Chapter 6
SIX
LIANE
As Frederik drives me towards the address where a complete stranger will go into detail about my late mother’s finances, I think about how a person ever gets into that line of work.
Who wants to spend their time sifting through the wishes of the dead?
It seems like quite a morbid job, a daily reminder that we all die and everything we have accumulated before that just ends up getting passed to somebody else.
If anything, it might make the person doing that job wonder why they are working so hard themselves, knowing full well whatever they earn can’t be taken with them to the next life.
Or maybe I’m just overthinking things again.
‘I hope the boys are on time,’ Frederik says as we get close to the destination on our sat-nav, and he’s not the only one. I have told Scott and Joel not to be late in getting here and they both assured me that they wouldn’t be.
Our eldest son will be coming straight from the mechanic’s garage that he owns, taking an hour out of his busy day fixing cars to be present for this.
As for Joel, he went into town to show Haven a few of the local sights before telling us that he would get a taxi to meet us here.
Both our boys will no doubt stand to inherit something from my mother and it could be a fairly substantial amount given how good Mum was at squirrelling away her hard-earned cash.
After many years spent working as a PA to a wealthy banker in London, she earned a good amount of money and not all of it was spent on the large home she lived and ultimately died in.
She always emphasised to me the importance of ‘saving for a rainy day’ and while I might not have done as well as I could have at heeding that advice at times, my mother certainly practised what she preached.
Now I’m just about to find out exactly how far she took it.
As we reach the car park, I see Scott parking his own vehicle, a beaten-down pickup truck, and give him a wave before we climb out of our car. But looking around, I fail to see any sign of Joel, which is frustrating because our meeting is due to begin in two minutes.
‘Let’s go inside. I’m sure he’ll be here in a minute,’ Frederik says, and the three of us head in, my husband teasing our eldest about how he has turned up to an important meeting wearing an oil-stained sweater.
But as Scott quite rightly replies, how else is a mechanic supposed to look in the middle of the working week?
‘Take a seat,’ a kindly receptionist says to us after we have entered the fairly plush offices, and we do just that, with me hoping that my son is not getting any oil on the fabric chair he has just sat down on.
Before we can get too comfortable, an office door opens and I see a smiling brunette woman in a smart suit.
She looks every bit the solicitor and despite making an effort with my own appearance for this meeting, she has surpassed me in her simple work attire.
‘Hello, I’m Jane. We spoke on the phone the other day. Thank you for coming in and again, my condolences for your loss.’
Jane extends her hand for me to shake, and I do just that, grateful for her pleasant, professional demeanour during these trying times. Jane greets Frederik and Scott too before noticing that there is one person missing from our party.
‘He should be here any minute,’ Frederik says, pre-empting her question about Joel’s whereabouts, so that the solicitor will not need to explain to us how important it is that he does make it here.
That’s because the meeting can only be conducted if everyone mentioned in the will is present, to avoid any potential disputes at a later date, not that I foresee any.
I have heard plenty of horror stories about families falling apart after the reading of a will.
Tales of relatives who jealously contest what one another is getting and siblings sparring over who got the most from Mum or Dad and all manner of other awful examples.
In this case, I feel fortunate to be an only child because I won’t have to split my inheritance with a brother or sister or potentially fight over it if it isn’t what either of us wanted.
Things will be cleaner and simpler this way.
I have a best friend who lost her sister’s friendship after the pair of them fought viciously over their late father’s estate, and what unfolded afterwards would have been enough to make that poor man turn in his grave.
No such dramas today, thankfully.
But there could be a drama if Joel doesn’t show up.
‘I’ll go and check outside,’ Scott says before leaving the office to go and look for any sign of his brother in the car park.
As we wait, Jane invites me and Frederik into her office, and we follow her into a room that is full of mahogany furniture, leatherbound books and other things that make it clear this is the office of a legal-minded person.
I doubt I could understand some of the titles of these books on the shelves, let alone any of the words written in them, so I’m glad I’m not the one who has to spend their day deciphering important documents like wills and the like.
That is Jane’s domain and she is ready to show us what she can do.
But there are still two empty seats on our side of the desk, so she can’t start yet.
I glance back towards the open doorway and when I do, I see Scott re-entering the office. He’s quickly followed by Joel. That’s a relief, so I turn back to Jane and smile, satisfied that my sons have successfully managed to follow orders, for today at least.
‘We’re all here,’ I say as I wait for Scott and Joel to take their seats beside me and their father, but while Scott does, Joel remains standing. It’s only when I turn back around that I see why.
He has not come alone.
Haven is here too.
That’s despite me reminding him that she is not a part of this very private meeting.
‘Oh, sorry. This is just for family,’ I have to say to her. ‘Are you okay to wait outside? This shouldn’t take long,’ I say, figuring that is the politest way I can deal with this awkward situation.
‘It’s okay, she can be here,’ Joel says before he offers his girlfriend his chair and then looks around for another chair he can use as his own. He locates one in the corner of Jane’s office and starts to drag it over, but before he can finish doing that, I have to stand.
‘No, I’m sorry, but this really is just for family,’ I say and look to Jane in the hopes that she will back me up with this. ‘Isn’t that right?’
‘Well, yes, although she can sit in on this if you are okay with her being here,’ Jane says, which doesn’t actually help me because now she has put the ball back in my court.
I look to Frederik then for help and he gets the message.
‘I think this is best dealt with privately,’ he says. ‘I hope you understand, Haven.’
‘No, she stays,’ Joel says, surprising me with his forcefulness.
To my dismay, Haven doesn’t go anywhere.
I look at her incredulously, aghast that she has ignored both mine and my husband’s wishes.
What kind of person ignores the requests of her partner’s polite parents?
But I’m just as shocked at my son’s behaviour too because he’s always been so well-mannered and well-behaved and has rarely disobeyed me or his father, particularly in public settings like this one.
As Joel takes his seat, I decide this has gone far enough, so I state the obvious.
‘You can’t be in here, Haven, because this is a discussion about my mother’s personal finances and, no offence, but you didn’t even know her.’
Surely she will have got the message now. Loud and clear. Right?
‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ Haven replies to my astonishment. ‘I did know your mother. In fact, I knew her quite well.’