The next week passed quickly. Tommy was very busy at the dojo, and the inn seemed to get busier every night. He left work and, exhausted, dragged himself home every night.
Greg was back and he picked Tina up after work every night, so Tommy didn't get to talk with her as much as he would have liked. She did tell him it would be OK if he took Bobby four-wheeling that Sunday, though. She also told him Greg was going to take her to dinner and a movie in another town. She said Greg looked relieved when he heard that Tommy was going to take Bobby off their hands for the day.
Tommy's birthday arrived and his aunt had a small celebration at home. He got a letter from his parents. They expressed their amazement at the bequest from Master Kwan and said they had total faith that he'd handle his inheritance wisely. They also wished him a happy birthday and sent along a ton of pictures they'd taken of what they were doing.
It was obvious from the tone of the letter and the pictures that Tommy's father was having the best time of his life and, since his mother wrote the letters, she was too. She wrote that both she and her husband had come to love Alaska and were thinking about moving there permanently.
"You know," Tommy told his aunt after he finished reading the letter. "I could probably fund a grant for Dad so he can continue his studies up there, seeing as how they like it so much."
Karen smiled at him. "What if they want you to come up and join them?" she asked.
"I might go," he said, "but just for a visit. No way am I going to live in Alaska."
His aunt laughed. "I didn't think you would," she said. "I understand from Kim that you've been seeing quite a bit of her friend, Donna. What's going to happen when she goes back to college?"
The young man shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I mean, it isn't like we're going steady or anything."
"That's probably just as well," his aunt said. "You shouldn't be settling down with one person at your age. With the dojo and school, you already have too much to do."
"Yeah, I suppose so," Tommy agreed, although he knew that if Tina would have him, he'd settle down with her in a minute.
Also on his birthday, he stopped at the lawyer's office and signed all the papers that would officially transfer Kwan's estate to him.
"So far, everything you've done leads me to believe you are a sensible young man," Attorney Brothers told him, "so I doubt I need to tell you this, but I would be very careful if I were you. You have a lot of money, but you'll find it can disappear quickly if you aren't careful."
"I'm aware of that, sir," Tommy said. "And believe me, I do plan to be careful." He smiled at the lawyer, who he'd come to like. "And I'm sure that if I'm not careful, my attorney will remind me about it, won't he?"
Brothers laughed and said, "He certainly will."
"What about the trusts I asked you to set up?" Tommy asked.
"They are all done. Now that you've become an adult and have accepted the estate, they will be activated. Documents notifying the recipients will be mailed to the beneficiaries of the trusts immediately," the lawyer said. "And I had the bank transfer sufficient funds to cover the outstanding portion of your aunt's mortgage. She'll need to sign some papers, but for all intents and purposes, her home is free and clear."
