the inheritance tax.”
“You get taxed on things you inherit?” I echo, spinning my empty coffee mug around in my hands. “That’s not fair.”
“The government will take whatever they can,” Louisa quips, flipping through the papers. “This is a pretty good breakdown of everything.” She slides the paper over to me. “All of her assets go to you. We can handle the title transfers later but it’s not something you should put off. The sooner we get the paperwork signed and filed, the better. Unfortunately, some of her debt did transfer and, in cases like this, it’s paid for by the estate. There is more than enough money in the property to pay for it and then some.”
“Okay,” I say, nodding my head and then her words sink in. “Wait, you’re saying I need to sell the farm?”
“That makes the most sense. The house itself is in need of a lot of updating, but property value in Silver Ridge has tripled in the last few years.”
“No,” I tell her and feel the collective stares from my family members. “She left this place to me for a reason. The horses…they…they have nowhere else to go.”
“You could sell them too,” Ruby offers.
“No,” I repeat. “I can’t. Some of them came from horrible situations and I can’t just sell them.”
“What about life insurance?” Mom asks quietly. “Will Kim get anything since she took her own life?”
“Yes, she will.” Louisa shuffles through more papers. “She’s been with the same insurance company long enough the suicide clause is waived. She, um, she had this all planned out.” Sighing, Louisa slowly shakes her head and leans back, biting her lip. She doesn’t want to say what she’s about to say. “It appears that she’s been planning this for a while. The cancer spread, she stopped treatment and had been getting her affairs in order. I think…I think she needed to know someone would take over and care about the horses as much as she did.”
My sister’s eyes go to me. “And she found that person.”
“See?” I wipe away tears. “I can’t sell the farm.”
“You don’t have to make a decision now,” Mom goes on, taking my hand in hers. A collective silence falls over the table as the gravity of it all hovers above us.
“Let me see those debts,” Dad says and Louisa hands him a paper. As they talk about sectioning off part of the land to sell, everything starts to sink in.
Aunt Kim knew she only had months left until the cancer took over. It would be a slow, painful death, weakening her day by day until she’d get to the point where she would have to rely on someone else for everything—and I don’t just mean taking care of the horses. She’d need someone to bathe her. Feed her. I’m not at a place where I can rationalize her overdosing on pills, but she went peacefully in her sleep.
Letting out a shaky breath, I get up and put my coffee cup in the sink. I’ve been in a hazy fog since I found Aunt Kim’s body yesterday and, really, it’s a miracle Heather showed up when she did. She and the girls handled the animals while I dealt with the shitstorm going on here, and Everly is at their house today.
I look out the window above the kitchen sink and see Freya trotting along the fence line. It’s the first time I’ve seen her do anything but slowly walk. She’s feeling good today. Putting both hands on the counter, I lean forward and hear Aunt Kim’s voice in my head.
I know the horses will be in good hands.