The Heir

Who Might You Be?

I wandered through Dale's house, well, my house now. I was shocked at how much stuff was in the house. The living room was impeccable. It was well organized, and very clean. Shelves displayed random knick knacks, neatly arranged inside of their cases. I made my way down the hall, opening doors to bedrooms revealing their clutter. It seems Dale was a bit of a hoarder. There were five bedrooms and so far, each one was so full of things that you could hardly move. The rooms all had walkways in them to get to the back.

"At least there was a little bit of organization, Dale." I said aloud as I moved to the last bedroom.

I peered in the open door. It seems I found the master bedroom. It was large, and clean, thankfully. I sighed as I saw how organized it was. There was a bed and a dresser, along with two nightstands. But that was it. The large room showed so much open real estate. I made my way to a closed door on the opposite side of the room. It revealed a spacious walk-in closet. There were floor to ceiling cubby shelves on one wall that was mostly bare. A couple of belts were wrapped in one of the cubbies, and a briefcase in another. The back wall had several rows of shelves where six pairs of shoes were neatly organized on them. A third wall was decorated with Dale's neatly organized clothes, an empty clothing rail was mounted on the opposite wall, stopping at the cubbies. In the center was a large island with three drawers. A few watches and some miscellaneous jewelry sat in a jewelry box on top of the iand. Another door stood directly across from the door I was standing in. I opened the door and was met with a beautiful bathroom. A large tub with jets was in one corner, a toilet in another. A large two sink and drawers with a mirror that went to the ceiling stood next to it. A large brick wall stood at the back. I crept through the opening and found myself in a large walk in shower with four shower heads, two on each wall.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed as I reveled in the amazing shower.

After taking in the master bath, I made my way towards the kitchen. It was spacious, with a large fridge and a big walk-in pantry. I opened the door and found myself in the garage. My new car is sitting patiently inside. I squealed as I sprinted to the car, whipping the door open and plopping into the driver's seat. I wrapped my hands around the leather steering wheel and took a long deep breath. The car smelled brand new. I searched around the car, opening the center console.

"What's this?" I pulled out a small white envelope with my name written across it in Dale's distinct handwriting. I turned it in my hands before carefully opening it.

"My dearest Sophie," The letter began.

"If you found this note, you have found your new car. Please accept it. I had a feeling I wasn't going to be around much longer and I wanted to set you up with everything I could. I wanted this car to be a gift for you once you earned a permanent spot at the college. But life had other plans, and I knew if I didn't buy it when I did, you wouldn't get one.

Sophie, you were the closest thing to a daughter I ever had. I was so blessed to have you in my life. I appreciate you keeping me company and our dinners together. I know you would have rather been anywhere other than having dinner with an old man like me, but I could never properly tell you how much the time you spent with me meant.

Do what you see fit with the things in the house. Please enjoy it, and make it your own.

I love you dearly Sophie and am so sorry I couldn't be here longer with you. I wish you a long, happy, healthy life.

I will forever be with you Sophie. In the hard times and the happy times. Never forget that. I will be your guardian angel, forever looking out for you.

Dale."

Tears streamed from my eyes as my fingers traced the letter. I knew Dale would be looking out for me. I could feel him as I wandered through his house. It bothered me a bit that he said he knew he wasn't going to be around much longer. I had always thought he was healthy, but had something been wrong with his health? He would have told me. He told me everything. Maybe he didn't want me to worry about him. I felt anger creep up inside me.

"How could you keep something like that from me?" I cried as I slammed my fist on the car steering wheel. The horn blared loudly, echoing off the walls in the garage. I jumped in my seat.

"I'm sorry Dale." I said, wiping the tears from my face. "I know you did it to protect me. But if something was wrong, I wish you would have told me. I wish I would have known. Maybe I could have helped."

I sat in my car for a while, pondering about Dale and what he had done for me. My stomach growled loudly and I decided it was time to go. I would come back in the morning and begin to go through Dale's belongings. I couldn't wait to move into the home, but needed to clean out the master bedroom at least, before I could move my things in. I slid out of the car and made my way out of the garage.

"Wait!" I stopped at the doorway, turning to my car. I smiled as I crawled back in the driver's seat. I pushed the button on the garage door opener and watched as the garage filled with the dimming sunlight. I grinned from ear to ear as I slowly backed the car out, stopping by my old car. I grabbed a few things from my car before locking it up. I made sure the house was locked before I made my way back to my Mercedes. I was on a high as I drove down the road, my hair dancing around me from the wind slipping in through the sunroof. I blared the music as I provided a one man concert, singing loudly, loving my new car.

—--

"Dale! You have SO MUCH STUFF!" I exclaimed as I sat on the floor of the master bedroom. I was packing things from his dresser in boxes to be dropped off at a donation bin. I had wanted to start with one of the other bedrooms so that I could move his bedroom furniture in there, but I took one step inside and decided I wasn't about to tackle those rooms right now. I would start with this room. It was big enough that I could move his things to one corner of the room and get my bedroom set comfortably inside as well. I had already cleaned out the bathroom. That was the easy part. Most of the things there could be thrown away. Next, I moved to the closet, neatly packing his clothing and shoes into boxes. I had all of the boxes stacked in the garage, ready to take a load to the donation store tonight on my way home.

My thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. I sighed as I got to my feet, taking a pause from packing up Dale's room.

"Hello, Ma'am." I was greeted by a tall, handsome man. His dirty blonde hair fell sweetly into his bright blue eyes. He couldn't have been much older than I, with muscles that bulged from his shirt, begging to be released. I was more than happy to oblige, to release them from their cotton prison. I gulped hard, shaking the impure thoughts from my mind.

"Hello. To whom do I owe the pleasure." I was curious as to how this boy managed to enter the front gate. Dale must have given him a pass code.

"I'm looking for Dale." His eyes darted around behind me, searching the room for the requested man.

"Um, can I ask who you are?" I c****d my head in confusion at the attractive man standing on my front door.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He gasped, his eyes widening at the realization that he had skipped introductions. "I'm Noah Marshall. I'm a friend of Dale's. We met a few years ago. I delivered his groceries once, and he requested me every time after. I haven't heard from him in quite a while. I brought some groceries for him. I'm guessing he probably needs them since he hasn't placed an order in a while." Noah rambled on nervously.

"I'm sorry, it seems you haven't heard." Sorrow filled my voice. I hadn't ever told anyone that a beloved one has passed, and wasn't really prepared to do so now. It seemed Dale also took Noah under his wing, same as he had done me. This was going to be a painful confession. I took a deep breath before continuing.

"Dale passed away." I watched as Noah's face turned crestfallen as he registered the news.

"W-what? How?" He stammered.

A heart attack, some weeks ago. I'm sorry that I am the bearer of bad news." I watched as Noah's eyes filled with tears. My heart ached for him, seeing those bright blue eyes darken with sadness.

"No, thank you for letting me know." Noah composed himself, his beautiful smile falsely returning to his face. He turned to descend the steps when I quickly stopped him. My fingers wrapped around his thick muscles. My heart pounded swiftly in my chest as I gently gave his arm a squeeze. He paused, those crystal blue orbs gazing into my soul.

"Would you like to come in?" I released his bicep and stepped aside, gesturing for him to come inside.