Frankie clutched her one hand reassuringly. “Yes, Faith, I am doing fine.” Faith gave Pete a look, and he knew it was his cue. He leaned in to Frankie to give her a hug and shoved the perfume into her lap.
As he left, he heard Frankie cry out, “I loved Lee! I did. I loved him. And he was no angel!”
He turned to look at her one last time. She was clutching the bottle against her chest. Pete walked away satisfied.
Jen watched Patty as she was ushered into the boardroom by Ron Opilet, but she didn’t get a chance to catch her eye before Leonard introduced her to his associate, a stocky, mousey-haired man with a lingering smell of aftershave.
“Mrs Pearce, Jen, I’m very pleased to meet you. I represent Lee on matters personal and confidential. I am going to be completely straight with you, as I don’t know how else to proceed. Patty, you now know is here because she has been employed by Lee for the last five years. She’s been his personal assistant and taken care of all his business matters that don’t involve the farm.”
Jen turned to look at Patty who avoided eye contact with her.
“A while back, Lee asked me to be the custodian of some money and gold coins, Kruger Rands, which your mother had left in his care for you. She didn’t want you to have them while you were married to your husband because you would be obliged to share this inheritance with him. The arrangement was that these be handed to you should you divorce your husband, should Lee or your spouse pass away, or on your sixtieth birthday, whichever came first. Your mom, bless her soul, felt that if you were still married at sixty, the likelihood of divorce would be miniscule. If you died while Lee was alive, the inheritance would go to her grandchildren.”
Patty found a tissue in her bag and dabbed her eyes with it.
“Patty now heads this trust due to the untimely death of your dear friend,” said Opilet. “It has been decided to disclose the existence of this little nest egg to you. We need instruction as to how you want us to proceed.”
Jen felt bewildered. She looked at Patty, and this time Patty looked her straight in the eye. What the hell is he going on about? But Jen couldn’t bring herself to ask her.
“I’ve been told that you’re filing for divorce, and our company likes to keep our clients’ interests at the forefront of everything. Non-disclosure is a suggestion.” Jen looked at him blankly.
“In other words, Mrs Pearce, our company is willing to keep this ‘inheritance’ in our trust until such time as your divorce goes through◦– with your permission, that is.”
Jen felt the colour draining from her face. She needed time for all of this to sink in: the money, Lee’s collusion with her mother, Patty’s role in Jen’s future. Everything!
“I, I’m not sure what to say.” She was shaking.
The four of them sat in silence for what seemed a long time.
Then Jen began to cry. This then was the cathartic moment she had been waiting for. Everything had been building up to this: her mother’s shrewdness; Lee’s desire to keep Jen’s wellbeing at heart; Patty’s role, which was confusing and beyond surprising. How had the universe conspired for them to land up at the same firm of attorneys? How had all of this brought her to the place where she could finally move forward, with the financial freedom she would need to do so, at exactly the right time?
Jen looked up, and saw Patty crying too. She leaned over the table and placed her hand gently on Patty’s. She barely noticed the two attorneys glancing at each other, nodding, then leaving the boardroom.
Thirty-one
Not long after Pete had left, Grant van Rooyen Esq. entered the lounge. Frankie was still fuming as he gave her a long hug and his condolences. He and Lee had been childhood friends, and Lee had been a client of his since early adulthood. Grant had drawn up their marriage contract, had taken care of legal matters pertaining to the farm, drawn up their will and now, she knew, he was seeing to Lee’s estate.
After a few polite exchanges and after Faith had brought him a cup of strong black coffee, he broached the delicate matter of the estate. “I know that you are aware, more or less, what Lee decided regarding his property and his money. He set up a trust for Clive, the farm is yours until your death and all his liquid assets go to you and your son. There is one thing that has changed, though, just recently.”
“What?” Frankie was immediately alert. Panicked, even. What if Lee had decided to leave her with nothing after he had found out about her affairs?
“There is a property that he bought in the city. Upon his death, it goes to his goddaughter, Brigit Pearce. He said that he hadn’t been the most loving godparent and he wanted to make up for neglecting her.”
Frankie’s relief that she was still in line to be a very rich widow was soon replaced by irritation at Brigit’s little windfall.
“She’s living in the apartment at the moment, as a tenant,” continued Grant. “She has been paying a substantially reduced rental into Lee’s account, and he never spent a cent of it. So that money will go to you, as the apartment has been paid for. He never wanted her to know. He wanted her to feel that she was making it on her own. And she is, I guess, because she never missed a payment. Now that the property is hers, and there is no bond, she won’t have to pay rent. Isn’t it a lovely gesture?”
“Mmmm,” Frankie said distractedly.
“Your husband was a kind man,” he remarked, his voice thick with emotion. “He will be sorely missed, Frankie, he really will be.”
“I know,” Frankie said in a half-whisper. “Although I’m sure Brigit Pearce will be delighted. She’s hit the jackpot, hasn’t she, now that my husband is dead?”
Grant frowned. “I don’t think she has any expectations, Frankie, so don’t be sore. Just see it as a wonderful gesture on your husband’s part◦– testimony to the decent man he was.”
He followed Frankie’s eyes to the sash window where Brigit was huddled together with her friends chatting.
“I will speak to her for you, unless you want to tell her yourself?”
“No, I just want to be left alone with my thoughts. It’s been a very sad time for me. I hope you understand, Grant.”
Grant clapped his hands gently on his thighs◦– a gesture that he was done and that he would do as she desired. “Of course, I do. I will see you tomorrow at the memorial service. Stay as strong as you’ve always been, Frankie.”
Frankie watched him leave the room and saw him through the sash window as he approached Brigit and Clive’s group of young friends on the veranda. Brigit shrugged her shoulders at the group and excused herself before walking away with Grant. Frankie guessed that they would have a chat under the big oak tree that had seen years of family gatherings.
Last night had been a chilling foretaste of others to come. She had ached for Lee next to her in bed. Knowing she would never have him near her again filled her with intense sadness and loneliness. She could not imagine her life without him. His death had forced her to reflect on her marriage, and the issues that had irked her so now seemed miniscule and ridiculous◦– except of course this surprise matter of Brigit’s inheritance. She hauled herself out of Lee’s chair to pour herself a second glass of whisky.
“I can’t believe Lee’s dead, never mind all the other things that my mind has to absorb,” Jen said. “Do you know what kind of a whirlwind five days it’s been, Patty?” she asked.
“I do. It’s been pretty shocking on my side, too.”
“Ever since I caught you and John…”
“I’m sorry,” Patty said earnestly. “I really am. You were collateral damage. You weren’t meant to catch us. It was never supposed to happen the way it did. Lee was furious with me, but it worked in our favour in the end. I’m… we’re only sorry that it hurt you so much.”