Chapter 4
Four
Emma
Seven months later
Probate took six weeks.
The lawyer had told me it should be straight forward, and it was.
But the next piece of advice was to not do anything for six months in case there were any claims against the estate.
So, I got busy, preparing the house for sale while I hoped like anything that there were no outstanding debts I didn’t know about.
I wasn’t about to live in this house a minute longer than I had to—there are too many bad memories here.
When Malcolm entered the church, he lied. As part of their scam, all assets had to be disposed of, and money handed over to them because they were the ones who would look after you.
I’m not sure what he told them or how much he handed over, but he had a four-bedroom house in Christchurch and plenty of money in the bank when we walked away.
I know my father’s angry—he’s a senior member of the church now, and he had some blazing rows with Malcolm when we left.
But now I’m grateful for Malcolm’s lack of financial commitment to the church.
Everything has been left to me—except for some funds that will be left in trust until our children turn eighteen.
With Noah being twenty-six, he gets his straight away. It’s not a lot—just a few thousand—but given that Malcolm’s on his birth certificate as his father, I think Malcolm realised if he didn’t include him, it would give Noah opportunity to challenge the will.
As it was, I had to work hard to convince Malcolm not to throw Noah out when he turned eighteen.
Thankfully, Noah could get student loans to go to university where he could study accounting, and when he found an entry level job after graduation, the extra money coming into the house bought us more time.
He could have left us behind, but he stayed, and he took on a second evening job to help some more.
Malcolm also couldn’t control him as much as the rest of us as he got older.
Now I lean on him—maybe more than I should because he’s still young but without even asking, he’s stepped in to help with the younger ones and give them some sense of normality.
Overall, the tone of our home is lighter. Laughter rings out within walls where fear once reigned. Malcolm never laid a hand on any of us, but we were all terrified of him. The old adage ‘his bark was worse than his bite’ might have been true, but he had other ways of scaring us.
It’s not taken us long to find our new normal, and by the time probate cleared, I was ready to take the next step—selling up and moving.
There’s no way we’re staying in Christchurch. It’s too close to my father. There’s only one place I want to go, and that’s where Noah’s father lives—Napier.
I’m not ready to share who that is yet. Noah worked out he’s not Malcolm’s a long time ago, but I’ve told my family I want to move back to the city that I loved when I lived there.
“Mum. You ready?”
The house is empty. Everything we own is with the movers and on the way to storage. It’s a long drive with a trip across the Cook Strait to get to our destination where I’ve booked an Airbnb while we explore our housing options.
The house didn’t take long to sell once I was able to get it on the market.
The housing market is different in Napier, and I’ll be able to move without a mortgage at the other end—not that I’d ever get one given that I have no job.
I do have income. Malcolm’s investments are still solid and now transferred into my name.
His investment manager was wonderful to deal with, and I’ll have enough coming in to cover expenses.
Noah will take over the accounting side of things. I trust him to help me out as I learn how to run my household by myself. The past few months have been a crash course once Malcolm got too sick to deal with everything himself.
“Mum?” Noah appears in the door, and I take one last look at my empty living room. “The kids are getting restless.”
“I bet they are.” I laugh.
He makes his way to me and grips my bicep. “Let’s get out of this place and make some new memories.”
I wasn’t sure if Noah would come with us—he could easily find somewhere to live and continue his life here. But as soon as I told my family where we were going, he was contacting accounting firms.
At this point in time, he has more experience of the outside world than I do, but that’s not difficult. I’m grateful for his support.
I smile at Noah. “New memories sound good.”
For once, I don’t mind being the passenger. I never learned to drive. Malcolm would criticise me for it, but simultaneously fight any effort I tried to make to learn. But Noah has his full license.
Once we’re all in the car, I turn my head.
“Everyone ready?”
Bailey rolls her eyes. “Why couldn’t we fly? We’ve never been in a plane.”
Kiera nudges her arm. “We’ve never been out of Christchurch before either. It’ll be good to see other places.”
“But we could have seen those from the sky.”
I chuckle. “One day we’ll all go on a plane and have a holiday. Right now, we’re driving. And we get to go on the ferry.”
“What if we get seasick?” Jason asks.
“Let’s worry about that if it happens.” I wink at him. It’s hard to be the strong one when you want to fall apart. I won’t miss this house, and I don’t miss Malcolm. But starting again at my age is terrifying.
“Just think of it as an adventure, buddy.” Noah smiles in the rear-view mirror at Jason, and my youngest’s shoulders slouch. “We can pretend to be pirates.”
Jason’s lips twitch into a smile.
“There’s plenty to keep us busy too. They have movies and we can grab lunch while we’re crossing …”
His smile grows.
“Mum, I’ve got this.” Noah squeezes my hand.
“Okay.”
“Let’s go.”
There’s a cheer from the back seat as Noah starts the car, and we pull away from the home we’ve lived in for sixteen years.
Goodbye to all the bad times.
There’s only good from here.
This is the first road trip we’ve ever had as a family, and my children take to it like ducks to water.
The freedom we’ve had the past seven months since Malcolm died is nothing compared to being on the road with all the car windows open. I close my eyes and take a deep breath of the fresh country air as we make our way toward Picton and the ferry.
Two and a half hours later, we make it to Kaikoura. We could get to Picton in a day, but the whole drive is long for a family who’ve never travelled a great distance. Plus, the motel I booked for tonight is right near the beach.
While we’ve been to the beach before, it was a rare treat considering how close we lived. This is our last chance to do this in the South Island before we move north.
Besides, there’s also a chance we’ll see whales from the shore here.
Once we’re booked into the motel, we walk the short distance to the shore.
The stones crunch under our feet—it’s not sandy, but the fresh sea breeze is soothing and calming.
It’s another thing that makes Napier so attractive. We’ll be able to visit the beach whenever we want.
“Did you grab the binoculars from the car?” I ask Noah.
He nods.
“Mum! What’s that?” Jason yells.
Noah looks through the binoculars in the direction Jason’s pointing.
He motions for Jason to join him.
It takes a while for him to get him looking in the right direction.
“There they are,” he yells.
“What is it?”
“Orcas.” Noah grins.
“Let me see,” Bailey says.
They take turns, one by one. It’s hit and miss with them not always pointing the binoculars in the right way, but we all get a view of the orcas in the ocean.
They make my heart sing.
They’re free too.
It feels somewhat symbolic for our situation—to be trapped all our lives and now the world is just out there.
Maybe it’s a sign of what’s to come for all of us.
My family will thrive now. The further we get from our past, the better.
“Can we get fish and chips? There’s a shop just over there.” Kiera points.
“We’ll have to get something. Why don’t we get them and eat on the beach?” I run my gaze over the excited faces in front of me.
“We can do that?” Jason asks.
“I’m pretty sure we can do almost anything now.” I grin, and he beams back. God, how I love this kid.
“Yes.” He punches the air and we all laugh.
As if on cue, my stomach grumbles. It’s been a wonderful day, and the sea air will help us all sleep tonight.
It’s a long road to recovery from what we’ve all been through, but I’m glad we’re taking in the sights on this trip and didn’t fly.
Hopefully this journey is the first of many.
Dinner and the sea air are a winning combination for two sleepy teenagers and their younger brother.
By the time we get back to our room, the light is fading and Jason’s dead on his feet.
“Today was awesome,” he says as I tuck him into bed.
“I’m glad you had fun.”
“Can we come back here again?”
I smile. “We can. And we can see lots of other places. Tomorrow we’ll be in Wellington, and we’re spending a whole day there so we can go to the zoo.”
His eyes widen. “What animals do they have?”
“Oh, lions and tigers. Monkeys and meerkats. Lots of animals.”
His smile is so tired. “I’m so excited.”
“I love you.” I lean over and kiss him on the forehead.
“Love you too, Mummy. Today was the best day ever.”
“We’re going to have a lot of good days from now on.”
With a final kiss, I leave him and his sisters to sleep and close the door as I walk back into the living room where Noah sits with a coffee waiting for me.
“Today took a lot out of them,” he says.
“It took a lot out of me.” I laugh. “We’ll all sleep well tonight.”
I take a seat and pick up my coffee.
“So, where next?”
I raise an eyebrow at Noah. “Tomorrow, the ferry, and then …”
“No, where are we staying next?” He laughs.
When I planned the trip, he was still working as many hours as he could, so he’s not across all the details.
“Oh, Wellington. We’ll stay two nights there as I want to check out the zoo, and then I thought we’ll do the last bit of the drive uninterrupted.”
He nods. “That sounds like a good idea. Jason will be over the moon.”
I smile. “I told him tonight. He’s very excited. We’ll leave the following day, and we’ll stop along the way to take breaks, but I like the idea of arriving in Napier and settling into the Airbnb.”
“I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed again.”
I laugh. “I’ve got my brand-new bed to sleep in. But I get it. I’ve got a few houses to look at next week. The real estate agent I’ve been dealing with seems nice.”
Noah leans back and lets out a sigh. “I’ll still be around. But I was looking at jobs online last night and there were a couple that looked good.”
Reaching for his forearm I give it a squeeze. “I’m sure you’ll find something.”
“Maybe my dad?”
His eyes are so full of hope. I want this so badly for him, but I want it to go well. I’m not sure how either of us will cope if we connect with Caleb and he rejects Noah.
“Maybe.”