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"Here are the keys to the estate," the grim-faced attorney said, handing her a small key-ring. "Front door, back door, garage and storage shed in the back. You can take up residence whenever you are ready. My secretary will have the deed documents for you on your way out."
He extended his hand and she shook it solemnly. As she returned through the outer office and retrieved the documents from the trim, well-dressed secretary, she realized she must look a bit dazed, but that was to be expected.
"Wow," she thought, shaking her head in disbelief.
As she fished for her car keys in her bag, her hand brushed the lavender envelope with the unfamiliar hand of her Aunt Elizabeth, known as "Lizzie" by the family. The note, inscribed in green ink, had been short and inscrutable. "Don't forget to feed the cat and check the mantle for the rest... Regards, Lizzie"
What "the rest" was, she had no idea, but her aunt's will had been very clear about some things. The cat came with the estate and she would lose the property if she neglected or removed the cat. Jenny had never had a cat or any pet, for that matter, so she was a little bemused by this information.
The whole thing was just so very bizarre. She had met her Aunt Lizzie only twice before. Once, when she was 10 and had won an award for an essay, she had submitted to a national writing contest, entitled: "Why Aliens Must Exist". The second time was at her college graduation where she had given the Valedictorian speech for her class.
Lizzie had been "an odd one" according to her dad. She was her dad's great aunt on his mother's side and, despite her advancing age had been an avid traveler. It was unclear how she had made her living, but she had no children, nor had she ever married. Why, of all her cousins, Jenny had been chosen to receive all her belongings, including the house and cat, at her death, Jenny had no idea.
She tried to picture the dark grey wool beret that had perched upon her aunt's silvery hair and the funny way she had of cocking her head to listen to what was being said. She always seemed to be smiling about a private joke that only she could understand, and her dark eyes seemed to miss nothing.
Jenny sighed. It seemed that she would soon know much more about her, as everything Lizzie had owned had been packed into the large storage shed behind her house, per her instructions in her will, so that Jenny would have no trouble moving her own things into the roomy two-bedroom home in the Los Angeles foothills. Jenny had never actually been there, but the attorney had described it as part of the reading of the will.
Jenny shook her head. It was all still very unreal to her, but now she was beginning to feel some excitement. Her friends had helped her pack up her little studio apartment the night before into the moving van. She had not had the luxury to take her time as she had less than a week before the next month's rent would be due for her apartment and she didn't want to spend the money if she didn't have to.
She skipped the freeway as it was much quicker to avoid that snail's pace by going the back streets and putting up with some traffic lights. So, it came as almost a surprise when she realized she was nearly there. When she reached the twisty figure-eight road, she consulted her GPS and began to watch for the address coming closer and closer. Four blocks... Three blocks... Two blocks... Finally, her GPS said, "Arrive at destination on the right." She double-checked the address: 888 Infinity Loop. Yes, this was the place. She pulled into the driveway in front of the garage door.
She didn't know what she had expected, but it wasn't this hacienda style home with a white stucco wall enclosing a small garden in front with a large wrought iron gate under an archway of bougainvillea. The terra cotta roof tiles set off the white stucco and the yucca and pampas grass plants that framed each side of the red brick step leading onto a small porch. She sat there for a moment, just taking it all in.
This was her house. Her home. She had the papers in her glove box, signed, sealed and delivered. She glanced around the neighborhood. The houses were spaced well apart with generous breezeways between homes. Across the street was a large home, similar to her house, with what appeared to be a large workshop of some kind down a long driveway. Based on the nice cars parked in the driveways in either direction, this was a well-to-do neighborhood. The landscaping was well cared for and the hacienda theme was similar in every direction that she could see.
The sound of a car pulling up behind her in the driveway pulled her out of her reverie with a start. Behind her was the little red Smart Car driven by her best friend, Sam.
"Hey, new homeowner, are you ready to move in?" she called, her green eyes sparkling. Sam had burnished curly auburn hair cut short to her head. She was taller than many men and her freckles just seemed to enhance those brilliant green eyes dancing with mischief.
Jenny grinned. "I suppose so. The movers will be here in about 15 minutes. Wanna take a look around?"
As they went through the wrought iron gate into the front garden, Jenny noticed bougainvillea was also trained over the lattice archway framing the porch. Huge aloe vera plants played sentinel around the edge of the walkway. There was no lawn, but a rock garden like nothing she had seen before. Rocks from small boulder size to marble size in a range of colors that she didn't expect covered the ground. Flat steppingstones formed the walkway that led from the gate to the porch.
As she approached the door, which matched the roof tiles, and reached for the handle, she inserted the key into the lock and, taking a calming breath and looking at her friend with an anticipatory grin, she turned the key.
The large brightly sunlit entryway led to a living room with white stucco walls, a window seat framed by a huge picture window looking out onto the front garden and a fireplace with a wooden mantle. And there, to Jenny's surprise, was another lavender envelope with a small lump in it, labeled in the hand she recognized now as Lizzie's. It simply said, "For Jenny".
She opened the envelope and out fell a short note and a very small ornate key on a gold chain, such as you might use for a jewelry box. The bow of the key was decorated with interlocked circles that almost seemed to disappear into the center of the circle. Sam's raised eyebrows encouraged her, and she read the note aloud: "Dear Jenny. Wear this until you find a use for it. You won't be sorry. I have great expectations for your next adventures. Love, Aunt Lizzie."
Jenny handed the necklace to Sam, who examined it carefully. "Nice," she said, "Would you like me to fasten it for you?" Jenny turned her back to Sam who gently fastened the tiny chain behind her. The weight of the small key was feather light on her neck. Jenny didn't wear jewelry much, but it was a momentous day, and this seemed an appropriate way to celebrate.
Sam let out a breath. "This is why I love hanging out with you, Jenn. You make life interesting. What do you think she meant by 'adventures'?"
Jenny shook her head. "I have absolutely no idea. I think we should postpone the treasure hunt until we have some furniture in here, though, don't you think? Let's see what else this place has in store, so I can decide where I need to put everything."
They moved from the living room into the dining room, which showed French doors looking out into a back-yard patio with a large, brightly colored, striped awning and many potted plants. From there they examined the kitchen with old-fashioned enamel appliances lots of cupboards and counter space and a large window over the double sinks that also looked out into the back-yard.
"This place has some real potential," breathed Sam, her eyes sparkling. "We could have some pretty amazing parties here."
Jenny grinned back. "I like the quiet, but I suppose we can do a house-warming...a SMALL one," she said wagging a finger at her friend. "No big blow-outs here. I haven't met the neighbors, and this doesn't seem like that kind of neighborhood."
Sam sighed. "I guess you're right," she said, shaking her head. "But that patio looks like it would make a great place for it."
A knock on the door interrupted their plans and they went to greet the movers. Three muscular men in t-shirts that proclaimed them to be "College Guys – Movin' and Shakin'" stood in the door.
Jenny had labeled the boxes before they went into the truck with the various rooms and she and Sam supervised the unloading. Everything but Jenny's computer equipment had been packed into the moving van, as Jenny preferred to keep her tech close, in order to pack, move and unpack it herself. So, once the desk had been installed in the room she designated as "the office", she and Sam pulled her equipment out of her little blue SUV and, while the movers continued moving the rest of the boxes and furniture into her house, "My house," she thought continuing to grin, she set up her equipment.
She had been surprised to discover that this older home was well wired for all of her needs, including high speed internet. The cable company had come in the day before to turn it on, at the attorney's request.
It wouldn't have been a big deal, but Jenny made her living as a paid blogger for several online companies. She had stumbled into freelance blogging while still in college and it had paid for her education, her little apartment and her car payment, not to mention all of the expenses of living in Los Angeles.
By the time she had everything assembled on her desk and all the connections handled, the movers were on their way out the door. It was odd to see her things, most still in boxes, in the bright room with its deep red tiled floor.
Shaking her head at the seeming unreality of it all, Jenny wandered into the kitchen where Sam was stowing things from a cooler into the refrigerator. "Lunch?" Sam asked.
They made up some sandwiches and sat out on the patio, taking in the warmth of this sunny spring day and watching the butterflies swooping and fluttering over the meandering herb garden.
"I still don't believe it," said Jenny as she and Sam cleared their lunch away. "I am at a loss as to why Aunt Lizzie decided to give this all to me."
"Well, it all looks pretty real to me," laughed Sam. "I have to run, though. Unlike you, I have a 'real job'. Are you going to be alright?"
The whole "real job" thing was a standing joke with her and Sam, as most of Jenny's relatives (including her parents) didn't approve of her choice of vocation. It didn't much matter that Jenny often wrote 10 hours or more a day for several days at a time. And it didn't seem to matter that she was making a fairly good living at it. Sam, on the other hand, worked at a local television station as tech support, post production and crewing in the studio.
"No, I'm good. I definitely have plenty to do." And she looked around at all the unpacked boxes.
When Sam pulled out of the drive, Jenny stood there at the gate for a few moments, still very much in wonder at her new circumstances. She looked up and down the quiet street, noting that nothing seemed to be stirring besides the birds burbling cheerfully to one another.
Back inside she busied herself with unpacking her books into the shelves in the living room. The doorbell rang, and she answered the door only to find a short, salt-and-pepper-haired man of middle years with a short mustache smiling at her, a huge black tabby cat in his arms.
"Hey there, neighbor!" he said, his blue eyes twinkling. "I'm Bob Reid, from across the street. I'm here to deliver Tidbit," gesturing with a nod of his head at the big black cat.
The cat! Jenny had completely forgotten about the cat. "Hi Bob. I'm Jenny Japhet. Come on in. Did you know my aunt then?"
"Lizzie was an amazing lady," and his voice was soft and concerned. "She'll be greatly missed."
"I didn't know her all that well. I'm as surprised as anyone that she left all this to me."
"Lizzie never did anything without a really good reason," Bob replied. "I'm sure you must have some very interesting qualities for her to have singled you out."
He put the cat down who rubbed himself sinuously around Bob's ankles. "As I said, this is Tidbit, your aunt's most faithful companion. I'll bring over his food, his dishes and his bed in a bit. He's fairly friendly for a cat and not very demanding. I'm sure you'll be good friends. If there's anything at all you need while you're getting settled in, let me know. I'm usually in my workshop."
The cat didn't follow him out as he left but curled up in the window seat that looked out onto the front garden. As the sunlight hit him, she could see the black on black stripes of his fur and he looked up at her with large amber eyes as if expecting something. Jenny patted him tentatively on the head. "Tidbit, eh? Looks like you grew into a big chunk instead. I didn't know housecats got this big." Tidbit merely stared up at her, his expression inscrutable.
Jenn spent the rest of the day putting things to rights, humming unconsciously as she put her things away, made her bed and arranged her kitchen. Bob stopped by a few hours later with Tidbit's things.
"No litter box?" she asked as he set the box down.
"Doesn't use one," Bob replied. "He's mostly an outdoor cat. He'll ask to be let out when the need arises, and he likes to stay out at night. Think he goes out hunting. About the only time he stays inside at night is when it's raining...so, very seldom, the drought being what it is."
"He's got a cat bed, but mostly he likes to hang out on the window seat, watching the birds. He's missed his place since Lizzie passed. I'm sure he's glad to be back."
Bob gave the cat a thorough scratch of his ears and under his chin. Tidbit purred loudly, closing his eyes, his head nodding slowly side to side.
"I've never had a pet before," Jenny began. "I really have no idea how to care for him."
"Tidbit, doesn't seem to need much looking after. Keep his water bowl filled and food in his bowl and he'll pretty much take care of the rest. Cats are good that way. You'll soon get used to one another; I'll warrant."
Jenny nodded, unsure of what to say. Bob nodded at the door. "I've got to get back to work," he said. "By the way, what do you do?"
"I'm a blogger," she said, tensing herself for the usual negative comments she was so used to.
"Really? What do you blog about?"
"Various things. I'm a ghost-writer. I write blogs for companies online, so you'll never see my name attached to any of them. Companies pay me to put out interesting content to attract the right kind of buyers and clients," she said, surprised that his face showed a real interest in what she was saying.
"Hmm. I guess that means you work out of your home? This should be a great place to do what you do. I have a workshop behind my house. I guess you might call me a tinkerer. Invented a few useful gadgets a few years back that set me up pretty well. Now I follow my thinker," he said, pointing to his head. "I'm usually either in the workshop or puttering in the garden out back."
He headed out the door with, "So don't be a stranger, if you need anything."
Jenny turned to Tidbit. "O.K., Mr. Tidbit. I guess it's just you and me. I don't know a lot about cats. I guess it's time I learned, right?" The tip of Tidbit's tail twitched as if to say, "I'm good with it," and he turned his big head, looking out the window, his ears swiveling as he watched the sparrows in the bougainvillea outside.
Jenny considered what to do next. In anticipation for the move she had gotten ahead on her writing assignments and had a couple days to work on organizing her new space and getting to explore her environment. But where to start?
The living room was much larger than her tiny apartment and her furniture looked a little sparse for the size of the room, but she set about assembling her bookshelves along one wall and once the cushy armchair with the old fashioned stand lamp was positioned in the corner facing the entry way and her couch had been graced with her mother's afghan and throw pillows, it started to feel a little more like home.
She took in the fireplace and the empty space over the mantle. It needed a large painting or a big mirror, she decided, but that would have to wait.
After sorting out the living room, so she would have a place to welcome a guest, she worked her way through the bedroom and kitchen and by the time she had finished it was very dark outside. She had let Tidbit out for the night and finally decided it was time to head to bed.
As she prepared for bed, she went to remove the necklace with the tiny gold key, which she had quite forgotten about until that moment. It wouldn't come off! She searched the chain several times for the tiny clasp, checking in the bathroom mirror and the clasp was just gone. How could that be? "I'm probably just tired," she told herself. "It won't hurt to wear it to bed. I'll figure it out in the morning." And with that, she fluffed her pillow, turned out the light and went to sleep in her very own house.
