We waited for her to continue.
"I'll have a letter drawn up to present to Uncle Samuel's daughters. It will clearly state that the two of you are not able to accept their offer, but you're willing to turn the house over to me if they agree to make the necessary changes. The only thing I would need from the two of you are your signatures on the letter. Agreed?" she said.
"I agree. Just provide me with a copy of the letter, and I'll gladly sign,” I said.
We all turned and looked at Abby. I love my sisters, but the two of them were as stubborn as mules and tough like bulls.
Mom being the peacemaker, took Abby by the hand. "What do you say, dear?"
"I'll sign the letter if it means we can be done with the topic once and for all."
"Great. I'll have the letter ready by midweek and will take over from there,” Rebecca said.
Mom seemed relieved. "Oh, thank God. The last thing I ever wanted is for there to be any strife between you three,” she said.
I know they were still irritated with one another, but at least the whole thing was smoothed over for now. Rebecca is so independent and strong-willed. Always ready to take on the world and crush anything that gets in her way. At times I think that bothers Abby. If I know right, Rebecca was going to figure out a way to flip that house. Even if it meant doing it all by herself.
Cole
On Monday, I returned to Helen and William's house counting on Payton to be at the store. Helen and I made prior arrangements for us to talk privately with Will. It may seem a little old fashioned, but I planned on doing things the traditional way. Today I was going to ask them an important question that would impact the rest of my life with Payton.
"Cole, we've been waiting for you. Come on in."
Helen gave me a warm hug and always made me feel like family.
"Hi, Helen. How are you today?"
"I'm pretty good. Follow me, Will's in the living room sitting in his favorite recliner."
She announced my arrival to Will.
"There's my guy. Make yourself comfortable over here on the couch. You're just in time to catch the sports line up,” he said.
"William Matthews, Cole didn't come here to participate in your afternoon rituals. He wants to talk to us about something else."
She grabbed the remote and lowered the volume to a decibel that was more suitable for talking.
"I can't seem to peel him away from his daily routine no matter how hard I try. Every day it's the same. Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and then fall asleep while reading the newspaper. In the afternoon repeat the process, except he's already dressed and instead of the newspaper, it's sports. Deviating from the routine is completely out of the question." Helen laughed.
"Well, I won't take sides, but yesterday it seemed like Will did a fine job of deviating to spend time with the family."
"You're right, Cole. I'll give him that much. William has always been the kind of father that puts family first."
Will continued to sit in his chair and listen but wasn't as talkative. It's one of the things I started noticing first as his dementia started settling in. Surprisingly, I felt a little nervous and thought it would be best to get down to the reason for my visit.
"Speaking of the family, I thank you for having Emmie and me over yesterday. It's been nice to be apart of the Matthews family gatherings. I know Emmie would agree with me if she were here."
"It's our pleasure. We love you guys." She glanced over at her husband.
"Isn't that right, Will?"
He agreed. "Yes, dear."
"We love you too. Which leads me to why I'm here today."
We were interrupted by the sound of keys unlocking the front door. Payton came in with a few bags in hand. Helen and I hopped up quickly and tried to act natural.
Payton looked surprised.
"Cole, I thought that looked like your truck out front. What are you doing here?"
I tried to think fast, but Helen answered on my behalf.
"He came to help me with the kitchen sink,” she said.
"The sink? I just used the sink this morning before I left for work, and everything was fine. What's wrong with it?"
"I was cooking breakfast for your father, and I don't know if I got something stuck down in the disposal or what. I called Cole because I figured he could recommend someone. Being such a gentleman, he came over to take a look at it himself."
Payton hesitated.
"You left work to come over here and fix the sink?" she said.
"Yeah, I wasn't far from here. I figured since it was my company that installed your parents' entire kitchen, it was the least I could do."
"That's right, you did the renovations for the cottage, silly me. Mom, next time, call me. I could've lined up a plumber to come out in no time."
"It really wasn't a bother," I said.
Payton gave me a kiss and walked over to the counter to lay the bags down. Helen was using her best form of sign language to express that she didn't know Payton was coming home. We stopped mouthing back and forth to one another just in time before Payton turned around.
"Cole, if I would've known you were going to be here, I would've brought you lunch too. I can't stay long. I left Natalie at the store, and I have to get back."
Helen answered. "That's okay, dear. I was just about to make lunch for Cole as my way of thanking him for his help."
She urged me to play along by giving me a look.
"Cole, surely you have time to stay for a little lunch before you head back?"
Before I could answer good, Will yelled from the living room, "I thought he was here
