I don't Harvest Moon. I just own this story! …feel free to use the whole Christian idea for yourself though!

Chapter 2: The Inheritance

Six years later

"Come on, Jack! One more round!" Jack smiled and shook his head, "No way. I've had enough." He said to his best friend, Mark. They and a few other close friends were in a bar. It was March 15th and Jack's twenty-first birthday, and they were having a big party. It was about 2:00 A.M. when the group of friends finally went back home to their respective houses and apartments.

When Jack saw his house, questions began to flood his mind. There was a light on in the living room. Dad should be asleep by now. What's he doing up?

He parked his car, and walked up to the front door. From there, he entered the house and headed for the lighted room. The smell of alcohol invaded his senses as he stepped into the room. Something must really be bothering him. He hasn't drunk like this since Grandma died!

His father was sitting heavily on a green easy chair at the far side of the room. "Dad? What's going on?" Jack asked, fear leaking through his voice. His father looked up at him. Jack gasped. His father's eyes were bloodshot and his hair was completely disheveled. He didn't look at all like the lawyer that he was.

"It's your grandfather. He died earlier today." Jack's eyes widened. He loved his grandfather so much. He just couldn't believe it! "He died? Why weren't we told that he was sick?" Jack's father sighed, "You know the old coot. He was probably too stubborn to tell us. In anyway, they are having a funeral for him in one week."

Jack sat down on a yellow couch. "Where are they having the funeral?" Jack's father sighed once again, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. They are having it at Flowerbud Village. Grandpa's home." Jack nodded slowly. "I don't think I'll be able to make it though." Jack stared at his father, "What?! What do you mean you won't be able to make it?!" He said, his voice raising with each word. Another sigh, "I have to be in court that day. It's a morning hearing, so I can get there later that night." Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You have to be there! Just blow the judge off or something!" His father chuckled slightly, "You know I can't do that." Jack put his head in his hands and groaned. "I want you to go though. I need you to be there for the reading of his will. It'll be right after the funeral." Jack groaned louder. "Grandpa . . ."

It was a cold day in Flowerbud Village. It almost seems fitting for this day. Karen thought sadly. She was dressed in all black. Black's really not my color. After that thought, she mentally slapped herself. Now's not the time to think about that, Karen! She brushed her brown hair and blonde bangs as she looked into her full-length mirror as she remembered all the times she had shared with good old Jack. She had never known her own grandfather, so Jack had fulfilled that position for her. A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Goodbye . . . Grandpa . . ."

Jack shivered as the ferry docked at Flowerbud Village. A single person waited on the beach for him. The person was short and chubby. He had graying hair and a large, red top hat on. He was also dressed in all red. As Jack got off of the ferry and the man walked closer, Jack noticed the man's nose. It was huge! Jack suppressed a smile as the man reached him. "Hello, Jack. I am Mayor Thomas, the mayor of Flowerbud Village." Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I know that you are probably tired and all, but the funeral's going to begin in one hour from now, so . . ." Jack simply nodded, picked up his bags, and walked off of the pier.

"Jack was always a great man. Always worked hard. He was never selfish. He always gave to whoever needed it. Whether or not they agreed with it." The reverend, dressed in a black suit, looked out at the small crowd. "He loved this little town and everything in it. Just as we loved him. We will all miss him greatly." He looked at Karen who was standing to the side. Their eyes met and Karen walked toward him. "Karen will be singing a hymn now."

Jack watched in memorization as the girl, Karen, sang. She's so beautiful! Jack shook it off. It's not like we could ever get together or anything. At that point Jack scolded himself for even thinking those thoughts at this time.

Karen finished her song beautifully and smiled. She really hoped that Jack was watching her. Just thinking about him brought more tears to her eyes. Those tears led to sobs. She began crying so hard that Reverend Brown had to help her back to the crowd and back to stand by her mother. There, she scolded herself for breaking down like that.

She must have really loved Grandpa. Jack thought sadly. He looked around at the crowd. They must all have loved him. "Now, we'll have a time to pay our respects to Jack." A few people walked up to the dark casket and paid their respects to Jack's grandfather. Then Karen stepped up. Jack watched her closely. "You were always like a grandfather to me, Jack. Wherever you are, please . . ." Karen stopped. She couldn't say any more as another fit of sobs overcame her again.

Jack stepped up to pay his respects. As soon as he stepped up to the casket, murmurs broke out among the crowd. Who was this stranger? Where did he come from? Jack ignored them and looked down at the casket. There was a picture of his grandfather on it. A tear rolled down his cheek. "Grandpa . . . I'm sorry I wasn't there for you in your final moments. Then again . . ." Jack looked to the crowd and then back to the picture, "It looks like you had plenty of people there for you anyway."

Karen watched the boy as he paid his respects to Jack. Who is he? Then, he's cute. Karen frowned at that thought.

"Goodbye, Grandpa. I'll miss you. I know that you're in a better place now . . ." Jack's thoughts wandered to his younger years. His grandparents also were Christians. If all that is true then he really is in a better place now . . . Jack shook it off. It's not true. There is no God. Another tear rolled down his cheek. But . . . If it's not true, then where's Grandpa? "Excuse me, son?" Jack looked up at the reverend. "There are others waiting to pay their respects. If you are done . . ." Jack nodded and walked off. It's a no-win situation. He thought grimly.

"Hey, Karen! Another round!" Karen growled softly and turned to face the group of drunken men. In the group was Zach Shipper, Doug Green, and her father, Gotz Roberts. How she hated this job. She liked drinking the drinks not serving them! The only reason she had this job was to save up money so she could get off this goddessforsaken island. She wanted to go to New York City and become an actress. She wanted to act, dance, and maybe even sing on Broadway. If she had to do this job to get there, so be it. It was worth it. The door to the bar opened with a loud CREAK! Karen turned to see who had entered.

Jack plopped down on a chair in front of a table in the bar. He put his head in his hands and groaned. Why me?, was all he could think. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Karen looking at him. Finally, she started walking toward him. "What'll you have?" She asked. Man! Even her voice is captivating! "I–Uh . . . I'll have a beer." He said finally. Karen nodded and walked off. Jack groaned again as he remembered the day's events.

The funeral was finally over, and the casket had been lowered into the ground. Jack just stood at the edge of the grave for about thirty minutes. He just couldn't take his eyes off of it. Finally, the mayor walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "We'll be reading the will soon. You should attend." Jack nodded and followed him to his house. Inside of the mayor's house were a few other people. They were the only others mentioned in the will. "Please, have a seat." The mayor said while indicating some chairs. Jack and the others took a seat. The only other person that Jack recognized in the room, other than the mayor, was Karen. "I'll begin reading now." The mayor said after a few moments, "Let's see here, 'If this is being read, then that means that I have finally passed away. Do not worry. I'll be going to a better place. I won't preach through this will though. I've already done that enough in my life. That's not what this is for.

"'First of all I want to mention Doug Green. You've always been a good friend. For you, I will give you all of my animals except for my new puppy. I'll explain that later. Secondly, I want to mention Joseph Barnes. For you, I leave all of my extra pieces of wood. There should be enough to handle many house upgrades and other projects. To Lillia Rose. I leave you any flowers and plants that I have. I know that at the time of my death that there might not be any left. If that is the case, then I leave you all of my bags of seed. I know that it is not much, but . . . Now for my surrogate granddaughter, Karen Roberts. I leave you a surprise. It is in the cabinet in my living area. I think that you'll be pleased with it. And finally, my grandson and my namesake, Jack.'," Jack held his breath as the next part was read, "'To you, I leave everything else that I own. I leave the farm and everything else inside of it. I want you to continue my legacy and turn it into an even better farm than when I was working on it. If you don't want to do this, then I leave it to be split between the Roberts and the Greens. It can be an extension for both the vineyard and the ranch. Whatever decision you choose, I ask that you take care of the little puppy anyway. It might not be a puppy when this is read, though. I love you, my grandson. I love the rest of you all also! Don't forget me when I enter the Kingdom of Heaven! I can promise you that I won't forget you!'" The mayor looked at the five people sitting there. they were all astounded at what was said. Not about themselves, but for Jack. All eyes turned to him as he stared. When he composed himself, the mayor looked at him questionably, "Well? What is your decision?" Jack's eyes widened at the question. The other five waited patiently. "I–I don't know . . ." The mayor was about to say something, but he was cut off by Jack. "I need some time to think about it." Jack walked out of the house before anybody else could say anything. From there, Jack walked around town until about seven o'clock. At seven, he went to the inn/bar.

"Here you go. One beer." Jack was about to pay Karen, but she stopped him. "Doug's already paid for it." Jack looked at Doug. Doug winked at him and turned back to his conversation. Is he trying to bribe me? Jack thought to himself. Jack sighed and shook his head. "No. He's just being friendly." He said quietly to himself.

Two hours passed before Jack finally decided to get a room. He walked up to the owner of the place and asked, "How much for a room?" The owner shook his head, "We only have two rooms, and they are full. Sorry." Jack sighed and walked out of the building.

"Great! Now where will I sleep?" Jack said while kicking a crushed beer can out of the brick road. "Hey! That farm is officially mine now, I can sleep there!" He smiled and walked in the direction of the farm.

On the way there, he noticed how small the town actually was. Much smaller than the city. The air's cleaner, the people seem to be nicer, and . . . He looked around for something. Yep. I'm right. There is not a single road for a car to drive on anywhere. The place seems so old fashioned. It's weird. I hardly see any modern technology anywhere! With these thoughts, he seriously began wondering about taking over the farm. I'd finally be able to get away from all of those bad memories. I could have a fresh start here. Away from my father and his wishes. Where is he anyway? He stopped. But . . . I'd have to leave everything behind. All my friends and everything. It'd be a completely different life. I don't know anything about farming though. How could I possibly bring that farm up again?  He shook his head and continued walking. Then he stopped again. I left my stuff at the inn! Great! Now I have to go back! He turned around and began running back to the inn.

The bar had a front door that swung both ways. Many people had told Duke that he should get a normal type of door, but he had always refused. He liked his door. After what was about to happen, he would decide to finally get a new door . . .

Jack reached the inn/bar and began walking up the steps. He grabbed the handle to the door and was about to push. Little did he know that Karen was about to do the same on the other side. WHAM! The door slammed into Jack's face, and Jack fell down onto the wooden deck. Karen ran out of the door to see what she had hit. She knelt down beside the fallen boy. "Are you okay? I didn't break your nose, did I?" Jack groaned and shook his head, "No. I'll be fine." Karen's eyes darkened, "You should watch where you're going! You could've hit me!" She stormed away toward her home. Jack watched her go in bewilderment. What was that?! He wondered. After a few moments, he got up and walked into the bar to get his bags.

"Why did I do that?!" Karen said angrily to herself. She was back in her room now. "He didn't do anything wrong! What is wrong with me?!" She grabbed a pillow off of her bed and threw it across her room. The pillow hit a picture of her entire family, including her deceased grandmother, Eve, on her desk. The picture frame with the picture in it fell to the ground. The glass inside of the frame shattered on contact with the wooden floor. Karen's eyes widened and she ran to the picture. When she reached it, she fell to her knees. Ignoring the pain in her knees, she repeated quietly, "What's wrong with me?"

Jack woke up to the sound of a distant rooster. When he opened his eyes, he found his father looking down at him. He groaned and said, "Where were you last night?" His father sighed, "I'm sorry, Jack. The court hearing took longer than I expected and I missed the ferry ride. I didn't get a ride out here until early this morning."

Jack nodded slowly and sat up in the bed. "You look tired. Did you have a good sleep?" His father pointed out. Jack moaned, "You try sleeping on this bed. You wouldn't have gotten a good sleep either."

His father laughed, "Why didn't you stay at the inn?" Jack sighed, "No room." His father nodded, "So. How was it?" Jack looked at him, "It was just how he'd like it." Jack's father smiled. "Good. So. What did the will say?" Jack was hoping that he wouldn't ask that.

"He split his stuff up among five people, me being one of them. He gave his animals to the neighboring animal ranch. His wood to some old guy named Joseph. His nonexistent plants and his seeds to a girl named Lillia. I'm pretty sure that she owns the local seed shop. He gave something to another girl named Karen."

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. "I wonder who that is." He said to his father.

Karen Roberts stood outside of the small farmhouse. She knew that Jack's grandson, ironically named Jack, had stayed here last night. She had seen him enter the farm the night before. She had come for her part of the will. The mysterious 'surprise'.

The door swung open and Jack blinked like an owl in the sun. He found himself looking into two emerald colored eyes. He blinked again and noticed that the person was Karen. "Wha–?" He asked in bewilderment. Karen rolled her eyes, "I've come for my share of the will." Jack nodded slowly. As he was nodding, he noticed he was only wearing his boxers. He turned a deep red, "Uh . . . Just one second." And he closed the door.

After the door closed, Karen's eyes widened. He is SO hot! The image of Jack's muscular chest had been drilled into her head. She chuckled. He's cute when he blushes.

At that thought, she turned a deep red herself. A moment later, the door swung open again and Jack stood in the doorway completely clothed, "Sorry 'bout that. Come in." Karen rolled her eyes and followed him in. The sight of the single room shack nearly caused her to start sobbing again.

She composed herself and walked toward the cabinet that the will had said her 'surprise' would be. There was total silence in the room as Karen opened the cabinet. She just stared into it for a while. She couldn't find anything. "Where is it?" She said to herself quietly.

Jack heard her and walked over to where she was. "Need help finding it?" He asked. She whirled to face him, "No! Just mind your own business!" Jack winced and backed off.

At that time he noticed a single piece of paper sticking out from behind the cabinet. He walked over and pulled it from the cabinet. The piece of paper had been taped to it. He opened it and read. All it said was, "Secret compartment behind cabinet." He studied it for a moment before figuring it out.

He gently touched Karen's shoulder and once again she whirled around. "What?" She barked. "I know where it is." Jack said simply as he gripped the cabinet. He pulled in vain. This was a large oak cabinet. He wasn't strong enough to do it alone.

By now, Karen had caught on, and she went to help him. Together, the two pulled on the cabinet. It didn't budge. "What is this? Is it bolted to the wall or something?" Jack asked no one.

On a closer look, he noticed large screws sticking into the wall. "Yep. It's screwed in. But why? If we are supposed to get into the wall, then . . ." He trailed off. "Of course!"

He walked quickly around to the front of the cabinet and felt around inside. After a few moments, he found what he was looking for. A door at the back end of it. He opened it and peered inside. Inside was a single bottle of wine. He pulled it out. He noticed that there was a note attached to it. He handed it to Karen, but not before seeing the name of the wine. It had said, "Door to Heaven"

Karen gasped when she saw it. "Grandma . . ." She opened the note. Jack couldn't read it from where he was, but he could see what it looked like. It looks like some kind of recipe. He thought.

Karen looked at it for a moment and then began walking toward the front door. She opened the door and began walking out. Before closing the door, she turned and looked into Jack's eyes. She hesitated and finally said, "Thanks." The door closed softly.

"So. Who was that?" Jack's father asked finally. Jack turned to look at him, "That's Karen. She was picking up her share of the inheritance." Jack's father nodded, "Kind of rude, don't you think?" Jack simply shrugged, "She really loved Grandpa. She sang a hymn for him and everything."

There was momentarily silence until Jack's father said, "So . . . What about your part of the inheritance?" KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Jack smiled. It must have been Karen coming back to apologize. Jack opened the door and found Doug Green standing outside it. He was holding a small, but full-grown, Chihuahua dog in his arms. "I believe he belongs to you." Jack took the dog in his arms and thanked Doug.

After that, he walked back into the house. "This dog is one of the parts of the inheritance." Jack's father rolled his eyes, "I am not allowing a dog to live in our house. I never have, and I'm not going to start now!"

Jack put the tiny dog down and looked at his father. "That brings me to the other part of the will. Grandpa gave me the farm." Jack's father's eyes widened, "He what?! That old coot, what was he thinking?!" The dog ran underneath the bed in fear at the outburst. Jack glared at his father, "He was thinking that I might take over the farm!" Jack's father just stared at him.

Jack inhaled, "And I think that I might actually do it." Silence. "Say something, Dad." Jack said finally.

Jack's father frowned, "What? You are just going to take off? Just like that? In a day, you are going to leave everything behind and start anew?" Jack nodded. "What about your schooling? You still have a year left in it."

Jack sighed, "I'm droppin' out. I'd rather do this than school." Jack's father grew angry, "What makes you think that you could do this? How could you possibly handle a farm alone? You'd be sick of it in a week! I won't let you!"

Jack sighed, "I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. I'm an adult now, Dad. I'm twenty-one now. If I want to move out, then I will. Period. You don't have any say in it." Silence.

Finally, "You're really going to do this?" Jack nodded. "I–Fine. It's your life. If you want to ruin it, so be it. It's your decision. I'll send your stuff to you. After that, you're on your own. You'll be cut off from any money that you may have gotten otherwise. You'll find out just how hard this life will be." Jack nodded, "Fine."

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There. How'd you like it? Love it? Hate it? Tell me! R&R!!!

--Ben