God, she wished they could just crack on with the meeting.
But as the clock inched round to 10 a.m., they were still not ‘good to go’ because they remained one family member down.
The son.
Noah.
Chapter 4
LIV WONDERED how many hours of her life she’d spent waiting for Noah – and apologising for him. The solicitor, Ms Hewson, was polite, but her appearance in the reception area and her mention of another client meeting at midday was obviously a gentle reminder that their needs were no different from, or more important than, anyone else’s. Damn Noah! He’d promised he’d be on time and for once she’d believed him, because who – other than a complete embarrassment of a human being – would turn up late for the ‘reading’ of their own father’s will?
She should’ve known better.
She did know better.
Olivia couldn’t think of a single occasion when her brother had been on time. Lateness was ‘his thing’. Over the years the whole family had learnt to accept it – though that didn’t stop them resenting it. Eight-year-old Liv sitting in the car every morning before school, fretting about missing registration. Teenage Liv pacing the departure lounge at airports with their parents, waiting for Noah to come back from the shops, the toilet, the games arcade – wherever – so that they could board just before they closed the gate, under the baleful gaze of all the already-seated passengers. Liv’s childhood felt like one long wait for Noah. Even now as adults, with full-time jobs and families of their own, it was the same. Every Christmas Day for the past few years had been spiked with a huge dose of non-festive frustration – Freddie and Arthur building themselves up into a frenzy of anticipation – having to wait for ‘Uncle No’ to appear, so that they could open their presents with Grandpa or Grandma, depending on whose year it was to host. He did it every single time they got together, and it drove Liv mad. Today was no different, though even by Noah’s standards, this was a new low.
As they waited, Liv sneaked a glance at Megan, wondering what was going on behind her blank expression. Liv didn’t know where to start with that one. What to say that didn’t sound contrived and insincere. If Noah had been on time, this awkward hiatus could have been avoided. They would all be in the room by now, being briefed by Ms Hewson. And once they’d been briefed, they could all flee back to their own lives, free to negotiate the shock and awkwardness of their father’s sudden, though expected death in private – which was where Liv preferred to experience any emotion.
Megan coughed, quietly, surprising them all. Her hand flew to her mouth as if she was embarrassed to have made a sound. She looked shattered, but then she would be. Liv knew how difficult the past couple of years had been for Megan. Though Liv found her a hard person to warm to, there was no doubting how dedicated she’d been to their father. Had it not been for Megan, Liv’s own life would have been much more complicated by her father’s illness. He would have needed far more support and that burden would, inevitably, have fallen to her. Chloe? Not really her wheelhouse. Noah? He would have promised a lot, then delivered very little, if past and present performance was anything to go by. Where the hell was he? Liv wondered what Megan would do now. No partner, no kids, no real roots in Scarborough, no home… unless their father really had done something unthinkable in his will – which she was ninety-nine per cent certain he wouldn’t have. Not their family home!
Liv got up and paced.
She wanted this meeting over and done with. Her job left very little over by way of energy and thinking time – factor in two small children and a husband she saw only briefly, and Liv’s plate was already full. The idea that it could be about to get even fuller made her feel anxious. She turned away from the thought. It was too stressful. She had, of course, known her father was dying, they all had, but she had not expected him to die so suddenly. She’d been confident they would have one more Christmas together. The arrival of a book on John Coltrane from Amazon the day before, one of his gifts, had only served to remind her how misplaced that confidence had been. She was a doctor – she should have known better. But predicting the end of a life, especially one ravaged by disease, was always extremely difficult. Standing in the outer office of the solicitor’s waiting for the meeting to begin, Liv felt uncharacteristically panicked by the weight of responsibility pressing down on her.
The thought that they might have to reschedule the meeting made her want to punch something – very hard. When Noah finally appeared, twenty excruciating minutes later, it was only the presence of the receptionist that stopped it being her brother.
Chapter 5
BY THE time they were finally settled in the meeting room, Rachel’s nerves had been sharpened by a touch of irritation. She tried not to let it show.
She began briskly. ‘What I’m going to do today is explain the provisions that Jonathan has put in place for the dispersal of his assets. I’ll also take a few minutes at
