by R.A Cullison
Chapter 21
Unexpected Souvenir
We finally got home, I was excited, I wanted to get home to our little apartment. We walked into the building, we had a stack of mail. Matt carried the luggage while I shifted through all the mail, bills, bills, bills then there was a letter from my great Aunt Sally.
“A letter from my Great Aunt Sally.” I announced to Matt.
“Oh, that nice, could you please unlock the door?” he asked, alittle out of breath.
“Oh sorry babe.” I unlocked it. I opened the letter, I noticed a check. It was a legal letter from a lawyer, “its from a lawyer.” I announced again and a check.” I didn’t look at the check right away, I read the letter out loud,
“Miss. Treeman, I am writing on behalf of my client, Sally Mae Grossman, your great Aunt. I am sure you know by now she has passed away about a week ago.” I covered my mouth, “oh no!” I stiffled a sob, Matt sat down the luggage and began rubbing my shoulders.
“Aww sorry babe.” he kissed my head.
“Mrs. Grossman, had a large estate as you well know and no children. At our last meeting, she changed her will. She left everything to you. She expressed her love for you, she also said it would anger some people but she didn’t care, she wanted you to have everything. If you could please come to Philadelphia claim the estate, Yours truly Pratt,Steven and Niles” I folded the letter up and put it in a envolope.
“Was your great Aunt rich?” Matt asked.
“Oh yeah, she married a wealthy man and they never had any children.” I answered him, I pulled out the letter from Aunt Sally. I opened it, there was a note and a key.
“What’s that?” Matt asked looking over my shoulder.
“A key and a note.” I unfolded the note, “Look under my bed.” I read out loud.
“That’s it?” he was just as confused as me,” so we are heading towards Philly huh?” he was full of questions.
“Yep, first I got to call Grandpa.” I walked over to the house phone, the answering machine blinked full. I pressed play.
“Message one- Nora, its Grandpa, I know your on your honeymoon but we have bad news, Aunt Sally died last night, that’s why she wasn’t at the wedding, we just found out, call me.
Message two- Nora, hey its Nikki, I wanted to tell you that Aunt Sally died last night, love ya. Message three- Miss. Treeman, this is Frank Steven, I am your Aunt Sallys attorney, If you would please call me at 215-555-0990 thanks. Message four-Nora, this is Ed Saunders, I was your Aunts banker, I wanted to remind you, when you come to Philidelphia you need to stop by the bank to settle somethings, No more messages” I looked at Matt.
“Can you believe what we missed?“ Picked up the receiver and dialed Grandpa’s phone number.
“Hello?” a females voice answered, it didn’t even ring on my end.
“Hello is my Grandpa there?” I asked the female.
“This must be Nora, Yes your Grandpa is here, one minutes, Honey its for you.” honey I thought.
“Hello?” it was Grandpa.
“Hey Grandpa, its Nora.” I greeted him.
“Hey Nora-bug how was the honeymoon.” he asked.
“Grandpa, who answered the phone?” I asked.
He chuckled, “My girlfriend, Claira, so how was the honeymoon?” he asked again, changing the subject.
“It was good, I got everyones message about Aunt Sally, how did she die?” I asked.
“Heart attack, she was nearly 70, I heard she left everything to you, which isn’t a surprise.” he had a odd tone to his voice.
“Well we are going to Philly to talk to her lawyer and banker, I wanted to let you know, just in case.” I heard the woman in the back laugh, or more like giggling, “ Ok.. Well have fun” I chuckled.
“Yeah Yeah, Love ya Nora bug” he said softly
“Love you too Grandpa.” I hung up. I looked at Matt, “ready for a road trip?” I asked him.
“Can it wait until tomorrow?” he asked, sounding exhausted.
“Yeah, good idea.” I stretched.
Early the next morning we were up bright and early, we wanted to get an early start. I packed some clean clothes and fresh bathroom stuff.
We headed for Philly, I wished it was under different circumstanced. I looked at the printed map from the internet, we were going to be on the road for awhile.
We stopped to get gas and snacks. We didn’t eat breakfast so I got a handful of granola bars, sandwiches and drinks. We listen to music, talked and told jokes,
“Have you heard about the man who dropped his gum in the toilet?” Matt asked.
“No.” I answered, Matt began chuckling alittle
“He picked it up and chewed the shit out of it.” he bursted into laugher.
“Ugh Matt, that’s gross.” I chuckled alittle, “Your jokes are nasty, know any that arent gross?” I asked.
“Umm I’ll have to think about that?” he made a thinking face, “Nope sure don’t.” he laughed.
We finally reached Philidelphia city limits. Which was a blessing. Matt’s eyes where red and looked tired. He headed directly to the lawyers office, he was expecting us, so he cleared his entire schdrule for us.
We pulled in front of the office building, I began to get nervous. “Nervous?” Matt asked.
“Yes, this all to much, you know?” I said, not really asking a question.
“Lets get it over with.” he held out his hand, I took it and we walked inside.
“Can I help you?” the woman behind the desk asked.
“Yes, I am Nora Treeman, here to see about my great Aunt’s estate.” I tried to sound professional, but I wanted to cry.
“Oh yes, your hear about the Grossman estate, correct?” she asked, I shook my head, “Right, they are waiting for you, through that door.” she pointed to a huge set of double doors.
I grabbed Matt’s hand and we walked through them, “Miss. Treeman?” a older gentleman greeted me.
“Yes, but its Hanson, Nora Hanson, I just got married.” I corrected them.
“Oh, well congradulation, please have a seat.” he pointed to a chair, Matt sat next to me.
“This is my husband, Matthew Hanson.” I introduced him.
They all shook his hand, “Mrs. Hanson, can I call you Nora?” he asked.
“Yes, please.” I answered
“Nora, your Aunt had a sizable estate worth over 3. 4 million, but due to some debts and other cost its now, just under 2.1 million.” I squeezed Matt’s hand under the table, “ She had several properties including her home, the house she was staying in, which is quiet large.” he began to sort some papers, “this is the deed to the properties and you need to sign this paper to say you were here.” I looked at it, I actually read it and so did Matt, I signed it. We were there for a few hours, then we got the keys for everything.
One of the lawyers led us to my Aunts estate, we pulled up in front of it. Our mouths dropped, “Oh….my……God!” I barely got out. We stopped and I got out of the car, “This is her house?” I asked.
“Yes, this is where she lived, the contents are still in there, if you plan on selling anything, just give us a call.” he shook our hands and drove away.
“Holy Shit!” is all Matt could say. I walked up to the door and fumbled around with the keys to unlock the door. It started to thunder and sprinkle. After about 10 keys I found the right one. We walked in, I couldn’t believe at how big it was. We turned on the lights.
“I guess we are staying her for the night.” I looked at Matt for his expression.
“Ok, let me go get the bags.” he headed outside. I went from room to room and turned on the lights. I found myself in Aunt Sallys room, I remembered her letter. I got down on my belly and looked under the bed. There was a metal box in the bed frame.
“Nora!” Matt called for me.
“In here hon!” I answered him, I sat the box on the bed. Matt walked into the room, I dug in my pocket and got the key she sent me. I
turned it in the lock and the latch flung up. I looked at Matt who was right behind me looking over my shoulder. I opened the lid, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Money, a lot of money, not 20s there were thousands, I never seen a thousand dollar bill before. I flipped threw the cash all thousand. I slammed the lid closed and stood up.
“Matt?” that’s all I could get out, I was in shocked.
“What?” he answered. I looked at him and he was staring at me waiting for me to say something.
“Lets hide this until we leave.” I hugged the box, he shook his head in agreement.
I found a spot in the back of the closet. I began to search the house. I started in the closest, She had all name brands from Gucci to Prada. I felt bad looking through her stuff, I stopped and began talking, like I was talking to her.
“Aunt Sally, I have to say I feel bad about looking through your stuff, I feel like I am invading your privacy. I love you, I may not of showed it but I do.” I went back into her closet and began to take out stuff I liked. I went through her shoes, she was my size, I felt lucky. I found some old suitcases, I began packing. Matt came in,
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I am taking some of these clothes and shoes.” I answered him.
“Oh ok, I found some cool stuff in the study.” he held up an old sword, “ this is so neat.” he waved the sword from side to side an ran downstairs. Cleaned out her closet and her jewelry. I looked around the house.
“Matt?” I called, he was right behind me.
“Yeah?” he answered, scaring me.
“Maybe we should move here?” I looked at him, “I mean, we could design the house the way we wanted and we don’t have to worry about anything for awhile.” I studied Matt’s expression.
“I don’t know, Nora, I mean, it’s a nice house, but I think its too big for us, maybe we should take what we want and sell it or something with the rest.” he said looking at the sword.
“Maybe your right, but I like this house.” I was looking around.
“Yeah, I kinda like it too, but its so damn big.” he sat on the chair in the hall.
“My Aunt lived her by herself, for years.” I tried to change is mind with anything I could think of, I really wanted to live there.
“I know, but…. I don’t know.” he looked around, “I am so tired, maybe we should sleep on it.” I looked at him and his eyes where really red and he looked exhausted.
“Ok, we’ll sleep on it.” I took a big sigh, I felt defeated, just for the moment, I also felt extremely tired. Matt carried up the bags into the master bedroom. I dressed for bed and so did he. We both got into bed and fell right to sleep.
7am, was awaken by some noises from downstairs, at first I thought it was Matt, but he was sound asleep next to me. I got up and headed downstairs to see what was up. It was coming from the kitchen, the sound of dishes being rattled. I opened the swinging kitchen door.
“Good Morning.” a man standing in front of the stove greeted me.
“Morning, Who the hell are you?” I asked, he smiled.
“I am Marty, I am the cook and this is Bernice the maid.” he pointed to the woman washing the counter.
“Oh, your still here after Aunt Sally has passed away?” I asked.
“Of course, she paid us in advance, and we always keep our obligations.” he was way too chipper for that time of morning.
“Ok, well, my husband is still asleep, if you could please keep things down, until he wakes up?” I asked politely
“Of course.” he answered nicely. I went to leave, “Miss? Can I ask you something?” I turned around.
“yes.” I watched him, wipe his hands off.
“See, we don’t have any place to go, and we live in the coach house out back, I am a good cook and Bernice is good at cleaning. We were wondering……. If.. Your planning on staying here?” he had this sad look on his face.
“Well Marty, I don’t know, we just got in last night, we havent made up our mind. But don’t worry, we will make sure your taken care of, the both of you.” I tried to sound positive.
I ran back up the stairs, Matt was just getting up. “Morning baby.” I greeted him.
“Aww, good morning, I had a wonderful dream.” he had rested look on his face and a big smile.
“I did too, until the help woke me up.” he looked at me funny.
“The help? There is help here? Like a maid or butler?” he asked
“Maid and cook, so far, their not very old, about 27 or so.” I pulled out some clothes for us. We dressed and headed downstairs. The smell of bacon filled the whole downstairs.
“MMM, something smells good.” Matt sniffed the air, Bernice was dusting the living room. Matt stopped and staring at her, she seen him and smiled.
“That’s Bernice the maid.” I said, “she looks busy.” I watched her. She kept dusting and cleaning stuff. We walked into the kitchen, Marty had breakfast ready.
“Good Morning Mr. and Mrs. Hanson.” he guided us to our plates, “coffee or juice?” he asked, Matt was in shock.
“Coffee please, for us both.” I answered him.
After breakfast I headed back up to the master bedroom, I wanted to get some stuff done. I found a box of letters from my Grandma. One was really odd, it was about me,
Dearest Sally,
We received pictures of Nora today, I cant help but think she belongs to Travis. I know that he would never be unfaithful, but she looks too much like him to be just his granddaughter. I love her and I am happy to have a granddaughter finally. I asked Travis about it but he thinks I am losing my mind, maybe I am. I promised not to bring it up again. All is well here in Portland, things are finally starting to warm up. We received a tape of Nora’s dancing recital, she is such a talented dancer. Well that’s it for me,
Love your sister,
V.
I folded the letter and placed it back in the envolope. She knew or at least she had a feeling. I found several letters mentioning about her suspecting I was my grandpas child. I put the lid back on the box and placed it on the bed. I went through her dressers. I searched every inch of them.
I moved to her vanity, she had a lot of perfume, some of it never used but all of it smelled great. Matt was in the study checking out all the stuff in there. I moved into the bathroom, the towels where all clean and fluffy, it was really neat in there.
I made a discion, and I needed to tell Matt. I went down to the study, he was reading the books.
“Matt?” he turned and looked at me, “lets donate some of this stuff to good will.” he smiled.
“I agree, especially some of the stuff that isn’t needed like her clothes and some of the stuff packed into that room.” he pointed to a door across the hall.
“What’s in there?” I asked.
“Go Check.” he smiled. I walked over to it and opened the door. It was packed full of boxes, “What the heck? Whats in these?”
“I don’t know, I wanted to wait for you.” he stood beside me, “want to get started?” I shook my head, he grabbed a box.
We searched through all the boxes and nothing but magizines, newpapers and basically stuff that wasn’t needed. We called good will and donated 50% of everything. The house was looking neater. I looked at the clock, it was noon.
“Oh shit, I was suppose to get ahold of the banker guy.” I ran upstairs and got dressed, Matt decided to stay and do more sorting.
I walked into the bank, it was huge. I walked up to the man behind the information desk, “Hi I am looking for an Ed Saunders. Is he in?” I asked.
“Yes, is he exspectin you?” he asked kind of snotty.
“I think so, I am Nora Treeman.” she looked down at his book.
“Oh, yes, go right back.” he pointed to a balding man with glasses. I walked towards the desk.
“Yes, can I help you?” he greeted me.
“I am Nora Treeman, I received a phone call from you about Sally Grossmans estate.” he
stood up
“Oh yes, Miss Treeman, please have a seat.” I sat down and then he did, “ Mrs. Grossman, had a very large savings and checking, she put you on her account a few months ago.” he pulled out a file, “I need some information from you. Will you be banking with us?” he asked.
“I don’t know, this is all happening so fast, to be honest I got back 2 days ago from my honeymoon, and found out my favorite Aunt was dead and she left me everything.” I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
“Oh, your married?” he asked.
“Yes, my name is Nora Hanson now.” he smiled
“Congratulations, where is your husband?” he looked around.
“He is back at my Aunts estate, getting some stuff sorted.” he began to fidget,
“Will you please excuse me, nature calls.” he stood up and disappeared in the back. I leaned back, when I noticed a strange man looking at me. I watched him walk around in a trench coat and hat. He acted odd, first thing I thought was he was robbing the bank. His head was facing, he paused, then he went to leave.
H walked through the double door, passing a older woman, he removed his hat his hat. I watched long black hair fall down on his back.
My heart began to beat so hard it deafened me. He turned to look at the person passing him through the door. I stood up, his profile, he looked like Corbin. Then he disappeared, I sat back down. No, I thought, I cant be doing this to myself. Corbin was gone and he wasn’t coming back.
The banker returned, looking relieved, “Sorry about that Mrs. Treeman.” he apologized.
I sighed, “Its Hanson.” I corrected him
“Sorry, Mrs. Hanson.” he smiled. I spent over an hour at the bank signing papers, but I finally got the banking stuff dealt with. I didn’t want to tell Matt what I saw, because he would think I was still in love with Corbin, which I was, somewhat. I never got the closure from losing his so painful and he was my first love among other things. But I loved Matt and that was good enough for me.
I got back to the house, I began to miss Portland terrible. I missed my job, I missed my little apartment. I began to feel sick to my stomach, tired and dizzy. I went inside, I looked around.
“Matt?” I called for him, the room was spinning. He walked in just as my legs were giving out.
“Whoa! Babe whats wrong?” he carried me up to the bedroom.
“I think I am homesick, I think we should rent a moving truck, take what we want and lock up the house, head back to Portland.” I laid back on the bed, my head throbbed.
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea too,” he went to find a phonebook. He thumbed through it, “Ah here we go.” he called the moving truck rental place, he arranged for them to drop it off.
The rest of the day he, Marty and Berniece loaded up stuff we wanted to take . I was going to redo the whole apartment, wasn’t sure if the stuff we got would fit in the tiny rooms. I even packed the towel and bed sheet. I had Berneice pack up the good china to go with the china hutch that goes with the table and chairs. I made sure I grabbed the lock box with the cash in it and the box of letters.
That night we left for home, It felt good to be on our way home, Portland here we come!
Finally home, I thought, when I walked into my humble little apartment, I felt a sense of peace. Matt and the rest of the moving crew unloaded the truck at a local storage place. I laid in bed, nothing feels better then being in your own bed.
I decided to count the money in the box, I needed to know how much was in there, more like curiosity. I locked the bedroom door, made sure the windows where locked and closed. I counted it on the bed, I couldn’t believe how much was there, 50 thousand dollars. I hid the box in the bedroom, Matt didn’t even know where it was, he never asked either.
I had Matt leave several boxed behind including the towel. I decided to go ahead and put the towels way. I opened up the bottom of the cabinet, there sat a pink box. I smiled, “ I wonder.” I amused myself. I picked up the box and something was loose inside it. I opened the top of the box and there inside was an white little stick. I stood up and thought, what the heck.
We had dinner and was watching tv, when I thought it was a good idea to bring up the money, “Matt?” I got his attention.
“Yeah, babe, what?” he looked at me.
“I counted the money in the box.” he looked at me
“Oh yeah, how much?” he asked.
“50 thousand dollars.” his raised an eyebrow.
“You sure?” he sat up alittle more.
“Yes I counted it twice.” I assured him, he smiled. “Also Matt?” he gave that look like uh oh.
“What?” he looked at me suspiciously.
I smiled really big, “I‘m..pregnant.”
Pre-View
Pack 2- The Awakening
“I smell Corbin in here, its strong.” the memory of his brother made his facial expression change. I could see it was a painful one.
“He’s been in my apartment?” I looked at all their faces, I could tell that something was wrong, “what are you guys not telling me?” I noticed Nikki’s face, she was avoiding me. “Nikki? Whats going on?” She turned and looked at Kyle, he gave a nod.
“Corbin came to see us, the night before he showed himself to you, he said that he was on the trail of some odd creatures he never seen before, they weren’t vampires, they were something no one has seen before, So Josh went out with Corbin, but Josh never came back.” that was the look everyone had, Josh was missing.
“Where is he?” I asked Kyle
“We don’t know, we lost his trail just outside of town. But we aren’t giving up.” he looked at Matt, “ Matt, I know that you have come to love not being a like us, but we need you, whatever these creatures are we are largely out numbered, so we was wondering if you would consider being changed back into one.?” Kyle watched Matt’s face, like we all were.
“I don’t know,” he answered, “it has its advantages, but it’s also a curse, I would be scared of hurting Nora and the baby. I would have to think about it.” He looked at me
“Fair enough, but please contact me as soon as you can.” Kyle half smiled at us, “We better go guys.” They said their good byes and left the apartment,
I looked at Matt who was deep in thought, I could tell by the look on his face.
“What are you thinking of?” like I had to ask, I knew what he was thinking of.
“I was thinking of Kyle’s offer, I think I should do it, we need a lot of protection in this city and now with the other things out there……..Nora, I..think..I..am.. Gonna do it, I can protect you and the baby better as a werewolf then as a human.” I stared at him,
“Are you sure?” was I ready to have my husband be a werewolf? I had to admit it was intriguing to say the least, I had to support him in his decision. “Ok, do you wanna call Kyle before he gets too far away?” all he did was shake his head. I handed him the cell phone and he disappeared into the next room. The baby began to kick up a storm, I wondered if she knew what was going on, if she knew her daddy was going change into something that scary stories were made of.
About the Author….
R. A Cullison (Rose Ann) was born in 1974 in Chicago. She graduated Alpena High School in 1993. Had two children Amber Dawn and Alexander. .
Pack had been in the works since early 2009. The story was thought to have been lost on an old hard drive until her fiancé retrieved it for her.
Now working on a few more books to continue this Saga. So keep an eye out for them.
From Author…
I hope you enjoy this book, its always been a dream of mine to have a book published. I have always loved to write.
This book is just the first step to the rest. I wanted to introduced the characters to you. I hope you enjoy them, Keep a look out for part 2, Coming Soon……
Thank you for reading books on Archive.
