Sisters Unknown

By Sandra Eidson

When the letter comes it has the power to destroy the lives of each of the four women. His daughters, each unknown to the others are either shocked, furious, numb, or given hope for a new future. 

Oh they could refuse to follow the dictates of the will but then they would have to live with the fact they may have chosen to destroy the lives of the sister's they never even knew they had. How could they live with that guilt?
  
The four of them must give up a portion of time in each of their lives in order to inherit a multi million dollar mansion to live in it and meet the challenge of accomplishing the goal set forth in the letter and turn it into a viable bed and breakfast inn. If any one of the four of them refuses then the others all lose the inheritance and it would revert to the state it sits in.
 
The girls all agree to take a road trip to gather together and meet each other and then set out to reach the goal put forth to them. Follow each of them on their journey to learn about each other, discover the mystery of the theft of the property, and the culprits who perpetrated it. while bonding into a family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Misty Morning Books
• Release date: May 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798986618005

Sandra Eidson

I wanted to write my own books ever since I learned how to read. My school teachers taught me that reading was a form of knowledge, where I could learn about any place, person, or thing from books. I took creative writing in high school, and journalism classes, minored in English in college to help her write short stories, poems, and novels. My college professors encouraged me to pursue life as an author.  Now as an indie author and publisher you’ll find her fictional novels are women’s contemporaries or paranormal fantasies. Her non fiction books are about her education on nutrition and sharing her experiences. Sandra Eidson lives in Texas with her husband, is a mother and grandmother.   So the reason for the non fiction books; I first became aware of the importance of nutrition because my first born child had major eating disorders from birth. When she failed to thrive even after the surgery to correct the issues; I sought out help from my mother in law, who sent me a book on having healthy children and a new blender. That book set me on a course to learn every thing I could about nutrition. I took classes in colleges, family planning centers, recreation halls, hospitals, watched programs on the TV, and internet on line classes.  My women’s contemporary books are generated from life experiences shared by myself, friends, or family. I love to share learning to cope with life’s unexpected turns and twist; overcome some of the disappointments life throws at us to come out the other side a stronger and more capable person.  My latest interest in the paranormal and the various types of creatures, and populations is why I decided to try my hand at that. I do not consider myself to have a dark side nor do I have a murderous angry personality so I doubt I could write murder mysteries. The idea of some people having fantastic abilities, and good souls however did peak my interest in a new way to tell a tale.  I hope you enjoy my books, please write a review of those you read because an honest opinion is what us authors want to see. If you don’t like the book say why. Leave me a message on my Facebook page where I can make a return question to you if I wish to seek your opinion on how to make my next book better.

Book preview

Annalisa

After reading the letter from the lawyer Annalisa’s first reaction was stunned outrage. Her father who had just been a shadow in the background of her life was after his death now trying to dictate her life! She was the oldest of four daughters he basically just paid support and college funds for them.  She had never met any of her other half sisters during her life. They each had different mothers and all lived in different states.  According to this letter he was bequeathing to each of them one quarter of a family mansion worth over two million dollars but had way too many of what she considered unjust conditions attached to accept.

First she had to give up her life and job in California to move to the mansion in South Caroline while the second condition was to renovate the mansion into a viable bed and breakfast inn. Then neither of them could sell out their share to one another until that was completed. However the final condition also stated that if she just refused the inheritance then she would be responsible for all of the sisters to not receive their share as well. 

She could not do that, even if she had never met them before and she was not sure what their lives were like.

She wanted her lawyer to look at this and see if he could find any kind of loophole around what her Dad required.  How could he expect them to drop their currant lives now to take on this challenge. Forcing her to take on some venture with three other women she did not know was outrageous.  She had worked hard to get to her position of assistant manager in the five star hotels she worked in, she had a relationship building with the man in her life plus all her friends and her mother lived here in San Francisco as well.  First thing she did was called her lawyer to make sure it was even legally possible he could do this to them.  Her own lawyer informed her it was indeed legal for him to set presidents like those laid out. Next she called her mom for her opinion of what to do. Her mother agreed she could not, and should not be responsible for her sisters to lose out an opportunity even if she was going to have to lose her job. After that she called her boyfriend John; he told her she really had no other options but to follow though with it.

She contacted the law firm on the letter and was given the contact information on each sister. She was going to talk to each one to see what they were going to do before she disrupted her life.

When she spoke with them and they each said they were going to see what it was about.

Finally she contacted her boss and informed him of the situation and he advised he would be unable to hold her job for the length of time she would be gone. She told him she already knew that, and why she was submitting her two week notice now.

Serena

Serena read her letter for the second time in shock to make sure she did not misunderstand what it said in the last paragraph of the conditions listed. It really did state her only choice was to throw away her current life’s plan to accept her inheritance or be the reason her half sisters would have to forfeit their share of what could be a fortune to them all.  By the time she finished calling the law firm to find out if it possible to avoid the demands she was cussing up a storm.  Not only did he say no to that he confirmed she would be able to refuse but at the expense of all the other sisters.  WTF, where was that fair.

Leaving her current job was always part of her plan but not before she had saved enough up to open her a restaurant with her name on it right here in Dallas. It was never to be in South Carolina attached to bed and breakfast that all her sisters might sell off.  That could mean the sister’s she had never met would really have a reason to hate her for life. She could not even accept that because just as distant as they were they were her only family she had left since her mom passed a year ago from cancer. So when her older sister called to see what she was going to do she told her she would have to see this place and then make the decision. She did not want to refuse unless the other’s had done so.

Bethany

After she read the letter from the law firm through for the third time she felt the excitement building in her body like a hum. This could be the answer to resolve the disillusion her life had become. Bethany earned her degree and landed a really well paying job as one of the top event planners for the convention center for 

Kansas City.  However during the past two years she held it felt like her boss overworked her and then took all the credit for her creative ideas and the work she actually did. She had no real friends, her last male friend dumped her for someone who had more time for him, and so her life was going no where fast. She wasn’t rich so this inheritance could really give her leg up financially. She would be able to get creative as she liked and the credit would go to her. Events like the business meetings, special occasions, and weddings could be more fun than what she was doing now.

Her father had just been in and out of her life on her birthday or by phone. He had always sent presents for Christmas and graduation from high school. Even if her parents never married, he still paid child support and for her to attend college. He was always travelling all over the world with his oil company but was a voice on the phone. Once she had left for college her mom married a rancher from Montana and move there with him. Maybe it would be good to have sisters to share things with.  When she got the call from her older sister she told her she was giving her two notices too.

Railene

When she took the mail out of the box Railene was surprised to find a letter addressed to her from a law firm. She deliberately hid in the pocket of her skirt to read later once Rob was gone to work. She did not know exactly why she felt she needed to do that only that it seemed like a good idea to keep it secret for now. She never knew what would set him off and she really did not want to upset him. Ever since giving in to Rob’s desire for them to live together after her graduation from college six months ago Rob had become more controlling of every aspect of her life. He had never struck her or abused her but he had scared her recently by controlling every aspect of life she had. She also felt she had made a major mistake by allowing him to convince her to not work outside the house.  He drove away her friends too. So she had never really used her degree in interior design her father had actually paid for she now knew.

She had lost her mom in a car wreck a year ago and was still in shock over that. Now she was informed her Dad had died of a heart attack in one of the foreign countries he had some of his oil wells in last week. It was the first time she really knew who her Dad was.

Later when she was alone in the house Railene read the letter and knew this was going to be her way to escape to a better life outside Kentucky. She had very recently bought a throw away phone from a seven eleven and used it to call the law office to get any of the information on her half sisters and asked them to give the phone number of the throw away phone to them.  When the oldest one called her that same day she told her she was accepting the offer. She bought a bag at the thrift store to pack some clothes into and closed out her savings account she had never told Rob about at the bank. She stashed the bag and the money into the back of the closet she kept the linens in so it was not easily visible. Annalisa said she would pick her up for the road trip. She would be ready to run once she heard they were near.  She hoped her sister’s would be good allies once she finally met them.

Annalisa

After she contacted each sister and finding out they all had accepted the inheritance. Each of them told her that they all felt they could not make the others forfeit their shares. Both Bethany and Railene told her they could not afford the airline tickets and still have any money to eat on. Annalisa told them she had bought a new ford Expedition and she wanted to drive it to South Carolina.  It was Serena who suggested that they make it a road trip to get to know each other.  They all agreed to that idea. So Annalisa offered to pick them up along the way.  Serena would sell her car to a friend, Railene did not own a car, and Bethany said she would donate her clunker to a local charity.  Annalisa had just to list her condo for sale and she would store everything else until she saw where she landed after the renovation was completed. She could leave in two days, so she would first pick up Serena in Dallas, and then they next would pick up Bethany in Kansas City and Railene in Kentucky last. 

Serena

Serena sold off her car then she notified her landlord she would not be renewing her lease on the little house she had been living in for a couple of years. 

Then she sold off her furniture to a consignment shop.  She had notified her boss she was quitting the same day she got the letter. She packed all her favorite clothes and donated the rest of them. When Annalisa drove up to her house she was sitting on the porch with two suitcases and her tote bag with snacks she thought they could share.  Her eyes swept over her sister, she was tall, leggy and her hair was pulled into a long blonde ponytail, a deep tan, with a sprinkle of freckles across her nose her blue eyes the color of turquoise. Just as she always pictured a California girl would look. She stood up and took the hand that was extended to her.

Hi, I am your sister Annalisa Richards.  You look like your ready to start this new adventure; her blonde sister greeted her as they shook hands. 

Serena nodded and replied, As ready as I could be with the sudden change this has wrought on me.

They loaded the suitcases into the rear of the SUV as they discussed the road trip they were embarking on.  Serena suggested they take I35 up into Oklahoma then on to Kansas.  Annalisa agreed she had thought that was the quickest route. Annalisa did not seem to be too shocked to learn that one of her sisters was part African American. Maybe this new sister would turn out to be ok after all. 

Annalisa

My new sister stood as tall as myself, she had an athletic body, strong defined muscle tone, with flawless mahogany skin, her hair was cut close to her head with little curls on top, her eyes were a soft brown like melted chocolate, and she was the most beautiful black woman I could ever recall seeing before. As she assessed my reaction to her I was glad I had looked her up on social media because I was not shocked as she seemed to be expecting me to be. Upon observing the way she was waiting to see how I was responding to her is what made me decide it was best to not address the differences in our skin, or to react at all. I could see by my non reaction that she was going to do the same.

It gave me a reason to respect her more because I have had too many of the young women of color I worked with respond to my authority over them with a challenge in their attitudes that often made me lose a little respect for them. I always wondered if they were not comfortable with themselves, then exactly how it was they could expect others to perceive them.

I wanted my new sister to feel that I accepted her as she was. As we settled into the SUV she gave me a few hints about the best way to get back to the freeway with ease. 

During the drive into Oklahoma we told each other a little bit of how our relationship with our Dad had been over the years and came to the conclusion he must have treated all of us girls alike. He supported us, paid for our education in whatever field we wanted to pursue but was absent from our home life. He did talk to us about things he felt was what a Dad should talk about to their daughters about,  like how to accept our thoughts about boys or men, what to expect from them, how to make them treat you with respect and when to know if they didn’t. He had never tried to force his influence on what we wanted to do with our lives or jobs so why did he suddenly put these strange conditions on our inheritance from him?

Once we stopped to grab lunch and take a bathroom break we decided to stop for the night when we got to Wellington Kansas.  My sister offered to drive for a little while, but I declined for the time being. Later by the time we crossed the state line I had been driving for over three days only stopping once for the night.  I needed some down time and a good shower. I just wanted to order some pizza and chill out for a little while. I wanted to find out more about my sister and her life so far, what made her choose to become a chef, who was her mom and how she felt about this road trip to the bazaar new state of unknown future we had to take on. My mom had to taken to calling it our yellow brick road to the unknown.  But first I wanted that shower. 

Serena

While we left Texas and drove into Oklahoma we discussed our Dad and how he treated us growing up