When I do, Ms. Gallagher takes over my seat in the recliner, leaving me little choice but to join Liz on the sofa.
“Thank you both for agreeing to meet me here at the house. Together.” She smiles politely at both of us, and I get the sense Trent and Lena warned her about the volatile relationship Liz and I share.
“Thank you for coming, Ms. Gallagher,” Liz says. She sounds like she’s on autopilot. Right back to going through the motions as if nothing out of the ordinary has occurred to derail her. “Can I get you anything to drink? I haven’t checked the kitchen, but I’m sure Lena has something in her fridge I can offer you.” Her mouth stretches into a strange smile and I’m having flashes of the Stepford wives watching her.
“Thank you, I’m fine. And please, call me Ryan. Trent and Lena both did.” She pauses, as if she’s waiting to make sure Liz is really present, able to absorb new information.
Clicking open her briefcase, she retrieves a large manila folder. “If you’re ready, I’d like to get right to it. We have a lot of information to cover, and I imagine you’ll have a lot of questions. We can do this slowly, there’s no rush. But I find most people are anxious to get this part over with.” Her expression is warm but serious.
I glance at Liz out of the corner of my eye. She’s staring at the folder in Ryan’s hand, and I can only imagine the thoughts she’s having right now.
“We’re ready.” I fold my hands and lean into my knees, allowing my weight to gently press my thigh against hers. It'll either repulse her or comfort her. I'll take either reaction over this creepy Liz doll perched beside me. “Or, at least as ready as we’re ever going to be.”
CHAPTER TWO
LIZ
“Miss Penny,” she starts, and I already open my mouth to stop her.
“Please, Liz is fine.” I want to say more.
Anything at all that will keep her from going on to tell me my sister’s wishes in the event she’s not here to pursue them for herself.
I’m barely grappling with the fact she’s not going to be here to see her dreams realized, her children grown. I’m not ready to find out the part I’m meant to play in the life she’s no longer here to live for herself.
All of it sits on the tip of my tongue, ready to spill out of me, when Jovi shifts again, bringing my attention back to where our legs touch, and my brain short circuits. Every thought eddying inside my mind stops.
“Liz,” Ryan says my name again. This time, I have no choice but to listen. “It’s my understanding your sister never discussed with you, her and Trent’s wishes regarding their two children, Remmi and Gavin.”
I nod and the weight of Jovi’s leg presses into mine with more intensity. There's no denying the gesture. A show of support between two people who really have no means of offering affectionto one another. Mostly for lack of feeling any such feelings while in each other’s company. Most of the time.
In this moment, I’m shocked to realize I'm glad he’s here with me. He may be the only other person on earth who knew Lena and Trent like I did. Who feels the void of their absence the way I do. The way I will, every day, for the rest of my life.
“She wrote you a letter,” Ryan says, speaking to me like someone might a wild animal they don't want to startle. Dumbstruck, I watch her reach into her folder and retrieve a small, lavender envelope.
Of course, Lena would go out and buy some fancy letterhead for this occasion. The occasion of 'what if', and 'worst-case scenario'. She couldn’t have just taken a piece of printer paper and shoved it into a plain white envelope. No, she had to be all Lena about it.
Ryan slides the letter toward me. “I think it’ll help you understand their choices.”
“Do I read it now?” I don’t know if I want to. Part of me is desperate for my sister’s last words to me. The other part never wants to have to see them. Never wants this to be real.
“I think it might be best to read in private,” Ryan says, almost as if she understands the conflict twisting inside me. “For now, why don’t I go over the will with you both.” She has a unique talent for being both somber and smiling with a genuine kindness that makes all of this seem somehow less horrific. “It was Lena and Trent’s request that you, Liz, become legal guardian to both of their children in the event that they weren't present to raise their children themselves.”
“What if I can’t?” I blurt the words out before I realize I’ve thought them.
Ryan looks startled by my outburst but not surprised by my doubts. “If you’re unable to take them, Trent’s parents would be their next choice.”
I nod. They’re the responsible choice. The choice Lena would have made if she’d thought for one second this moment would ever really come.
“Before you make any decisions, hear out their intentions,” she says in the same soft but serious tone she’s been using since she began getting down to business with us. “Trent and Lena wanted you to be the one to raise their children. Hoped that you would to do so in their home. Thus, the house, everything in it, along with their other personal assets and bank accounts, are to be signed over to you in the interest of caring for Remmi and Gavin. Until both children have turned of age, at which point anything remaining would be turned over to them. In the event that you choose to sell the house, any profits made from the sale would be designated in the same manner.”
Lena didn’t have to leave that part in writing. I already planned to put the money from the house into an account for the kids and their futures.
“As for the business,” she turns to Jovi, “Trent has left everything to you.” She takes several pages out of her folder and flips them over before sliding them across the coffee table toward him. “Here’s an itemized breakdown of all the assets, along with their current value. Plus, you’ll find expenses and income on the last page.” She waits, giving both of us time to digest this new information.
And it is new. One look at Jovi and I have a feeling I now know exactly what I looked like when he first told me Lena and Trent listed me as their children’s guardian.
“I don’t understand,” he says, frowning as he picks up the sheets of paper. “What does he want me to do with it? Sell everything off?” He looks sick just saying it. I get it. The only thing that makes the thought manageable for me is focusing on the big picture. What it will mean for the kids down the road to come out of this shitshow of a childhood and start adulthood off with some opportunities that could turn things around for them. Opportunities some money in the bank from selling their parents’ assets would afford them.
