Terms of Inheritance by Michelle Upton

Author:Michelle Upton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

21

Jacki

Jacki sat on the outdoor lounge in the back garden with a pale yellow blanket draped over her lap, a glass of watered-down pinot grigio in one hand, and her phone in the other.

‘You need to make this happen by close of business tomorrow,’ she told Eddie, her second in command. ‘Call me when it’s done.’ Jacki hung up and placed her phone on the table.

Darryl shook his head and took a sip of his beer. She knew what he was thinking – that she shouldn’t be working, she should be resting – but what he clearly hadn’t learnt, even after all these years, was that working gave Jacki life. It was what motivated her to get out of bed each morning, it was what kept her up until the early hours. It was what made her feel alive.

Jacki tried to ignore the dull pain in her stomach as they watched the setting sun dance on the water. Huge white cumulus clouds drifted across the pink sky like giant mountains, and she was reminded of the vast sky at Darryl’s banana farm in Cairns.

Jacki combed the back of her hair with her fingers and wished she’d had a chance to put on some make-up and fix her hair before Rose and Mel had shown up, but the medication she was on had made her nauseous and left her with no energy at all. She had stayed in bed all morning, and even that had been hard work.

Mel’s unexpected outburst earlier had knocked her for six. It had never once occurred to Jacki that Mel might have blamed herself for Peter’s death. What a terrible burden she must have carried, and at such a young age. But how could Jacki have known? She hadn’t been there to pick up on the clues, she hadn’t even asked her daughters how they were coping with the loss of their dad. Jacki had just ramped up the hours she worked and the amount of gifts she brought home for them, which they always seemed to like. Now she couldn’t help but wonder how many other things about her daughters she’d failed to notice.

The sky turned from pink to purple and was being consumed by a distant deep navy. ‘I wish I’d watched more sunsets,’ said Jacki.

‘Sunrise and sunset are the best times of the day.’ Darryl leaned back and took another swig of beer. ‘If you’d stayed up north, you’d have seen them all.’

‘Is that why you came all this way? To remind me what I missed out on before I croak it?’

Darryl laughed heartily and she couldn’t help but smile.

‘Jess told me there’s nothing more the doctors can do.’

His dark eyes fixed on her and a pang of sadness washed through her. ‘I have all the money in the world, but doctors and specialists can only do so much, no matter how much I pay them.’

Darryl sighed like his worst fears had been confirmed. ‘How are the girls taking it?’

‘They’re mad at me. Did Jess tell you about the terms I set for their inheritance?’

He laughed again and nodded.

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