Watermelon Summer (21 page)

 

    Kat spun around again so she was now facing me. 
She was by far the most beautiful person present, if not dressed for
grave-digging, and for one second I thought it might be worth giving up
Greensun if I could have my vibrant companion back.  But could I
ever really enjoy Kat's presence now that I knew about her rotten
core?  I doubted it.

 

    "You said yourself that the money was for the use of
the community," my half-sister answered, no regret visible on her face.  "I
was part of the community and I used it."

 

    "That's the sorriest excuse for thievery I've ever
heard," I replied.  "But we won't go there now.  First, we'll
look at this from another standpoint.  Carol, wouldn't you say that
Glen's letter is a legally-binding document that requires us to hold
Greensun in escrow for the next eleven months?"  I shot the
Greensun Ex a hopeful glance, since I had no clue whether I was right and
wasn't even sure I'd used the term "escrow" correctly.  I seemed to
recall something to that effect in the books Carol had lent me, but my
memory was hazy.

 

    For a second, Carol seemed ready to explain that she really wasn't all that well-versed in
that
part of the law, but then she took a look at Kat, pursed up her lips,
and agreed with me wholeheartedly.  "Yes, anyone who meets the
guidelines as set out in that letter would have the right to buy
Greensun from Glen's heirs at the rate of $30,000.  As I understand
it, that would be $6,000 for Kat, minus the $2,000 she owes the
community, for a total of $4,000."

 

    I would thank Carol later; now it was time to drive
my point home.  "You knew that we were almost there, Kat," I told
my sister.  "I'm actually surprised you left the community when you
did, but maybe you didn't realize how Jacob's deer video went viral
last week.  We'll be in the black in no time."  Jacob gave Kat
a slow, smug smile that almost made me believe my lie—I hadn't
checked in with him lately, so maybe the website
was
getting a lot more hits than I'd imagined.

 

    Kat looked shaken for a moment, but then she
recovered.  "You never were very good at bluffing, Thia," she told
me, repeating the words she'd often said in a more pleasant tone during
our card games. "There's one big problem with your line of
reasoning.  With me and Drew gone, you've only got two people in
your little 'community,' and that's not nearly enough to meet Dad's
requirements.  It's time to give it up."

 

 

 

    My sister and I faced off for a moment, and I tried
to gather up enough spunk to shoot down her statement.  But the
truth was that she was right—community members had been surprisingly
hard to come by, and Jacob and I were the only ones now willing to
commit to the project.

 

    Or so I'd thought.  "Ahem," Arvil cleared his
throat theatrically, then waited until he had attracted everyone's
attention before continuing.  I looked around and saw that all of
the funeral-goers had gathered in a circle around the grave—clearly a
sibling altercation was prime-time viewing on the Greensun
channel.  Then I turned back to Arvil, who seemed to be addressing
his remarks to me instead of to my sister.  "Thia, I've been
looking for a chance to ask you this, but it seems like there's no time
like the present," my neighbor said.  "As you realize, my cabin
used to be located on a little corner of Greensun, and I've been so
inspired by your hard work this summer, that I was wondering what it
would take to merge the two properties back together.  What I'm
trying to say is—I'd like to become a member of Greensun again."

 

    Kat stared at Arvil with her mouth open to refute his
words, but before she could think of anything to say, our sister
Jessica had chimed in.  "I love the idea of Greensun too," she told
me, ignoring Kat as Arvil had.  "Unlike Arvil, I'm pretty sure I
don't want to live here, but I'd like to be a community member in
absentia, if it's okay with you."

 

    "So would I," Angela agreed.  "At least for now,
although if you want to buy me out later, I wouldn't mind."  And
my oldest sister smiled broadly and winked.  In other words, her
face seemed to say, she wasn't going to get in my hair, but she also
wasn't going to let Kat pull the land out from under our feet.

 

    Kat turned to the sole remaining sibling who might be
on her side.  She must have met Peter at some point, or had him
pointed out to her, because she looked straight at our younger brother
and challenged him to join her.  "Pete, this is our big chance to
be financially set for life," she wheedled.  "The rest of your
sisters are so rich they don't need the money, but just think of what
$80,000 would do for your future."

 

    Of all the half-siblings I'd met this summer, Peter
had the least reason to care about Greensun.  From what I
understood, he'd never set foot on the property before today, and, like
me, had never met our bio-dad in person.  I hadn't really been able
to get a handle on his personality during our brief chat, either, and I
was now kicking myself for running off with Jacob instead of becoming
acquainted with my brother.

 

    But I had felt that instant kinship with Peter, just
like I had with Jessica.  And I knew what he would say before he
spoke.  "I'm with Thia," Peter answered, refusing Kat's offer.

 

 

 

    "I've been texting with your step-dad," Mom spoke
into the ensuing silence.  We'd discovered that, even though the
reception there wasn't good enough to make a call, the cemetery got
enough bars to send and receive simple texts.  Still, this was the
last thing I'd thought Mom would bring up in the middle of a heated
confrontation.  "He says we can put up the cash to buy out Kat's
share in Greensun," she explained.  "But there are strings."

 

    Kat was less interested in the strings than in the
money.  "I want the full $80,000," my sister demanded, but I could
tell that even she didn't believe she'd get so much.  The mood of
the crowd made it clear that Carol's suggestion was more realistic.

 

    "We're going to offer you $4,000 in cash, and will
drop the charges we were planning on pressing for the theft of Thia's
nest egg," my mother responded evenly.  "You do realize that's a
Class D felony, right?"  I almost laughed as I heard Mom parroting
words that must have come straight out of Dad's keyboard...after a round
of serious googling.  "Take or leave it," Mom finished, and I
suspect I was the only one who knew her well enough to tell that she was
bluffing.

 

    Kat wavered, but in the end there was no
contest.  My sister wanted a source of ready money, and $4,000 now
looked better than $80,000 later.  So she took it, and Carol drew
up a document to ensure Kat was legally waiving her
rights in exchange for the payment.

 

    Which left me with nothing to do except sorting out the strings.

 

 

 

    "I know you love this land," Mom said quietly as we
walked together away from the crowd so we could speak in private. 
"And now the possibility will be there for you to come back to whenever
you want.  But, Thia, Dad and I feel strongly that you have to go
to college first.  Those are the strings.  You'll try one year
at school before making any decisions about Greensun."

 

    Rather than answering right away, I looked out at the
mountains I'd fallen in love with during my first day in Appalachia and
felt a hole forming in my heart even larger than the one my bio-dad had
torn away.  Mom was right—Greensun would still be here in a
year.  But would I be the same person who was able to open her
entire being to the farm?  Would Jacob and I grow apart and never create
the solid team I'd seen materializing before my very eyes this summer?

 

    I could feel the pre-Greensun Forsythia already
giving in and making the best of a bad situation.  I'd find a way
to come back during winter break, the older me argued, and Jacob and I might
grow in the same directions.  I'd always known college was my next
step; I loved to learn new things.  And how could I stand up to my
parents?

 

    The same way I'd stood up to Kat, of course, Thia
answered.  And I was surprised to hear myself bargaining instead of capitulating. 
"I understand your concern, Mom," I replied.  "But if one year at
college won't break my dreams for Greensun, then one year at Greensun
won't break my dreams for college.

 

    "Here's my counter offer.  I talked to the
admissions department last week and they told me I can defer my
acceptance for a year—the same scholarships will still be there and
I'll have an automatic spot in next year's class."  Mom didn't say
anything, so I kept talking.  "I'll take a couple of courses online
or locally this year," I promised, "And I'll decide about college after
that.  Maybe I'd rather go to Warren Wilson—it's only three
and a half hours away, so I could come back to Greensun on the
weekends.  And they've got a really good agriculture department.

 

    "You know I can learn a lot here, Mom—just give
me the chance," I concluded.  I understood that, despite my words, Mom
and Dad held the final decision-making power.  Yes, I was 18 and
could do whatever I wished, but if I wanted college to be on the table
at all, I needed them to pay those bills.  Plus, I was still enough
of my former self that I wouldn't go against my parents' mandate if it
meant I'd be driving a rift into the heart of my family.  If there
was one thing I'd learned at Greensun, it was that family should stand
together.

 

    Mom looked me over, and I could tell she was torn
between her dreams for her daughter, and the real needs of the person
she saw in front of her.  She'd left Greensun to give me a better
life, and here I was throwing that life away to return to
Greensun.  Or maybe she was just remembering her own reasons for
falling in love with this rough, but beautiful, tract of land.

 

    "Okay," my mother said at last.  Then, passing me her phone. 
"But you explain it to your father."