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The elevator arrived, and after three people exited, they got in and pressed the button for their floor.

“A little of everything, I guess. She’s twenty-five.”

“She’s younger than me?” her sister asked.

“Yes,” Kyle replied with a nod.

“I wouldn’t have guessed,” Jolie said. “She seems more mature somehow.”

“Than you? Yeah, that’s not hard.”

“You’re hilarious.”

The elevator arrived on their floor, and they stepped out. Greeted by a reception desk and a young man with a headset, looking like he was answering forty phone calls at once, Kyle stood there and waited for him to look up.

“Are you seeing her again?”

“Melinda? Yeah, after this. And you’re coming with me.”

“I am?”

“Yes. She invited us on the cemetery tour she’s doing tonight. Her company has exclusive access to stuff and is able to do night tours when most others have to stick to the daytime.”

“You’re taking me to a cemetery? No, thanks.”

“Can I help you?” the man finally said, looking up at them.

“Yes. We have an appointment with Mr. Beaufort.”

The man nodded and pulled up something on his computer screen.

“Name?”

“Kyle and Jolie Schafer,” Kyle replied.

“You can have a seat. He’ll be right with you.”

Minutes later, they were ushered back through winding hallways toward what appeared to be a corner office, where the door was opened for them, and a man who looked to be in his early sixties with white hair and one of those expensive lawyer suits stood up and buttoned his jacket.

“Hello, Kyle and Jolie. I’m Brian Beaufort,” he said in a thick Southern accent. “I was planning on calling you next week to discuss your grandmother’s passing. I am sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” Kyle replied.

Mr.Beaufort walked around his desk and gave them a polite smile, shaking their hands with his much larger one in turn. Then, he motioned for them to sit on the sofa at the back of the room, and he took the straight-backed chair across from it.

“I’m glad you’re here. It makes things a lot easier.”

“How so?” Jolie asked.

“Well, your grandmother left you certain items in her will, and you’ll have to make decisions on how you’d like to deal with those. It’s easier that you’re here in person, though you could’ve handled it from home as well. My firm is happy to help take any of this burden off your shoulders, if you’d like.”

“Can we start at the beginning, please?” Jolie requested. “Kyle and I never met our grandmother and didn’t know anything about her, really.”

“I understand. She explained that your mother and she were estranged, which is likely why she didn’t leave anything in her will to your mother.”

“Do you know what happened?” Kyle asked, leaning forward on the sofa.

“She didn’t tell me much, no. I was her lawyer, not her confidant, of course. I only met with her a few times after she first got sick and wanted to ensure she took care of her affairs before she passed.”