Will and Testament, Clarence, Mitfield & Booth have been
appointed as estate executors for your late father’s assets here in the
Virgin Islands. We understand that the late Mr. Hepworth’s UK
assets are being overseen by Lansdown Lowe with his foreign assets
being managed through Clarence, Mitfield & Booth.
We would like to advise you that we have successfully collected
in the estate assets, ascertained and renumerated any outstanding
debts prior to applying for probate, which is now complete.
We thought you would like to know that in accordance with your
father’s Will you are the sole beneficiary and have been bequeathed:
Property: A 3-bedroom Beachfront Estate, Pond Bay, Gorda, British
Virgin Islands
When I look up from rereading the letter the light outside has faded and the empty sitting room is lit only by the bare bulb in the socket above me.
My father never even visited the Caribbean.
I wanted a sign and I got one.
CHAPTER 2
NINA
N either the letter, from Clarence, Mitfield & Booth, nor the existence of this new house make immediate sense to me. My father was not a holiday-home sort of man. The very idea of him sitting shirtless in shorts on a sun bed is beyond the scope of my imagination. To say my father was a cerebral man would be an understatement. So a house, thousands of miles from the autumnal chill of London, bathed in sunlight and vivid Caribbean hues, does not sit quite right. The only reason I can imagine him ever requiring a house overseas would be if he had work out there. But he didn’t. At least to my knowledge.
I briefly call his UK solicitor; they too have received the correspondence and vouch for the authenticity of the firm. Whatever this house is…it is real.
I dial the long international number at the base of the letter. The elongated purr of a foreign ringtone reminding me that a time difference might hamper me. But just as the thought arrives so does a crisp Caribbean voice, a woman, who promptly transfers me to another voice. This one older, male, American.
“Ms. Hepworth, we’ve been expecting your call. James Booth. I am currently handling your case,” he tells me with such a calm, quotidian tone that I have to remind myself of the strangeness of the situation. I go on to explain that I have only just had a chance to open the letter from his firm and was surprised to read its contents. “Yes, of course,” he replies unfazed, his tone hinting that this might often be the case in his line of work. “It’s been a busy time for you.”
He is correct: it has been. I let my eyes roam around the darkening room, my father’s now blank-walled sitting room, parquet floors bared, bookshelves hollowed out. I shiver deeply.
“Yes, very busy,” I conclude, then clear my throat and refocus. “I’m just a little confused, James. About this letter. This additional will. We’ve already executed my father’s will in the UK. This Caribbean property. I wasn’t aware of it…” I trail off as I realize how unlike myself I sound. I sound like a daughter who barely knew her father, but that is not the case. I saw my father every single Thursday night since graduating from university, our games night: checkers, chess, crosswords. We spent almost all holidays and occasions together. I knew his schedule inside out. We spoke about everything. And yet here I am, for the first time, at a loss.
“I see. More than a little surprised then, I should imagine. Yes,” James answers, remaining warm but noncommittal. “Well, hopefully we can shed some light on—”
A thought suddenly occurs and I interrupt. “Sorry to ask, but could this letter be an error, James? Is there a possibility that you might have contacted the wrong person?”
James clears his throat, caught off guard. “Ha. No, no. Although be assured you are not the first beneficiary to have uttered those immortal words. But I can assure you, Ms. Hepworth—Nina, if I may?”
I hum a consent to the use of my first name.
“Thank you. Yes, I can assure you, Nina, that your father was most definitely the owner of the property in question prior to his death. There is no question of that. But more importantly, you are clearly named as sole beneficiary of the estate in Mr. Hepworth’s will. He was very clear about wanting you to inherit the property in its entirety. I can email you a copy of his list of wishes if that would be helpful at this juncture?”
“Um, yes, that would be. Yes,” I manage after a moment. The idea of reading anything new that my father has written is suddenly too desperate a need to articulate without fully exposing my grief.
“I will ask Melissa to send that across. Just be aware, Nina, that it is only a legal document so fairly dry in terms of content.”
