Chapter Twelve:
The next day Harm woke up and made his way towards the room that had been holding him hostage for the past couple of days. He opened up the window again to let the room air out. The air was thick with dust and the smell of mothballs. Hearing a creak on the steps he turned around and saw Sergei standing at the top of the stairs with a cup of coffee.
"I thought you could use a cup of Joe." Sergei smiled. "Where did they get that phrase from, cup of Joe?"
"I honestly don't know Sergei." Harm looked at his little brother and gestured for him to sit with him on the dusty feather bed. "Grams left us a legacy."
"A legacy?"
"Letters . . . stories of when she was young."
"When you get finished with the reading, do you think you could tell me more about who our grandmother?"
"Sure. She was your grandmother also. She left you letters addressed to you on the desk." Harm told him pointing to roll desk. Sergei walked over and picked up the small stack of letters.
"I am going to go to the barn to read my letters and to leave you here with her legacy." Sergei said.
Watching his brother leave, he picked up the next letter in the pile for him.
Dear Harm,
I guess in order to really know me, you need to know about the summer that I was 16. My mother had just told me that I would be staying with Aunt Margaret for the summer, and I was livid. I didn't know what I had done to be sent away, I was told the reasons later. I had played the straight and narrow. I got straight As in boarding school, I dated the man that they choose for me. I lived my life the way that they saw fit. I went to the best boarding schools for privileged girls and learned to play piano for all of Father's business functions. It was at one of the functions that I met 20 year old Francis Windermere. I wanted to stay in Philadelphia with Francis. He was the love of my life. I had promised him my love. My parents adored Francis. They thought that he was a good match for our family. He came from wealth. I would be marrying into old money, where Daddy was new money. It was a smart match. However it was written into Grandfather Montgomery's (Mom's father) will that his granddaughters were to finish high school before we were to inherit the money that was left to us, so I had to wait until I was 18 to cash in.
Harm, all the money in the world can't make you happy, my parents had all the money they could possibly need, and they couldn't even tell their daughters that they loved us. We were raised in boarding school and by summer nannies.
A week after I was at the farm, Aunt Margaret decided it was time that I was to help out with little things. The farm hands were to get the eggs, and I was to retrieve the eggs from them. I would then help her make breakfast for everyone. That was our routine. Much different from the routing that my mother had for me over the summers when I was at home. What is that line in the Wizard of Oz movie that you loved so much, "I guess I wasn't in Kansas anymore."
Why did my life have to change this drastically?
I love you,
Grams
Harm put down the letter and rubbed his eyes. Did he get that right? His grandmother was in love with a man in Philadelphia named Francis Windermere. Mac had mentioned a Francis. Maybe that is why Mac had asked about a Francis. He picked up his phone and called Mac.
"Mackenzie."
"Hi Mac, it's Harm."
"Hi."
"I am sorry about the way our conversation ended the other day. I couldn't sleep last night just thinking about it."
"It's alright Harm. I also overreacted. I know that you have a life completely separate from mine, and that I am just a good friend of yours."
"You aren't just a good friend, you are my best friend. Mac, I have a question for your."
"Fire away."
"While you were here, did you get visions?"
"Not so much visions, but flashes of the past."
"Can you tell me something, anything about them?"
"Nothing much Harm, just your grandmother with a man named Francis. That is all I know." She answered him. "I don't even know why I would have a connection with your grandmother."
"I do."
"Why is that?"
"Because you both care about me, and I am that common bond."
"Don't flatter yourself flyboy. Besides, I care about a lot of people, and I don't get flashes about their grandparent's lives." She teased him.
Their banter and playful attitude toward each other was back, and he was ecstatic about that. She asked his opinion about a couple of cases that were handed to here when he took extended leave, and he was happy to give them. They ended the conversation when Mac had to go defend her client.
Was Peter his grandfather? Harm pushed that question into the back of his head. He looked out the barn and watched Sergei feed the chickens. He decided to take a break from the letters and help out with the chores that had to be done.
TBC
AN - Do y'all want more? There will be more Harm/Mac interaction, Sarah Rabb/Peter, Sarah Rabb/Francis Rabb, Sarah Rabb/Francis Windermere, I just haven't quite figured out yet where I want ths story to head, the ideas are all there though - sigh.