An Unexpected Family Legacy

"Ms. Lucy Parker, you're not easy to find," he said on the phone, the exasperation evident in his tone.

I was exasperated, too. A little scared as well. I didn't have a clue who the man was but he had left a cryptic voicemail for me, begging me to call him immediately for some legal matters. I wasn't sure if it was a scam or if he had more nefarious goals in mind.

"Yeah, there's reasons for that. Who gave you this number?"

"Never mind that. My name is Robert Griffith and I'm an attorney. We have gone through extreme measures to find you. You have been named in the last Will and Testament of Delilah Grace Harrington."

Instantly, memories of Lila flooded me. I could see the tiny old lady, draped in the bright scarfs that she loved as she danced around the giant bookshelves in her library. I felt a moment of shame. I hadn't thought of Lila in years.

"You must have something wrong. I am not related to Lila."

"No, you are definitely listed in this will. Can you come to our office tomorrow to take care of this?"

Panic seized me. I could not return there. It had taken ten years to finally feel comfortable in my new life.

"I don't go to that town any more. At all."

"Oh, no worries. Our office is in Boston. Not too far from you even."

I agreed to meet him and listened to his directions in a daze. I hung up and started pacing my tiny apartment. To the kitchen table. Back to the couch. Then to the table again. Back and forth as I tried to push the memories back down where they couldn't hurt me anymore. But I couldn't stop them.

I knocked on the gigantic door of the old mansion as trepidation filled me. The door swung open with a loud groan and a tiny old woman stood before me, looking ridiculously insignificant in front of such an insanely large house.

"Mrs. Delilah Grace Harrington?" I squeaked out, trying to overcome my nerves.

"Bah! Don't call me that mouthful of a name. Lila is just fine."

She gestured for me to come in as she flipped a bold sapphire blue and amethyst purple scarf over her shoulder. Her gray hair was long and pulled into a no-nonsense smooth bun. She wore a dark blue dress that looked expensive but really outdated.

While it was surreal to finally meet the lady that was more myth than reality in the town, the entry hall that I walked into grabbed all of my attention instead. It was magnificent. Or at least it had been at one time. Now, the shine was gone. The fabrics on the chairs were worn and frayed. The marble floors were scuffed and dull. And the whole place needed a thorough dusting - you could see the dust dancing through the sunlight pouring in the large windows. I also couldn't overlook the numerous cobwebs that dangled from the ceilings and corners like macabre lace garland.

She led me down a long hallway and into a grand library, everything as beautiful and neglected as the entry hall. Her keen blue eyes watched me as I looked around, a wistful smile on her face.

"I knew you'd love this place," she whispered. Before I could ask her what she meant, she added, "We'll start here."

I looked at the rows and rows of books that she pointed at. She had hired me to clean and organize. I thought it was just going to be a little dusting and moving some books around. This would take all summer!

Instead of being daunted, though, I was ecstatic and ready to get to work. I always loved historic old buildings and dusty books. I also jumped at any chance to escape my strict parents who always needed to remind me that I was adopted and should be thankful for anything that I received from them. It was nice to feel wanted for a change. Even if it was just for the long days of summer.

It wasn't just for that summer, though. I ended up working for Lila every summer and every weekend during the school year until I graduated. She became a friend, confidant, and refuge to me.

I counted down the days until I could escape that town. I finally left after graduation and never returned. To protect myself, I cut all ties with my abusive parents but also severed all contact with anyone connected to my childhood and that town, including Lila.

Now, ten years later, I felt guilty for not keeping in touch with Lila. She had kept me sane during the most turbulent time of my life and I abandoned her when it became too difficult to look back.

I looked down at the pages of documents in front of me but I couldn't see a word of it. It was all so overwhelming.

"Mrs. Harrington had a life insurance policy that amounts to $20,000. You are the only listed beneficiary. She also left the house and all property associated with it to you."

My cynical laugh at his statement was the only thing to fill the following silence.

"Unless a miracle happened in the last 10 years since I have seen Lila, that decrepit mansion isn't much more than a pile of once expressive bricks and cobwebs. It is utterly impossible to maintain that property with $20,000."

"Be that as it may, that was the extent of her worldly possessions and she left it all to you."

"And why would she do that? We're not related. I just helped her out for a few years as a part time job. I haven't even spoken to her in 10 years!"

The attorney looked like he was about to tell me something and then decided against it. Instead, he pulled a thick little black book from his briefcase. He slid it across the table to me.

"I can't answer any more questions. But I think many of your answers are in this book. Your - that is Mrs. Harrington - wanted you to have this."

I picked up the leather-bound book and I could see that it was a journal of some sort. All of it seemed like it was just more weight being added to my shoulders at a time when I felt like I couldn't bear much more. I just wanted to go back to my apartment, crawl back into my bed, and hide from the world.

Weary, I grabbed the stack of legal documents as well. "Is that it? Or do you need me for anything else?"

"Well, we just need you to sign this and we have the keys for the property and that should be it for now."

I scribbled my name hastily on the documents he set in front of me, not able to read anything else. I needed to get out of his office. He handed me the keys, which felt like they somehow weighed more than any other keys that I had ever held. I responded to his farewell on auto-pilot and rushed from the office.

When I got back to my apartment, I carelessly unloaded the pile on my kitchen table with the full intention of ignoring it all as long as I could. The black book opened as it landed and I could see Lila's neat handwriting. I could hear her voice then. "Sometimes life hands us the worst. But you need to take those threads and weave them into your own beautiful cloth."

I picked up the book and took it with me to the bedroom. Flopping onto my bed, I opened it to the first page.

"Well, if you're reading this then I'm gone. And I can finally tell you something that I have wanted to tell you your whole life. I am your grandmother, Lucy."

I jumped up from the bed, the book clattering to the floor. A million thoughts went rushing through my head. I was shocked and angry and felt abandoned but also a little hopeful. That hope made me reach down and pick the book up again, settling down to read the whole thing.

Lila - my grandmother! - wrote her life story in those pages. She wrote about my mother, who was so full of life but also full of darkness that she couldn't contain. My grandmother came from old money - it's where the huge mansion came from. My grandfather died young, leaving my grandmother to raise my mother alone. Their families were insanely rich, though, so finances were never a hardship.

Until my mother found herself pregnant at 16. The family demanded an abortion because it was an embarrassment to the good family name. My grandmother and mother refused. So I was born. The family cut my grandmother off. She owned the house and estate and had some savings but they refused to give her any more funds to take care of the property and living expenses.

Unbeknownst to my grandmother, my mother knew she couldn't take care of a baby without the funds to do so. So she arranged to give me up for adoption. My grandmother didn't find out until after it was done and I was taken away right after birth. My mother sunk to an even greater low, the darkness taking over. She took her own life a few months after I was born.

Lila found me but couldn't do anything about my adoption. My adoptive parents wouldn't allow her to form a relationship with me - no surprise there. They finally relented and allowed her to hire me for that fateful part time job but she wasn't allowed to tell me about our real relationship as long as she lived.

I sat in silence for hours after I finished reading, tears streaming down my face. I grieved for a mother I never knew and a grandmother that I was never allowed to know in that capacity. I felt guilt that I never forged a deeper relationship with Lila. Why did I have to run away from everyone?

Then I dried my tears and pulled out my suitcase, settling in for a night of packing. I was going home. I had a mansion and a family legacy that I was now the owner of.