Page 15 of Happy Harbor
“Good to see you, darlin’, but I’m truly sorry for the occasion.”
“Me too.” She glared at her daughter, giving her a look of warning to get off her phone and be respectful. Thankfully, for once, Kendra obliged. She took out her earbuds, shoved them into her pocket, and stood up. “Joe, I don’t know if you remember my daughter, Kendra?”
He smiled broadly. “I sure do. You were just a little thing the last time I saw you. You’re as tall as your momma now.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, plastering on what Josie knew to be her fakest smile. She didn’t care as long as Kendra didn’t set the place on fire or run naked down Main Street.
“Y’all come on back to my office,” he said, waving for them to follow.
The office smelled like a mixture of mildew and old newspapers, with just a hint of what Josie assumed to be lavender-scented air freshener. She preferred to smell the pluff mud.
The room could only be described as an organized hoard. His bookcases, which were behind his desk, were filled to the brim with thick old law books, some with dust and fingerprints on the spines. His desk was a mixture of file folders, stacked papers, and a collection of miniature globes that seemed to be out of place.
Josie and Kendra sat down in each of the Naugahyde chairs across from his desk. Stuffing protruded from the ends of the armrests. “Do we have a time for the service yet?” Josie asked, setting her purse on the floor beside her.
“Tomorrow at twelve o’clock at the First Baptist Church. Burial will be in the church cemetery next door. Mrs. Boniface, her best friend from church, will also receive everyone at her house for a luncheon.”
A luncheon? Ugh. The last thing Josie wanted to do was spend hours at Mrs. Boniface’s house, eating sandwiches and talking to strangers. They all knew her from when she was a kid, but she barely remembered these people. After all, she hadn’t visited Happy Harbor in many years.
“I’m very grateful that Nana’s friends planned her service.”
“Yes, they’re wonderful people,” he said, looking down at the file folder in his hands. “Well, I suppose we should get started.”
“No one else is coming?”
“Just you,” he said, smiling. “She left a few things for other people, but that has already been handled. After I speak with you today, all the loose ends will be tied up.”
“I see. Then let’s get started.”
He opened the folder and pushed his glasses down to the tip of his nose. “She left you a letter. Would you like me to read it?”
“Sure.”
He cleared his throat like he was about to give a monologue onstage. “‘My dearest Bug...’”
“Bug?” Kendra blurted out, laughing.
“Nana called me Bug when I was a kid because I loved catching lightning bugs down by the marsh.” She smiled at the memory. Until now, she hadn’t thought about her nickname in years.
“May I continue?”
“Yes, please,” Josie said, eyeing her daughter.
“‘My dearest Bug, if you’re reading this, I’ve gone home to heaven. While I would never want to leave you, my work here is done, and I hope God looks favorably upon me and sees how hard I tried to serve Him. I know I’ll see you again one day, and that makes my heart smile.
“‘In death, there are things that must be handled, and that is why I’ve asked Joe Strand to speak with you. There are things I’m leaving you that may not make sense, and they may even seem like a burden, especially since you have your life in Atlanta. As I write this, you have a boyfriend, a job, and you’re hoping to move soon.’”
“So she wrote this a year or so ago?”
“Probably about that,” he said, smiling as if he was getting annoyed at the interruptions.
“Sorry. Go on.”
“‘I don’t intend to disrupt your life but to give you other options. To cut to the chase, I’m leaving you my restaurant and my home, along with everything in both, but there is a caveat. If you decide to stay in Happy Harbor and run the restaurant, you cannot fire any of the current staff for at least six months. These people were my family for so long, and I want you to continue taking care of them for me. It might be hard, but it will be worth it.’”
“Wait. She left me her restaurant and her house? I can’t move back here, Joe. My home is in Atlanta.”
“How close are we to the beach?” Kendra suddenly asked, the gears in her brain turning.
