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Part One
The attorney’s phone call came as a deep shock to me. My uncle Bruce had died in a boating accident on the Colorado River. I knew he had headed out west for a few weeks. I had talked to him the night before he left his home on Hilton Head Island. But I knew I wouldn’t hear from him again until he returned home. He enjoyed his time alone while out on his expeditions. Of all my family, I was closest with him. Both of my parents worked for the State Department and were constantly traveling. They tried their best while I was growing up but between multiple moves and forever changing schedules, they thought it was best that I move to Hilton Head Island with my uncle for my last two years of high school. I was enrolled in a neighboring private school and moved in with my uncle the summer before the fall semester.
I called the attorney the next morning to discuss my uncle’s final arrangements. He was being kept temporarily at a mortuary in Grand Junction. I contacted them and made arrangements to have his body sent back to Windermere so he could be buried in our family plots. I knew the funeral services couldn’t be carried out at least for a few days. While most of the family lived within a few hours of Windermere, my parents were of course out of the country for work and I didn’t know how quickly they could return. My dad was in Berlin and my mom was in Johannesburg. I was dreading having to tell the news to my mother since it was her brother. I had just turned 30 the week before and the last thing I could have imagined was being told I was the executor of my uncle’s estate.
My uncle picked me up at the airport in Savannah. At that time the airport in Hilton Head didn’t have a runway large enough to support commercial airliners. I had shipped my belongings the week before and they had already arrived at my uncle’s place. On the drive it had occurred to me that I had never seen my uncle’s new home. Except for a brief marriage in his early 20’s, he had been a bachelor his entire life. He was always on the go but I saw him on holidays, weddings, and such. And a few times a year he would come just to visit and always spent time with me. I knew he would probably be gone a lot and he also knew that I was capable of taking care of myself seeing as my parents were away so much. My uncle gave me the option of taking the upstairs bedroom or the pool house. He had recently added on an office to the house and so he had moved his architect design business out of the pool house. So of course I jumped at the chance to have my own place in the pool house. It had its own living area and separate bedroom and master bathroom. There was also an outdoor shower that my uncle told me was awesome in the mornings when the sun was coming up. He lightly punched my shoulder and said he knew how much young guys needed their shower time. I was kind of shy at the time and pretended like I didn’t know what he was referring to. But being shy would soon be a thing of the past.
We buried my uncle on a Saturday. It had been eight days since he died. I had done everything that was expected of me and put in my face time with the family. But I was still numb and hadn’t come to terms with his death. I immediately felt selfish for thinking of myself. I knew my mom had to be heartbroken over the death of her younger brother. But he was more of a dad to me than my own father. He had never missed anything important in my life and treated me as a peer rather than a kid. I didn’t know what to make of it all.
I went home and pulled out the bottle of bourbon my uncle had sent me for my birthday just a couple of months earlier. I thought a couple of drinks might help relax me. I had to travel to Hilton Head the next day and start the process of taking care of his estate and architect firm. I’d be staying at my uncle’s place until everything was taken care of. The bourbon was the same brand he had let me try at the age of 17. It was my first time drinking alcohol and I tried my best to hide the burn and keep a cool appearance. It was his way of showing that he trusted and respected me. He didn’t show the same kind of admiration for my cousins. He tried to be impartial but it wasn’t a secret that he thought more of me. So I guess it made sense that he would he think of me to handle his estate.
I got about six hours of sleep that night. I would have to drive up to Hilton Head since I’d be staying a while and would need a car to get around. I still had a set of keys to my uncle’s place and threw them in my luggage. The drive would take about five hours if traffic was good. I hadn’t been to my uncle’s place in over year but didn’t expect much to have changed. He was easy going but meticulous and a man of habit. My mind kept wandering to the memories of living with my uncle and everything he had taught me. It made the drive go by quickly. It was a little after 7:00 pm when I arrived in Hilton Head. I unpacked my things and then went to a local bar and restaurant to get something to eat. My uncle and I had eaten there plenty of times and he was well known. The owner knew something was wrong when he saw me by myself. The ugly task of letting everyone know the tragic details had started all over again.
I woke up around 8:00 am the next morning to the sound of lawn equipment. I had slept out in the pool house. My uncle still hadn’t changed anything from when I lived there. I threw on a t-shirt and some shorts and went out to the front lawn. There was a guy who looked to be in his mid 30’s riding a lawn mower and a lady who looked about the same age tending to the hedges. She was wearing a light blue polo shirt with their company logo on it and pair of khaki shorts that barely covered her upper thighs. It was still early in the morning but I could imagine by the middle of the day she would be shimmering in perspiration and leaving even less to the imagination.
After a couple of attempts at waving at them they finally noticed me and came over. I introduced myself as my uncle’s nephew and before I could get another word out she said “Oh you must be Grayson! I’m Allison. You’re uncle talked about you a lot and said you might be coming up for a visit this spring”. “You knew my uncle well?” I asked. She went on to tell me she had been taking care of his landscaping for the past year but her boyfriend had just recently started working with her. I told them I wished we were meeting during better circumstances and went on to tell them the bad news. They were both shocked to hear that my uncle was dead. But I could tell by her face and body language that she was very upset by the news. More upset than a gardener who most likely had many clients should be in my opinion. I let them know I would still need them to maintain the property until the house was sold and let them finish their work. But I was still mystified by her reaction to his death. I kept an eye on them and as her boyfriend was loading up the equipment I asked her to come in for a moment. When she came into the foyer I turned to her and asked “were you fucking my uncle?”
The attorney’s phone call came as a deep shock to me. My uncle Bruce had died in a boating accident on the Colorado River. I knew he had headed out west for a few weeks. I had talked to him the night before he left his home on Hilton Head Island. But I knew I wouldn’t hear from him again until he returned home. He enjoyed his time alone while out on his expeditions. Of all my family, I was closest with him. Both of my parents worked for the State Department and were constantly traveling. They tried their best while I was growing up but between multiple moves and forever changing schedules, they thought it was best that I move to Hilton Head Island with my uncle for my last two years of high school. I was enrolled in a neighboring private school and moved in with my uncle the summer before the fall semester.
I called the attorney the next morning to discuss my uncle’s final arrangements. He was being kept temporarily at a mortuary in Grand Junction. I contacted them and made arrangements to have his body sent back to Windermere so he could be buried in our family plots. I knew the funeral services couldn’t be carried out at least for a few days. While most of the family lived within a few hours of Windermere, my parents were of course out of the country for work and I didn’t know how quickly they could return. My dad was in Berlin and my mom was in Johannesburg. I was dreading having to tell the news to my mother since it was her brother. I had just turned 30 the week before and the last thing I could have imagined was being told I was the executor of my uncle’s estate.
My uncle picked me up at the airport in Savannah. At that time the airport in Hilton Head didn’t have a runway large enough to support commercial airliners. I had shipped my belongings the week before and they had already arrived at my uncle’s place. On the drive it had occurred to me that I had never seen my uncle’s new home. Except for a brief marriage in his early 20’s, he had been a bachelor his entire life. He was always on the go but I saw him on holidays, weddings, and such. And a few times a year he would come just to visit and always spent time with me. I knew he would probably be gone a lot and he also knew that I was capable of taking care of myself seeing as my parents were away so much. My uncle gave me the option of taking the upstairs bedroom or the pool house. He had recently added on an office to the house and so he had moved his architect design business out of the pool house. So of course I jumped at the chance to have my own place in the pool house. It had its own living area and separate bedroom and master bathroom. There was also an outdoor shower that my uncle told me was awesome in the mornings when the sun was coming up. He lightly punched my shoulder and said he knew how much young guys needed their shower time. I was kind of shy at the time and pretended like I didn’t know what he was referring to. But being shy would soon be a thing of the past.
We buried my uncle on a Saturday. It had been eight days since he died. I had done everything that was expected of me and put in my face time with the family. But I was still numb and hadn’t come to terms with his death. I immediately felt selfish for thinking of myself. I knew my mom had to be heartbroken over the death of her younger brother. But he was more of a dad to me than my own father. He had never missed anything important in my life and treated me as a peer rather than a kid. I didn’t know what to make of it all.
I went home and pulled out the bottle of bourbon my uncle had sent me for my birthday just a couple of months earlier. I thought a couple of drinks might help relax me. I had to travel to Hilton Head the next day and start the process of taking care of his estate and architect firm. I’d be staying at my uncle’s place until everything was taken care of. The bourbon was the same brand he had let me try at the age of 17. It was my first time drinking alcohol and I tried my best to hide the burn and keep a cool appearance. It was his way of showing that he trusted and respected me. He didn’t show the same kind of admiration for my cousins. He tried to be impartial but it wasn’t a secret that he thought more of me. So I guess it made sense that he would he think of me to handle his estate.
I got about six hours of sleep that night. I would have to drive up to Hilton Head since I’d be staying a while and would need a car to get around. I still had a set of keys to my uncle’s place and threw them in my luggage. The drive would take about five hours if traffic was good. I hadn’t been to my uncle’s place in over year but didn’t expect much to have changed. He was easy going but meticulous and a man of habit. My mind kept wandering to the memories of living with my uncle and everything he had taught me. It made the drive go by quickly. It was a little after 7:00 pm when I arrived in Hilton Head. I unpacked my things and then went to a local bar and restaurant to get something to eat. My uncle and I had eaten there plenty of times and he was well known. The owner knew something was wrong when he saw me by myself. The ugly task of letting everyone know the tragic details had started all over again.
I woke up around 8:00 am the next morning to the sound of lawn equipment. I had slept out in the pool house. My uncle still hadn’t changed anything from when I lived there. I threw on a t-shirt and some shorts and went out to the front lawn. There was a guy who looked to be in his mid 30’s riding a lawn mower and a lady who looked about the same age tending to the hedges. She was wearing a light blue polo shirt with their company logo on it and pair of khaki shorts that barely covered her upper thighs. It was still early in the morning but I could imagine by the middle of the day she would be shimmering in perspiration and leaving even less to the imagination.
After a couple of attempts at waving at them they finally noticed me and came over. I introduced myself as my uncle’s nephew and before I could get another word out she said “Oh you must be Grayson! I’m Allison. You’re uncle talked about you a lot and said you might be coming up for a visit this spring”. “You knew my uncle well?” I asked. She went on to tell me she had been taking care of his landscaping for the past year but her boyfriend had just recently started working with her. I told them I wished we were meeting during better circumstances and went on to tell them the bad news. They were both shocked to hear that my uncle was dead. But I could tell by her face and body language that she was very upset by the news. More upset than a gardener who most likely had many clients should be in my opinion. I let them know I would still need them to maintain the property until the house was sold and let them finish their work. But I was still mystified by her reaction to his death. I kept an eye on them and as her boyfriend was loading up the equipment I asked her to come in for a moment. When she came into the foyer I turned to her and asked “were you fucking my uncle?”