Tacoma Falls: Blazing Hearts

Estate sale

Maury

I placed stickers on the furniture and items in the house.

Papa followed me around and pleaded with me. "Maury, stop this nonsense."

"I can't, Papa. I singlehandedly destroyed my life. I need the money since I'm not returning to the office."

Papa halted in his tracks. "What?"

I stopped and turned to Papa. "I've decided to quit law and do something else with my life."

"But you love practicing law. You've worked your tail off to earn a law degree."

"Not anymore. I spent my life without friends or people who cared about me until Shep came along. But I ruined everything. So, excuse me. I need to finish tagging everything."

Papa furrowed his brows.

I finished putting the last stick on an item when someone knocked on my front door. I opened the door to a line of people and stepped aside. People entered, walked through my house, and chose what they wanted. I stood with my back against the wall and accepted money while they hauled items from my home.

It was bittersweet and well-deserved.

*******
Morgan

Patsy, Mary, and I checked out Maury's estate sale after Amber mentioned something. We entered the house and spotted Maury with his back against a wall. He accepted money as people hauled items from his home.

"I didn't think Amber was serious," Patsy said.

"Amber wouldn't lie about something like this," Mary said.

Patsy lowered her voice so only we could hear. "Maury didn't strike me as a cheater."

"People can surprise you." Mary shrugged.

"Or something's not right," I said.

Mary and Patsy nodded in agreement.

I approached Maury with his brows lifting in surprise. "Hey, Maury."

Maury cleared his throat. "Hey, Morgan. Mary. Patsy. There are stickers on everything. We can negotiate if the price isn't to your liking."

"Maury, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm selling everything. I deserve it for ruining everything. But that's okay. It's not like I don't ruin everything in my life. I can understand why people avoided me in school. Excuse me." Maury walked away to talk to a customer.

"That guy is lower than a pig covered in mud," Patsy said.

"Something's not right here. Does Maury strike you as a cheater since he worked as a divorce attorney?" I asked.

"No." They shook their heads.

My gut was screaming at me. Everything about this situation was dead wrong.

******
Maury

I steeled my heart and accepted money from people while they took items. I watched my life disappear before my eyes. It was another reminder of that night.

One single act destroyed everything. I accepted my fate.

I tugged at my sweatpants so they didn't fall. People handed me money and hauled furniture away. I accepted their payment. It didn't take long until my house became empty with the last customer leaving. Papa and the girls lingered.

I folded the cash and handed it to Patsy as Mary, Morgan, and Papa watched me.

Patsy took the stack of cash from me and held it up. "What's this?"