The Inheritance 2

The geese, honking as they flew over ahead, woke her. Melody blinked a few times trying to bring the room into focus. The weak morning sunlight filtered through the blinds. The dark  furniture was oddly familiar, along with the strong scent of antiseptic  cleaner.  She was in Old Roy’s  house. Technically, it was half her house now. Hers and some neglectful nephew  who allowed his uncle to die without even a goodbye.
 
Melody had spent hours listening to her patient reminisce about his nephew. Roy was proud of the man Levi had become. She didn’t know why. Pushing herself out of bed, she headed for the kitchen to make coffee. Roy didn’t have a coffee maker with a programmable timer.  Still, she was glad for the unexpected bounty of Roy’s house and all its furnishings. She didn’t have that much since her roommate Linda left to get married and inadvertently took half of her appliances and furniture with her. At the time, she didn’t feel up to mentioning it.

Being a hospice nurse, she had to continually fight against depression because her patients inevitably died.  Before they died, she witnessed their friends’ and close family visits dry up like a creek during a drought. Linda’s sudden marriage emphasized Melody’s loneliness.

None of them were as bad as  Levi who never showed his face the entire time she cared for his uncle. With the coffee started, she opened the mail she was too tired to look at last night. One  envelope with a lawyer’s address on it caught her attention.  Grabbing  a butter knife, she opened it quickly and scanned the contents. Levi apparently heard of his uncle’s death and was suing her for sole possession of the house and boat. The letter fluttered to the floor as she growled, “I’ll see you in court.”