Page 171 of Summer After Summer

“Yes, of course.”

Lucy takes out her iPad. “If all of the sales close, it’s over a million.”

A murmur goes around the room.

“So much?”

“All that dining room furniture and the rest of the antique sideboards, tables, etcetera, throughout the house, and some of the rare books account for most of it. A lot of it was Biedermeier and some other pieces that are pretty sought after.”

“I think it should all go to the charity. Charlotte and Sophie?”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Charlotte says, and Sophie agrees.

“Are you sure, Olivia?” Wes says. “Why not divide it among the four of you?”

“We have enough,” I say firmly.

“Yes, of course.”

Barry rattles his papers. “If that’s all taken care of, we can circulate the paperwork for the transfer?”

“No,” I say, “we need to discuss some things in there first.”

“Surely you’ve had enough time to do that already?”

I ignore him. “Did you get the papers, Charlotte?”

“I think so …”

“But you didn’t read them?”

She checks her manicure. “I glanced at them … Everything seemed in order.”

“And what about you, Sophie—did you get them?”

Colin leans forward. “What’s all this about, Olivia?”

“Will you hand me the papers, Barry?”

He hands a set to me, a worried frown on his face. I flip through them slowly, Wes stiff next to me, the air full of tension. The first thing I’m looking for is on page six. I found it that afternoon when I finally bothered to read it carefully before coming here.

“Did you review this, Fred?”

He looks up. “For my own part, of course. All seemed to be in order.”

“And what about this here, on page six?” I point to a clause in the middle of the page. “The finder’s fee that goes to Barry and Ann’s firm?”

“That’s standard in these large types of sales,” Barry says, though I was asking Fred.

“Charlotte, didn’t you tell me they were being paid a fixed fee?”

Charlotte’s mouth turns down at the corners. “Yes, I did say that.”

“How much?”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand.”

“What?” Sophie splutters. “You agreed to that?”

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