The Secret Treasure

 The two sisters were sitting in the law office staring at the mahogeny hardwood floor.  Leticia kept looking at her watch, tapping her fushia manicured nails on the chair. 

“Where is he? I have my Swedish massage appointment in an hour.”

Carissa rolled her eyes at her, ” Relax, I am sure he will be here soon.” 

“Do you have any idea what this is all about?” Carissa asked.

“No, I got the same letter as you. All it said is to report here to see Grandma’s lawyer.”

They both turned as they heard the door opening, and a tall man with brown wavy hair in a pin striped suit walked into the room. He walked over to them and shook their hands as he introduced himself.

“HI! I am Mr. Matthew Lescu, thank you for coming today.”  He walked over to his desk and took a seat behind it.”

“I will get right down to business, as I know you are both curious as to why you are here. Your grandmother left you both in her will.”

The sisters gasped. They hadn’t been extremely close to their grandma, though that wasn’t their grandma’s fault. She was a sweet lady and was always inviting them over to visit with her, but life was busy, they had things to do. They would politely decline her invitation over the phone, but their grandmother never gave up trying. She kept saying they needed to slow down and smell the roses. Grandma was old, she just didn’t understand they would tell each other, when guilt would sometimes plaque them. Yes, they had enjoyed being with her when they were little, and she gave them milk and cookies, but they preferred caviar and wine now.  Though she did make the the best peanut butter chocolate cookies ever.

“So how much did she leave us?” Leticia blurted out.

The lawyer cleared his throat, “She didn’t leave you any money.”

The girls looked at each other, “Oh, well okay, so what did she exactly leave us?”

“She put the two of you in charge of her garden.”

“Her garden?!?” they both exclaimed.

“Yes.” said Matthew. “Along with some rules.”

“She wants you both to restore it to its natural beauty. As you both know she was ill for awhile, and she couldn’t take care of her garden the way she always loved too, so now you both are its caretakers.”

There was silence in the room for a little, then Carissa spoke up.

“Well no problem, we can hire someone to restore it, if that is what she really wanted, but why would she care about it now?”

“Oh No, I have strict orders to make sure you both are the ones that restore it. She says there is a hidden treasure to be found in it, which is only meant for the two of you.”

The girls faces brightened a little at hearing the word “treasure”. They looked at each other and shrugged, “Well if there is treasure involved, count us in. I mean how hard can it really be to restore a garden.”

The sun was beating down, and sweat was dripping from Leticia’s face as she pulled what felt like the hundredth weed from the garden.

“Are you ready for a break sis? I need a drink or I believe I will die! This treasure sure better be worth this.”

They sat at the little table under the shade tree and poured themselves some lemonade. Leticia took off her gardening gloves and sadly looked at her fingernails, oh would they ever be the same she wondered.

“Remember sitting at this table as little girls?” Carissa asked.

“Yeah, I do, Grandma would tell us stories as we watched the butterflies and bees buzz around the flowers.”

“I always loved smelling the flowers, especially the honeysuckle.”  They smiled, as memories started coming back.

As they worked in the garden they started talking and sharing more with each other. They lived close, but each other was so busy with their life, that they really didn’t see each other much except if they attended the same party at times.

They got excited as they went to the greenhouse to choose some flowers to plant, trying to remember what their grandmother’s favorite flowers were.

Carissa remembered how they used to dance in the garden pretending they were fairies on a summer’s night when Grandma sat out on the porch watching them. Her face shining with peace as they would come and climb beside her on the porch swing. Then they would sing together.

Leticia started singing as they planted and Carissa joined in.

Weeks passed and the garden started looking really nice, they were proud of themselves. One day they were sitting under the shade tree once more, laughing over a joke one had shared when Carissa spoke up.

“I had a thought, We have dug through every part of this garden, but we didn’t find any treasure.”

“You are right, I had totally forgotten about that.” said Leticia.

Silence fell between them as they thought about the hours of hard work they have put in, digging in the dirt with their manicured hands. They also thought about the hours of laughter and secrets shared, of how time seemed to stop for both of them when they were in the garden. Appointments were forgotten and often after working in the garden all day, they would go to each others house for the evening and talk some more.

Their eyes started glistening, as it dawned on them what their grandmother had meant about finding a treasure. They had found a treasure, a treasure of love.