The Will and the Clause
[EVIE]
If there’s one place I never imagined myself sitting, it’s in a law office that has a faint aroma of money and wealth, staring at a middle-aged man whose tie probably costs more than my monthly mortgage would… if I did have one.
The man clears his throat, drawing my attention back to him. “Ms. Lang, are you listening?”
I nod, though my mind’s been drifting in and out since he started using words like codicil and executor. “Yes. Mostly”
He doesn’t smile and proceeds with whatever he was saying as if he has somewhere else to be, and needed to get it over with. Did he think I wanted to be here, in his office, having my grandfather’s will read out to me? To be reminded that I’d lost him and I wouldn’t see him again. The thought of it brought tears to my eyes, and I discreetly wiped them off.
I wished he could see me now. He’d always called me his tough girl; well, he should see me now.
“Your grandfather’s will leaves you with the house…and the garage.”
My chest tightens at his words. The garage had been my grandfather’s legacy and his most prized possession, one he would want to leave on even after death. The garage isn’t just a building to me, too. It’s where I grew up learning how to hold a wrench before I could ride a bike. It has always been my favourite place, but now that my life is no longer in this town, the idea of having to leave it behind makes me feel guilty.
“However,” the lawyer continues, “there are certain conditions you must follow before the garage is fully yours.”
Conditions?
“What conditions?” I ask, and the air in my lungs turns heavier as though I know his next words are going to shatter me.
“Your grandfather wants you to live in the property for a least six months and keep Lang’s Auto Repair open during the stated period.”
I sit forward, my heart beating erratically, “Open? As in—”
“As in fully operate it,” he says. “Hire staff, take care of customers and continue with business as usual.”
I swallow nervously, thinking about all the maintenance that needs to be done. The lift hasn’t worked right in years, the roof leaks whenever it rains, the walls are badly in need of a repaint, all tools and equipment are badly in need of replacement, and I could go on and on. The garage hadn’t been making a profit for over a year now. Mostly due to the fact that most residents here barely use cars, and my grandfather charged below the standard rate.
“And if I don’t?”
“Then the house and the garage will go to the secondary beneficiary.”
“And who’s that? I don’t know of any other family member. It had just been the two of us.”
He slides a file across the desk. The logo hits me before the name does—MadXon Group of Companies.
I shake my head, hoping that it’s an illusion. “They’ve been trying to buy the garage for years. My grandfather never wanted them to have it.”
“Nonetheless,” the lawyer continued, “they are next in line should you choose not to fulfil the clause.”
“But they’re going to demolish the garage and probably build one of those big fancy buildings up here!” This whole situation was starting to make no sense. Why would my grandfather do this?
“Yes, they probably will, Ms. Lang, but it’s stated in the will, and fifty per cent of the money would be going to the children’s orphanage, and the local hospital has donations, the rest would be yours to keep.”
I sat in the chair, beyond shocked that my grandfather would do this. It could have been anyone else but not that wretched company.
“Ms. Lang, the decision is all yours. They are next in line should you choose not to fulfil the clause.”
I ran my hand through my hair, frustrated with the tight spot my grandfather had put me in. I don’t want to sell the house and the garage, as they hold too many memories, so it felt wrong to do so, but to stay? That wasn’t something I wanted to do. I’d managed to leave a month ago, only to receive a call in the dead of the night that my grandfather had been rushed to his hospital. It had shocked me, and I’d regretted leaving town, knowing how lonely he must have felt, but this town suffocated me. Being here reminded me of everything I wanted to forget.
I was able to be by my grandfather’s side before he took his last breath. It was the only thing that kept me grounded during the days following his death. He was the only family I had left, and now I was all alone.
Ha, what was I going to do?
I can almost hear my grandfather’s raspy voice in my head, ‘You don’t walk away from something that’s yours, Evie-girl. Not without a fight,’ He’d said that to me on the day I don’t him I didn’t want to continue living in this town, on the day I’d angrily packed my bags and left.
“How long do I have to decide?” I asked.
“You decide now,” he says gently.
I let out a sigh. I can’t let everything I hold dear end up in the hands of those greedy bastards. I can’t do that. It’s just six months. Six months to keep the garage running and the house lived in. Six months to make it work when I’m not sure I even can. And in case I’m able to, will I be able to leave it behind? Was this the plan? That I’d spend time repairing the place, and then I’d want to stay?
Gosh, this is frustrating. I can’t believe he would punish me this way.
“I’ll do it,” I tell him, my voice steady even though my stomach’s twisting.
He hands me the papers to sign, and my hands tremble slightly as I do so.
I guess it’s official then, I’ll be staying here for six months or maybe more.
Six f*cking months!
