An Unwanted Inheritance, page 15
Ellie thought that sounded like a ridiculous idea. If Nathan was caught up with something else this evening, how likely was it that he would answer his phone? Especially for a video call. However, the others seemed to think it was sensible, so she bit her tongue.
The doorbell rang.
‘That’ll be dinner,’ she said and went to answer it with Caroline following in her wake. They took the food through to the kitchen to dish up.
‘I thought we’d eat in here tonight,’ said Ellie. ‘It’s cosier.’
She also didn’t want to be reminded of James’s outburst over her decor, but it was, in any event, much more relaxed sitting at the round table in the kitchen. It was already set and Caroline filled the water jug and started to dish the starters out. James and Max arrived from the lounge, drawn in by the spicy aromas, and everyone took a seat and started to help themselves.
Once they were all settled, Ellie said, ‘So, the coroner’s office is happy for us to go ahead with the funeral. I spoke to them this morning but they’re a bit busy. The funeral director has suggested a week on Friday after next – two weeks today.’
‘But that’s . . .’ began Caroline, concern written in the lines on her forehead.
‘My birthday, yes,’ said Ellie.
Her fortieth birthday. The most anticipated event of her year – of the last couple of years, in fact – and to which she had been building up steadily for months. And now it was also the proposed date for her father’s funeral.
‘Well, we obviously can’t have it then,’ continued Caroline. ‘Have they got any other dates?’
‘Not really,’ said Ellie. ‘Their next free date is the Friday after that, but that’s too far away. It will have been nearly a month as it is.’ She gave a resigned little shrug. ‘Anyway, I’ve thought about it, and I’ve decided that the greatest amount of good will be achieved if we go with that date. It’s only a birthday . . .’
‘Your fortieth birthday,’ chipped in Caroline, sounding indignant on her behalf, and Ellie felt immensely grateful.
‘And the party’s on the Saturday,’ Ellie continued. ‘It’ll be fine.’
‘But Els—’ objected Caroline.
‘I wasn’t going to do that much on the actual day anyway,’ Ellie said, speaking over her. ‘James is working and the girls will be at school. It’s fine, Caro. Honestly.’
It wasn’t fine. She had planned a long day of shopping and a manicure and pedicure ready for the party, but since James’s little outburst the idea wasn’t quite as twinkly as it had been, so when she’d spoken to the undertakers and they had suggested her birthday it hadn’t taken that long to get her head around it. She would do it for her dad, she thought. He would have appreciated the gesture.
‘Well, if you’re sure,’ said Caroline doubtfully.
Ellie nodded bravely and pressed on. ‘So, we need to decide where to have the bun fight afterwards. I was thinking the golf club would be the obvious choice . . .’
They had polished off the starters and most of the main course by the time they had a plan agreed, including a clear list of who was going to do what. Ellie had been making notes as they went and now she read through them so that everyone was sure of their responsibilities. The organising fell, in the main, to her and Caroline.
‘Good decision of Nath’s to be missing,’ said James in a tone that might have been interpreted as jokey but which Ellie knew probably wasn’t. She was sure Caro and Max would have picked that up too. There had never been much love lost between James and her younger brother. Nathan was too directionless for James’s tastes, too much of a drifter.
‘It doesn’t matter that he’s not here,’ she said. ‘If there are too many people involved it’ll get too complicated. It’s better that it’s just me and Caro really.’
They sat back, relieved that the main task of the evening had been completed without too much difficulty.
James picked at the naan bread and then wiped up the remains of the sauce from his plate. ‘So, what is it you want to talk about, Max?’
Max shifted in his seat. ‘We need Nathan to be here really.’
‘I’ll ring him,’ said James, picking his phone up from the table and starting to scroll through. ‘Better still, let’s use Olivia’s iPad. Then we can all see him. Hang on.’
He stood up and left the room, appearing moments later with an iPad in his hand. ‘Right. Just let me . . . Ah. There we go. And what’s the number? Can someone read it to me?’
Max read the number from James’s phone and James typed it into the iPad.
‘Video call? Yes?’ he checked, and then hit the button. They all listened as the iPad tried to connect with Nathan’s phone and then Nathan himself appeared, looking slightly confused. He wouldn’t have recognised the number, Ellie realised.
‘Nath,’ James began. ‘Good evening to you. We thought that if the mountain wouldn’t come to Mohammed and all that.’ James swept a glance around the table and gave them all a grin, clearly pleased with himself.
Nathan looked thrown. ‘Okay, hi. Is there a problem?’
‘No, no. Nothing like that. We’ve just been arranging your dad’s funeral. A week on Friday, by the way. Trust that’s okay. But Max has something that he wants to say.’
Nathan’s forehead creased and he rolled his eyes. ‘It’s not a great moment, to be honest, James,’ he said. ‘I told you I was busy this evening.’
Ellie began to focus on the background of where her brother was. He was outside, and wherever it was was very busy with lots of men all standing facing the same direction.
Nathan snatched a hurried look over his shoulder as if he was expecting someone to appear. ‘I can’t hear you. It’s really loud here. You just go ahead without me. Max can fill me in on whatever it is tomorrow. I’m sorry but have to go now. Bye.’
He cancelled the call but not before the sound of a tannoy announcing the next race filled the kitchen. The screen went black.
‘Well,’ said James crisply, flicking the cover back over the iPad with a snap. ‘And there you have it. The true reason why Nathan is too busy to help with his own father’s funeral. He’s out enjoying himself.’
‘Oh, it doesn’t matter,’ said Ellie, although she felt like it did. ‘It was probably a prearranged thing for work. I’m sure he’d have been here if he could have.’
Nobody spoke.
‘Anyway, what is it you wanted to say, Max?’
Max took a moment to consider this proposal, running a hand through his hair and looking at Caroline, who nodded supportively.
‘Okay,’ he agreed. ‘Right. So, here’s the thing. We were at Dad’s house the day after he died. We went to collect Monty, remember?’
‘Oh, how is he?’ interrupted Ellie. ‘Is he settling in at yours okay? I heard once that if you put butter on their paws—’
Max cut across her. ‘He’s fine. Anyway, Caro was in the back bedroom trying to coax him out from under the bed and she found a suitcase. And when she opened it, it had cash in it.’
Ellie grinned. ‘How like Dad to have a bit hidden in the house in case of an emergency. Was there much there?’
Max paused, smacked his lips for a moment. ‘Yes. That’s the thing. There was over a quarter of a million pounds. In twenty-pound notes.’
Silence.
The only sound was the distant buzz of the television elsewhere in the house as they absorbed what Max had just told them.
James spoke first. ‘Bloody hell.’
Ellie’s eyes flicked from Max to Caroline and then back to Max. ‘What?’ she said, although she had heard what had been said clearly enough. ‘I mean, why?’
‘I’ve no idea. Caroline just found it. That’s all I know.’
‘And where is it now?’ asked James.
‘At our house. In the loft,’ replied Caroline. ‘It didn’t feel safe to leave it in the empty house.’
‘And you found this when?’ asked James.
Max cleared his throat, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck. ‘The day after Dad died,’ he said, without meeting James’s eye.
‘So, nearly two weeks ago,’ said James. ‘And you’re only telling us this now.’
His tone wasn’t exactly accusatory, but Ellie could see which way it might head if he didn’t like Max’s answer.
‘Well, we thought we’d wait until we were all together,’ said Max. ‘And here we are.’
‘Except for Nathan,’ Caroline chipped in.
‘Yes, except for Nathan—’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Ellie, cutting James off before he could get any further down that track. ‘Why was it there? Where did it come from?’
‘We haven’t got a clue,’ replied Max.
‘I thought maybe your mum might know,’ said Caroline.
‘Maybe, but I doubt it,’ said Ellie. ‘They’ve been divorced for years. It can’t have been sitting there all that time, surely?’
‘So what are we going to do with it?’ asked James.
‘Well, pay it into the bank for a start,’ said Caroline. ‘I’m sure it’s safe, but it’s a lot of money to have just sitting in the house.’
James put his hand up. ‘Hold your horses,’ he said. ‘Let’s just leave it where it is for now. And maybe we can talk to Valerie. See if she can cast any light on it. She might have an idea, and we don’t want to go setting any hares running unnecessarily. Is that okay with you, Max?’
Max nodded. ‘That’s fine by me. God knows how long it’s been under Dad’s bed already. A little bit longer isn’t going to hurt.’
Ellie noticed Caroline throw him a frustrated look, but he seemed to avoid meeting her eye.
‘A quarter of a million big ones,’ said James, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘Who’d have thought it, eh? Good job you found it too! Can you imagine if it had just sat there until we sold the house?’
Ellie saw Max flinch when James said ‘we’ but that was unfair. James was her husband. He was just as much a part of this family as she was.
‘We need to tell Nathan,’ Caroline said. ‘You can do that, can’t you, Max?’
Ellie eyed Max, wondering how much he was aware of. Max wouldn’t know that she and James had lent Nathan money. James was unlikely to have said anything and she certainly hadn’t. Nathan was hopeless with money. Max knew that, but he wouldn’t have approved of just lending Nathan more rather than encouraging him to be more frugal. And there was no way Nathan would have approached Max and Caroline for a loan. They always said they only had enough for their own needs. There was never anything spare for errant brothers, as far as she could gather.
‘Well, we all know how money seems to flow through Nathan’s fingers,’ said Max.
So maybe he does know, thought Ellie.
‘Bearing that in mind,’ Max continued, ‘I suggest we don’t say anything to him just yet. Let’s do a bit of discreet digging, see if we can work out why the cash might have been there, and then, when we have a little bit more information, we can tell Nath. It’ll keep until then.’
James nodded but Ellie wasn’t sure.
And Caroline seemed to have doubts too. ‘That doesn’t feel right to me,’ she said. ‘He has just as much right to know as you two. And what do you think he’ll do? Break into our place under cover of darkness to try and steal it?’
Nobody spoke. Ellie and Max exchanged a look. That was exactly what they thought. Caroline must have picked up on this because she continued, ‘All right. Whatever you think. He’s your brother. But I’m not sure it’s right to keep him out of the loop like this.’
Max reached a hand out and tapped her gently on her knee. Ellie wasn’t sure if the gesture meant ‘I hear what you say’ or ‘stop talking’.
‘We’ll talk to Mum first,’ he said. ‘It won’t hurt Nath not to know for a few days. And we’ll tell him just as soon as we know what we’re dealing with. Right. Does everyone agree?’
Ellie nodded straight away. James still looked shell-shocked, his mouth partially open as if this news about the money was all too much to take in. Caroline dropped her eyes to the table and shrugged, but then she nodded reluctantly.
‘Good. So you and me will go to Mum’s this weekend, Els. We’ll need to fill her in on the funeral arrangements anyway.’
‘I’ll ring her first thing and fix something up,’ said Ellie.
The funeral clashing with her birthday suddenly felt of very little importance in light of this new information. There was a moment whilst they thought about the bombshell Max had just dropped, each seemingly caught in their own imaginations, and then Ellie shook her head, as if to expel all dreams about the money.
‘Who wants one of Caro’s excellent brownies?’ she asked. ‘I’ve got some ice cream and there might even be cream in the fridge.’
Later, when everyone had left, she and James were getting ready for bed. James had barely said two words since Max and Caro had left, and he still seemed lost in his own thoughts. She could understand that. It was a lot to take in. She was struggling with it a bit herself. She wished he would say something though. She wanted to chat it through.
‘So, what did you make of all that?’ she asked eventually, when it became obvious he wasn’t going to raise the subject himself.
He sat down on the end of the bed and ran his hands through his hair. ‘It’s hard to know what to think. A sweet quarter of a million pounds.’ He whistled.
‘Over a quarter of a million,’ corrected Ellie. ‘That’s what Max said, wasn’t it?’
James looked at her, his forehead creased and eyes narrowed. ‘That’s right. He didn’t say exactly how much it was, did he?’ His hand went to his temples and he massaged them with the tips of his fingers, seemingly releasing the tension.
‘If we don’t know exactly how much they found, what is there to stop Max and Caroline from just skimming a little off the top?’ he said quietly.
‘They wouldn’t do that,’ said Ellie, horrified by the mere thought. ‘Why would they? We’re family.’
James shrugged. Ellie wasn’t sure what he meant. Was he saying that he wouldn’t be surprised if her brother and his wife did exactly that? Or was it rather that that was what he would do if he was in their shoes? Ellie didn’t think she liked either suggestion.
29
Caroline’s summertime Saturday mornings were so much more pleasant than the winter ones. When the boys were younger, she had encouraged them to go to cricket training once the football season was over, but they had never really taken to it. Now she thanked her stars for that small mercy. It was such a treat to have a leisurely start to the morning after the hustle and bustle of the week.
Alex and Theo had been up for hours, of course. She’d heard from parents of older boys that they’d get to an age when she’d be tipping them out of their beds at midday, but they certainly weren’t there yet. The boys were quite self-sufficient though, could get their own breakfasts and find things to do – granted, mainly screen-based – whilst she had a gentle potter about.
Max had gone for a run and she was meandering around the house collecting discarded items and returning them to their correct homes. Today she did the task without mental complaint because her mind was fully occupied with thinking about the evening just gone.
She’d had butterflies before they’d arrived at Ellie’s, nervous about telling the others about the suitcase and its contents. She hadn’t been sure why she was so apprehensive, but then James zoomed straight in on how long she and Max had known about the money without saying anything to the rest of them, and she’d known at once what had been making her uncomfortable. Even though Max had given a perfectly reasonable explanation for their temporary silence, she could see that it sounded odd.
She tried to imagine what the others would have done if they had found the case, but she wasn’t sure she could answer that. Ellie would have been straight on the phone to her, she was almost certain. She was always so transparent about everything, there was no way she would have been able to keep the news to herself. James she was less sure of. He had seemed annoyed by the delay, but Caroline was almost certain that he would have done the same thing in their shoes.
James, Ellie and Max had all been in no doubt that they shouldn’t tell Nathan straight away, though. That felt wrong to Caroline. He had just as much right to know, and what did they think he was going to do anyway? The money was in their loft. It wasn’t as if he could get his hands on it.
That was why Caroline wanted to pay it into a bank account that all three Frost siblings were signatories to. That way, it would be safe from thieves and they could each be party to whatever happened to it.
Although, wasn’t that what trust was for? Caroline had known the Frost siblings for almost her entire life and she would swear they were all basically honest and wouldn’t do anything that went against the best interests of one of the others. So if Max and Ellie thought it would be better for Nathan if he didn’t know about the money just yet, she should probably just trust their judgement, even though it felt wrong to her.
She picked up five pairs of underpants and two school shirts from Alex’s bedroom floor without examining them too closely and dropped them into the washing basket. She would have to remind him to wear a clean shirt every day. At least he seemed to change his boxers regularly, which was a blessing.
The front door banged shut. That must be Max coming in, she thought. She went downstairs and found him in the kitchen standing at the open fridge drinking orange juice straight from the carton. When he saw her, he looked exactly as guilty as Alex or Theo would have done if they had been caught doing the same.
‘Sorry!’ he said, took one more gulp and then put the carton back in the fridge door.
‘Good run?’ she asked.
He nodded, smiled. Max ran three or four times a week. He said it helped him clear his head. Caroline wondered if today it had been filled with the same thoughts that hers had been.
