Page 5 of Stolen Mate

“Okay, where do we want to start?”

“Let’s start in the bedroom and move everything that isn’t staying with you into the garage. Then we’ll work room-by-room. Remember to keep an eye out for mom’s diaries. I thought they’d be easy to spot, but I was wrong. So nothing gets tossed, sold or donated that we haven’t checked inside.”

“Got it.”

Little by little they went through their mother’s things—a lifetime of mementos and memories. It was plain their mother hadn’t been overly sentimental. There were things that marked the different parts of her life, and most things were special enough that they wanted to keep.

When they found the old photo albums, they had lunch delivered and sat back on the comfy leather sofa and went through them.

“They were quite the duo, weren’t they?” asked Lara.

Tess nodded. “Before we came along, they were so adventurous. They went on guided expeditions in the mountains and interior of Alaska. It looks like they also went off on their own and backpacked in some really gnarly places.”

“Makes sense. I remember Dad always saying Mom was a better cook over a campfire than most chefs would ever be. Oh my god, is that mom on the rappel line?”

Tess looked closer. “It sure as hell is, and if I’m not mistaken, that’s Denali. That’s amazing. I never understood why they did big game hunting up there.”

“Because for all of its rugged appearance, it’s a rather delicate balancing act. If they don’t keep animal populations under control, it will all get out of whack,” said Lara.

“You’re a vet, and you’re saying that?” asked Tess, genuinely surprised.

“I’m pragmatic. With man encroaching on wildlife habitats, there’s less and less space for them. If we don’t ensure that species are monitored and permits limited to what needs to be culled, we could lose them all. Personally, I don’t hunt or fish for anything I won’t eat, but some of the apex predators need to be controlled as well. It isn’t ideal, but it is a necessary evil. Better they have a clean death than die of starvation or disease.”

They continued to eat their lunch and look through their mother’s photographs.

“We should take these to a professional to have them preserved, both in their physical state as well as digitally.”

“Yes, because both of us have so much spare time,” laughed Lara.

There had been tears over the past couple of weeks, but there had been far more smiles and laughter. Cherished times memorialized in photographs.

“I have a client who will take our photographs, preserve them, and put them in special albums,” said Lara. “She’ll also make a digital copy of all of the photos to put in a computer display. I’ll just get them to her.”

“I think that would be great,” said Tess as they boxed up the lifetime of memories.

Lara headed into the bedroom and dragged out a small, carved chest. It looked to be old, hand-done, and if Tess wasn’t mistaken, of Inuit design.

“Wow, this must be from some of their Alaskan trips,” said Lara as she opened the lid and grinned at Tess, holding up something that had been wrapped in worn leather. “Unless I miss my guess, we just found Mom’s diaries.”

Tess got up from the sofa and kneeled down beside her sister, taking the proffered bundle. She untied the jute cord, peeling back the folded leather that was butter soft. Tears sprang anew. She had them. She had her mother’s diaries.

“Do you want to read them together?” asked Tess.

“No. Just the way you know Mom would have wanted me to have this house, we both know she wanted you to have the diaries. I think you should read them first, by yourself, and then you can decide what you want to do. If the house is mine, then the diaries are yours.”

They finished out the day with Lara calling the client who specialized in the preservation of family photos and another who had a business doing estate sales and arranging for both to meet her at the house tomorrow.

Hugging her sister, Lara said, “Thank you for this.”

“For what? The house?” asked Tess, stowing the carved chest in her SUV.

“That, too, but I mean taking care of Mom and going through all her things with me. I wasn’t sure I could get through it. At first it was hard, but you made me see this is just another passage in our lives—another memory we will always share. I can’t imagine anyone having a better sister.”

Tess grinned. “Ditto. Now don’t get all sloppy on me and get snot on my sweater.”

Lara rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

“Nope,” Tess said, getting into her SUV. “I’m the big sister, which means I’m always right.”

---