Page 31 of January

“She has two houses,” Jolie replied.

“She does, yes. The one she lived in is probably worth a little, but the house in the Garden District is worth a pretty penny.”

“And she left them to us?”

“She did. She split everything between the two of you right down the middle, so to speak. The money as well.”

“There’s money?”

“Oh, yes,” he replied. “A nice sum. You likely won’t be able to retire right away, but if you invest some of it, you should be able to have a nice life for yourselves. I have all the paperwork and details right here. I can go over it with you now, if you’d like.”

“Yes, please,” Kyle said eagerly, not because she wanted the money but because she wanted any story that could possibly come along with it.

An hour later, both Kyle and Jolie were stunned to know that their grandmother was a millionaire on paper. Her assets, combined with the money in her accounts, would definitely make their lives easier, but now, they had decisions to make.

“What do you want to do?” Jolie asked once they were outside the building.

“I have no idea,” she said, ordering them another car to take them back to the hotel while still in shock herself.

“He said we could sell pretty easily. One or both.”

“She rented out the big house. Should we keep doing that, too?” Kyle asked. “It would be good money coming in regularly.”

“But we’d be landlords. Do you want to be a landlord?”

“Not really. But you could help with it, right?”

“I guess. But, Ky, my job keeps me busy as is. I’m kindof hoping I’ll meet someone soon, and I’d like to have time for a relationship.”

“We could hire a property management company to take care of it.”

“True,” Jolie replied. “It’s a lot to think about.”

“We shouldn’t make any fast decisions,” she suggested. “We just found out that our grandmother was rich, didn’t ever give us any help or money, and now that she’s gone, she left us everything. It’s a lot to process.”

“Are you really going to make me go on some creepy cemetery tour?” Jolie asked.

“You’ve been all about the tours since we got here.”

“Yes, but we’re going to the casino tonight. I thought you’d come with us. I didn’t realize you’d made plans with Melinda.”

“You’ve been busy,” Kyle reminded.

“Are you mad that you’ve put more time into this than I have?”

“Not mad, no. I just made plans. I thought you could come with us, and it would be fun. The place is supposedly haunted. There could be ghosts,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows at her sister.

“And at the casino, there could be money and drinks. I’ll take the casino,” Jolie replied.

“Fine. But just because we might have some money coming in, doesn’t mean you should lose everything you have at the slots tonight.”

“Do you really want me to go with you?” Jolie asked.

Kyle thought about it as the car she’d ordered pulled up. If Jolie was there, she’d have someone to enjoy the tour with since Melinda would be busy giving it, but if Jolie wasn’t there, she’d have Melinda to herself whenever there was a gap in the tour or maybe after if Melinda was free. She thought about asking if Melinda wanted to grab a drink once she was finished with work for the night, and if Joliewasthere, doing that would be a little easier because it wouldn’t sound like she was asking Melinda on a date. Kyle hadn’t asked Melindaspecifically if she was into women, but the look she’d given her at the bar the other night, combined with some of the light flirting they’d done, had her believing it was at least a possibility. Of course, Kyle hadn’t asked her if she was single, so there was always the chance, even if Melindawasinterested in women, that she had one of her own already.

On top of all that, Kyle was going home soon. Maybe not tomorrow, but eventually, she’d leave New Orleans, and Melinda would still be here, so asking her out on a date was pretty much a waste of time since nothing could come of it. The thought of leaving New Orleans had Kyle feeling something she couldn’t quite explain, though, as she climbed into the back seat after Jolie.

“Ky?”