The call from her Great-Grandparents' lawyer's office alarmed her. She had just started preparing to take down all the Christmas decorations when her phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Talia. This is Jim Mitchell. How are things?"
"Things are okay, Jim. A little rough. I still can't get over it."
"Do you need anything?"
"A nice long vacation in Hawaii or Europe wouldn't hurt."
"Tell me about it!" He laughed hard into the other end of the phone. "Hey, are you free to meet for coffee tomorrow morning around ten o'clock?"
"Yeah, sure." She paused for a long moment, suddenly suspicious.
"You okay, Talia?"
"Yeah. What's up, Jim?"
"All will be revealed tomorrow, I promise! You want me to come pick you up?"
"Thanks, no. A walk is just what I need. Besides, the cafe is only five minutes from
here."
They finalised the arrangements for the meeting, and Jim rang off.
Her alarm sounds at six thirty sharp, and she rises quickly and hits a hot shower. Then it's into the kitchen for a hot breakfast—a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon, along with a sliced apple.
As she eats, she jots down a grocery list. She's still well stocked, just a few necessities and a couple of her weekly treats. Birds have started gathering at the feeder in the large tree outside the kitchen window.
Grampy loved watching the birds. When he came home for hospice care, he asked to have his hospital bed placed near the big bay window in the sitting room. As his eyes closed for the last time that September morning, a cardinal started to sing.
Granny died just a little over a year later. Talia was with them both, and she was glad to be.
"Don't you be sad, my love," Granny pleaded with her. "I'm going to sit in the garden with your Grampy now. We'll always watch over you. We love you."
Moments later, Granny was gone.
Both funerals were a blur for Talia. Both her maternal and paternal Grandparents were still living, thank goodness. If it hadn't been for them, she'd have gone to bits. She took care of the final arrangements herself, not wanting to burden them with the chaos.
They tried, of course, to call their children, but no answer came. Talia was furious and let them know it in no uncertain terms when she reached them at last, a week before Grampy's service.
"Who's this?" Mum screamed with laughter into the phone.
"It's me, Mum. Talia. Listen, Grampy's gone. Granny's a wreck. Grammy and Granddad tried to call, but..."
"What's that, you say? Hang on a minute, will you? It's so damn loud in this place!"
It took forever for Mum to come back to the phone. She was still laughing loudly when she did.
"Grampy's gone, Mum. He died last Monday morning. Grammy and Granddad tried to call to let you and Dad know, but..."
"Oh, hell's teeth!" Mum's tone wasn't sad at all. If anything, she sounded annoyed by the news. We were in Aruba last week. You should see it, Talia! It's absolutely incredible. Dad and I are thinking of..."
Talia cut her off, hissing into the phone. "YOUR GRANDFATHER IS DEAD, YOU STUPID, SELFISH COW! HE'S DEAD! YOUR GRANDMOTHER IS SUFFERING! SHE NEEDS YOU. NOW!"
"Don't you take that tone with me, Talia! Look, Dad and I can't make it back right now. In a couple of days, maybe, but we can't just cancel the rest of our trip. It'll cost us a fortune, and we won't get a refund!"
Talia swore and slammed the phone down.
A week later, all hell broke loose.
To be continued.
