| |
Renee was glad to be almost home at East Ridge after Tyler picked her up from Christchurch Airport. As they drove though the parched Canterbury Plains she glanced up at the mountains that still had snow on their peaks. Everywhere else though, was parched land with the traffic on the highway, typically light. However, there were quite a few campervans that were probably driven by overseas tourists who flew into Christchurch. When they turned into East Ridge she expressed surprise at the number of vehicles there. As well as two campervans, both houses that they rented out had vehicles parked in their driveways and several people were walking around or relaxing in the shade beneath some of the larger trees.
"I had a last minute booking for Cottage 3," Tyler said referring to the second house that they rented out. "One of the travel companies in Christchurch called us. I plugged those campervans into the power at the smaller shed and everyone is having a great time."
"But who are they?" Renee asked.
"All overseas tourists, mainly Chinese families." Tyler grinned. "I had fun trying to understand their needs but a couple of the younger ones speak quite fluent English so they translate into Mandarin for me."
"And what are they doing?"
"One group has tramped up to the top tank and another group is swimming in the stream across the back of our property. The rest just take photos and relax in the sun. I was worried about entertaining them but they all seem quite content."
He pulled in beside their house where Apricot the cat sat watching them. Sam the dog rushed up with his tail wagging, obviously pleased to see her.
"So how's the building going between Number 3 and 5?" Renee asked.
"Slowly," Tyler said. "I ended up getting a contractor to do the roof for there are so many new regulations that I couldn't comply with. They did it in a few hours."
After unpacking and having a coffee, Renee strolled across to the two cottages. They were across the road from the two already renovated ones that the tourists now occupied and were built close together with only a narrow driveway between them that led to a back yard.
The new part that Tyler was constructing joined the two buildings together with their ultimate plan to have a backpackers and cyclists lodge. The new joined section would become an entrance with facilities to cater for winter clothes and equipment as well have having easy access bathroom facilities. Old Cottage 3 was being made into a large open-plan living area with a large kitchen that could cater for several groups, while Cottage 5 became the sleeping area with two bunkrooms, two smaller bedrooms and several bathrooms. They would be basic in design but comfortable with the idea that the bunkrooms could be rented out individually to tourists or to one large larger group of twenty or so people such as high school students on a field trip.
"Wow, you have done a lot," Renee said when she saw the framework for the new part all ready for cladding. The roof was complete except for spouting that still had to be added and new windows were already installed.
"I put the windows in yesterday," Tyler said. "All pre-assembled so it's just like giant kit set. The roofing contractors will be back next week to finish off. As well, the plumbers and electricians are coming then." He grinned. "I hope the bank appreciates how we're using their money."
"And the store?" Renee asked about the store and coffee bar on the corner of the main road.
Tyler hesitated and reddened a little. "It was getting so busy I couldn't handle it all myself so I hired someone. " He grinned. "She's doing a marvellous job."
"Who?"
"Sandra Garrett. She lives at East Ridge Station where her husband is a shepherd. At the moment she's doing five hours a day. We're selling more gas, too. Those overseas tourists with campervans like to keep their tanks fill before they tackle the Arthur's Pass. You'd think it was a thousand kilometres to Greymouth instead of just a hundred and fifty"
Renee grinned. The highway had been upgraded with new viaducts curving through the pass and with numerous close ski-fields there were really plenty of facilities, but if visitors wanted to full up with them, it certainly helped their income.
Leaving Tyler to get on with his building, she strolled down to the highway and entered the store. There were a couple of customers having coffee and Sandra, a woman in her fifties glanced up.
"Hi Renee, it's good to see you back." She hesitated. "I guess Tyler told you he hired me? Tell me if you don't like the changes we made. Tyler said it was okay but that the shop is really your domain."
Renee glanced around and noticed a few little changes, the cabinet containing food for the coffee bar now had a sliding front door so customers could serve themselves rather than having to ask for something and there were several new colourful signs.
"It looks great," she said. "How are the sales?"
"Tyler said they are picking up. Those tourists stopping for petrol often come in to have a coffee and buy souvenirs. We actually sold out of postcards of the mountains and the new road."
*
OVER THE FOLLOWING week Renee was busy in the shop, helping Tyron with the new additions and looking after their farmlette. The lawns had become parched with no rain but they had plenty of water pumped in from the back stream that was fed from the mountains and still had plenty of water flowing. She kept the gardens watered and had a sizeable vegetable garden as well as a colourful flower garden, often commented on by visitors.
Aza and Sofia called on the iPhone quite regularly but Ian had not contacted them since he called after the sentencing trial to state that Larry Brooks had received a minimum non-parole time of seventeen years. Apparently Brooks lack of remorse had influenced the judge. Renee felt relieved that justice had finally been served and she could get on with her life.
It was Sunday evening after a quiet day with most of the tourists gone. Renee and Tyler were having their evening meal when the landline telephone rang. She answered and was somewhat surprised to hear Ian's voice.
"I thought I'd let you know before it got over the news networks," he said.
"Know what, Ian?"
"Your ex."
Renee sighed. "What has he done now? Got beaten up in jail."
"More than that, I'm afraid. He committed suicide. Hung himself in his cell earlier today. He had already been isolated from the other prisoners after a fight."
"Oh hell!" Renee repeated the news to Tyler. "So what happens now?"
"Oh the usual. There'll be a coroner's report, the usual moans in the news media about violence in our jails and it'll all fade away."
"Have you contacted Jocelyn?"
"Yes. She was actually quite upset. I think that in spite of all he'd done she loved the guy."
"Could be." Renee's feelings about the news was mixed. After a brief chat she clicked off and turned to Tyler. "Sounds a typical cowards way out," she muttered.
*
RENEE WAS SERVING COFFEE to a group of European tourists in the shop when she noticed a BMW pull into the kerb along from the petrol pump so the driver hadn't stopped for fuel. A man in a suit, more suitable for Queen Street in Auckland than East Ridge tucked a satchel under his arm and walked in. Sandra walked across to the man and pointed across to her.
He came across. "Ms Renee Stevens?" He asked and extended his hand.
"I am. How can I help you?"
"Jonathan McKay, from the law firm Whittaker, McKay and Associates. We have offices in all the New Zealand main centres."
"So how does that concern me, Mr McKay?" Renee asked.
"Can we speak somewhere private?"
Renee escorted him through to the small back office and nodded at a chair. She was about to apologise for the lack of facilities but stopped. Why should she? If this guy in his upmarket car and flash city suit wished to call, why should she be apologetic?
"I am based in Christchurch but was asked by our Auckland office to contact you. I've been doing business up at the local ski field and decided to call in rather than just speak to you on the phone." He opened his satchel, withdrew an official looking document and placed it on the table.
"What have we done wrong?" Renee asked.
McKay gave a whisk of a smile. "Nothing. I represent the estate of Thelma Brooks. You may remember her."
Renee stared at him. "She was Larry's grandmother. I attended her funeral in Auckland a few years back?"
The lawyer glanced at the document. "Yes. Nine years ago."
"So why the concern about her estate at this time?"
"The late Larry Brooks's estate has brought to light an historical section in his grandmother's will. This is what my firm is acting upon."
Renee frowned. When she was married she had found his grandmother a sweet old lady who lived in a retirement village of Coastal Gardens across the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Even after she had separated from Larry she had made a point of visiting Thelma on a quite regular basis. Her impression was that she was a lonely old lady who was rarely visited by friends and never visited by Larry.
Thelma had a cottage in the village but due to ill health, had shifted into the rest home section in the same village where more care could be provided to her. At the time she was in her late eighties, had become quite weak but she still had an astute mind.
Renee's mind drifted back to the last visit she had made to Thelma.
*
RENEE PLACED THE BUNCH of roses she had brought with her in a vase and handed Thelma a packet of chocolate biscuits that she had already opened for her.
The old lady smiled. "I've still got a couple from your last visit Renee. I keep them for my morning and afternoon teas. They're far better than the so called 'good for you' oatmeal biscuits they provide here." She sighed. "I'm damned if I know why I need something good for me at my age."
Renee smiled. Thelma was quite a blunt old lady.
Thelma glanced up, reached out and trembling cold fingers gripped Renee's hand "So you're not ever getting back with Larry?" she asked.
"No Thelma; we're legally separated and my divorce will be coming through after the usual two years." She expected a retort but instead Thelma just smiled.
"Good on you. In my day we were expected to stick by our husbands no matter how bad the relationship was." She sighed. "It's a generational thing, you know," she added but her tone suggested that she wanted to speak about a new topic.
Renee still held Thelma's hand as she sat down on the bed and waited while the old lady leaned back on a pillow
Thelma continued to speak. "Fred my husband wasn't too bad, I guess but Larry's father, my deceased son had a dark side to him."
"Dark side?"
"V&M, my sisters and I called it, violence and mistresses. There were three of us sisters, you know... The other two have gone now but for years it was only each other's support that helped us survive."
"I'm sorry."
Thelma withdrew her hand and waved it out. "Don't be. We had our lives, tolerated our situations and actually did quite well in the world. That's what I want to talk to you about." She stopped and reached for one of the chocolate biscuits that Renee had brought. "I haven't long in this world, Renee but do not want everything squandered by Larry. As you know, he is my only direct descendant." She grimaced. "Legitimate one anyway."
Renee nodded.
"Have a fruitful life Renee. Don't just drift into old age and regret not doing whatever you wish because of the stifling customs of those who came before. Perhaps in the future I may be able to contribute to your happiness, even if only to compensate for your failed marriage."
"You don't need to do a thing, Thelma."
"Possibly not but neither do you need to visit me every week without fail. Larry never comes." She coughed and wriggled back up to a sitting position. "I shall remember your kindness, Renee."
"It's no trouble, Thelma. I enjoy our conversations."
"An old lady's ramblings about her gardens and the pets she had thirty years ago?"
That was the last visit Renee had ever made to Thelma Brooks. Three days later she received a telephone call and was told that the elderly lady had died during the night.
*
"THERE WAS A SECTION in Thelma Brooks will that, in accordance to her wishes, were not divulged in the formal reading to her next-of-kin." Jonathan McKay's voice brought Renee's mind back to the present. "Circumstances that she had anticipated could happen, now have, hence my visit here today."
"So obviously something included affected me."
"Yes. I have highlighted the main words in her will that concern you." He opened the document, flipped over several pages and slid it across for Renee to read.
The firm of Fredrick Brooks Holdings is entirely owned by myself and shall be held in trust but my grandson Larry William Brooks can continue to manage it as he has done since his twenty-fifth birthday. I am concerned about this arrangement so wish to invoke the conditions set out below.
The description that followed was in long-winded legal language that she asked the lawyer to explain.
"It basically says that if he meets the conditions she set out, on his fortieth birthday the company would be bequeathed to him and at that time, twenty thousand dollars would also be bequeathed to you, either in company shares or a cash equivalent."
Twenty thousand! That would certainly help them with their present mortgages. "So she bequeathed me twenty thousand dollars?" she asked.
"If he met the conditions she set out. She was aware of his temperament and, in her words, lackadaisical life style and hoped that by the time he became forty, he would have matured enough to own the business his father and grandfather had built up." Jonathan McKay ran his finger down the document to a sub-clause.
If my grandson, Larry William Brooks becomes deceased before his fortieth birthday in violent circumstances or by his own hands, the conditions as set out in Clauses 47 through to 53 above will deem to be unfulfilled.
Again there was a complicated legal statement full of therefore, whereas and other legalities.
"Okay, so Larry was thirty-eight when he committed suicide," Renee said after she read through the paragraphs. "He was found guilty of a far more serious offence than assault and causing grievous bodily harm on a female that Thelma stipulated would violate the standard she required. As far as I can see I have been bequeathed twenty thousand dollars and since Larry is now dead it can be paid to me now, rather than waiting until after his fortieth birthday in two years."
"No," McKay said and turned over a page in the document. "By failing to meet the standards she set, the firm does not belong to him so cannot be included in his estate. It is therefore bequeathed to the second named party."
"A charity or church? I know Thelma was an Anglican and quite religious."
"You're wrong again, Renee. In the event that Larry Brooks failed to meet the standards she set out, the family business of Fredrick Brooks Holdings was bequeathed in its entirety to you. You only need to provide evidence that you are the former Renee Brooks who had married Larry Brooks and it becomes yours."
"But I divorced him!" Renee gasped.
Jonathan McKay grinned. "Thelma Brooks was an astute woman for she even included a clause stating that if you divorced Larry Brooks or changed your name it would not alter your inheritance." He again ran his finger down to another highlighted section. "Here it is."
"Oh my God," Renee gasped. "What's the firm worth?"
"It's become quite run down since Thelma Brooks's death but is still worth quite a few million." Jonathan McKay appeared to be enjoying himself. "There's more, too."
"Go on," Renee said.
"Larry was no business man and made some stupid choices but there was one interesting acquisition he made quite recently. "
"And that was."
"East Ridge station that surrounds your property was in two titles when it was sold five years ago. You may remember there was quite a protest when it was bought by a Chinese company."
Renee nodded.
"It never reached the media but they only purchased the original East Ridge Station. The smaller section of fifty hectares, including three houses and other outbuildings, were purchased by a local company and only last year, resold to Fredrick Brooks Holdings. This includes the western side of East Ridge Hill beyond the property you own and the small dam."
"But why?"
"Our firm believes it was because you own this old Ministry of Works depot. Larry Brooks wanted to squeeze you out. That small dam built on the property was originally built to provide water to a larger village than the one that eventuated, as well as the East Ridge Station. An historical agreement on water rights was never renewed and was due to expire after fifty years. That would be next year. We think he intended to foreclose on the water rights agreement you have with that property by diverting all the water away from the stream that runs through your land. "
"But he couldn't. Withholding water rights from a property wouldn't stand up in court."
"Possibly not but it would take thousands of dollars in legal fees to negotiate a new agreement. He was banking that it would bankrupt you."
"He was vindictive," Renee whispered. "It is exactly what I would expect from him."
"So once the legalities are complete, the East Ridge Village Farm that the property is called becomes yours."
Jonathan told her she could keep the copy of the section of Thelma's will that he had brought, shook her hand and departed.
Renee watched the BMW drive away and just stood there for a moment absorbing the news. Thelma didn't really deserve a grandson like Larry but to realise that she knew what he was really like, was marvellous. In her own marriage to him it had taken her months to realise that he wouldn't change and her best action was to leave. It had taken tremendous courage to do that but finally she was about to reap the benefit by being kind to his dear old grandmother.
"Trouble?" Sandra said as Renee walked back out into the shop.
"No," Renee replied. "Just some legal stuff. You know what these lawyers are like?"
"Yeah. They charge you a hundred bucks to walk through their doorway."
Renee laughed, excused herself and went to find Tyler with the news.
*