Page 10 of When I Come Back
“I know this is a tough time for you all, but I find it’s easiest to handle these things as soon as possible. So, let’s get started, shall we?” Elsher’s voice is still comforting, but it’s imbued with an authoritative undertone like he’s switched into business mode.
None of us speaks, but we all nod in agreement.
“In the interest of time, I’ll skip over the legal jargon and just get to the meat and potatoes. Per the will of Owen and Hazel Grant, they left the balance of their personal bank accounts, savings, and their residential property and all personal belongings, including personal vehicles, located at 358 South Windsor Avenue, Indigo Hill, South Carolina to Hugh Brooks Grant.” He raises his gaze to the three of us as his words settle in the space around us. I don’t know what he’s expecting. Maybe people get mad or upset once they find out what’s left to whom. This isn’t unexpected. There’s no reason for them to leave their house to anyone other than Brooks. We already knew this would be the case.
Mr. Elsher must realize there won’t be any backlash on the matter because he clears his throat, looks back down at the papers, and continues.
“Per the will of Owen and Hazel Grant, ownership and all rights to Ripple Effect Distillery and Restaurant, the land it sits on, and all business bank account balances are to be split between Carrington Dillon Grant and Thea Carina Ashford. Carrington will retain fifty-one percent of the business and allaccompanying property, and Thea will own the other forty-nine percent.”
The second the words leave his mouth, my whole world comes to a crashing halt. I’m not entirely sure I heard him correctly. I feel my pulse all the way in my cheeks, as the air in the entire room shifts.
Before I even have a moment to figure out why, I look over to realize Brooks must have come closer once Mr. Elsher started speaking. He’s got his hands braced on the back of the empty chair. His face is flushed a violent shade of red, and he’s brimming with anger like I’ve never seen before. Suddenly, he erupts, shoving the chair to the ground. “This is fucking bullshit,” he spits out as he storms out of the office. I get up to go after him, but Carrington gently grabs my arm and pulls me back down to my seat. He doesn’t say anything. He just stares right into my eyes, but I can’t read his face. I have no idea what he’s feeling. He must be angry too, right? He just doesn’t show emotions like Brooks does.
He turns to Mr. Elsher, his searing touch still on my arm, my leg still bouncing with anxiety, as he says, “Thank you, Mr. Elsher. I apologize for my brother, this is difficult for him, but we greatly appreciate your time. Is there something we need to do now? Something we need to sign?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mr. Elsher nod his head as he thumbs through his papers looking for the one he needs. “Yes. Yes, you do. I have it right here, one moment.”
The room starts to spin as I wait for him to tell us what we need to do next. “Ah, here we go,” he says, laying the papers in front of us. He then shuffles the stacks of paper on his desk, pulling pens from underneath with a triumphant hum. “I’ll need you both to sign on the line under your names. Once this is done, I’ll start the deed transfer process. It generally takes a weekor two and will need another signature to finalize it before the property transfer is official.”
He sounds so matter-of-fact, like this is just another day, another business transaction. He’s using such clinical words like ‘property’ and ‘process’ as if the last twenty minutes didn’t set my whole life ablaze.
I never thought RED would be mine. I thought losing it was inevitable. Losing what I’ve worked so hard for over the last three years entirely was one thing, but losing it in this way will hurt even more. Partial ownership gives me a sliver of hope for RED’s future that I know I shouldn’t hold on to. I may own forty-nine percent, but there’s no way Carrington will carry out our plans; he’ll probably sell it the moment he has the deed in hand. I won’t get a say. I’ll be forced to watch him do with it whatever he pleases.
The way Mr. Elsher delivered the news made it seem like this was something we expected and went into with eyes wide open. He knew Owen and Hazel—how well is unclear—but he knew them and their wishes. He doesn’t know us or the complicated history we have. He doesn’t realize that none of us predicted this. Mr. Elsher has no idea he just turned our lives upside down—or at least mine. Carrington doesn’t seem fazed at all which shouldn’t come as a surprise to me.
The moment we’ve both finished signing on our allocated lines, Carrington stands up and fixes the chair Brooks knocked over. He then reaches over to gently pull me up, but quickly drops my arm, turning and walking out of the room. I look down at the place his hand just held—I can still feel it like a phantom touch.
I let out a deep, shaky breath, feeling like I’ve been holding it in since Mr. Elsher said my name outside of the Grant house. “Thank you,” I say as I reach down to grab my purse.
“Could you please ask—” he looks down at the papers on his desk, “Hugh to call the office? There are some documents for him to sign as well with regards to the house.”
I nod. Everything feels like a haze as I walk toward the door that leads outside. I don’t see Carrington or Brooks anywhere, so I start to panic. I take a deep breath trying to get my nerves under control, but I’m shaking from the shock. There’s no way I can drive myself home, and the last thing I want right now is to be around the Grant brothers. I pull out my phone and scroll to Ripley’s name, typing out a message to him.
Me:I need you, can you come pick me up?
Ripley:Yeah, of course. Where are you?
Me:Southbury. I’ll explain when you get here, I’m sending you a pin.
Ripley:Okay. Be there soon.
How am I supposed to feel about this? I never expected them to leave RED to me but to leave it to us both with Carrington having the majority stake? What the fuck were they thinking? How did they think this would work? After years of fighting for what I wanted, years of waiting for my career dreams to come true, they finally did with RED.
Now, the person I broke so he could keep his dream just got handed the keys to mine on a silver fucking platter.
Chapter Five
Carrington
With my head still reeling from what transpired in the lawyer’s office, I’m surprised to find Brooks leaning on the side of my rental car waiting for me. I was sure he was going to call an Uber or someone to come pick him up with the way he stormed out of the building.
We drove here together from Mom and Dad’s house. Those thirty minutes were the longest time we’ve spent alone together in almost fifteen years. I wish I could say we took the opportunity to catch up a little, but I spent the majority of the time with my teeth clenched, white-knuckling the steering wheel, still fuming over the conversation I walked in on at the house.
“Look, I know you’re pissed,” he says, meeting my gaze. “I shouldn’t have done that in there. I’ll call him and apologize.” His words catch me off-guard. I can’t remember a time Brooks willingly apologized for his outbursts. He usually throws atantrum and then disappears, popping up some time later with no word on where he’s been, consequences be damned.
Mom and Dad never knew how to deal with his temper. They tried grounding him and taking away things he liked, but it never fazed him. By the time he was a teenager they’d given up and let him run off when he needed the space, hardly questioning where he was or with whom. “Can we go get a drink or something somewhere? This has turned into a shit day.”
I take a long look at my brother for the first time since he arrived at the funeral looking like he got the crap beat out of him. He looks almost the same as he did before I moved away, save for a few fine lines around his eyes and the vulnerability pouring out of them. The Brooks I knew was all hard edges and cutting quips. The man before me seems beaten down and broken.
