Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
I recognized I was now the one who had gone off the rails as I waxed poetic about my family history to a lawyer who likely didn’t care about a single word I was saying. But there was something cathartic about talking about them. My mother’s death had been very sudden and horrible. We were very close, and when she found out she had cancer, I was determined I was going to be right there by her side and help her fight it. I wasn’t going to give up.
And I didn’t. Neither did she. The cancer was just too aggressive, and within two months of her diagnosis, she was gone. It left me with only Maisie as the entirety of my family, but I didn’t think much of that. Not until I found out Maisie left the Christmas tree farm to my mother in her will, and since my mother was no longer living, it had trickled down to me by default.
I had to give it to Mr. Warren, though. He sat there and listened to my rambling until I finished.
“I’m sure this is a lot for you to take in right now,” he commiserated.
“It is,” I said. “I just don’t know what to do. I barely even knew this place existed. I’ve never seen it. I honestly didn’t even realize it was still a place. I figured it would have been sold off a long time ago because there wasn’t anyone left who could take care of it. And you said there was a lot of debt attached to it?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice a little heavier now. This obviously wasn’t the kind of phone call I imagined he enjoyed making. “Unfortunately, your aunt got fairly far behind on tax payments, and combined with late penalties and other fees, it added up quite a bit.”
“So, what am I supposed to do with it? I don’t know anything about running a Christmas tree farm.”
“And I’m sure you have your own career and your life established where you are, so it is challenging to think about something so far away.”
“Well,” I said under my breath, not committing to that sentiment.
“Fortunately, you have options,” he said. “You could just sell the land off. That could be a very straightforward transaction you wouldn’t even have to leave home to do. I could handle all the details, and you would just need to be available to sign paperwork. There is a logging company nearby that has been interested in the land for a while, and they are willing to buy it at cost.”
“They’ve been interested in it for a while?” I asked.
From what I understood, Maisie had been very ill for years, and it was highly unlikely she had been doing much with the farm. If someone was willing to purchase it from her, I imagined that would make her life much easier and more comfortable. And she wouldn’t be saddled with the debt, though that was something she obviously didn’t take care of anyway, so it might not have even been on her radar.
“Yes,” Mr. Warren said. “They apparently contacted Maisie several times about it, but she adamantly refused to sell. It meant a lot to her to own that land, and she wasn’t willing to see someone else own it, especially a company that was only going to use it for the lumber.”
“Oh,” I said.
“But the decision is yours now. There were no stipulations put in the will that the land had to remain in the family or that anyone who inherited it wasn’t permitted to sell. You are fully within your rights to sell the land if you want to.”
“It doesn’t sound like you think that’s what I should do,” I said, picking up on a note in his voice.
“It’s not up to me to tell you what I think you should or should not do in regard to your final decision about the property,” he said. “I understand it is a major undertaking and could be quite overwhelming to suddenly have in front of you. The thought of being able to just sell it to a guaranteed buyer, fulfill the debts, and still have money leftover is likely very tempting.”
“But?” I said, leading him into what he clearly wanted to say.
“But I wouldn’t want to see you making a rash decision without all the information,” he said. “You mentioned you’ve never seen the land. I suggest you at least come to see it. This farm has been in your family for more than one hundred years and would be worth far more if utilized properly than you would get if you just took the outright offer from the logging company.”
I thought about his words for a few moments, going back and forth with myself about the idea of actually visiting the property. Selling to someone who was immediately willing to buy was, as the lawyer said, tempting. But there was also potential there. It was something more than just a paycheck, and I had been looking for purpose. I couldn’t guarantee this was that purpose, but it was something.