If I had been blessed with a daughter, I can only hope that she’d have been half as amazing as you. Sadly, fate had other plans for me, so now you are my only remaining family member, which is why I bequeath all my worldly possession to you, and more.
However, there is one condition.
I stopped reading for a moment. Here it came. The catch. Of course there was a catch. Nobody was that lucky without there being some downside.
I love you very much. You are my niece and that makes you very special. But be honest with yourself – you haven’t exactly lived up to your potential, have you?
My fist clenched, crumpling the letter. How dare he? Who was he to judge me? He didn’t even know me. All right, so I’d dropped out of university and had drifted from one dead end job to another, but that didn’t make me a bad person. I was just taking my time to find myself. Why would I want to spend all my time working? Life’s too short to spend it in an office.
“Screw you, Uncle Gregory,” I snarled, tossing the letter on the floor and starting up my car’s engine, ready to go home. Who needed that money anyway?
A moment later, I turned the key back, slumping in my seat. Who was I kidding? I needed that money.
Reaching down, I picked up the letter and smoothed it out to finish reading. I supposed I could at least give my uncle the courtesy of hearing him out.
So it is my wish that you permanently move to my residence in Lashire Bluff. You must spend at least ten months of every year living there. In addition, you must devote yourself to studying the history of the town and its... quirks. I think you will find it quite fascinating.
Should you choose not to accept this offer, or should you ever move out, you will forfeit your claim to my fortune and will instead receive £500 and your choice of one of my cars. The remainder will be donated to the town’s animal shelter.
Before you make any rash decision, I would implore you to at least visit my home and spend the night there before choosing to stay or walk away. You cannot make an informed choice without at least experiencing what it is you would be giving up.
I’m sure this has all come as quite a shock to you, and I am only sorry that I never had the opportunity to meet you in person. Perhaps in the next life.
Until then, I remain
Your ever-loving
Uncle Gregory
Wow.
It was a lot to take in. When I woke up this morning, I had no family, no career, and no money. All of a sudden, I was a multimillionaire with a home for life – if I chose to accept it.
Pulling out my phone, I googled Lashire Bluff. There was very little information about it. In fact, it was so small, you could barely see it on the map. Did I really want to spend my life in the middle of nowhere?
I typed in my uncle’s home address, but the closest I could get to the place was the entrance to a long, winding driveway. I couldn’t see what the house itself was like.
There was nothing else for it. I was going to have to visit Lashire Bluff.
***
My cat, Shelley, was constantly mewing from his container sitting on the passenger seat of my car.
“I know, I know,” I said, trying to soothe him. “I’d hate being stuck in a box all this time too. It won’t be long now, though.”
We were driving up a long, meandering road that wound through the mountains. I kept it slow, partly because I was worried about having an accident on the narrow roads, but also because I wanted to enjoy the views. I’d never been here before, and it was beautiful. Maybe I could call this place home.
Suddenly, a herd of goats ran into the road. I slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding running into them. Shelley mewed angrily as his carrier shifted about.
I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as the goats milled about, looking like they were making themselves comfortable.
“Come on, come on,” I muttered, wanting to get moving. I was so close to my uncle’s house. I just wanted to get there and see what it was like.
“Move, you stupid goats!” Finally, I blasted my horn, hoping to scare the goats into moving, but they didn’t bat an eyelid.
Knock, knock!
I jumped at the sound of someone tapping on my car window. I was so focused on the goats I hadn’t noticed the man approaching. He motioned to me to roll down my window, so I did, noticing that whoever he was, he was really rather hot. Tall with tousled light brown hair, and there was a twinkle in his hazel eyes that made me wonder whether he was laughing at me.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he advised. “Folks round here don’t like it when you upset the goats.”
“Me? Upset them?”
I shook my head, glaring over at the goats, who were about as far from upset as you can get. “Do they look upset to you?”
“Oh yes.” The man nodded seriously. “Clearly, you’re not familiar with goat body language, but they’re clearly highly distressed. I wouldn’t be surprised if they stay here for the next few hours to get over the shock.”
“Hours?” Oh no. No, no, no. I wasn’t going to be stuck here for the next few hours.
I got out of the car and started waving my arms at the goats.
“Shoo!” I yelled. “Go on, get out of here!”
I ignored the laughter coming from behind me as I shoved
