Chris

She was puzzled and a little grief-stricken, but I was here for more reasons than one. I hadn’t set foot in Alaska in many years. It was always going to be a part of me, but it wasn’t a part that I wanted to keep. I’d always wanted to get out of here. The only thing that had kept me here for so long was Molly, but even then there came a time when I was ready to go and she hadn’t wanted to come with me. I’d made the decision to go anyways, something I still wondered about.

“Well Ruth always did have a way of laying the guilt on strong. I’m sure she just wanted you close. She knew that I wasn’t going anywhere.”

“They spent less time here than I have the last few years. I don’t know what their intentions were, but you are now one of the richest women in Nome. That land is worth; well I don’t have to tell you. I remember how much you paid for this place.”

“I don’t know what to say. I was trying to figure out what in the world you were doing here. I never would have guessed it was for this reason. What’s even out there now?”

“A few houses.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

I didn’t know if she was talking about my half or what. This is where it got a little tricky because I knew how Molly was about keeping everything the way it was. She liked to preserve everything and what I planned to do with the land was not going to help me secure her half that I needed, so it was a question that I could have done without.

“I’m not one hundred percent sure yet.”

She nodded her head and squinted her eyes at me as if there was an answer written on my forehead that I didn’t know about.

“So you have no idea what you are going to do with it?”

“Well I have an idea. You know how I am.”

“Yes I do.”

Molly took a drink of her coffee and I sighed to myself because I knew that she was paying attention now. She always knew when I was up to something and a smile her way wasn’t helping like it used to. I used to have a lot more pull on her.

“I want to sell it. All of it and go back to New York. I don’t think there is anything for me here anymore and I don’t need the extra ties.”

“That’s a shame. You belong here Chris, you always did. No matter how you try to fight it you will always belong right here in Nome. Look at you. You were made for this place. I bet the business world never saw your six foot self-coming.”

I had to laugh because she had a way of saying things that was more than a little cute. She’d always made me laugh; something that I found out was a rarity. I missed all of the talks we had and damn I missed Molly. She was a one of a kind girl. The only one that I’d ever really cared for and I wished more than anything that I was able to take her home with me.

“Maybe not. I do get my way a lot more because of my size. The city slickers don’t know what to think of me sometimes. It’s hilarious.”

“I can only imagine. I haven’t been down to the lower forty-eight in a long time. I don’t know if I want to go back. They are trying to buy up land up here and turn it into another Juneau, but the people around here aren’t going to sell out and let that happen.”

“That will never happen way up here, not completely.”

“They’re trying. I’ve heard talk about a cruise line wanting to stop here once a week. That would be a mess for the town.”

It was clear how she still felt about new comers coming in and I wished that she had changed her mind on that a little bit.

“Think of all of the business that you will get if that happened. You can’t be doing all that great right now.”

I shouldn’t have said that. As soon as it left my mouth, I was sure that I should have just kept my damn mouth shut because that irked Molly to no end.

“I do okay here.”

“I’m not trying to make you defensive. This is what you wanted, here in Nome and you did it. I’m proud of you.”

“You sound condescending.”

I groaned inwardly and sighed to myself. I don’t know how this was going to happen when I first got up here, but I hadn’t thought that I would get into it with Molly. While we had a lot between us, it was so long ago.  Now I realized that it was still rather fresh after all of these years, even after all of this time.

“I’m not Molly and I’m not here to fight with you.”

“Then why are you here Chris? You say that you are here about the will, but wouldn’t the lawyer take care of that? It’s his job, isn’t it?”

She was on to me and it was better to just get it out because I knew Molly well.

“I want to make you an offer on the land that my parents gave you.”

“An offer?”

“Yeah, I will give you more than it’s worth. You won’t have to work, ever again Molly.”

“Why does that sound too good to be true? What do you want to do with it?”

“I want to package it with mine and sell it.”

“To who?”

That was where it got tricky and from her comments before, she wasn’t going to want to hear about how the cruise company needs a place to dock and the family land on the coast was perfect for them. It was the only spot in Nome that made sense and they were offering far more than I could imagine. I wouldn’t have to work either and we would both come out ahead. But Molly wasn’t going to see it that way.

“A company in California.”

“You want to sell out?”

The look on her face said it all.