Page 49 of January

“We have to talk about that, yeah, but I don’t have to be here for us to do it.”

“We should make decisions quickly, Jolie. If we don’t, the houses will just be sitting here, doing nothing and not being kept up. They’ll be worth less if wedotry to sell them later.”

“Do you want to sell them?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed, looking down at the pile of journals at her feet. “I think there are too many options.”

“What is your gut telling you?”

“That we shouldn’t sell yet.”

“Okay. Then, we won’t,” Jolie replied.

“The other house needs some work. Nothing major, but according to the paperwork Beaufort showed us, there’s some interior stuff to be done and a plumbing update thatneeds to be completed if we plan on selling one day. If not now, they’ll probably just ask us to include the cost of it in any sale.”

“So, you want to keep it and have the work done?”

“The money can come from my share of what she left us,” Kyle said.

“No way, Ky. We’ll split it. We’ll split everything, okay?” Jolie replied. “What about this place?”

“We should try to rent it out.”

“Again, with the landlord thing?”

“I’m thinking like a vacation rental for now. It’s two bedrooms, and it’s nice enough that we could charge a decent rate for it. Tourist season is coming up soon. If we get it ready, we can make good money on it and then use some of it to update this place and put it on the market.”

“You want to sell it eventually?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. It might make us more money to keep renting it out, and you could takethatmoney and go to law school.”

“Law school? Why are you bringing that up?” Jolie asked, tossing the empty box aside.

“Because you wanted to go but couldn’t. Now, you can.”

“I gave up on that a while ago, Kyle.”

“But you can afford it now. And if we make money on this place, you wouldn’t have to spend the money she left us. You’d be able to save that for later.”

“I have a job, Kyle. I make good money. I have a 401(k) and full benefits and everything.”

“I know that, Jolie. You wanted to be a lawyer. It’s not about the money. It’s about the fact that you wanted that for years, and we couldn’t make it happen for you, but now we can.”

“We?” Jolie patted Kyle’s knee. “I know you’ve had to play mom for my entire life because our actual mother wasn’t any good at it, but Kyle, you’re my sister. I’m not your responsibility. I’m an adult. If I wanted to go to law school, I have options. I can go part-time and save money that way.I can go to a cheaper school. I could take out loans. I could use the tuition reimbursement the company offers that won’t pay for everything, but it would help a little each semester. I’ve chosen not to do any of those things because I actually like being a paralegal. It’s hard and sometimes thankless, but I like it more than I think I’d like being an attorney.”

“I didn’t know that,” Kyle said.

“Because you’re a good big sister. You want what’s best for me, and you want me to have all the things I’ve ever talked about in my life. But, Ky, I don’t want that pony I asked for when I was eight anymore, either. Too much work.” Jolie winked at her. “I’m okay. I promise you, I’m good.”

Kyle nodded and said, “Okay.”

“Do you actually believe me about that pony? Because that’s important, Kyle. You can afford to buy me a pony now, and I don’t want one.”

Kyle laughed and replied, “No pony. Got it.”

“And look, I’ll stay if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. You’re right: this is one of those things that I feel like I want to do alone. But I also don’t want to leave you out of it if you actually want to be involved. She was your grandmother, too.”