Elizabeth's Roots

By Autumn White

All her life Elizabeth Brackman thought she was an orphan, until she receives  a package telling her an uncle left her his estate in Ireland.  Seeing the chance to for a change, she packs up and heads to Ireland.  Along the way she finds family, and love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Autumn White
• Release date: Jun 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781519972828

Book preview

1

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My name is Elizabeth Brackman and I am addicted to brownies. I say to my best

friend Megan as she laughs.

But they are so good, she replies.

I know. I grated milk chocolate into the batter before I put them in the oven.

Yum! I need the recipe, no scratch that, you just need to bake me a lifetime supply and I’ll freeze them for emergencies.

"If I knew they would keep, I would and if I knew my butt would still fit into my favorite

jeans, I definitely would," I laughed.

After packing Megan a to-go box of lasagna and brownies, she left and I cleaned up and

settled myself on the sofa with my stack of unopened mail. I have been so busy with work that I

have been just throwing my mail on the counter as I walk in. I make sure my bills are paid each month by auto-pay, but the junk mail just keeps piling up.

In the middle of advertisements for cable and satellite, of which I have neither, and the

vote-for-me advertisements, there is a large manila envelope. It says it is from Dublin, Ireland. I

don’t know anyone from Ireland, but I would love to, so I rip it open. Inside there is a stack of

papers with my name on them. They are legal papers. "When was I in Ireland to get into

trouble?" I wondered aloud.

"Ms. Brackman, I am sorry to inform you that you uncle, Owen McCormick has

passed away. Enclosed is a copy of the death certificate and his last will and testament. If you

need any assistance, please contact me at......My Condolences, Sean McConnell."

I didn’t know that I had an uncle or any relatives at all, in Ireland. I flipped through the

pages. The death certificate looked real and it listed the cause of death as natural, he was ninety-four. The next page was the will. I skimmed through it and almost dropped the whole stack when it said that everything was being left to me. A man that I never knew and never knew even existed, left me his entire estate.

I read through everything one more time and grabbed my laptop and tried to find as much

as I could on Owen McCormick and Sean McConnell. Everything that I read pointed to it being legit. Mr. McCormick gave to a lot of charities, which were listed in the will and he had a home

outside of Dublin in a little village. And Mr. McConnell was a lawyer that represented Mr.

McCormick from a firm in Dublin.

Putting everything back into the envelope, I made myself a note to call my friend Jordan in the morning and have him look over everything. I put my laptop back up and headed to bed.  As soon as I walked into the office the next morning, I called Jordan Mason. We went to

law school together. While we both studied estate law, he has more hands on experience with larger estates. I usually get stuck with the ones that have to do with divorce. My job sucked and was not what I thought I was getting into when I joined the firm.

Jordan called me back as soon as he got into the office. I quickly explained everything

and we set up a meeting for lunch. I finished all of my work for the day, because if I could get

out of having to come back after lunch, then I was taking a personal day. By lunch, I was

finished and ready for tomorrow, so I grabbed my stuff and headed to the little diner that we had

agreed to meet at. Jordan was waiting when I got there.

Hey sunshine, how are you? Jordan kissed my cheek when I walked up and we sat

down opposite each other.

Great, how are you? I asked.

Great, finally got moved into the new house. He replied.

Fantastic, you guys must be excited after living in that sardine can, I laughed.

Definitely an improvement. He said, So show me what you got.

I handed him the envelope and my notes that I took after doing my own research. While

he read through everything, I ordered our lunch; we get the same thing every time, BLT, fries, and Pepsi.

"It all looks legit, and I looked up the names just like you did and I think we got the same

information. I also called the numbers located on the website and they verified them both. He said. The next step is for you to decide if you want to proceed and set up a video conference

with him."

Our food arrived and we began to eat while I thought over what he said. "I don’t have

any ties to my family, you know that. I didn’t even know that I had an uncle until last night. If

nothing else, I would like to know where I come from."

Ok, so do you want me to call or do you want to? He asked.

I can call, I said as I pulled my cell out of my bag. What’s the number?

He read it off to me while I dialed. I got the voicemail of a very Irish sounding man. I

left my name and number and a short message and hung up. "Ok, so that’s done. I’ll let you

know when he calls back."

Great, he says. The waitress put the check on the table and I grabbed for it, I got it.

At least let me leave tip, I say.

Deal, he smiles and we pay and go our separate ways.

After lunch, I stopped at the store for groceries and the dry cleaners for clothes I dropped

off last week and I forgot to pick up. Just as I walked in the door, my cell rang. I hurriedly

dropped everything on the table and answered.

Hello

Hello, is this Elizabeth Brackman? An Irish voice replied on the other line.

Yes, Is this Mr. McConnell? I asked.

Yes... He sounded skeptical.

The voice kinda gave it away, I laughed. "You would be the first person I have ever

spoken to with that accent."

I heard a deep chuckle, glad I could be your first.

I stuttered a bit which made him laugh out loud Well...

How can I help you Ms. Brackman? He asked through a chuckle.

I cleared my throat, Um, yes, I wanted to talk to you about the documents that you sent me.

Do you want to talk about them now, or would you prefer a conference call? He asked.

Please want a conference call he thought. With a voice like that, a face would be nice.

"A conference call would work for me. When is a good time for you? I am in the office

at eight o’clock most mornings. I know that there is a time difference, I’m just not sure exactly

what it is."

"I am five hours ahead of you. Nine o’clock your time works for me. I have to be in

court first thing in the morning." He replied.

That sounds great, I said. "Thank you for taking the time to return my call Mr.

McConnell."

No problem at all, he replied. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then.

Not if we don’t exchange numbers, I laughed.

Right, he laughed.

We exchanged numbers for the video conference and hung up. He sounded as yummy as

those brownies me and Megan ate last night. Shaking my head, I