“Hey, Ava…” Joel calls as he crosses the room toward us. “Oh, hey, Dad,” he says to me as though just realizing I’m there.He absently holds a fist out and I give it a bump, trying not to roll my eyes.
“Hey, loser—how’s Princeton?” Ava asks fondly, giving Joel a gentle nudge on the shoulder.
Joel offers a wry smirk. “The same as it was when you asked me last weekend. But I checked my stock portfolio yesterday after my econ class?—”
“Mate, you have a stock portfolio?” Jamie asks incredulously. “Isn’t that a bit…grown up for a freshman?”
“Sunny did it for us,” Joel explains.
“I’d have set one up for you as well, my darling, but I didn’t know you existed,” she says to Jamie rather airily. “I think the trust Blake has for you is more than adequate, though.”
“Yeah, I think we’ll make do,” Shay says dryly.
“What’s this ‘we’? You haven’t put a ring on it yet, babe,” Jamie teases, holding up his empty ring finger.
Shay grins back. “You haven’t inherited it yet, red.”
“It’s not an inheritance,” Blake corrects. “It’s a trust fund.”
Shay’s brows draw together. “What’s the difference?”
“Well, I have to die for him to inherit. The trust fund is all set up and ready, and he’ll get access once he turns twenty-eight.”
“So….if you die Jamie will get even more money?” Shay ventures.
Blake narrows his eyes at Shay. “Why do you look so thoughtful right now?”
“So…the stocks?” Ava asks, no doubt wanting to get back onto a topic that actually concerns her.
Joel nods. “Yeah. Did you know there’s like eighty grand in there?”
I almost fall over from the shock of those words. “There’swhat?”
Joel gives a little head shake. “No, sorry—it’s about eighty grand worth of stocks.”
Ava’s jaw is practically on the carpet. “Holy shit. So can we sell them and get the money?”
Sunny laughs softly. “No, my darling. I was going to let you have access at twenty-one, but I’m following Blake’s lead now—you can access it once you’re twenty-eight.”
Ava scowls at my brother. “Blake.”
He holds up his hands. “Hey, it wasn’t my call. But if it helps, they’ll be worth more once the recession’s over, so waiting longer is a good thing.”
Still feeling completely floored, I finally manage to find my voice. “Howis there that much in there?”
My mother is many things, but an economics genius is not one of them. She can’t have been day trading for the past eighteen years to get the best possible result for the portfolios.
Sunny gives a casual shrug, smiling brightly. “Well, I’ve been buying stocks for them every birthday and Christmas since they were born. And there’s been the odd special occasion here and there—graduation and such. I know it’s not the most exciting of gifts, but you two had everything you could ever want already, so I thought giving you something you could use in the future would be better.”
They didn’t have their grandmother, I think a little bitterly, but manage to keep the remark to myself this time. I still don’t quite understand the whole stock portfolio thing—investing in the market isn’t something I’ve ever had an interest in—so even with the regular “presents” I’m still not sure how the value has gotten so high. But I’m glad the kids won’t have access to it for quite some time. Hopefully by twenty-eight they’ll be mature enough to use the money sensibly.
“So…canwebuy stocks for the portfolio if we want to?” Ava asks curiously. “Or do we need to wait until we’re twenty-eight for that too?”
Sunny looks thoughtful for a moment, before her expression forms into a wry smile. “You know what? Why don’t we save all this for another time—I’m sure we’re boring the pants off Jamie right now.”
“Yep. I’mliterallyabout to take my trousers off I’m so bored right now,” Jamie says with a chuckle.
“Maybe we should go to one of the bathrooms and then I can literally take yourtrousersoff,” Shay suggests with a quirk of one eyebrow.
