Sweet Tea and Secrets (19 page)

Jill gasped at the sight of her grandmother on the screen.

Pearl’s eyes danced, but her skin hung and her eyes lacked their usual sparkle. She spoke slowly and clearly and assured them that she was of sound mind when she created the terms of her will. “That was all that legal mumbo jumbo Connor said I had to say. Darn near need one of those TV news Teleprompters to get through this much red tape. This seemed like a good idea when I saw it on
Montel
, but it’s turned out to be a lot of work.”

Same old Pearl
, Jill thought. Garrett winked at her with a lopsided grin. He probably had the identical thought.

“Connor will handle the will. I trust him, and Lord knows I’m paying him enough for it,” Pearl continued, “but I need to explain a couple things to you myself. I wanted a clause that made the two of you marry to get the property, but Connor said I couldn’t do that. So I found a loophole. I can strongly encourage you.”

Pearl leaned into the camera so close Jill could see her pores. “Those were Connor’s words you know,
encourage you
to spend some time together. I’m hoping you two will finally come back to your senses. I love you both. Jill, my dear sweet granddaughter, you are a wonderful young lady. Your father would have been so proud of you. Garrett, a better man doesn’t exist. You two were made for each other. If you weren’t so doggone pigheaded you’d be together without my help.”

Jill felt a smile on her lips. Seeing Pearl, hearing her voice, was such a comfort. Garrett snickered, and then rested his hand on her leg. Her skin tingled beneath his touch.

“So here I am, helping. It’s what I do best you know.” Pearl smiled and crossed her hands in front of her, leaning forward on the desk. “I can feel my time coming to an end, my dears. Rely on each other. Take care of each other. For me.”

Jill grabbed the arm of the chair and leaned forward, trying to take a breath.

Garrett hit the pause button and laid a hand on her back. “Are you okay?”

She pressed her hands to her face and cried.

He squatted in front of her and took her hands into his. “It’s okay. I’m here.” He held her as she sobbed against his shoulder. “We don’t have to do this right now if you’re not ready.”

Her tears choked her.

He handed her a tissue from the box on Connor’s desk. “Here.”

She dabbed her eyes.

“Do you want to leave?”

“No.” She shook her head. “No. Keep going.”

Garrett hit
play
again and Pearl continued in animated form.

“I’d like to ask the two of you to live in the house for thirty consecutive days. If, after those days, you do not find your way back into each other’s hearts, I’ll admit I was wrong.” She leaned into the camera and winked then shook a crooked finger at the lens. “But you know I never am.” She leaned back in the chair. “No, you don’t have to. I said I was just askin’ because I’d like that.” Pearl leaned to the side. “I said they didn’t have to. Stop it, you worry wart. This is my message.” She was giving Connor the devil, and that was typical Pearl.

She came back into frame. “So here’s the deal. When Connor comes back in he’ll show you the plat. The property is much bigger than you think. Garrett, you’re going to want to fuss at me for not telling you sooner, but anyway....” Pearl pushed her glasses up on her nose and continued. “Jill, our home sat on just a small piece of the land John Carlo Pacini set aside for me when he had to leave. I know you’re thinkin’
who was that
? You’ve never heard of him, I know, but he was a good man. The love of my life. He built that house for me, and I’ve always been safe there. I’d be so happy to know the two of you are safe there. I was lucky to not only have had the great fortune to raise our son there, your father, but also to have you so close to me when your father was gone.”

Pearl steepled her fingers to her lips and leaned back. “My special Jill and Garrett. I once knew real love. It’s precious. I truly believe there’s only one true love for each person. My John Carlo was the only man I ever loved. He loved me, too. Jill, you will appreciate this honey. John Carlo had long dark hair.”

Pearl leaned close into the camera again. “He was even foxier than Yanni. That’s why I liked Yanni so much. He reminded me of my John Carlo.” Pearl smiled and giggled like a schoolgirl for a moment. “Fate kept us apart, but he was with me, protecting me, loving me, every day I lived. Don’t let your pride keep you from embracing what you both deserve. Jill, get the frown off your face, girl. You’ll get wrinkles.”

Pearl paused.

“Now you two kiss,” she ordered waving her bony hands in a merging motion in front of the camera.

Jill slowly turned to Garrett, but neither made the move.

“What? You can’t give an old woman a simple thing like this? One kiss. Go on now,” Pearl insisted.

Jill grunted and rolled her eyes. Garrett leaned her way.

“Just a little smooch.” Pearl was nothing if not audacious.

Garrett leaned over and kissed Jill.

Her lips tingled and other parts danced too as his hands found their way to the back of her neck and then her cheek, holding her at a breath’s distance. She blinked. Their faces so close, her lips feeling full, she wished she didn’t want him to kiss her again.

“Oh. All right,” Pearl said to someone out of frame. “Oh wait. Connor says I can’t make you do that. I think he just called me a pimp-granny. I guess I can only en-co-u-r-age,” she exaggerated, making the word sound about five syllables long, “to kiss and enjoy it, and about the being together thing and thirty days in the house. Can’t really do that either, but I wish you would give it a try for me.”

Pearl had just won the first round. She was a slick old bird, that gal.

“I love the two of you. Make it work kids. Garrett, don’t you let anything happen to Jill. I’ll be with you in your heart every day, doing what God will let me while I hang out up there with him. No telling what jobs he’s got for me.”

Pearl blew a little kiss and the video went to static, but then came right back into focus. She fussed with whoever was taping the session, probably Connor. “I just have one more thing to say,” she said, then turned primly back to the camera. “Jill, dear, tell sweet Carolanne that she needs to get her butt back to Adams Grove. She doesn’t need to let that daddy of hers keep her from getting her a good man right here in town. Fact is, he’s been doing pretty good staying on the wagon.” Pearl hunched forward, leaning on her elbows. “I know she and Connor would make a great couple.” Pearl’s attention moved off camera. “No you cannot take that off. This is my last wish to my granddaughter. You just roll that ‘til I’m done.” Turning back to the camera she smiled. “I know Carolanne can wrangle this one. They’re just alike. He’s got that girl in Chicago or California, some big city somewhere but God knows if she ain’t here yet, she never will be. I love you dear. You and Garrett find your happiness. The rest will all fall in place.” She blew a final kiss into the camera. “Now I’m done, damn it. It’s not like I was paying you by the inch of tape. You can shut it—”

The screen went blank in mid-sentence.

Garrett reached for Jill’s hand. His calloused hand covered hers, and his thumb stroked the top of her hand. She welcomed the gesture at first, then tugged her hand out from his and placed it in her lap.

Pearl, the hopeless romantic, had her reasons.

Connor stepped back in the office and turned up the lights. “Any questions?” he asked as he edged around the big desk.

They both nodded.

“Only a million,” Jill said, only half kidding.

Connor reset the lights and popped the DVD from the machine. “Sorry about that last part, but there was no stopping Pearl when she had her mind set on something.” Connor unfolded a blueprint of a plat across his desk in front of them.

“You’re telling us?” Jill said. “I could watch that a million times.”

“You can. I’ll give it to you. So, in simple terms, Jill, the house and this piece of the property belong to you.” With his thick fingers, Connor traced the portion of the property that edged the back road.

She nodded, understanding that what he’d marked was bigger than what she thought all of Pearl’s land was to begin with.

Connor turned toward Garrett. “Your property is this section.”

“Wow.” Garrett’s jaw dropped wide. “I had no idea she owned all that. I looked up that parcel. It’s owned by a corporation. I’ve been sending them letters for months with no response.”

Connor nodded. “She mentioned that.”

“You never knew Pearl owned half that road?” Garrett asked Jill.

“Never. I loved playing in those woods because they didn’t belong to us. Guess I wasn’t quite as adventurous as I thought.”

“One other thing,” Connor said. “Clyde goes to you, Garrett.”

“I can take care of him,” Jill piped up.

Connor shrugged and continued. “Couple of other things. Jill. You must keep the property, not sell it, for at least five years. Garrett, she wants you to use it only for the Bridle Path Estates project, and you have to break ground within that same five years. If either of you decides to forego the offer, the whole thing will be turned over to Grayson Auction. If that happens, the funds from the auction will be split three ways. One third will go to the county for a new animal shelter and boarding kennel that will take care of Clyde, the rest gets split between the two of you.”

Garrett said, “I’ll take care of Clyde.”

Jill stood and folded her arms as she leaned over the drawing. Disquieting thoughts raced through her mind. “This gets more complicated by the minute.” She recognized the faint hint of hysteria in her own voice.
Can I hold it together?

“It’s quite a nice spread. See.” Connor unrolled a larger image of the plat on the desk and gestured them to move in to view the documents with him. “Even if you choose the auction route it’ll bring a nice chunk of change. Do you know what land around here is going for these days? And that property is full of mature hardwoods.”

“All of that is Pearl’s?” Garrett shook his head in disbelief. “Wow. Can’t believe we never knew that.”

“Yours now, but yes. The land and the house were gifted to her by her husband John Carlo Pacini.”

“Pearl was never married,” Jill said.

“Yeah, she’s right,” Garrett agreed.

“Oh, but she was,” Connor said.

Jill and Garrett looked at each other.

“Their marriage was recorded back in 1944, but they never lived together. I’m not sure what happened. I don’t know any more about that than what was in the video.”

Jill flinched, then tugged on Garrett’s shirt sleeve. “Those letters. The ones in the attic. They were from John Carlo. That’s who I was asking you about. I never saw anything about a wedding though.”

“It’s starting to come together,” Garrett said.

“Come to think of it, there was a note by her knitting basket that had
‘Tell Jill about JC’
written on it. I thought the message had something to do with the blanket she was working on. JC? John Carlo. She was going to tell me.”

“When I bought the adjacent land, I complained to Pearl about the corporation not responding to my inquiries about purchasing that parcel,” Garrett said. “She never said a thing.”

Connor flipped through a folder, then handed a manila envelope to Garrett. “Pearl wanted me to be sure you had these. Being an architect she thought you’d find them interesting. They are the original drawings for the house.”

Garrett took the envelope. “Thanks.”

“Can I assume both of you intend to accept the property?”

Jill noticed Garrett watching her for a reaction. “Can I get a couple days to think this through? I’ll probably talk to Carolanne about it, too.”

Connor nodded. “Sure. That’s fine. Send Carolanne my best. It’s been too long since I’ve seen her. Oh, but don’t tell her all that mess Pearl said. I was so tempted to delete that part.”

Jill smiled. “Hey. Her last request. I can’t just ignore her.”

They all laughed. Pearl had a way of filling a room with love and happiness.

Connor gathered the papers together on his desk. “There’s plenty of time. Just let me know when you decide so I can wrap things up. Garrett, I’m assuming you’re okay with the deal.”

“You bet. It’s a dream come true for me.” He rose to his feet and shook Connor’s hand.