Come Home

Chapter 1

Alice took a deep breath as she clutched her steering wheel then slowly let it out. Taking another deep breath, she slowly let it out and freed her fingers from the tight clasp on the wheel. Bending them to let the blood rush back to her hands she shook them then slowly got out of the car. She could do this, she needed to do this.

"Just put one step in front of another," She muttered to herself as she pushed off the car. "Just one step in front of another."

"You made it."

Alice looked up to see the pastor standing in front of her with a sympathetic look on his face. "Father Johnson," She whispered in shock. "I'm sorry...I...uhm...I..."

"You're okay, Alice," he said softly. "I know this is extremely hard for you." He held his arm out, "Take your time. I have all day."

She looked at him confused as she pushed her long stringy brown hair behind her ear and bit her bottom lip nervously. "But...what about...I, uhm, I mean..."

"They wanted you to have today," he explained softly as he walked along side her. "They offered to come another day, they understood it might be too hard for you."

"So they are still there...why am I not shocked? Of course they are," she mumbled as they stopped in front of an open grave with a casket waiting to be lowered.

"Would you like me to go through the whole thing, Alice?" Father Johnson asked, "I know you weren't in the same beliefs as your grandmother."

"Please," She nodded as she looked at the casket, "I may not but I know she would appreciate it."

"Very well," He cleared his throat and opened his bible. She tuned out his voice and became lost in the good memories she had of her and her grandmother. "Alice?" She looked up at him shocked, snapping out of her memories. She was shocked to find her face wet with tears, how long had she been crying? She wiped her face as he looked at her. He held out a card, "Her lawyer asked me to give you this. He said he will be in his office all day tomorrow waiting for you to discuss her will."

"Thank you, Father," She whispered hoarsely as she took the card.

"Take as long as you want, Alice. No one will bother you," he said softly as he patted her shoulder then left, leaving her standing there looking at her grandmother's casket and open grave.

"I'm so sorry Oma," she whispered roughly as she looked at the white roses that lay upon her casket. "I'm so sorry." She sniffled as she wiped at her face. She didn't know how long she stood there but her whole body ached from stiffness indicating that she had been there for quite a while.

Hearing the motor of a vehicle and the crunch of rocks on the gravel road brought her out of her memories and unfroze her body. She rushed to her car and tried to unlock the door but only ended up dropping her keys. "Shit," She whispered as she dropped to feel for them since it was now dark, and her tears blurred her vision.

Just as her fingers touched her keys, she heard the car get closer. She grabbed them and finally managed to get her car to unlock. Getting in and starting it, she sighed in relief as she drove until she found a large tree in the back to park by, hiding her. She parked and took deep shaky breaths as she tried to get herself under control. Once she felt strong enough, she turned the car back on and headed to the hotel, she couldn't risk running into them just yet.

Once she got into her hotel room and locked the door, her whole body sighed in relief. She was okay for tonight at least. Stepping into the hot water, she began to fell her muscles relax. Her heart was locked away tighter than before by the time she laid down to get some sleep, giving her reassurance that she would be able to tackle tomorrow and what it will bring.

As her alarm beeped, she sighed and sat her cup of coffee down. She barely got any sleep, her mind was plagued with worries and fears all night long. She got up and picked up her phone. Pulling the card out of her purse she made the phone call then got dressed before heading down to her car.

She pulled up to the lawyer's office and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Finally, after taking a few deep breaths she got out of the car and entered the building. The receptionist walked her to a door and knocked.

"Come in," a male's voice called and Alice walked in. "Hello Miss Gates, I'm Mr. Williamson, your grandmother's lawyer."

"Hello," She whispered then froze. "Oh," She mumbled as she looked past him. There sat the main reason for her heartache, all fourteen of them looking at her with so many emotions she started to feel like she was drowning.

"Yes," he nodded, "They are included in the will."

She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders, "of course they are. Let's get this over with, I need to get back home and the plane departs in 6 hours."

"I'd wait on that, Miss Gates," Mr. Williamson said as he headed back to his desk. "Please have a seat."

"No, thank you," She shook her head and stayed by the door. "I'd like to get this over with so I can go back home as soon as possible."

"Very well," He said clearing his throat and pulled out a file, opening it. "In regards to the Open Hearts Ranch, Janie Gates has declared that it be shared with her granddaughter Alice Gates, Owen Blackbourne, Dr. Sean Green, Axel Toma, Silas Korba, North and Lucian Taylor, Brandon and Corey Henshaw, Marc Weiland, Nathan Griffin, Gabriel Coleman, Dakota Lee, Yevgeny Ravenstahl, and Victor Morgan—"

"That's fine, they can have it," Alice shook her head. "I don't want it."

"Alice, please," Owen said adjusting his tie.

"Don't—" She glared at him. "Don't say a word to me."

"Excuse me," Mr. Williamson said catching their attention. "Please, let me finish. "It shall be shared, as I mentioned, with the stipulation that all parties live in the ranch house for six months simultaneously. If anyone should leave before the time, the ranch will be sold to the county."

Alice gasped looking at the lawyer in shock, "WHAT?"