The Merry, Merry Month of May: Part VI
After an early night, Nick woke up, and the moment he opened his eyes, his head was filled once more with his trepidation about what exactly Grace was going to reveal to them later that Sunday. He believed his sister when she said that it wasn't bad, but… As he glanced at the young man at his side, he shook slightly. In the past, even the mention of his name… Gordon Clarington was Jeff's Voldemort in so many ways. He had improved so much since they had been informed of his death at Halloween, and if this undid all of that progress…
Nick got up, unable to go back to sleep, and after gently pulling himself free from his sleeping husband, he went to sit quietly in the living area. Caleb was woken up by his arrival, and went to join him. This was the third morning in a row that one of his humans had done this; woken him up and then sat there, not attending to feeding him. He hoped that this was not going to be a new habit amongst them. Nick sat there for a lot less time than Mike had done on Friday, or Jeff had done the day before, though, and he was soon in the kitchen, starting on his usual morning routine, which meant Caleb's stomach was quickly satisfied. He had resolved that there was nothing he could do to prevent what was coming; all he could hope was that it would provide closure on the subject once and for all. However, if there was something nasty said about Jeff in the will, he hoped that his sister would have had both the presence of mind and the common sense to erase it…
As Cooper got ready to head out to the theatre that Sunday morning, he had the idea that there was something going on. Grace had told him when he had woken up that the boys were coming over for brunch, and then had set about ensuring that everyone else would be out of the house by the time that they arrived. Mason and Josh had been more or less pushed out of the front door, and as she started to set up brunch in the kitchen, he had the distinct impression that he would be next if he didn't hurry. This was reinforced by her constant reminders to him of what the time was; her comments that the traffic was particularly heavy that day, which amused him as he walked to the theatre, and heavy traffic actually made it easier to cross the street; and then her comment that people would think that he no longer cared about the show because he was leaving it for a new role, if he didn't arrive early. Then there was the matter of the black satchel that had suddenly appeared on the dresser. He recognised it of course - it was the one that she brought with her to the theatre every Saturday night when she came to meet him when he finished up his performance for the night…
"Are you still here, CJ? Shouldn't you be on your way to the theatre?" came Grace's voice from the next room as he thought about going over and investigating the bag, which she never left unattended.
"Yes, actually. In fact, I was considering calling in sick just this once, and staying here to have a good catch up with Niff. Congratulate young Jeff face to face on the fact that he is now officially the best…" he replied.
Grace appeared in the door, and shook her head. "I don't think so! You are certainly not sick, and if you want to catch up with the boys, you can do that tomorrow, or even when you finish your performance today."
"If I wasn't so sure that you loved me, Gracie, I would be thinking that you were trying to get rid of me. I would suspect that you were having an illicit liaison with another man…"
"Never, dear CJ! I have enough problems with one man, thank you very much. Look, I just want to have a catch up with my brother and his husband on my own. They'll be here any minute, so, if you wouldn't mind…"
"Ok, ok," said Cooper as Grace walked up to him, "Message received. I know when I am not wanted…" He followed his words with a theatrical sniff, which made Grace laugh for a moment, before she pointed at the door. Cooper smiled, kissed her lightly, the grabbed his coat and headed for the door. He opened it just as Nick was about to ring the bell. "Hey brother-in-law-to-be and most talented young artist in the whole of NYC. I can't stop, as apparently I am banished to my place of work. But big congrats, Jeff, and I am looking forward to going to see it tomorrow in person. I'm sure the New York Times didn't do it justice."
With that, Cooper bounded past them down the steps, and Grace appeared at the front door. "Just ignore him, and come on in boys. I've just got everything ready!" Jeff smiled and made his way in. Nick came in behind him, still unable to shake the feeling that the whole world was about to come crashing down around him.
By the time that he and Grace got to the kitchen, Jeff was already at the table, sniffing the air. "I think that the bacon might well be done to perfection, Grace. Should I serve it up?"
"No, you're the guest today Jeff. You sit down and I'll get it." She turned to get the bacon out of the grill and realised that Jeff had been spot on; it was perfect timing. "So, have you seen the Arts Section of today's Times? If not, then you really should. It's over there on the dresser beside my satchel." Nick got up as Jeff was already busy eating, and glanced at the cover of the journal - and smiled. There, staring up at him from the front cover was Jeff, beside his drawing. He might also have been in the image too…
"Well, now it is official, my love! You are now the front page of the Arts section, under the headline 'The talented Mr JS-D; Is there nothing that he cannot do?' You really have made it…"
Jeff stopped eating for a minute as Nick laid the paper in front of him, and he saw the colour light up in his cheeks as he stared at the image. "I wonder if my parents know about this? They will want a copy. We will need to get one ourselves to put away for our scrapbook. I mean, me, the headline news in the paper, and this time there is not a mention of that man anywhere…" Jeff was so engrossed in the article that he did not notice the pointed look that Nick gave his sister at that moment…
Then it was time for the moment that Nick had been dreading. The food had been eaten, wolfed down by Jeff as if he hadn't eaten in a week, consumed far more slowly by his worried husband. Grace knew that she had to get things started before Nick fell apart with the suspense, and there was no better time than now…
"So, I confess, I do have an ulterior motive in bringing the two of you here today. It wasn't just for a catch up, or so that I could wonder once more why my brother-in-law isn't the size of a house with the amount of food he eats. There is something more official that we need to attend to…"
"Oh, well, that's ok," said Jeff. "Of course, I will freely admit that I'm not that great at all the official stuff, so maybe you and Nicky should just sort it out between you."
Grace sighed, and reached across the table to take Jeff's hand, startling him. "In this case, I actually couldn't, Jeff, because it concerns you directly. Nick isn't really involved this time, and he wouldn't even be here if I didn't think you would need him to be here when I tell you what I have to say…" Jeff's smile began to fade, and Nick took his other hand, squeezing it gently. "It all started on New Year's Day, when Elspeth called me. She had received a letter, two days after Christmas, and now she needed my assistance on a legal basis. She swore me to secrecy at the time, and I accepted the need for it. She was equally certain that you would not object to me acting on your behalf, as it were…"
"So it concerns me, and my mother - that's strange… What is the link to her?" said Jeff.
"Honestly, the link to her is slight, although she was named in the document directly, whereas you… To be blunt, she had seen in the letter a way to get her own back, and also to achieve something for you that she never had dreamed possible before. Jeff, she asked me to act on your behalf in consideration of the Last Will and Testament of your father, Gordon…"
Nick could only watch in silent horror as all of the colour drained from Jeff's face at the mere mention of that name. His breathing had also instantly become more rapid. He tightened his grip on his husband's hand, holding it and willing him to calm down.
"I know that name is the last one that you want to hear, so I will not mention it again, but his will I do have to talk about, I'm afraid. Your mother was sent a copy of it, as I have said, just after Christmas. She put off reading it, as distressed as you by the fact that he still had a hold over her, until New Year's Eve, deciding that if she read it through, then she could leave it back in 2015 and start the new year afresh. However, when she did, she noticed something. That is why she decided, after a night sleeping on it, to bring me in. I was reluctant from the first, as it has placed me in a very difficult position, in that she asked me to say nothing, meaning that I have had to conceal the information not only from the two of you, but also from CJ. All that he knew was that I had a special case that I was working on every Saturday night whilst he was on stage. That was the case until last week, when it finally came to court. When it made the Times on Friday, I was concerned that you might see it, given that they printed it under that diatribe from that awful woman…"
"Wes' mom… We did actually read that, but it upset us, so we just discarded the paper," whispered Nick.
"The case wrapped on Thursday, and that was all that they reported then. The verdict wasn't handed down until late on Friday - and it was in my favour. I can imagine that your…that man would be apoplectic if he knew about it, trust me…"
"Ok, so what was the case about, Grace?" interrupted Nick. "You've not told us that yet, and Jeff probably needs to know that more than whether you won it or not, to be honest."
"Right, I was coming to that… When Elspeth read the will, it was exactly as she had anticipated it would be; to summarise the main point here, it said - 'To my wife Elspeth, who has throughout our marriage shown me none of the support that she should have, I leave nothing, as is fitting. All of my estate is bequeathed to my son, as he will know exactly what he needs to do with it.' Those were his words, and after she thought about it, in them she saw a faint chance for a small bit of revenge for all she and others had suffered at his hands."
"It is no surprise that he was going to leave my mother high and dry, but I don't understand why she couldn't just have left it all well alone!" exclaimed Jeff. "I thought that she understood what even the mention of his name does to me! How could she be so cruel and heartless as to drag me into this!" His last words were yelled out in frustration, tears starting to well up in his eyes.
Nick said nothing, as he wondered the same thing. What had she seen that would make her do this to his Jeffie - and then it came to him in a blinding flash of realisation. He looked up at his sister, who was near tears herself, and he nodded at her. It was exactly as Grace had put it to them; it was her chance, their chance to take some revenge on the man that had made all of their lives a living hell for far too long. He turned to his husband, and grasped both of his hands. "Jeffie, you need to breathe, ok, and you need to listen. I know it is hard, but you have to. Your mother knew what she was doing, and she would never willingly hurt you, you know that. I think now that I have spotted the same thing that she did in the will; I think I know what Grace was fighting for. I've spotted the thing that he didn't say…"
As Jeff looked at Nick curiously, Grace started to talk again. "You're right, little brother. That is exactly what she spotted; what he didn't say. It would appear that he did not think to alter his will since he made it prior to Hunter becoming embroiled in everything that would happen at Dalton Academy. That shows me that he was nowhere near as smart as he liked to claim. It left the door wide open for a challenge on the interpretation of the document. His intentions are there, but only in his head, not in black and white. He quite obviously intended to leave the entirety of his estate to Hunter…"
"That's obvious!" scoffed Jeff. "But he isn't around anymore, so he has clearly failed in that respect! I take it that all of his money will go to the government or something?"
"That is what would have happened, had Elspeth not asked me to help her challenge it."
"I wish that she hadn't. I wish she had just let it go, rather than bringing him back into all our lives! Ok, I don't want to know anymore… Nicky, I think that we should go, before I get any more upset, and say something that will cause a rift between me and your sister, and force you to decided between the two of us."
Nick sighed, and spoke softly. "Jeffie, if that did happen, then I would always choose you, and Grace is aware of that. I know you want to go, but I think that we really should let Grace finish what she has to say. Your father, and I will call him that, was an evil man. He had plans that would have destroyed the two of us; he tried to kill me on our wedding night; he had already tried to kidnap you in the hope of creating Hunter Mk II out of you. He had already taken the little brother that had adored you and warped his mind, turning him into a monster that left you, me and Sebastian permanently disfigured. I hate him with every bit as much passion as you, but what I hate more is the way that he died. It all felt a little too convenient for him. He did not have to face a trial, to be shown up for the tyrant he was in public. It is actually nice to know that he wasn't as smart as he liked to make out. He had a long time after everything that happened to us at Dalton to alter his will, but he didn't, and that was such a fantastic error on his part." Nick paused, as Jeff stared at him, his eyes filling with tears. "Jeffie, his will clearly states that he wished to leave everything that he owned to his son…"
"Hunter is dead, Nicky!" whispered Jeff.
"I am aware of that my love, but I am also aware of the fact that, like it or not, he had two sons, not one. So, if he left his money to his son, it stands to reason that the money should come to his eldest, and very much still alive, son. Jeffie, your mother saw this, and she acted because she wanted his entire estate to come to you…"
"I don't want anything from him! He didn't want to know me, he didn't like the real me, and that's not my fault! Why would I want anything from him now?"
"Jeff," said Grace quietly, "your mother was well aware of what your initial reaction to this news would be, and at first , I reacted in exactly the same way, until she told me what I am about to tell you…"
"I don't care! I don't want to know anything! I just want to go! Nicky, please…"
"Jeffie, I agree with you wholeheartedly on this, and with the stance that you are taking, trust me, but would it hurt just to listen? Didn't Wes always tell us that you should not make a judgement, jump to conclusions until you are aware of all the facts? Just hear Grace out, and then, if you still want nothing whatsoever to do with what is in his will, then that will be it. Subject closed. I promise, and so does Grace. That will be the end of it."
"I don't know, Nicky. It hurts…I just want to go…"
"Look, I promise you that after today, you will never have to hear anymore about this. I have never broken a promise to you, have I? I don't intend to start now. If you really don't want to hear, then maybe Grace could tell me and then I could tell you if I think you'd want to know…"
Jeff pondered for a second, and then sighed. "No, I will let Grace tell me. The harm is already done. But once she has told me, that is it, forever?"
"If that's what you want, then it is more than ok with me, Jeff. I'm sorry I have to hurt you by bringing this up, but you do need to know." Grace paused, and took a drink, then started again. "When your mother met your father, and married him, he was a low ranking officer, at the very beginning of his career. She was an art school graduate from a very wealthy family; she was swept of her feet by a handsome young man. When they married, it invoked a clause in her grandfather's will, and she inherited a substantial amount of cash, shares and other assets. She naively placed all of these funds under their joint control, as that was what a married couple were expected to do in those days. Then, one day, after he had shown her his true colours and had started on the campaign of violence against her, she tried to access them. She was pregnant with you at the time, and she wanted to leave him before you came along. That was when she discovered that she no longer had the ability to access that account. He had forged her signature on documents, had persuaded a doctor to write a letter saying she was mentally unstable, and the bank had agreed to his desire to have sole control over the lot. You see, he had no cash of his own, no family wealth to inherit. His army salary had never been enough until then to allow him to build up any savings of his own. I guess what I am saying here is that all of the assets that make up your father's estate were purchased with her family money. It all comes from her in reality. By not leaving anything to her in his will, he was robbing her of the last thing he had to take. The wealth she had given him."
"If that is the case, could she not just have challenged the will on her own behalf? I mean, everyone knew that he was not of a sound mind, so that surely invalidates it?" asked Jeff.
"I am guessing that the way he worded it leaves that option out, particularly as she has no proof I am guessing that he forged her signature all those years ago?" said Nick, and was pleased when his sister nodded. It meant that at least some of his law school training was paying off.
"The only way that she could ensure that the money stayed where it belonged, within her own family, was to make a challenge based on the ambiguity of the term 'son'. When she first came to me and suggested that, I told her that you would find the whole idea abhorrent, but then she told me exactly what the estate entailed, and I found myself coming round to her way of thinking. Suddenly the idea that his estate, financed by her money, should go to the government horrified me."
"So Jeff suddenly became unimportant to you? His feelings on the issue no longer mattered?" exclaimed Nick, looking with a frown at his sister.
"I didn't say that, Nick. Of course his feelings matter to me very much. I know that if I hurt him, I hurt you, and that is the last thing I would ever want. His feelings do matter, and if he says no at the end of all of this, then both Elspeth and I will be content with that and accept it. I have had plenty of time, as she has, since we embarked on this journey to think. She now agrees with me that the only thing that really matters is Jeff's happiness."
"Good. Well, I have already made my feelings on the subject clear, so that is that!" said Jeff, who was struggling with his emotions, feeling that any moment he might burst into tears with frustration. Hopefully, he would have to hear no more, and he could head home and snuggle all afternoon with Nick…
To his surprise, it was his husband that spoke next. "I have one question, and I am acting here out of the best interests of my husband. What is the value of his estate, out of curiosity?"
"Nicky!" squealed Jeff. "It doesn't matter! What do I have to do to convince you all that I am not interested!?"
"Humour me for a moment, Jeffie. Grace, could Jeff accept…" Nick paused and hushed his husband before he could protest again. "Could he accept, then give every single cent of it to charity?"
Grace looked at him for a second, deep in thought. "Honestly, I am not sure, but given that he would never have expected Hunter to do so, I doubt that Jeff could be prevented from doing so. For the record, in answer to your first question, the value of the estate is in nine figures, at today's values…"
"Nine!" said Nick in hushed tones, his eyes wide open. Beside him Jeff sat in silence, his mouth wide open, his next protest having been silenced by the thought of a long line of zeroes…
"Nine," repeated Grace. "You can both see now, I expect, why Elspeth felt compelled to fight the will. If it had been a few thousand, then so be it. A few million…"
"Is a very different story," whispered Nick, as beside him Jeff still sat in shock. He could not contemplate just how wealthy Gordon had been - no, how wealthy his mother had been. For the first time now, he was having serious doubts about his initial reaction. He had always tried to help others when he could… If he could accept the money then give it all away; if he could use it to help other people then maybe it would be worth it. He could compromise his principles and accept the tainted money for that purpose…
"Of course, it isn't all cash," came Grace's voice disturbing Jeff's thoughts. "A sizeable part of it is, but there are also stocks and shares, and a portfolio of property. It is that latter part that is of most concern to us right now. It forms the bulk of the estate and some of it is of particular interest, because it reflects the cruel and uncharitable nature of the man in question…"
Grace's words roused the interest of both of her audience. "I am taking it from your statement that some of this property has an impact on people that do not deserve to be subjected to his actions?" said Nick.
"Or worse, he has used property as a means to punish people that he did not like or approve of," said Jeff. He looked at the expression on Grace's face after he had spoken, and from it, he knew that he had scored a hit. "That's it, isn't it. He used property as a weapon too…"
"That is exactly what he did in two of the cases, although you will be glad to hear that in one of those, he did not emerge triumphant. That fact gave me and Elspeth the greatest of pleasure. It's the other case that I will come to first though. Several acres of land in Vermont. Good quality land that had been allowed to go fallow since it was snapped up, pocket by pocket, until it eventually came to surround a particular farm on all sides."
Nick looked at his sister, then spoke. "I bet I can guess exactly where that land is and I am certain that Jeff will be able to do so too."
"It's all the land that surrounds my aunt's farm, isn't it?" said Jeff quietly. "I remember the first time that we went up there; as we drove the last few miles I recall pointing out to Nick that the land we passed looked so unloved compared to what we had seen before, and what we would eventually find at our destination. I said as much to Aunt Moira, and she just pursed her lips and said nothing…"
"That's right, I remember," said Nick. "Eventually she did admit that she and Sarah had always wanted to expand the farm, and build a viable future, not just for themselves, but for Duncan, Flora and Luke, so they could come back and help them out, if that was what they wanted. They wanted to set up new businesses, to convert disused buildings into affordable homes, so that the young people living locally did not feel obligated to move away. They wanted to take advantage of the emerging digital technology to bring new jobs to the valley with good wages. But each time that a neighbouring farm came onto the market, they were outbid, and the property would sell for far more than they could ever afford. They then saw the place neglected by the new owner, and when she investigated further, she found out that it was a shell company that was buying them up. All this time, it was Moira's brother-in-law that was doing that, that was thwarting her plans to bring employment and prosperity to the community. Poor Elspeth…"
"Yes, she was more than a little upset when she realised what her husband had been doing behind her back to her family, and the fact he was using that family's money to do so too… I think that might have been one of the main forces that spurred her on to try and reclaim the money."
"In the hope that if I owned it instead…" Jeff started. "She is right, of course she is! If I accept the land in Vermont, then I can give it back to my aunts?"
"You could, yes, but it would be far better for you to just charge them what is known as a peppercorn rent. If you give them it, then they would be probably be liable for a hefty tax bill on the gift. You charge them something like $10 a year, then they aren't. Anyway, that is the first of the major properties in the estate. Moving on, we have several thousand acres of land in the Dakotas."
"The Dakotas!" said Jeff. "Why on earth would he want so much land there? Is there another branch of my mother's family there that I do not know about?"
"I think that I can hazard a guess, my love," Nick replied. "Gordon always seemed to me to be one of those slightly mad people that anticipated the apocalypse in the next few years, and we already know that he thought that he and Hunter were the kind of people that should survive above all others and be beyond what they saw as the liberal laws. So, I am guessing that the land in the Dakotas is in one block, and in a remote area far from any centre of population. He was going to use it as his last redoubt. He was probably planning to build a bunker of some kind where he, Hunter, and some carefully selected friends could hide out."
Grace nodded. "The investigator that was sent up there states that he had already started on the building works for the bunker. Worse than that, they discovered a cache of weapons hidden away in one of the buildings that already existed at the site."
"He was mad, there is no doubt about that!" said Jeff with a shiver.
"Next we have a number of properties in Ohio, one of which has been identified by Elspeth as being the place that they lived when Hunter was enrolled at Dalton. None of the other property is of any great interest, apart from a plot of land on the eastern boundary of the Academy. Elspeth has no interest in returning to that house, and I doubt you would have any use for any of it, apart from maybe that land beside Dalton."
"So, if Jeff did decide to accept the estate, he would be free to sell all of that, and the stuff in the Dakotas, and then give the proceeds to charity, if he did not wish to touch the money himself? I'm also guessing that we could offer Dalton the land at the same kind of deal that he would make in Vermont?"
"Yes. The money could be donated to charity, placed in a trust, used to do good," said Grace, seeing where her brother was going. "So, next we come to something that does not fit in with the rest. We have a beach house, with land including a private beach, on Long Island."
"A beach house! He actually bought a beach house!" exclaimed Jeff, shaking his head.
"Yes, a six bed, six bath home, which as well as the private beach has a swimming pool, tennis courts and several outbuildings, in a quiet community on the north shore on the outskirts of Port Jefferson," continued Grace.
Nick suddenly burst out laughing, which earned him a funny look from both Jeff and his sister. "Oh, I'm sorry guys, but it's the irony! Jeffie, my love, from what I have heard, the locals refer to that particular place as Port Jeff! He bought a house in a town named after you. If ever there was a moment where karma played a part, then this is it!"
"I must admit that when I mentioned the way the name was shortened to Elspeth, she laughed just as much as you, little brother, and then wondered why on earth he had chosen to buy one there. Moving on now to the final property, and this is the one that he failed to achieve his aims on. It will be of most interest to the two of you, not just for that reason, but because of where it is located." Grace paused, as the two young men focused all their attention on her, their curiosity piqued. "It's here, in Manhattan. He had a substantial property holding here, in New York…"