The Cottage on Nantucket

by Jessie Newton

  She sighed and picked up a vase that looked like it had been made in the seventeen hundreds. “So…do we take this stuff down to the antique shop? See what Mildred says about it?”

  “If it’s worth something, yes,” Janey said.

  “We don’t know if it’s worth something without going down there.” Tessa put the vase in a box along with a black wire birdcage and a couple of crystal figures of sailboats. They looked like paperweights to her, but Janey insisted they were the work of a local artist and could be worth something.

  Janey’s only interest was in the things that she deemed worth something. Tessa understood the mentality, but her sister had been coming across as fairly cold as they’d gone through Mom’s things. The clothes, shoes, and household items were easy. Tessa had kept a few of her mother’s sweaters, especially the Christmas ones, as her mother had possessed a real affinity for the ugliest holiday sweater possible, and they made Tessa smile.

  They’d come to the cottage for Christmas several times, and she could remember her mother laughing as they went to this holiday party or that Christmas Eve dinner. She’d won a couple of the ugliest sweater contests around town and in the neighborhood out here on the Point, and Tessa had wanted the sweaters for sentimental value.

  Everything else got donated to Good Will, and after the third day of dropping off, the worker there had given her and Janey their own tags. Then they could drop off before or after hours without a problem.

  “Maybe Sean will have it,” Janey said, picking up a stack of books and putting them in the same box. The vase clacked and scratched against the birdcage, but Tessa opted to say nothing.

  “I already called him,” Tessa said, not for the first time. She’d had to call Sean Masterson, their mother’s lawyer, to set up a time to meet with him. He’d said he did have a few items to go over, and only he could release the safety deposit box keys to Tessa and Janey, and yes, they did have to come together to get them. “He said he had a few instructions, and no, they weren’t in a binder.”

  “Then it has to be in that stupid desk.” Janey glared at Tessa as if she’d locked the desk and lost the key on purpose.

  “I’ll go try that key we found last night.” Tessa turned and left the study, where her mother had been collecting things for at least six decades. About half the size of the other three bedrooms, the study had held about ten times as much stuff as the rest of the house combined. Mom had two bookcases in there stuffed to the gills, as well as a china cabinet, a desk, and a chest of drawers that hadn’t housed clothing.

  She and Janey had been going through it for days, and with one or two more trips, Tessa hoped they could be done. They had found plenty of odds and ends—a jar full of buttons, none of which looked like any other. A Tupperware container of only quarters. Janey had theorized that Mom had used them for the laundromat downtown, and that made sense to Tessa, so she hadn’t offered another idea.

  Mom loved books, and they’d unearthed plenty of those with old stickers on them from the used bookstore downtown. They’d been taking all of them there, and the owner was delighted to see what they had that he wanted to add back to his collection.

  In fact, John Lawrence had called that morning to ask if the sisters would be stopping by that day with more books. He had a couple in town who’d taken several of the others he’d bought back from them, and they were very interested in seeing what else the Clarke cottage on the Point would yield.

  Tessa had told him they’d be by with a couple of boxes, because she and Janey had been eating downtown every evening. Bobbie had invited them for dinner a couple of times, but Janey didn’t want to go. It had fallen to Tessa to get them out of the situation delicately, which she’d done. She didn’t particularly want to spend a whole evening reminiscing with Bobbie and Riggs either, but she didn’t want to be rude to someone Mom had loved dearly.

  She plucked the small brass key from the dish on the kitchen table and faced the stairs leading up to the second floor. Thankfully, Mom hadn’t put much up there, as she’d stopped using stairs for the past few years of her life. They’d found old clothing, a heap of towels that had been left behind at some point, and plenty of old National Geographic magazines—Dad’s favorite.

  There was only one bedroom on the second floor, and it seemed like that was where Mom had put all of Dad’s belongings she hadn’t been able to part with after he’d died. Janey and Tessa hadn’t had a problem filling the trashcan or a box for Good Will, and the second floor had taken less than two hours to clean out.

  She climbed the steps and glanced at the single recliner that sat in front of the huge windows overlooking the beach. Mom and Dad must’ve hauled it upstairs in a box and then assembled it up here, because it was at least twice as wide as the narrow staircase, and they couldn’t have gotten it up here any other way.

  Tessa and Janey had considered breaking it into pieces to get it downstairs, but in the end, Tessa had suggested they just leave it for now. They owned the cottage, and in her mind, she had no plans to sell it. The recliner was a hideous shade of orange, but otherwise clean, and one night, after Janey had gone to bed, Tessa had nursed her Coke and whiskey from the serenity of that recliner.

  It could stay, as far as she was concerned.

  Now, though, she turned away from it and faced the even steeper and more narrow set of steps that led into the attic. Despite her generous hips, she managed to get upstairs and through the door, where all the child-sized furniture had been cleared out long ago. This room had a bare wood floor, with a single window that overlooked the beach as well. The only item in the room was a student desk. Nothing fancy, though definitely assembled in the space as well. It was made of a dark wood and had three drawers total. One long, skinny one along the top front that slid open easily without a single squeal.

  Two more ran down the side of the desk, the bottom one larger than the top. Both of those drawers could lock, and they were both currently locked.

  Tessa and Janey had tried everything to get the drawers open, to no avail. They’d lifted the desk to determine if there was even anything in the drawers, and the weight suggested there wasn’t. Tessa had heard something sliding around in one of them, though, and they’d discussed calling a locksmith at some point, if they determined the drawer’s contents to be worth discovering.

  “We have to go,” Janey called from the first floor, and Tessa glanced at her watch. One-fifteen. They were meeting with Sean that afternoon, an appointment they’d waited a week to get, so they couldn’t miss or reschedule.

  “I forgot,” she called down. “I’ll be two minutes.” She quickly fitted the small key into the lock, already knowing it wasn’t the right one.

  The key was brass and the lock silver, and sure enough, the key didn’t open either drawer.

  Tessa went back downstairs and held up the key. “Doesn’t work.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Janey said dryly. She already had her oversized sunglasses on, and with her perfectly styled and dyed hair, her flowing fabrics and professional fashion sense, she looked like a model for the single, middle-aged woman. “You’ve got the original binder, right?”

  “Yes,” Tessa said, dropping the key back into the dish and reaching for the bright red binder she’d brought with her. “Let’s go.”

  Janey drove, as Janey always did when they were together, and Tessa watched the waves greet the beach during the fifteen-minute drive to the downtown area of Nantucket.

  Plenty of shops and restaurants had been crammed into the heart of the island, and in the summer, tourists clogged every street and sidewalk, every cruise out on the ocean, every hotel and bed & breakfast.

  Tessa had often been one of those tourists, so they didn’t bother her. In fact, she saw herself in the family of four riding the neon green bikes down the beach path or the mom and dad pushing a stroller away from the pop-up seafood stand in the corner of the parking lot.

  Janey grumbled about not being on time—as if she had any room
to talk about such a thing—and how many people had arrived on Nantucket over the weekend.

  Tessa ignored her and let the breeze pull through her hair as Janey got them onto a side-street that led to a quieter part of downtown where Sean’s office was.

  Inside, the air conditioning kept everyone cool and comfortable, and his secretary stood to greet them. “You must be the Clarke sisters,” he said, his smile far too wide for a lawyer’s office, even a small island one.

  Tessa and Janey hadn’t bothered to correct anyone about their name. They’d been Clarkes once, yes, and though neither of them had used the name in a while, Tessa still felt like it belonged to her.

  Surprisingly, Ron had said he had a week at the beginning of August where he could get out of the office, and he was planning to come to the cottage on the Point. Tessa had spoken to him several times over the weekend, and he’d commented on how good the yard looked at their home in Pennsylvania, and Tessa had swelled with pride and accomplishment.

  Standing in Sean Masterson’s office, though, she wished she could’ve bottled some of that feeling like she’d done something great to use right now.

  “We weren’t that late,” Janey hissed, glaring down the hallway as if she had another pressing appointment she couldn’t miss. “There’s not a single car in the lot besides ours. What’s taking so long?”

  “Relax,” Tessa murmured, because the walls in some of these older beach buildings were paper-thin. “Maybe he’s on the phone or something.”

  “I hate it when people prioritize people on the phone over people in person.”

  “Janey, you literally do ninety percent of your business on the phone.” Tessa shook her head. “It’s fine. We’ve been here for two minutes.”

  Janey sighed and reached up to adjust her sunglasses on her head. “You’re right. I’m so on-edge about this meeting.”

  Tessa was too, and she stepped over to her sister. She put her arm around Janey, and said, “Me too.”

  “I don’t even know why.” Janey stood rigidly for another few seconds before finally relaxing into Tessa’s side. “I am expecting a call this afternoon from the CEO at AeroBlue. Remember?”

  “Of course,” Tessa said, though she had forgotten. “You’ll be fine if you take it. We just needed to be here together initially.”

  “It shouldn’t take long,” Janey said. “Ten or fifteen minutes. I just have to walk him through set-up and give him a generated code.”

  Tessa pressed her lips together, wondering if she should’ve put on another layer of lip gloss before coming inside.

  “Janey,” a man said as he came out of the hallway. “Tessa. So good to see you two.” Sean Masterson wore the same wide smile as his assistant, but he boasted a dark suit, complete with the jacket, shiny shoes, and a head full of dark hair that swooped just-so, as if the wind itself had sculpted it on the way to work that morning.

  He laughed, a big, booming sound that actually made Tessa smile, and hugged them both as if they were old island friends.

  It was the first time Tessa had met the man. She giggled and went with it, though, noting that Janey did too. In fact, Janey’s smile had taken on a whole new hue, and Tessa could see the interest sparking in her sister’s hazel eyes.

  Oh dear, she thought as she followed Sean and Janey down the hall to the lawyer’s inner office. Was her sister seriously entertaining the thought of a fling with their mother’s Nantucket lawyer?

  He held the door for them, and asked Cory, his assistant, to bring coffee, soda, and water. Once everyone was settled, Sean pulled a folder from his side of the desk and set it on top.

  “First,” he said, looking at both women, his smile slipping away. “Let me say how sorry I am about your mother. Lydia was such a good friend to everyone, and she is missed here on Nantucket.”

  “Thank you,” Tessa said automatically, Janey a half a beat behind her.

  Sean nodded and opened the folder. “I understand you read the will with her agent in New York City. I know there was a provision to come here to meet with me, go through the cottage, and complete the conditions of the will before it can be fully executed.” He glanced up, and Tessa nodded as it seemed he needed the confirmation.

  “I have an auxiliary to the will for both of you, sealed in my presence by your mother.” He took out a large, legal-sized envelope that looked like it held a bit of paper. Maybe ten or twelve sheets, at least.

  He slid it onto the table in front of Janey. “You can and probably should open them in private. Your mother wanted me to pass them out and read a statement.” He took out an identical envelope and put it on the table in front of Tessa.

  Her fingers itched to reach out and rip it open, privacy or not. Hers didn’t appear to be any thicker than Janey’s, but she hadn’t gotten anything personal from the lawyer in New York, nor the binder she’d been through half a dozen times.

  What were her mother’s final words to her?

  Chapter Six

  Sean droned on about the legalities of the contents of the envelopes. “They’re part of the official will, as auxiliary clauses added after the fact, while Lydia Clarke lived and resided here on Nantucket, in the cottage on the Point.” He didn’t look up from the paper in front of him, and he’d put on a pair of reading glasses to be able to see it.

  Tessa’s attention had wandered, but Janey seemed razor-focused on Sean.

  “Each co-trustee shall have the opportunity to open their envelope in private, and neither has to disclose to the other what the contents contain.”

  Tessa perked up then.

  “Each co-trustee can discuss the contents with the other co-trustee, but the will and grantor leaves that up to the discretion of the parties involved. All other conditions and requirements of the original estate and trust, filed on August thirteenth, two-thousand-sixteen with Hammerstein and Associates, are binding and in force.”

  He glanced up. “Questions?”

  Tessa could only shake her head, and Janey said, “No.”

  “Once the letters have been opened, the legal representative of Lydia Clarke, who is now deceased, Sean Harland Masterson, will present the final documents to the co-trustees, provided that they are both present to receive them.”

  He cleared his throat and reached for his bottle of water. “That’s it.”

  “So there’s more after we open these?” Janey tapped her envelope.

  “Yes.” Sean looked back and forth between the two sisters. “I have one more folder for the two of you. I don’t have to give it to you today. You can—”

  “We want it today,” Janey said firmly, picking up her envelope. “We can open these now? Or…?”

  Sean gestured for them to go right ahead, but Tessa hesitated. “Janey,” she said as the first sound of ripping paper met her ears. “It said we can open them in private.”

  Janey looked at Tessa, plenty of electricity zipping through her expression. “You want to open yours alone?”

  “We don’t even know what’s in there.” Tessa couldn’t even bring herself to pick up her envelope.

  Janey’s phone rang at that moment, and she startled as she started to fish it from her purse. “I have to take this.” She stood and swiped on the call. “Bronson, I need just ten seconds, please.” Her whole demeanor changed, and she tapped a button on her phone. She looked at Tessa and then Sean. “Is there a conference room or somewhere I can complete my phone call and open my letter in private?” She blinked at him as if he should’ve offered this accommodation from the beginning.

  “Of course,” he said, jumping to his feet. “Come with me.” At the door, he looked back at Tessa. “You’re free to stay right here. I’ll close the door.” With that, he left with Janey, bringing the door closed behind him.

  Tessa took a deep breath and reached for her envelope. She’d barely slipped her fingers under the flap when the door opened again.

  Sean re-entered, and this time, when he closed the door, he locked it.

 
“Mister Masterson?” Tessa asked.

  “You haven’t opened yours, have you?” He looked at her with wide eyes. “Good. Just a moment.”

  “Just a moment?” Tessa let her hand drop from the flap.

  Sean pulled the cords on the blinds, sealing his office from anyone walking by. Combined with the now locked door, the closed blinds made Tessa feel claustrophobic and like they were about to do something illicit or illegal.

  Sean rounded his desk again and reached into the bottom drawer of his desk. “I was instructed to give this to you—and only you—before you opened your letter, but after it was delivered.” He gave a shaky laugh. “I have to admit, I’ve been stewing about it since I heard of your mother’s passing. She gave no directions for how I should accomplish such a move, and having Janey’s phone ring when it did was an answer to many nights of prayer.”

  He sank into his chair, his relief palpable.

  “I don’t understand,” Tessa said.

  Sean nodded to the second, much smaller envelope. “That is for your eyes only. I do not know what it is. Lydia gave it to me, and requested that I present it to you alone, after you received your initial envelope, but before you opened it.”

  “Okay.” Tessa reached for the smaller, more normal envelope. It was white, like the type a regular letter would come in. The type she’d been opening to pay her electric bill for decades. It weighed nothing, and she wasn’t sure which to open first. “Is there an order I should open these?”

  “She didn’t specify.” He got to his feet. “I do need to leave you alone now. You can stay here, or I can show you to another room.”

  “I don’t want to take your office,” Tessa said. She got to her feet and collected her envelopes, tucking the smaller white one behind the larger beige one so no one would see it. “Show me where I can go through these things alone.”