Mountain Storm

Chapter 11

Malik was already sitting in one of the seats at the law office when Logan and I arrived. He looked over at Logan and gave him a big smile, then looked at me with the same smile, but as soon as Logan turned his gaze to Mr. Zimmermann, his smile quickly disappeared and he looked away. This made my heart sink.

Peggy came in a few minutes later.

"As you know, Nina, your grandmother left a will, and we can go over that now. "

"First. To my best friend Peggy, I leave you in charge of Eloise. I know how much you love her and I want her to be happy, and I know she will be with you. I also leave you my collection of books. I know how much you love them, especially the ones that are autographed. I hope you have enough room for all of them. My final wish for you is to continue taking walks like we did in the past with Eloise. It may be just the two of you now, but know that I will always be with you, my dearest friend."

Peggy grabbed a tissue and started to cry.

"Second, to Malik, you were like a third grandchild to me. You and Logan were inseparable since grade school, and it was always a pleasure to have you at our house. I know you didn't have a very good home life and I hope that having friends like Logan and Lisa made your childhood a little easier. For you, I leave all the tools that belonged to my late husband, Thomas, and his 1950 Harley-Davidson FL. I know how long you, and he spent on it trying to get it to run. If anyone can, it is you. You are a 'wheel' genius. My final wish for you is to continue to be a friend, brother and mentor that you always have been. I loved watching you with the kids from 4-H. You have a special gift when it comes to kids and I hope that someday you will become a father and pass it on to your own children." Malik chuckled at her motorcycle pun and wiped a tear from his eye.

Mr. Zimmermann looked at Logan and I as he read the last section.

"To Logan and Lisa, try not to cry over me. Please know that I am in a much better place alongside your pap, mom and dad. Please try to make light of the situation, even though 'Dying is a grave situation.'"

Mr Zimmermann paused and looked at us. We all burst out laughing.

"Sorry," he said, "she put a little notation for me to pause to see if you got her pun." He laughed himself.

"It's fine," I said, "that's gram for ya, always has to get the last laugh."

Mr. Zimmerman picked up the paper and started reading again.

"I want you to know that I really had hoped that you had not lost your mom and dad when you were so young, but I have absolutely no regrets about taking care of the two of you, and I hope you feel that pap and I did at least an 'OK' job of doing it."

"Logan, I know that we may have never seen eye to eye at times, but I feel as we both got older, we have grown closer together. It is no secret that your job as a welder scares me half to death. Well, I hope it didn't scare me all the way, since you are reading this. I know that you enjoy your job and the places you have traveled to. I just wish you weren't at the top of skyscrapers half the time. I hope you take the time to come back here once in a while, so I will leave you the cabin and pontoon boat at the lake. I remember the long summers we spent there and how much you love it. I hope you enjoy it in the future as we have in the past. The cabin has been renovated, and a new roof has been installed, so you won't have to worry about fixing anything. I hope you find time to sit out on the porch in the evenings and enjoy the sunsets with a cup of coffee like we did in the past. Those were some of my favorite memories with you. I loved our long talks as we watched the sun set. You and I could talk about anything, and we were both good at giving advice to each other. I hope you remember me at those times. My wish for you is to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and remember the good times."

"Leecee, I am very proud of the woman, chef and restaurant owner you have become. You have worked hard and have accomplished a great number of things. I want you to know that I really loved the moments we spent together, whether we were just sitting around doing a puzzle or taking walks in the neighborhood. You remind me so much of your mother when she was younger. I tried to instill her values in you. There were a number of nights I would stand in your doorway and watch you sleep. You have so many of her qualities and I hope you never loose them. I also wish that you came back here a little more often. I know that having your own restaurant is extremely time-consuming, which is why I'm leaving you a restaurant I purchased. It is located between the shoe store and the health clinic. It will need some work, the restaurant has been closed for some years, but I think it is the perfect size for 'Hush II'. My wish for you is to start a restaurant here so that you may come back more often."

"Now, for both of you. I leave the house and all its contents. I want you to share it and use it for when YOU BOTH COME BACK TO VISIT! This is a demand and my dying wish, so I will not take no for an answer."

"Now go live your lives and let me sleep. I love you all."

We were all sitting in our chairs sobbing as Mr. Zimmermann closed the notebook.

"There are a number of other things here then as well, like bank accounts, ledgers and monetary instructions. I will just need your signatures on these lines here." He pointed at them and handed Logan and I each a pen. "You can take this with you and read the rest at your convenience."

After signing, we all shook his hand and thanked him as we left his office.

We stood outside by our cars silently.

"If everyone wants to come over this evening around 6, we can talk a little more and discuss this further." I said.

Everyone nodded their heads and we all left.

After we got home, I called the local OIP and placed an order for pizza, salad and bread sticks. I really did not feel like cooking tonight, besides I was going to have to cook my heart out on Saturday.

Everyone but Malik showed up at 6. I tried to call him, but it rang through to his voice mail. I didn't bother to leave a message. "Maybe he is on his way," I said as I laid the phone down.

We waited a few more minutes, but still no Malik.

Logan picked up his phone and tried. "Hey bro, are you still coming over?" He asked. "OK, see you later." Logan hung up and turned to us "He's not coming, he has something important to do at the bar. He said he would call me later."

We sat around the table eating, and we went over the rest of the will with Peggy and what Gram wanted her to also have from her. Peggy left around 8 and Logan and I sat in the living room drinking a beer in silence.

My mind kept thinking about Malik. Was he not able to answer my call, or did he just not want to?