Birthright

by Fiona Lowe

  As she ladled out split pea and ham soup, the practical action penetrated her buzz of excitement. She only vaguely understood how Prestige Country Properties’ commission rates worked. Depending on the sale price of the property, they usually started at around three percent for the first half million and rose in big jumps after that. ‘Which property generated that size commission?’

  ‘Oh, it wasn’t a commission.’ He grabbed soup spoons from the cutlery drawer. ‘I sold Warrnbatt.’

  ‘Warrnbatt? The Parrys’ property?’ Her legs turned to rubber and the kitchen suddenly swayed. ‘But you couldn’t sell it. That’s why you bought it. To help them.’

  ‘I did, but real estate’s all about supply and demand. And timing. Freaking amazing timing.’ His eyes sparkled with self-satisfaction. ‘I doubled the profit, Annie. The gods are smiling on us.’

  ‘No!’ She heard herself wailing. ‘No, no, no, no.’ She grabbed at him as her knees buckled.

  ‘Annie! Jesus!’ He caught her and carried her to the couch. ‘What’s going on?’

  But she was breathing too fast and shaking too hard to speak. He picked up her hands and pushed them over her mouth.

  ‘Slow breaths. I’ll get a paper bag.’

  She heard him rummaging through drawers and swearing but she didn’t have any spare air to tell him where she kept the brown bags for the girls’ lunch orders.

  ‘Here.’ He cupped the paper bag over her mouth and watched her through apprehensive eyes. ‘Deep breath in … and out. In … and out. That’s the way.’

  She kept her eyes on his face and slowly the silver spots stopped dancing in front of them, the tingling in her hands receded and she felt air lingering longer in her lungs. Lowering the bag, her head fell back on the couch as she lacked the energy to keep it upright.

  ‘Thank you.’

  He was squatting down in front of her, his hands on her thighs and his expression worried. ‘What was that?’

  ‘I think it was a panic attack.’

  ‘You get those?’

  ‘Not since I met you.’

  ‘So, why have one now? I just gave you fantastic news.’

  ‘Oh, Cam. It’s all wrong.’ Tears trickled down her cheeks. ‘Why couldn’t you have got a deal like this for Warrnbatt two months ago?’

  ‘I didn’t own it two months ago.’

  ‘Exactly!’ She rubbed her runny rose on the back of her hand. ‘The Parrys did. Oh, Cam, Chris killed himself this morning.’

  ‘Yeah. I heard.’

  He knew? She stared at him. ‘When?’

  ‘I dunno.’ He blew out a contemplative breath. ‘I think I was at the post office.’

  ‘So you heard after you sent me the text?’

  He scratched his head. ‘Before I think. Why?’

  She pushed his hands off her thighs, his touch suddenly burning her. ‘You sent me a text suggesting we go out and celebrate our good fortune on the day the previous owner kills himself?’

  Cameron looked taken aback. ‘Annie, I’m sorry he’s dead. I’m sorry that he didn’t talk to someone and get the help he needed, but it’s not like he was a close friend. I don’t think you ever met him, did you?’

  Her breathing quickened and she fought hard to slow it and stay cogent. ‘It doesn’t matter that I didn’t know him. He was your client and now he’s dead. If he’d got the Chinese deal, he’d be alive.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘I do.’ Suddenly the memory of fish and chips filled her nostrils— the tang of salt and the seductive aroma of hot oil; the scent of her father—and twenty-eight years vanished in a heartbeat. ‘I told you my father abandoned us, but he didn’t just walk away. A month after he lost the shop and the bank forced us out of our home, he loaded his clothes with his diving weights and walked into the bay.’

  ‘Jeez. I had no idea. Sorry.’ Cameron pulled her into him, tucking her head under his chin.

  She still remembered the first time he’d done that. Back then, all those years ago, a sense of calm would steal through her as she listened to the solid, rhythmic beat of his heart. ‘He drowned himself and left Mum and me drowning in crippling debt. I’ve always believed that if he’d had other options, if he’d seen another way out, he’d have taken it. If Chris had got this deal, he’d still be alive for his wife and family.’

  Cameron sat back, his expression sceptical. ‘The thing is, Annie, nothing about a troubled mind is simple. I doubt it was just the money. Chris told me things with his wife were rocky and had been for a long time. She was the one who wanted the whole tree-change thing and dragged him out to live there. You haven’t met her but she’s one of those new age hippy greenies like Ellie. God, you should have seen all the bloody dream-catcher things on the veranda. The noise from constantly clanging wind chimes would drive a sane person batty.’

  All Anita could visualise were three scared, snotty-nosed kids clinging to their mother’s hemp skirt. A worn-out, grief-stricken woman with grey skin and a man driven to a desperate act. Lives forever changed by an irreversible decision. Flashes of her childhood hammered her and the panic returned. She gripped Cameron’s arms, her nails digging into his skin.

  ‘The Parry kids have lost their father. That’s traumatic enough. They don’t deserve a life of poverty too. Imagine if it was our girls. We have to give Jane Parry the money.’

  Cameron stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. ‘No way.’

  ‘Why not? You said real estate was all about timing. This timing is appalling for them. If they’d hung on just a bit longer they’d be celebrating today instead of grieving.’

  ‘They’re not our responsibility.’

  His lack of empathy rocked her. ‘How can you say that? We’ve profited from their pain.’

  ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘We haven’t. We helped. I bought the bloody place off Chris as a favour when no one else would. Hell, I had to extend the business loan to give him the quick sale he wanted and that cost me interest. I went out on a limb for the Parrys. It’s not my fault my good Samaritan deed turned lucky.’

  Her mouth filled with a bitter taste. A man was dead and Cameron was talking about luck? It didn’t make sense. She breathed deeply, trying to push away emotions and focus on being rational.

  ‘How did you double the profits in such a short time?’

  ‘Christ, Anita, what’s with the third degree? I did this for you. For us. I thought you’d be pleased. It’s only the middle of the year and I’ve already earned three times what I ever did at Phillips and Hogan. It gives us the financial security you’ve always craved.

  ‘Look at it this way. You had a tough time growing up and I was denied the family business that was rightfully mine. We’ve both weathered those experiences and they’ve made us stronger, fighters. I mean, hell, we deserve this.’

  There was truth in all he said but instead of giving her peace of mind, it sent fraught ripples of unease skittering through her. He still hadn’t answered her question. She suddenly remembered sitting at the kitchen table, asking him if he’d paid a fair price for Warrnbatt. Had he told her the amount then? He usually talked about numbers to the point where she tuned out. She wracked her memory for a number but drew a blank.

  Tam’s accusation slapped her. Your husband couldn’t lie straight in bed. He screwed Chris on the selling price.

  I doubled the profit, Annie. The gods are smiling on us.

  The air in her lungs solidified and her skin itched. ‘Oh my God! Are the rumours true? Did you undervalue Warrnbatt?’

  ‘Fifteen years of marriage and you’re asking me something like that? I haven’t done anything wrong, Annie. This is business. The market is fluid. Supply and demand drive it. Timing is everything and, sadly for the Parrys, the timing didn’t fall their way. But it doesn’t lessen the fact that I worked bloody hard for them—and now for us—putting this deal together. I’m entitled to the profits.’

  ‘A man is dead! You’re entitled to the commission,’ she sp
at. ‘Not the profits. This is stealing. It’s blood money. How can you sleep at night knowing you’ve profited from the Parrys’ misfortune?’

  Cameron’s face suddenly twisted, stricken with remorse. ‘I’m sorry this has triggered so many awful memories for you. You know how I hate it when you get upset, but you’re right. Even though I’ve done everything above board, I should have handled it better and kept a lid on my excitement. I promise you I’ll look at the figures again and work out a lump sum payment for Jane Parry.’

  Unadulterated relief sank into her, shoring up all her doubts. This was the man she knew, loved and trusted.

  ‘Thank you. It won’t bring her husband back but it will buy her a house.’

  He held out his arms. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Me too.’ She moved in, resting her chin on his chest. ‘It’s just too close to what happened to Mum and me and the thought of it happening to someone else …’

  Cameron patted her back sympathetically. The home phone rang and she lifted her head but he shook his. ‘Let the machine get it. You need some time to regroup. I’ll make us lunch.’

  The thought of being looked after was too strong to resist. ‘That would be love—’

  ‘Cameron.’ Sarah’s terse voice blasted through the speaker. ‘The hospital rang. Mum died fifteen minutes ago. I’m at Dan Horton’s office and I’ve got her will in my hand. You know, the one you told me you’d never seen despite Anita telling me that you had?’

  Cameron lurched to his feet. Anita, prickling all over, shot out her hand, grabbed his belt and halted his progress. Sarah kept talking.

  ‘It makes for interesting reading, you deceitful, conniving prick. See you in court.’

  The line went dead.

  ‘Fuck, my sister’s a cold-hearted bitch.’ Cameron grabbed her hand, his eyes glassy with tears. ‘What the hell sort of a way is that to tell me Mum’s dead? Can you believe she went straight to the solicitor instead of the hospital?’

  Anita disengaged her hand with a jerk; her heart hammering so fast she could barely hear over the pounding of the blood in her ears. ‘To be honest, Cameron, I’m not sure what I believe anymore.’

  CHAPTER

  23

  When Ellie took the phone call from Sarah telling her that their mother was dead, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly how she felt. Free? Regretful? Both came to mind along with other conflicting emotions, leaving her numb.

  ‘Is it a relief?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘It will be once I get through the funeral. Dealing with people’s sympathy will be the hard part.’

  ‘I don’t have a problem with you telling people you’re glad she died,’ Sarah said bitterly. ‘People will interpret it as relief that she’s no longer suffering and you get to tell the truth without the need to publicly hang out your story. It’s what I plan to do.’

  Sarah organised the funeral quickly and efficiently, modifying some of the instructions Margaret had prescribed. ‘I don’t care if she left money for a huge wake and an open bar so she can be the centre of attention yet again. I’m not organising it. Cameron and Anita can do it.’

  ‘You mean Anita will do it.’

  Ellie was forced to eat her words when her sister-in-law unexpectedly refused. Sarah chose the sandwiches, tea and cake option in the church hall after the service. Margaret would have hated it. If the guests at St Mary’s noticed that Ellie and Sarah sat dry-eyed on one side of the church while a stiff-backed Anita sat next to a sobbing Cameron on the other, they waited until after they’d left the church before discussing it among themselves with gusto. When Edmund slipped into the back pew, his presence caused a ripple of sound but it was almost silent in comparison to the collective gasp that echoed around the red-brick church when Alex strode down the aisle and took his place next to Sarah. Ellie didn’t know who was more surprised to see him—Sarah or the crowd.

  After the service, Alex hugged Ellie so hard she had trouble breathing and he crushed Luke’s hand in a long handshake. After Luke wrapped his bruised metacarpals in ice and checked Ellie was still travelling okay, he took a beer over to her estranged brother-in-law. Ellie watched the men across the food-laden trestle table, curious about their conversation. The moment Dan and Mary Horton walked over to give Ellie their condolences, Luke appeared by her side. She swore he had a sixth sense.

  The four teenage cousins sat together, making a pointed statement about being united while the adults made a fractured mess of the family. Although Sarah chatted with her nieces, she didn’t speak one word to Anita or Cameron, and Ellie found herself in the odd position of being the only sibling to converse with everyone. Not that she’d said more than hello to Cameron, but Anita had stuck to her like glue. When her elder nieces kissed her and their mother goodbye, Ellie was surprised they were returning to Melbourne so quickly.

  ‘Aren’t they staying for the weekend?’

  Anita, elegant in a beautifully cut black dress that Ellie could imagine her mother wearing at the same age, said tightly, ‘They’ve got school commitments.’

  ‘Oh. Right.’ Still, it felt like something was off, especially when Anita and Cameron had always made such a fuss of the girls spending time with their grandmother.

  ‘Ellie, can the little girls have a sleepover with Noah tonight?’

  Astonishment rendered her momentarily speechless. Then Noah and Chloe, who’d heard Anita’s question, began squealing with delight and the deal was done.

  * * *

  Luke joined Ellie on the couch in the den and wearily rubbed his face. ‘I’ve given Chloe a drink. I’m hoping I’ve defused Ava’s hissy fit by substituting a Minion for her lost unicorn, but I wouldn’t bet on it. And did someone sneak red lemonade into your mother’s wake? Because Noah is bouncing off the walls. To keep him in bed, I pulled his mattress into the girls’ room. I’ve read the riot act. I told them if I hear another peep from any of them, they’ll be in separate rooms and no Nutella pancakes for breakfast.’

  ‘Ooh, big bad Luke.’

  ‘Too right. I feel like we’re running a school camp.’

  ‘Feeding them tonight felt a bit like that too. By the way, because you were under attack on the frontline doing teeth cleaning and stories, I’ve cleaned up that godawful mess you made in the kitchen.’

  Luke gave her a sloppy grin, one that made him look slightly not quite right.

  She gave him a gentle shove. ‘What? Stop it. The wind might change and you’ll be stuck looking like that.’

  The grin widened. ‘You love me.’

  ‘Yes.’ She gave a mock sigh. ‘I believe I’ve mentioned that from time to time.’

  ‘Yeah, but cleaning up the kitchen after I’ve cooked, that is cast-iron proof.’ He kissed her. ‘You’re a keeper, Ellie J. I might have to marry you.’

  She laughed at his teasing but it didn’t lessen the happiness glowing inside her like a welcome lamp piercing thick fog. ‘Before I marry you, I want a kitchen pre-nup and a promise you’ll try mopping up spills as you go.’

  His moronic smile vanished and his blue eyes sobered. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘About you learning how to wield a sponge? Absolutely.’

  ‘No, I mean about marrying me.’ Hope burned in his eyes, underlined by trepidation.

  Her heart rolled over. Oh God, he was serious. Of course he was— he’d happily made that sort of commitment before. She wanted to put him out of his misery and yet she needed to hold things at bay, stick with their plan of going slowly so she could savour it all and trust it completely.

  ‘If we can survive days like today, I think me marrying you at some point is a lay down misère.’ He opened his mouth but she shook her head and pressed two fingers against his lips. ‘Not tonight. I don’t want something this special to have any connection whatsoever with my mother.’

  ‘Fair call.’ He swung his legs up onto the couch. ‘Want to wriggle in here?’

  ‘Yes, please.’ Sliding between his legs, she rested her back against his chest a
nd welcomed his arms around her. She laced her fingers through his. ‘Not that I ever want to go through today again, but I learned something.’

  ‘Yeah? What’s that?’

  ‘You know how we talked at counselling about how I don’t need protecting?’

  ‘Hmm.’ He sounded wary.

  ‘Well, that stands. I could have got through today on my own or even just with Sarah’s help but—’ A lump formed in her throat and her voiced wavered. She turned to face him. ‘It would have been a lot harder without you. You give me unconditional support and—’ She gave a giant and undignified sniff. ‘I know it doesn’t sound like it, but because you were there, I wasn’t the giant basketcase that I might have been. Just a moderate one. Thank you.’

  His expression mixed sadness and delight. Using his thumb, he wiped a tear from her cheek. ‘Of course I was going to be there today. All I want is for you to be happy and feel loved.’

  ‘I am happy.’ More tears fell and she swiped at them, frustrated by their presence. ‘I don’t even know why I’m crying.’

  ‘I have that effect on women,’ he teased and dug into his pocket, producing a hankie. ‘Here. I grabbed it this morning thinking you might need it at some point today.’

  She accepted it, blew her nose and wiped her face. ‘Most daughters would have needed it during their mother’s funeral service.’

  ‘Yeah. Well. Don’t waste any time beating yourself up over that.’

  ‘No.’ She lay her head on his chest. ‘I promise you, I won’t.’

  He stroked her hair. ‘Do you know why Anita asked you to have the girls tonight, besides testing us to see if we can handle chaos?’

  Her sister-in-law’s out-of-the-blue request still stunned Ellie but there had been something frantic in her demeanour. ‘She didn’t say why and I didn’t ask. All I knew was that I couldn’t say no to her.’

  ‘I guess she couldn’t ask Sarah. Is this will thing upsetting you?’

  ‘No. I’ve already told Sarah it’s got nothing to do with me and I don’t want anything to do with it. When she tried to talk to me about it, I maturely put my hands over my ears and said “la, la, la”. She and Cameron can put on the gloves and duke it out. I don’t want any money.’