Page 23 of Sheep Calm and Merry On
“Uh.” DeeDee Mitchell left him a house? Why? She had family. Case in point, this Chris guy.
“Mr. Taylor?”
Right. Availability. Paperwork. Austin forced himself to close his mouth and consider his schedule. He only had two appointments tomorrow, both protective sprays for the upcoming road-salt season. Tomorrow was a Wednesday, so a slow day for walk-in business. “I could do sometime after two?”
Click-clack-click. “Perfect. We’ll see you tomorrow at two thirty, Mr. Taylor.”
In a daze, Austin took down the address of the office. Then he and Josephine Kelly hung up, and he set his phone down on the counter. He stared at it for a handful of seconds, waiting for her to call back and tell him this had all been a weird misunderstanding.
The phone remained stubbornly silent.
Austin took a deep breath and considered the yet-unopened can of SpaghettiOs.
No, he decided. If he was about to become a homeowner—or a half-homeowner, or whatever—then he was going to splurge. He snatched his keys off the peg near his front door and left the apartment. McDonald’s dinner it was.
THE CLOCK read 2:11 when Joe pulled his truck into the lot at Keller and Associates. He’d misjudged the traffic from Oldcastle; he should’ve known the streets would be dead at this time on a weekday. But it would be brutal on the way back—nothing but school buses and parent pick-ups.
He shook off a sense of wistfulness. That was one thing he’d never miss. His kids might be mostly grown-up now, much less easy to wrangle into a hug, but on the plus side, Joe never had to wait in the kiss-and-ride line.
He clicked the lock on his truck and jogged inside.
Keller and Associates was housed in a strip mall in central Windsor, industrial beige inside and out. Joe let the receptionist know he was there for a meeting with Ms. Kelly at two thirty and took a seat in one of the beige pleather chairs. The room didn’t have any other occupants, so presumably his co-owner had not arrived yet. Which made sense, because Joe was stupid early.
Why had he come inside? He could’ve sat in his truck and listened to music or something. Now he was in a public space. It wasn’t like he could just flip through TikTok for twenty minutes; he hadn’t brought headphones.
He should’ve known that the kids would never let him be bored… or give him a moment’s peace. He hadn’t even had time for his butt to warm the cold plastic before they started blowing up the family WhatsApp.
Meg Mitchell: Okay, so who is this guy? How did they finally track him down?
Gavin Chalmers: Yeah, and what the hell took so long? I am DYING to go explore that place
Alex Jones: Dude. Too soon
Gavin Chalmers: Oh shit, sorry Meg.
Meg Mitchell: Whatever, Grandma DeeDee would’ve laughed. Also, same, no one from the family has been in there in 20 years
This was news to Joe, who suddenly heard alarm bells going off in the back of his brain.
Joe Romano: Wait, for real? She died 4 months ago!
Meg Mitchell: Yeah, and Dad says we’re not allowed in because the house and all its contents belong to you and this Austin guy EVEN THOUGH HE’S THE EXECUTOR. He could totally go in, he’s just chicken
Gavin Chalmers: What if there’s like
Gavin Chalmers: Mummified rats in there
Will Wiebe: Ew
Will Wiebe: Don’t speak that evil into the universe, Gavin
Yeah, Gavin, Joe thought. Keep that shit to yourself. He made a mental note to buy a respirator mask and a Costco-size box of disposable gloves.
Joe Romano: None of you gremlins are getting in there until it’s been declared safe by some kind of public health authority, okay?
Meg Mitchell: boo
Will Wiebe: boo
