Total pages in book: 10
Estimated words: 8838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 44(@200wpm)___ 35(@250wpm)___ 29(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 8838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 44(@200wpm)___ 35(@250wpm)___ 29(@300wpm)
The medical examiner had confirmed she died of a stroke. That it would have been fast and pain-free. Though, I don’t know how much of that was said to put me at ease.
An old song by Heart suddenly blasted out over the stereo. Miss Lillian, a friend of Susan’s, gave me a thumbs-up from the bar. She had obviously put a request in for some volume. People seemed to perk up, and the general air of sadness lifted just a little. Now it felt more like a party.
“Aunt Susan would approve,” said Cleo.
I nodded. “She loved a good get-together. This is much more her taste.”
My brother fussed with the knot of his tie and gave me a brief smile. We were not particularly close. Like our father, Andrew was a workaholic and didn’t leave much time for family and friends. The last time I saw him was when mom and her new husband had been in town a few months back.
“I have to get going,” he said. “But we should make time soon to talk.”
“What about?”
“The inheritance,” he said. “When are we seeing her lawyer?”
“I saw her lawyer yesterday.”
He narrowed his gaze on me. “Susie, why wasn’t I told about this?”
“Because it didn’t concern you?”
“What?” He recoiled. “Why would our aunt’s estate not concern me?”
“She didn’t leave you anything, Andrew. You weren’t mentioned. I’m sorry.” I tried to be kind. But I doubt it came out that way. The entitlement in his voice was setting me on edge. “I’m surprised you thought you would be. You were never close to her. When Dad used to make us go to her house, you always took off to a friend’s place instead.”
“She was still my aunt.”
“When was the last time you even saw her?”
“That’s beside the point.”
Cleo shook her head and said nothing. A whole lot of it.
“She left you everything? The house too?” he asked, his voice rising to a shout.
It kind of stunned me, to be honest. Which was stupid. Andrew reminded me of our father for all sorts of reasons. When Dad didn’t get his way, he was more than happy to get loud. A classic bully maneuver. The kicker was what Aunt Susan had said about my dating proclivities, how I went after men with similar asshole traits. Ouch and gross. As soon as we were done here, I was going to sit myself down and have a serious discussion with me about changing my ways. Stat.
“You’re selling the house and giving me half, of course,” he insisted. “Aren’t you?”
“Are you seriously yelling at me about money at a fucking funeral?”
“Susie—”
“This is why you’re here today? To get your hands on her house?” I let my head fall back and stared at the ceiling. Wherever Aunt Susan was, if she could hear this, she would have been furious. “Today is about celebrating our aunt’s life. Hearing stories about her and taking a moment to be thankful that we knew her. That she was a part of our lives.”
“Dad said the estate should be evenly split between us.”
“I don’t care.”
“Mom thought it would be best too.”
“I repeat, I don’t care. Our parents can think whatever nonsense they like. And throwing a temper tantrum will not get you what you want here.”
His face turned ruddy with anger. “She was my aunt too. It’s only fair.”
“You thought she was a flake. You had no immediate use for her, so you deemed her worthless.”
“Susie—”
“I am talking,” I interrupted in a loud voice. “And it’s so sad. It really is. You missed out, Andrew. Because she was great. Wise and funny and just so wonderful to be around. She had so much love to give, and she cared about us. She really did. When Mom and Dad were too busy, she was the one who made time for me. If you had just given her a chance, taken a moment to get to know her, then you would know what a loss it is to no longer have her here with us. But all today means to you is a chance to try and get your hands on something that isn’t yours and that you don’t deserve.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“Get out. Now.”
“Susie—”
“If you had any idea how sick and tired I am of entitled men disapproving of me and getting all up in my face with their self-righteous bullshit...”
“This isn’t finished.” His chin jerked up, and he gazed down at me. Like he could glare me into submission. Then he marched his idiotic ass out the door.
At which point my shoulders slumped, and I hung my head.
“Well,” said Miss Lillian, her abundance of silver bangles clinking together with each move she made. “I feel like we need to sage the place after that.”
“How about we do shots instead?” suggested Cleo.
Miss Lillian waggled her brows. “Not that I should be telling you, but Susan was a fiend for tequila back in the day.”