children, but I can't tell you much about them."
"I'm amazed at how well you can remember what you
do, Mr. Westerly."
"Nellie always thought family was important. She used
to keep up with everyone with letters and birthday cards and
whatnot. I've tried to continue, but other than Christmas
cards..." His voice trailed off.
"I think you're doing very well to send out Christmas
cards. I never sent a single one last year, myself." She leaned
forward and looked into his creased face. "Actually, the
main reason I'm curious about your family is because I can't
help but wonder if you'd ever considered leaving your farm
to any of your relatives."
22Melody Carlson
"I'd sure have liked that, but no one ever seemed real
interested. Jeanette and Linda always liked coming out as
kids, but then they grew up. And although Jeanette used to
bring her boys, they're so busy with their own lives these
days..." He reached over and patted Lizzie's head and smiled
sadly. "I guess me and Lizzie here are just the last of our
breed."
"I suppose that explains your willingness to sell the farm
then."
"So the cat's out of the bag now." Mr. Westerly leaned
back into the chair and exhaled slowly. "Rick asked me to
keep all this under my hat for the time being. I'm not real
sure why though. Don't know why anyone would care about
an old man selling his farm."
"What made you decide to sell?"
"Well, I never really planned to do that. I figured to keep
it in the family. And at one point I'd hoped to leave itto my
granddaughter, Jeanette. Of all the children, she seemed the
one to understand this land the best. She really loved every-
thing about the farm. Used to get up early and go out and
help me all the time. And her youngest son, Bradley, is a lot
like that too."
"Then why not leave it to her?" -~
"I offered, but Jeanette said it wouldn't be fair to the rest
of the family."
"But it sounds like no one else was interested."
''They weren't interested in the farm, to be sure. But
more'n likely they'd be interested in the money."
"I see..." She nodded, considering all this. "But what
about leaving the farm to Jeanette with a stipulation that if
she ever sold the property, the proceeds would be divided
fairly among the others?"
Mr. Westerly frowned. "That's not a bad idea. Don't
know why that never occurred to me before..."
"What made you decide to sell to Rick Tanner and Greg
Snider?"
Looking for You All My Life23