I hear her pad down the hallway and I hobble behind her, feeling like a clumsy asshole with my fucking crutches.
When I reach the living room, Nora is already showing a man clad in a suit into the cottage.
“Brand, it’s for you,” she tells me hesitantly. “It’s your dad’s estate lawyer.”
I study the guy… he’s pasty, weaselish, and dressed in a tightly buttoned suit. He holds his hand out.
“I’m Todd Ansel,” he tells me. “I represented your father and put his will together. Do you have a few minutes?”
“A few,” I nod, making it clear that I only have a few. Nora has backed up now, and is lingering on the edge of the room.
“Do you need me to stay?” she asks me quietly. I shake my head.
“Nah. I’ve got this, but thank you.”
She slips out and I stare at Todd. I don’t offer him a seat.
“How can I help you?”
He clears his throat and sets his briefcase on the floor beside him. “I spoke with your mother and she indicated that you wanted to relinquish your rights to your inheritance and transfer it to her, instead.”
I nod. “Yes.”
Todd nods as well. “Yes, your father anticipated that you would do that. So he put a stipulation in his will.”
I stare at him hesitantly. “A stipulation? My mother didn’t mention that.”
Todd nods again. “That’s because she doesn’t know.”
I sigh heavily. Leave it to my father to do something fucked up, even in the end. “Well, what is it?”
Todd bends and sifts through his bag, coming up with a paper. He hands it to me, his weasel eyes focused on my reaction.
I don’t give him one.
Instead, I scan the paper.
All I can focus on are the words, Brand must ring the bell.
Shock slams into me, fast and hard, and anger clouds my vision.
What a fucker.
Todd clears his throat again. “I’m not sure what the purpose of this exercise is, but your father’s wishes are clear. You must swim out to the large buoy in the bay and ring the bell, then swim back in. You must be un-assisted, you cannot use a boat or motorized device of any sort. You must swim on your own devices. If you don’t complete this task, your inheritance will revert to the state. And you will not be given the key to the box your father left for you.”
Through my anger, that snags my attention.
“A key?”
Todd raises an eyebrow. “You must not have tried to open the box yet. It’s locked. I have the key. I’m instructed to give it to you only upon completion of the task.”
Nora must’ve only lingered right outside the door, because she bursts back in now.
“What will happen if he doesn’t do it?” she asks, her cheeks flushed.
Todd looks at her. “If Brand chooses not to complete the task, his inheritance will revert to the state, as I said. Bethany Killien will receive nothing. And it’s my understanding that she does the books for Mr. Killien’s mechanic business. It’s likely that she will lose her job when the state sells the business.”
“So my mother would have nothing,” I clarify. “Not a house, not any money and she would lose her job.”