Family Inheritance Read Free

walked with him to his departure gate,
and they talked non-stop, as though they had so much to say and not much time to
say it. She learned that he was twenty-six and in his last year of law school. When
he graduated, he would join his father’s firm in downtown Atlanta. His family roots
were firmly planted in Georgia. He’d told her that she was the most beautiful woman
he had ever seen. He took her phone number, called her every evening while he was
in Boston, and they went on their first date when he returned. Helene had fallen
deeply in love.
    She had been so nervous the first time she met Bill’s parents because they lived
a totally different lifestyle than the one she had grown up in. They were both professionals,
lived in a nice house, drove nice cars, and belonged to a country club. While they
were not demonstrative people, they had made her feel welcome and a part of their
family.
    One year later, she and Bill had married in a big church, and it had been the wedding
of her dreams. Bill’s family paid for everything she could possibly imagine, both
in her wedding and in her life. She didn’t send her family an invitation or even
let them know she was getting married. When Bill and his mother asked questions about
them, she simply said she wasn’t close to her family, and they hadn’t pressed her
on the subject.
    After their honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico, Helene left her job at the airport and spent
her days and years creating a beautiful home and what she thought was a happy relationship.
When she became pregnant in their first year of marriage, Helene wasn’t sure how
she felt about it. Children had never really been a part of the world she had wanted
to create, but the moment she had held Thomas in her arms, Helene once more fell
deeply in love.
    In the beginning, Bill had doted on Thomas and been a loving, attentive husband.
But when Thomas was a toddler, Bill stayed away from home more and more often, blaming
it on a heavy workload. Then she’d found the lipstick on his shirt. The first time
she told herself there was a reason. But when she could no longer ignore the signs
of infidelity, she had dropped to her knees and sobbed. From that point on, Thomas
had become her world, and she accepted the fact that her relationship wasn’t perfect,
but Bill and Thomas were all she had.
    Her mind coming back to the present, she put the picture back on the dresser and
quickly glanced at herself in the mirror again. Then she left the bedroom and walked
down the back stairs that led to the large kitchen, with its marble countertops and
hanging racks of copper pots and pans. She smiled as she heard the oldies station
playing, “Shake, Rattle, and Roll.”
    Soft laughter spilled from her lips as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs to
watch Lily, her housekeeper and cook, shake her hips, dance to the music, and sing
along to the song. Lily was a contradiction in motion in her freshly ironed flower-printed
dress, her golden-brown skin glowing, and neat braids of hair wrapped around the
back of her head.
    When Lily spotted Helene, she danced over to her, grabbed her hand, and twirled her
around. Helene tried to pull her hand away and resist the playfulness, but soon Lily
had her dancing. When the song ended, Lily patted her hair and said with a smile,
“You’re just in time for a cup a tea and a fresh muffin.”
    Laughing, Helene sat down at the cheery, little breakfast nook in the large kitchen.
Lily was the closest Helene had ever come to having a loving, caring mother. She
often gladly relaxed into the security of Lily’s love.
    Over the steaming cup of tea, Lily eyed Helene carefully as she stated, “I’m making
Mr. Bill’s favorite chicken for dinner tonight. Thought maybe just the two of you
could have a nice, quiet dinner, and Mr. Thomas and I could rent a movie. Haven’t
sat down and talked with that young one in a while—seems to always be off doing something
or going somewhere.” Lily paused for a