“Can I ask what this is regarding?”
“Bernice Macintosh’s estate.”
“Thanks. Hold, please.”
I stood there in the cold, watching the rain fall as terrible classical music played through the speaker.
“This is Lewis Concord,” the man finally answered.
“Hey, this is Sebastian Banks returning your call.”
“Mr. Banks, I’m glad to hear from you.”
“I said I’d call you back on Monday,” I reminded him. “Can you tell me a little about what Bernice left me? And how the hell did she die?”
I’d searched her name all weekend, trying different keywords, but nothing had come up. Not even an obituary.
Concord paused for a long moment. “I apologize, Mr. Banks. I should’ve realized that you wouldn’t have known that she passed.”
I didn’t bother replying. I just wanted to know what the fuck happened.
“Ms. Macintosh had cancer. When she realized that treatments would only take her so far, she came to me to get her affairs in order.”
“Oh,” I breathed.
Cancer. Fuck. I’d imagined it was a car accident or something. Fast. For some reason, that had been easier for me to wrap my head around. Easier to stomach. Instead, she’d known she was dying. She’d waited to die.
And I hadn’t been there.
“If you come into the office, we can go over everything in detail. There are quite a few things we need to discuss to get things moving. Are you available this week?”
“I live in Eugene,” I replied dumbly. “This week doesn’t work for me.”
“Next week, then? If it’s a matter of work, I can come in on a Saturday if that’s easier for you.”
I was so focused on the conversation that I didn’t even notice Lily and Harper drive up until they were climbing out of Lily’s car. Their voices drifted over as Leo met them out front, and I could hear them getting closer.
“I’ll call you back and schedule it,” I said quickly. “Maybe next week.”
“I can put it on the calendar now,” Concord replied. “How about Saturday?”
“Sure, man,” I said as they rounded the corner. “That’s fine.”
“What’s your email? I’ll send you the address—”
“I’ll find you,” I cut him off, hanging up before he could drag the conversation out any longer.
“The Toyota, the Honda, or the Mazda,” Leo said, pointing at the cars parked behind me. “The others are crap, and I don’t want you drivin’ ’em.”
“Don’t you loan them out?” Harper asked with a laugh.
“Yeah, don’t tell anyone I said that,” Leo replied. “Fuck, Bas. Where’d you come from?”
Harper’s head shot up like a deer in the headlights.
“I was here, man. You snuck up on me.” I stuffed my phone into my pocket.
“Harper’s gonna borrow one of the loaners until she gets something.”
