Page 10 of January

“What lawyer?” Kyle asked, stepping inside the house.

“Kyle!” Jolie glared at her.

“Oh, I won’t bite,” the woman said, laughing at Jolie’s strangeness. “And yes, her lawyer. His name is Beaufort, I think. Mr.Beaufort. Nice man. Funny suits, but nice man.”

“Funny suits?” Kyle asked, taking another step inside the modest house to allow Jolie to join her and the door to be closed behind them.

“No man needs to spend that kind of money on suits and ties.” The woman chuckled. “So, tea or lemonade? It’s sweet tea. This is the South, after all.”

“I’m okay, but thank you,” Jolie replied.

“I’ll have sweet tea,” Kyle said.

“Good. Good. I have cookies, too, I think. Shortbreads, maybe? Oh! I’ve got pralines. I just picked those up at Rouses.”

“What’s Rouses?” Jolie asked.

The woman just laughed and left the room through two swinging doors.

“Have a seat. Have a seat,” she said loudly from the kitchen, Kyle guessed.

“Ky, we don’t even know this woman. What are we doing here? We were supposed to grab the key and go,” Jolie whispered.

“She invited us inside. What was I supposed to do?”

“Tell her we just need the key; say we’re from the city, and we’re rude city people.”

“We need the key. Had I done that, she wouldn’t have given it to us.”

“And what was that about, by the way? A lawyer? An expensive one, it sounds like, according to her.” Jolie nodded to the kitchen, where they could hear the sounds of an old woman milling about.

“No idea. Another reason for us to have a drink.”

“What if it’s poisoned?” Jolie asked.

“Then, you’ll be fine because you didn’t ask for one.”

“Here we go. Here we go,” the old woman said, walking back into the room. “Oh, you didn’t sit down. Have a seat. Have a seat.”

Kyle laughed a little at how their host seemed to repeat things a lot. Then, she sat down on a small sofa in the corner of the room, and Jolie waited an extra second before sitting down next to her, her body language tight and untrusting.

“So, your grandmother’s attorney should have given you your key.” The woman set the tray down on the table and went to sit down in the comfy chair across from them. “Help yourself. I got you a sweet tea, too, just in case.” She nodded to Jolie.

“You said that he would give usourkey?”

“Yes. She told me she had everything ready to go, but if he hasn’t done that yet, he will. In the meantime, you can have the one she gave to me to keep an eye on things, of course. And you mentioned a hotel before?”

“We still have to check in, yes,” Jolie said. “People are expecting us.”

Kyle rolled her eyes at her sister.

“Why are you staying in a hotel?”

“Should we be staying somewhere else?” Kyle asked.

“Yes, in the house.”

“Herhouse?”