Chapter 14

On Monday a partner from Katherine’s solicitors came to the house. They’d decided to send someone from their local office for the home visit rather than drag someone all the way over from Durham.

The whole family and the solicitor sat around the dining table, Jerry poured everyone coffee and the solicitor spoke.

“Well, good morning everybody, my name is Paul Harper, I’m a partner in the law firm that represents Katherine Dixon. Whilst the content of this meeting is important, from a legal and personal point of view I would like to keep it as informal as possible, so from this point on I’m Paul, we will use first names verbally, but all paperwork obviously will be using full, legal names.

“Is everyone OK with that.”

Everyone agreed.

“So, first item of business is a simple box ticking exercise, I have here a list of everyone’s names, can you pass it round and let me know if there’s any misspellings or missing names. While we check the list I’ll tick the second box on my list, I certainly looks like the house is suitable for an additional child, is that right Gabbie?”

“It is, I love the house,” Gabbie answered, “it’s just perfect. The windows keep out the wind and rain, which is a step up from my old home straight away.”

“Mmm, I’ve heard about your former home. This may seem a silly question, but do you have your own room here?”

Diane looked concerned about how Gabbie would answer this, Paul was looking directly at Gabbie, so didn’t see her expression luckily.

“Oh yes, I have my own room and it’s great. I share with Lucy and another girl at school, so my own room here is a bit of a luxury.”

Diane let out a sigh of relief, a perfect answer.

“Ahh, yes,” Paul flicked through his papers, “of course, you’re at a boarding school, do you enjoy it? I’m looking to send my kid off to school in a couple of years, always good to get recommendations of kids at different schools.”

“I love it, I changed schools last year, I hated the last school, but the current school is lovely, in a great part of the world and all the staff are really friendly. I’m sure my last school will be in those papers somewhere.”

“It is, thank you, I can cross that one off my list.” He looked across at Diane, “I assume you’re being reimbursed for Gabbie’s school fees, as a foster parent you can’t be expected to cover them.”

“Already done, the money was transferred before we left the police station on Saturday.”

“Very efficient work from Jennifer, a credit to the firm.”

Jerry brought in a fresh pot and refilled everyone’s mugs, Paul took a long drink before he continued.

“So, on to the main point of today’s meeting, which is to explain the future, or at least the future as it affects Gabbie. As you are aware, your mother has passed Parental Responsibility to Diane, do you understand what this means. And I do apologise if questions like this insult your intelligence, I must make everything clear.”

“Yes, I understand, both the question and why you have to ask.”

“Good, just so it’s all clear, until your 18th birthday any decisions about your life will be made by Diane rather than Katherine. Obviously this doesn’t mean you don’t have a say in your own life, but any legal matters, such as in an extreme example, you wanted to marry before you are 18, Diane will have to agree to this rather than Katherine.”

“Oh wow, I hope Diane likes whoever I choose to marry.”

“So do I,” Diane laughed.

“I think I’m ok with Diane making decisions for me, she’s done ok with Lucy and Steve.”

“Fine.”

“Everything revolves around my 18th birthday. What happens after I’m 18? Will I have to leave.”

“Oh gosh no Gabbie,” Diane said, “it would be just like Lucy, when she’s 18 she’ll be free to make her own decisions about things like marriage, bank accounts, leaving home, but she doesn’t have to leave home, and neither will you. Additionally, assuming Katherine is free by then, you could move back with her, once you’re 18, if you wanted to before you’re 18 I would have to give my permission.”

“There’s no danger of me wanting to move back with her, but I just wanted to make sure I could stay here if I wanted to.”

“You can stay here as long as you like Gabbie, the room upstairs is yours forever.”

“Thank you, I was just worried about it is all.”

“As that’s now clear, on to more serious matters.”

Paul shuffled his papers and took another sip of his coffee.

“You are aware I presume that by, err, killing your father Charles Dixon, Katherine forfeited her claim on your father’s assets.”

“What does that mean?” Gabbie asked.

“Well, she has effectively written herself out of his will, so we go to the sub-clauses of the will as if she’d pre-deceased him.”

“I’m still not sure what you mean.”

“Well, basically after your mother, you inherit everything Gabbie, after a few charitable bequests and payments to a number of creditors, everything that remains is yours.”

“Really”

Gabbie furrowed her brow, the expression Lucy recognised as Gabbie thinking hard.

“I still don’t follow, this can’t be right, what about Jordan? Why isn’t he mentioned?”

“According to some of the documents included with the will, Charles Dixon is not Jordan’s father. We have spoken to Katherine and this appears to be correct.”

“What!! Oh shitting hell, I don’t think I can cope with any more of this.”

With that, Gabbie stood and ran out of the room, Diane nodded to Lucy and she ran after her.

Lucy found Gabbie in the pool house, she’d kicked off her Vans and was sitting on the edge with her feet dangling in the pool. Lucy kicked off her Converse and joined her friend.

“Could this week get any worse? Seriously, how am I only just finding out Jordan’s illegitimate?”

“Well, it’s probably not something your mum is proud of.”

“I guess that makes sense, he wasn’t really into adults like I said the other day, so perhaps they weren’t having sex at all. Maybe mum had a string of lovers and one time she was careless.”

“That sounds realistic, if your dad wasn’t sleeping with her you can hardly expect her to stay celibate.”

“She was always beautiful as well, she still is, but before life started grinding her down she was stunning you know.”

“You look a lot like her Gabbie.”

“Thanks, but you’re just being kind.”

“I’m not, you are absolutely the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen Gabbie.”

“I just don’t see it, I’m pale, I’ve no proper boobs or bum. You’re a proper woman Lucy, I just look like a pretty boy.”

“Are you saying Nessa has bad taste? Because it’s you she saw, not me. When you were around it’s like me and Steve didn’t exist. You glow Gabbie, you fill the room with your presence so no one else exists. You need to see that sweetie, or you’ll never get any self-confidence.”

“I don’t know Lucy, I just don’t feel beautiful.”

“You will once you stop worrying about the past.”

“Maybe, but first I need to get over this Will, it leaves mum and Jordan with nothing.”

“This is what the lawyer is here to sort out. My first thought is to sell the house, I’m sure someone will want it for the land alone. Then put that money in a trust for Jordan and perhaps give your mum something when she comes out. The rest of the money, take that as compensation for your torment. Maybe you should give some to Alexa’s mum as well.”

“Lucy,” Gabbie cried, “you are an absolute saint, let’s get back and tell Paul we want to do that.”

Lucy stood and helped Gabbie to her feet, they picked up their shoes and walked barefoot back to the house.

Gabbie explained to Paul what they’d discussed, he made some notes on a legal pad and said he needed to make a private call, Diane let him use her office.

“I’m glad you want to make sure Katherine is alright financially,” Diane said when she came back in.

“She’s my real mum, my birth mother, my conscience won’t let me leave her penniless.”

Paul returned about 10 minutes later and asked if they had a printer he could use, as he had some documents to print, Katherine gave him the WiFi access code, he picked up his fresh mug of coffee and went back to the office.

“This is really great coffee,” Paul said as he came back into the room, “where do you get it?”

“It’s a local roasters,” Jerry told him, “I’ll go grab you a bag, all the details are on the bag, mention my name and they’ll see you right.”

“Nice one, thanks. Ok, back to business,” Paul said as he slipped the pound of coffee beans Jerry handed him into his case, “There’s no problem drawing up documents to that effect, according to papers we’ve handled recently,” he shuffled his printouts until he found the right one, “we’ve had some interest in the property from various groups. Whilst the house is in a serious state of disrepair, it is of considerable size. There is interest from a group who wish to use it as a hotel with other new buildings. We are confident we could raise £2.5 million for the house and land, including the 80 acres of woodland.”

“Wow, that much. Amazing, so all that could go to Jordan?”

“Less fees, but he’d see north of £2 million.”

“I want to give Auntie Alice some money now, and put some aside for mum.”

“We can see to that, but until you’re 18 Diane would have to make that decision.”

“On this I’m fine with whatever Gabbie wants.”

“Perfect. I’ll instruct our property division to put the house on the market, once the police have finished of course.”

“I never want to see it again. You can burn it down as far as I’m concerned.”

“It’s a listed building, I think there would be considerable legal problems if we burnt it down, but I understand your feelings and we will act in your best interests as far as the transfer of property is concerned and involve you in the process as little as possible.

“Are there any items in the house you want to remove before we close it down?”

“Nothing, I want no memories from there, give everything to the NSPCC.”

Lucy touched her arm and asked, “are you sure, are there no good memories?”

“Nothing. Check with Mum about her stuff, and Jordan about his, the rest goes to the NSPCC.”

“Very well, now you said the sale of the property goes to Jordan, you also expressed a wish to give some money to his guardian, Alice, up front, as a loan against the property sale. Do you have a sum in mind.”

Gabbie turned to Lucy, “I didn’t think of this before, it’ll take ages for the sale to go through, so she’ll need some money for Jordan, what should I do?”

“Excuse me Paul,” Lucy said, “roughly how much is the estate worth, apart from the house. So we know how much Gabbie has to play with, so to speak.”

Paul dug a sheet out of the stack, “let’s see, this is as of close of business on Friday, Charles had a total of just over £2.8 million in cash in various bank accounts, he also had a little over £18.9 million in shares, bonds and unit trusts. There is also a pension which can be cashed out, we’ve been unable to access this to ascertain its value. Finally, a life insurance policy which you can claim on, that’s £1 million.”

“Holy shit!” Lucy exclaimed, “oh, sorry about that,” she apologised.

Gabbie turned to Lucy, “I got lost, but that sounds like a lot of money.”

“It is, so just give Jordan a chunk of cash via Auntie Alice, don’t even treat it as a loan against the house, then he’ll get extra when it’s sold.”

Lucy turned to Paul, “sorry, more questions. We don’t want to leave Mrs Dixon destitute or anything, does she have assets of her own?”

“That’s very commendable, Mrs Dixon has substantial assets of her own, not on the same level as her late husband, I can’t go into detail for confidentiality reasons, but let’s just say she has a reasonable portfolio that is carefully managed on her behalf, she will be far from destitute when she’s released.”

“Ahh, that’s a weight off our minds.”

“Now, to clarify, we will consult with Mrs Dixon, and your brother, via Alice Thornton, regarding any property they wish to retain from the house, then the rest of the contents are to be distributed to the NSPCC, is that correct?” Gabbie confirmed it was, “then the house will be sold and the proceeds placed in trust for Jordan Dixon, the trust to be managed by his legal guardian Alice Thornton until he comes of age.”

“That is correct,” Gabbie said.

“Now you made mention of a ‘chunk of cash’ for Jordan in addition to the house proceeds. Can you define a ‘chunk’ please as it’s a little too vague for a legal document,” Paul smiled.

Gabbie conferred with Lucy, then with Diane, then Gabbie spoke, “well, just the money on the bank is more that I could possibly imagine right now, so he can have half of it, and I want all my mum’s legal expenses to come from that account as well.”

“Are you sure,” Lucy and Paul said together.

“Yes, absolutely. You were right Lucy, this is the end, mum has brought me closure, and I’m willing to pay for that.”

“Sweetie, it’ll still take a while for you to get closure, but I’ll be there for you every step of the way.”

“I know you will Lucy.”

Then Gabbie turned to Paul, “Alexa’s mum, Chelcey Horton, she gets the life insurance. I want to see her as well, can you take me to see her this week Diane?”

“Absolutely, this is a family week, I have no plans.”

“Can you come too Lucy, as my emotional support human.”

“Of course, every step of the way, remember.”

With that Paul finished up his paperwork and asked Diane and Gabbie to sign several pages.

“How long will it take for the insurance to pay out?” Gabbie asked.

“They normally drag their feet, and, please don’t repeat this, we normally don’t rush them because it’s usually greedy spouses, so they can wait. But in this case you are very much the opposite of greedy, so I’ll get someone on it this afternoon, you should have the money by Friday.”

“Great, will it be in my account so I can transfer it to Chelcey on Friday?”

“We’ll do our very best Gabbie, but I can’t promise.”

With that Paul thanked everyone for their patience and thanked Jerry for the coffee then he bade them all a good day and Diane walked him to the door.

“Are you ok Gabbie?” Diane asked as she returned to clear the mugs away.

“Stunned, just stunned right now. He had all that money but didn’t spend a penny on the house.”

“Some time this week I’ll bring my accountant in, he can help you with your finances, look through the investments, make sure they’re sound and ethical.”

“Thanks Diane. And I’ve been thinking, I may have been hasty before, there are a few things I want from the house, Lucy’s right, some things have happy memories. When we go to see Chelcey later in the week, would it be ok if we went in the house to collect some stuff?”

“Of course it would sweetheart, will you want to collect lots of things” We’ll take the biggest car if you do.”

“I don’t think so, just some books and clothes and some photos.”

“We’ll take the Audi, just in case.”

“Thanks.”

“Can I have Chelcey’s phone number, I’d like to ring her, to make an appointment to see her on Friday.”

“Oh yeah, it’s in my phone.”

Gabbie read the number out and Diane tapped it into her phone book.

“Does she live far from the house?” Diane asked.

“Oh no, she lives in a caravan in the woods behind the house.”

“Really, so she’ll have to move out when the house is sold.”

“I reckon if we asked the right person, or got Lucy to ask, we could get her a job at the hotel or whatever is built on the land, she was a good housekeeper. But if I’m giving her a million quid I reckon she’ll be ok for a while.”

“Yes, get her a job at the hotel, I’m sure Paul’s firm could make it a condition of sale.”

“Is it ok if I go for a swim Diane?”

“Of course it is sweetie, this is your house now remember, you can do as you please. Do you have a swimming costume?”

“Lucy’s Toy Story 3 costume from when she was about 5 fits me perfect,” she laughed.

“That’s the first time you’ve properly laughed in days,” Lucy said.

“There’s not been much to laugh about. I’m feeling better today though.”

“Every day will be a bit better Gabbie,” Diane said, “except maybe Friday, you’ll need to be strong on Friday, then it’s back to school on Sunday and all the badness will start to drift into the background.”

“I think you’re right, I’m guessing once I know what’s happening to mum, and I’ve seen Jordan and Chelcey right I’ll start healing.”

“I spoke to your house mistress earlier, she’s on holiday but due to the urgency the Head’s secretary put me through to her mobile, she was lovely about it and said she’d keep an eye on you and refer you to the well-being councillor but reckoned you’d be fine because Lucy is a wonderful, kind and caring girl, and at that point she didn’t even know I was Lucy’s mum, she thought I was a social worker.”

“Ha that’s so funny, at one time Miss Warner thought I was a slut who was corrupting Lucy,” Gabbie laughed, “and now Lucy’s my social worker. I love Millie though, she’s ace.”

“Are you coming for a swim then?” Lucy said, “I’ll turn the sauna on so we sweat some of your tension away.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun, I’ve never been in a sauna.”