Things We Never Say (38 page)

‘I suddenly thought of
Two Mules for Sister Sara
,’ Abbey explained. ‘Remember, that movie with Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood. Where she was a nun?’

‘Posing as a nun,’ recalled Ellen. ‘As I recall, though, she was a prostitute. I do hope you’re not drawing comparisons.’

‘Of course not!’ exclaimed Abbey. ‘If you must know, I’m a bit shocked at hearing you use the word.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ said Ellen. ‘I had to deal with a lot of problems to do with prostitution when I worked in the clinics. And we deal with the effects here sometimes too.’

‘I can’t help thinking you’re too earthy to be a nun,’ said Abbey.

Ellen laughed. ‘You’d be surprised at how earthy nuns can be.’

‘In all of your modes – earthy, worldly and spiritual – do you have any idea how things might work out?’ asked Abbey.

‘Things have a way of working out for the best in the end,’ said Ellen.

‘In a fairy story maybe,’ muttered Abbey.

‘Believe in God’s plan,’ said Ellen. ‘Trust in Him.’

Which was all very well if you were the sort of person who placed your trust in some kind of higher force, thought Abbey, as she hugged her mother before leaving. But if, like her, you thought life was a series of random events, then all the faith in the world wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference.

Abbey arrived home at lunchtime the following day. Even though it was grey and dank in San Francisco, walking into her very own apartment lifted her spirits. She loved it here, no question. She wasn’t harking back to the past; she was setting herself on the road to her future. A future in which she would inherit a house worth two million dollars from the grandfather she hadn’t known about. Things like this happened all the time. Well, she thought, maybe not all the time, but people did receive money from unknown relatives. So why shouldn’t she?

She sat down and composed an email to Ryan Gilligan, telling him that she and her mother were prepared to give up half the inheritance, thinking even as she hit the send button that this was an offer the Fitzpatrick brothers had to take seriously, and also that Pete would freak when she told him how much they were prepared to hand over. But, she reasoned, basically she was keeping everything she was entitled to; it was Ellen who was sacrificing her potential wealth. And since potential wealth meant nothing to her mother any more, it was hardly a big sacrifice for her to make.

Later that afternoon she met up with Solí in a café close to the gallery where she worked. She’d messaged both her and Vanessa when she was in Ireland, telling them about the Fitzpatricks and that Fred had left her something in his will, but not saying how much. Solí had posted on Abbey’s Facebook wall, saying that she looked forward to hearing news of her grand inheritance, which had in turn resulted in a lot of jokey comments about her potential wealth. Abbey’s response had been to joke back – she didn’t want casual acquaintances knowing the true extent of what had been left to her – but now, drinking coffee with Solí, she filled her friend in.

‘You’re not serious!’ Solí’s huge brown eyes were wide with disbelief. ‘He’s cut his family out for you and your mom? It’s like a movie.’

‘That’s what I thought,’ said Abbey. ‘But Hollywood has a habit of resolving things quickly. This is taking a bit longer and it’s not an entirely pleasant experience.’

‘No, I gathered that,’ said Solí. ‘All the same, it’s pretty amazing to think that you’re an heiress.’

‘I didn’t quite see it that way myself,’ said Abbey. ‘Sounds kinda cool to be an heiress, doesn’t it?’

‘And how.’ Solí looked excited. ‘But you deserve it, Abbey. You have to let yourself believe that.’

‘Hmm. That’s the sticking point,’ said Abbey. ‘Not everyone thinks so.’

‘Why shouldn’t the old man look after you and your mom?’ demanded Solí. ‘He walked away from his responsibilities before. Just because you’re adults now doesn’t mean he should forget about them.’

‘I never thought of it in those terms before, but you have a point,’ said Abbey.

‘You get in there and fight for your rights, girl,’ Solí told her. ‘I understand why your mom is putting her share back in the pot, but you should enjoy the feeling of being rich.’

‘I’m not rich yet,’ said Abbey. ‘I’m still not sure I’ll ever be. But it’s a nice dream.’

It was more than a dream, Pete told her the following day when she called him. It was her right. And she and Ellen were being incredibly generous in giving back half of what had been left to them.

‘I thought your mom might give it to you,’ Pete said, and Abbey told him that in practice that was what would happen, but then she’d sign it over to the Fitzpatricks in whatever way the legal people thought best. Pete remarked that he would have started negotiations with a much lower offer, and Abbey told him that it wasn’t a negotiation process, at which Pete guffawed and said that life was all about negotiation but that he was very happy for her.

It was nice for Pete to be happy for her instead of worried about her, thought Abbey. It was nice to see him smile.

She’d barely finished talking to Pete when her cell phone rang and she saw Ryan Gilligan’s name on the display.

‘Hello, Ryan,’ she said.

‘Hi, I got your email and your proposal,’ said Ryan without preamble. ‘I’ve got to tell you something first, though.’

‘What?’

‘Well, I spoke to Alex and we were about to put something to the Fitzpatricks, but before we did, we received an email ourselves. From Lisette and Zoey Fitzpatrick.’

‘Oh?’

‘They had a proposal to make too,’ said Ryan. ‘They’ve offered you and your mother a hundred thousand each.’

‘They have?’ Abbey was surprised. ‘D’you think Donald and Gareth know about it? Does Suzanne?’

‘I rather think this is an initiative from the Fitzpatrick wives.’

‘But that’s way worse than what we’re suggesting,’ said Abbey. ‘I couldn’t possibly buy the apartment with that.’

‘Ah,’ said Ryan. ‘So that’s what you plan to do with it.’

Abbey told him about Pete’s purchase and how he wanted it for her.

‘Why would Zoey and Lisette think we’d take such a small amount?’ she asked, even as she acknowledged to herself that a few weeks earlier she would’ve jumped with joy at the thought of being offered that kind of money.

‘I suppose they felt you might be OK with it,’ said Ryan. ‘You were so embarrassed about anything at all at the start.’

‘I’m not embarrassed now,’ she said, reminding herself that everything was relative. ‘I’ve talked to my mom and she hasn’t said that it’d be easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for me to get into the kingdom of heaven if I accept it. Besides, we’re still leaving a fair chunk to the rest of them. I think we’re being very reasonable. Don’t you?’ she added anxiously.

‘Yes, I do,’ said Ryan. ‘Alex will make your offer tomorrow and we’ll take it from there.’

‘OK,’ said Abbey. ‘Hopefully they’ll say yes and everyone will be happy.’

‘Total happiness,’ said Ryan. ‘The absolute aim of Celtic Legal.’

It was Alex Shannon who emailed the family with Ellen and Abbey’s offer. He sent the same mail to all of them, advising that as Donald and Gareth currently intended to challenge Fred’s bequests, there would be an inevitable delay before any funds could be released to them, but that if they accepted Abbey’s proposal, he, Alex, would try to expedite things as soon as possible.

Suzanne, who a moment earlier had received a phone call from Jaime Roig telling her that a firm offer had been made by a rival consortium for the Mirador Hotel, picked up the phone and called Donald straight away. As far as she was concerned, Abbey and her mother were being very honourable and her brothers should accept the offer without any more fuss.

‘I’m not happy,’ said Donald.

‘Why?’

‘They’re saying half the estate. But there’s a lot of stuff in the house that we don’t know about and that might be valuable.’

‘So what? I’m sure you can come to an agreement about dividing that too. You hardly want anything for sentimental reasons, do you?’

‘We need to get it all valued. To see exactly what’s what.’

‘Oh for crying out loud!’ exclaimed Suzanne. ‘Accept the damn offer so that we can get on with our lives.’

‘It’s a ploy,’ said Donald. ‘We can get more out of them. And, being honest, it’s not more I want, it’s everything.’

‘Why?’ demanded Suzanne. ‘Why does it have to be all or nothing?’

‘Because Dad shouldn’t have done it in the first place,’ said Donald. ‘He usurped my position in the family and he’s made fools out of everyone.’

‘It doesn’t bloody matter!’

‘Yes,’ said Donald. ‘It does.
I’m
the eldest in this family.
I’m
his heir. He should have consulted
me
.’

‘Get over yourself, Donald Fitzpatrick.’ Suzanne could hardly contain her fury with her older brother. ‘Who cares about that stuff? Nobody but you. Say yes to Abbey and put all this behind us.’

‘I’m not agreeing,’ Donald retorted. ‘I don’t see why I should and you can’t make me.’

‘But I need my share now!’ cried Suzanne.

‘You’ll do better when we win this case. I promise.’

‘Use your head!’ Suzanne implored him. ‘Dragging this through the courts as much to prove some kind of point as anything else is sheer madness – and will cost us a fortune anyway.’

‘I don’t care,’ said Donald obstinately. ‘I want what’s ours and I don’t want that madwoman acknowledged as part of our family. And that’s final.’

Suzanne ended the call without another word, yearning for the time when you could bang the receiver on to its cradle with a satisfying thump to release your rage. Stabbing at a keypad button didn’t allow the same release of energy. Her brother was such a dick, she thought, with his antiquated ideas of ancestry and inheritance. Not to mention commercially thick, because she knew she was right about the costs of any protracted legal action. She’d been under the impression that Donald needed that money because of his divorce, but he couldn’t be that badly off if he was refusing to negotiate with Abbey Andersen. Gareth, however, was definitely in a financial hole. Everyone in Ireland who’d fancied themselves as a player in the property market had come a cropper. Suzanne had a certain amount of sympathy for her second brother, but his problems were of his own making. He’d never been a businessman, had scoffed at chasing profit in the past. It was a pity he’d been suckered in like so many others. Agreeing to the settlement was surely a way out for him.

She needed to get Gareth onside, make him talk to Donald and point out how stupid their older brother was being. She dialled the number.

It was Lisette who answered, sounding, to Suzanne’s ears, tired and strained as she told her to hold on for a moment. Then Gareth came on the line. Suzanne asked if he was prepared to accept Ellen Connolly and Abbey Andersen’s offer.

‘I don’t know,’ said Gareth. ‘There are other considerations.’

‘Like what?’

‘Well, they’re trying to keep a lot. The house is worth at least a couple of million. Why should they get half of that sort of money?’

‘Maybe it’s not ideal,’ said Suzanne. ‘But the reality is that Dad made a decision and we have to live with it.’

‘No we don’t,’ said Gareth. ‘Don says—’

‘Oh for God’s sake, I’ve just been talking to Don. And he’s an idiot!’ retorted Suzanne.

‘He’s not,’ said Gareth. ‘He’s been pretty successful, you know. And he was hard done by by Deirdre. She took him to the cleaners with a vengeance.’

‘In which case, he hasn’t shown himself to be great at negotiations in the past.’

‘He thinks we can get everything,’ said Gareth. ‘The legal team he’s putting together—’

‘Excuse me? Legal team?’ Suzanne was astounded. ‘He doesn’t need a legal team. Just advice.’

‘Yes, but we need the best possible advice,’ Gareth said.

‘Give me patience!’ Suzanne rolled her eyes in exasperation. ‘Alex has already given us good advice. Don has his head up his arse, and from that position he’s certainly not seeing anything clearly. Talk to him, Gar. Make him accept this damn offer. Then I can get my money and you’ll get yours and we can all get on with our lives.’

‘The problem is,’ Gareth said, ‘under their offer, I wouldn’t even get half a million. And that isn’t enough. There’ll be taxes and—’

‘Listen to yourself!’ Suzanne interrupted him. ‘Since when were you the sort of person who thought half a million wasn’t a huge amount of money?’

‘Since I became a property tycoon,’ replied Gareth wryly.

‘You’re a teacher,’ said Suzanne. ‘You were never a property tycoon. Would you please stop thinking like that.’

‘I might not be a tycoon, but I’m still up to my neck in property.’

‘Oh Gar, everything will work out, honestly it will. But you need to get a sense of perspective on all this. So does Don.’

‘I’ll talk to him,’ said Gareth. ‘But I’m not sure it’ll do any good.’

After he’d finished talking to Suzanne, Gareth went up to his den and started looking at French property sites again. The prices of houses in La Rochelle were marginally higher than they’d been the previous year. And the agent on the site he was looking at was actively seeking more properties. If they accepted Abbey’s offer and also sold Papillon, they might conceivably break even. But if Donald was right and they won their challenge, then he might be able to hold on to their French home. Even though right now he hated anything to do with bricks and mortar. No matter how Lisette felt about it.

I don’t know what to do
. Lisette was messaging Zoey on Facebook.
Suzanne wants to accept the offer. Gareth is in two minds. My head hurts thinking about it.

There’s no way Don will accept half
, typed Zoey.
It’s a matter of honour with him.

Half is better than nothing,
responded Lisette.

I was hoping she might counter our own offer.
Zoey’s fingers flew over the keyboard.
I thought she might come back with a counter of 250K, which would have been doable.

Don’t you think this is?