Page 56 of Blackout

‘I’m Brad Waters from Waters’ Law Firm. Is Ms James here?’ I heard as soon as the front door opened.

‘What is this about?’ I knew Zach was as curious as I was to know what this was all about.

‘Mia James has sent me. I need to speak with Harley.’ There was an urgency in his voice that made me walk over to stand next to Zach.

‘Brad, this is Zach. Zach meet Brad Waters, my late father’s lawyer.’ Zach and I filled the space of the open front door. ‘Why on earth did my mother make you come all this way to see me?’

‘Your mother made some changes to the trust.’

What changes? ‘Yes, Mum just told me she’d made changes and that you would explain. It hasn’t even been a day since our meeting, so what changes could she have made?’

‘Can I come in so we can talk about this?’

Zach and I shared a look. He raised his eyebrow at me, and I knew he wasn’t completely happy his day off had started out like this. But what could I say? I was less of a complete mess, but there were still a few things that needed sorting out.

Zach and I stood back from the door and let Brad in. He took a seat at Zach’s kitchen table and pulled a file from his briefcase.

I took a seat at the table across from Brad. Zach grabbed his coffee, but he didn’t sit down next to me. He hovered somewhere behind me. I knew I needed to talk to Zach, but I also wanted to know why Brad thought it was so important to travel all this way to tell me in person about the changes my mother had made.

‘Brad, I’ll just let you know that Zach isn’t privy yet to our previous discussions. I would rather it was me and not you who told him everything.’ Brad had a way of getting straight to the point, like ripping off a band aid, but that couldn’t happen today.

Brad nodded his acknowledgement.

‘Can you please tell me why these changes my mother has made are so important that you had to speak with me in person and not over the phone?’

‘I have paperwork for you to sign.’ Brad pulled a pen out of his front pocket. ‘Harley, when your family first moved here, your parents were thinking about and planning their future. Your father had purchased two blocks of land and had a house built on each.’

My dad’s grand plans. The plans I’d known nothing about until recently.

‘Your father had purchased the local bakery about three months before his accident. Your school holiday trip finalised the James Family Trust and your grandfather signed over the James Family Bakery to your father. With the assets from Mulwala, the house you grew up in Melbourne and a newly acquired investment property, your house, the trust was set up to take care of you, your mother and your sister if anything was to ever happen to your dad.’

‘Yes, I know all this.’

‘If your father hadn’t passed away, he would have trained you and Addison to become bakers just like him. At the end of both your apprenticeships, your father was going to make the decision whether or not to split the family trust. You and Addison would be partners in the James Family Bakery, and your trust would look after the business and the two Melbourne properties while your parents would have Sweets Bakery and the two properties here in Mulwala.’

‘But my dad did pass away,’ I said softly.

‘Yes, and your mother has decided to split the family trust as your father suggested.’

Wow, this was a lot of information to take in.

‘Harley, your mother would have told you herself but there is paperwork to be signed, that’s why I’m telling you all of this.’

Zach took my coffee cup and moved towards the kitchen to make more café-quality coffee for the three of us. I knew this was Zach giving me space to look over the changes my mother had made to the trust and the paperwork that needed to be signed.

When I finished reading through the paperwork for the new trust Brad had put together, I faced him and asked, ‘Is this correct? Is this what my mother wants?’

‘Yes,’ was Brad’s simple answer.

My mother had set up a new trust in my name with this house and Sweets Bakery in it. All I had to do was sign and Brad would make these changes.

‘There’s just one thing.’ I looked up at Zach, then turned back to face Brad. ‘Before I sign, Mum said to talk to you about selling the bungalow next door.’

‘I can get some papers drawn up.’

‘The house needs to be emptied. It also needs some work done. I won’t know the extent until I check the house out.’

‘You haven’t been inside?’