The Legacy by Caroline Bond (e book reader for pc .TXT) 📕

in her neck. Her head was too heavy because her brain was too full. She knew, of course, that was nonsense. The whole situation was making her lose her grip, but she was still struggling to come to terms with the perversity of her father’s actions.

One parent who was an enigma because he was dead. Another for whom being enigmatic seemed almost a style choice. A brother who was selfish. And a sister who was as good as useless. Liv suddenly, profoundly, wished she’d been born into a different family.

On cue, the door opened and their mother finally put in an appearance. Liv had wanted to speak to her privately, but it was too late for that now. It was too late for many things now.

Eloise drew up a chair. ‘Oh, you didn’t wait for me, did you? There was no need. Please.’ She actually waved her hand to indicate they should proceed – like royalty.

‘Okay.’ Liv set her shoulders and looked down at her folder. With its pages of meticulous notes and carefully filed letters and statements, it was testament to the many hours of effort she’d put in. She was, after all, the only one actually doing the work of an executor. In front of Chloe there was a dirty glass and a half-eaten bagel. In front of Noah a mug of coffee and a blister pack of paracetamol. As Liv reached for the file, it occurred to her that she could tell them virtually anything, in terms of what Jonathan’s estate was really worth. Add a house in Darlington. Take one away. They would never know. As much as Noah was very interested in getting his hands on his inheritance, Liv was confident he’d done little more than glance at the paperwork she’d given him. Likewise Chloe. They were both so sodding lazy, and dishonest.

‘As I told you yesterday, the biggest unknown is the size of Dad’s pension fund. We obviously know he cashed in one of his annuities to cover Mum’s settlement.’ There was a crackle in the atmosphere, but no one said anything. They would all, Liv had no doubt, love to know what their mother had received, but none of them had the balls to ask. Eloise glanced at her watch, then out at the garden, but declined to enlighten them. Liv carried on. ‘The pension company is being incredibly stringent about security, so we may not know for another week or so what the total value of the fund is.’ Although she, of course, knew it would be at down by at least £127,000. The cost of purchasing a nice two-bedroom cottage or, at a pinch, a three-bedroom new-build in the North-East.

At this point Noah actually yawned. Did he do it to provoke her? Or was he unaware of his impact on others?

Liv carried on. ‘Last night I couldn’t sleep’ – Noah wasn’t the only one who was tired – ‘so I used the time to go through Dad’s various bank accounts.’ She let that hang. Waited, for one beat, two, three, four. Nothing from Noah or Chloe, not even a downward glance or a flushed cheek. So much for being upfront. She tried to keep her tone level. ‘As I’ve mentioned before, there was the escalating cost of his care in the last year of his life.’

There was a humph from Noah. He was obviously still hanging on to his petty resentment at Lisa’s legacy. It seemed hypocritical for him to be aggrieved by his father’s generosity, when he had been such a substantial beneficiary of it. Liv tried to push the thought to aside.

‘But totalled up – allowing for any debts that need to be covered, such as his credit-card bill, household bills, et cetera… I reckon there’s going to be a cash lump sum of about fifty thousand pounds left.’ She went on, ‘If we estimate six hundred and fifty thousand pounds for the house, plus whatever is in his pension – I’d say, at a conservative estimate, maybe another hundred and fifty thousand pounds – we’re looking at about eight hundred and fifty thousand pounds.’ Noah kept his expression neutral. ‘We’ll need to reserve a proportion for professional fees – the solicitor and suchlike, including the cost of the house sale. And,’ why not rub a little salt into Noah’s wound, ‘there’s the five thousand pounds for Lisa, but should leave us with somewhere in the region of eight hundred and thirty thousands pounds to share out.’

It was a lot.

There was silence as they each contemplated such an inheritance.

It was Eloise who broke into their thoughts. ‘So have you worked out how you’re going to split it?’ Their collective mumble summed up their progress nicely. Namely, they were no further forward than they had been on day one. ‘Well?’ She looked from one to the other.

Noah had told Liv to be more direct – no irony there – well, here went nothing. ‘We don’t know what to do about you, and Megan,’ Liv said.

Eloise’s unconcerned expression didn’t waver. If she was offended by being put in the same category as Megan, she glossed over it well.

‘Because your father saw fit not to leave any specific instructions?’ At least her mother cut to the chase.

‘Exactly.’

‘Well,’ Eloise picked some lint off the sleeve of her jumper, ‘I’m assuming that you plan to divide the bulk of the estate three ways?’ Chloe shuffled in her seat, Noah nodded and Liv sat perfectly still. Their mother smiled. ‘Well, why not do that? Each of you take your cut.’ Chloe winced. ‘Then you can decide, individually, whether you feel you should share a proportion of what you inherit with anyone else.’ It was such a typical Eloise answer, seemingly simple, but in reality nuanced and complex.

‘Are you saying you’re not expecting anything from the estate?’ Liv had had enough of her mother’s elegant avoidance.

Eloise didn’t so much as blink. ‘Liv, I long since gave up expecting anything from your father.’

‘But that doesn’t seem fair.’