The Five Sons of Brent Star

Chapter Five

When we returned to the house, Ian helped carry the groceries in with me. He processed to stock the pantry and fridge with me.

It was a ghost town. The large house felt like we were the only group there.

"You bought a lot of food," Ian said.

"There are five of you," I said to him.

He scoffed. "I can assure you. There is only one of me."

"You know what I mean. Apparently, I am in charge of feeding you all." 

Ian raised his eyebrows.

"My father gave you a list of to-dos?" Ian asked. "And cooking was one of them?"

I shrugged, putting the fruit in the fridge, followed by the orange juice.

"I used to cook your dad meals a couple of times a week. He knew I enjoyed cooking, so maybe it was his way of ensuring I kept it up." I had told Brent that most nights, I would pop something in the oven and that I didn't see what the point of cooking for myself was.

Ian is thinking about something, and I wish I knew what it was.

"Before I left, my father wouldn't eat any meals that he had not prepared himself. At that point, he thought everyone was out to poison him."

I turned and stared at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't get to see that, Brent."

Ian stared back. "Then you were fortunate."

I must have been. The Brent I knew was someone I would have liked to have as a father myself.

The door chime goes off, and it echoes through the house.

"The size of this place kind of creeps me out," I said to Ian as we walked to the front door.

"That is not the reaction most people have to this place."

We open the door to Mr. Hartswigen standing on the front step with his briefcase. He reminded me of the butler from the Christian Bale Batman movies.

"Mr. Hartswigen," I smiled at him. "Please do come in."

"I should have called ahead," he said as he stepped in. "But I did not want to miss Ian. As soon as I heard you were here, I started driving."

Why would he miss Ian? We have two months.

Ian sighed.

"There are more stipulations?"

I looked at Ian and then back to Mr. Hartswigen, who nodded yes. "Yes, is there a place we can all meet?"

It took Ian a bit to gather up his brothers and have everyone meet in the library. The library was two levels. It was my dream room.

Ian walked in behind me.

"I figured you would like this room." He said taking in the look on my face. Would I ever get sick of this room?

The back wall had floor-to-ceiling windows, but all the other walls were covered in books.

"It's perfect," I said as the brothers sat down on the leather couches in the middle of the bottom level. Mr. Hartswigen was turning his laptop to face us.

"Of course, he would record himself. Dad never could give up screen time." One of the twins said. I needed to figure out a way to tell who was who.

Mr. Hartswigen waited for Ian and me to come closer and then pushed play.

"If you are watching this, Ian has come home." Brent Star said. He had lost more hair, and his voice was rougher than the last time. These videos were not made at the same time.

"At this point, you guys have met Cate. She is someone I have come to trust with my life story. She reminds me of someone from a lifetime ago. And I want you five to fill in the missing spots for her. That means she needs time with each and one of you." He stares at the screen, not talking. "That means she is in charge. She will make a schedule, and you each have to meet with her. She'll ask questions, and I want you to be honest."

The boys snorted at this last part.

"There will also be dinner every Wednesday night and Sunday night. You are all expected to sit together. Cate hold them to this. I mean it. It'll be good for them."

"As he cares," Eli grumbled, his head down, texting on his phone.

"If you need to leave for a work event, it needs to be approved by Cate."

Eli again is the one to talk, "so she owns us for the next two months?" He paused his typing to look over at me.

I smiled at him, and I think he took it wrong.

Brent is talking on the screen again. "Ian, I'm glad you are back. I wish I could have seen you before I passed." That meant Brent knew he would not get a goodbye to his eldest sons. "I missed you." Brent sounds choked up, and I do not bring myself to look over at Ian standing next to me.

Instead, I find my hand on his back and I'm rubbing small circles on his back. I wanted to comfort him, and I had no clue how to.

"Well, if you make it the two months and Cate believes she has enough information to finish my autobiography, then she will release the funds into your accounts." There is a brief pause. "The rest of the properties will be sold, and the funds will be directed into your accounts. However, the manor will be going to Cate Brennan."

And then the video ends, and the room explodes.

Everyone is yelling except for Ian. He is the only one who seems unphased by the bombshell his dad has just dropped on us all.

Even the level-headed twin is yelling since both twins are standing and yelling.

Ian clears his throat next to me and then says, "enough."

The room quiets a couple of seconds later.

"Do you care about the estate?" Ian asks. None of the brothers say anything. "Do you?" He asks again. The room is quiet.

Eli is the first to speak. "It is the principle behind it. The money should be going to us. This place is worth a fortune."

"She is not even blood," the sportier twin says. I guess I'll have to find out who is constantly wearing football attire.

"We all made him mad at some point, and this was his way of sticking it to us," Luke, the surfer hippie brother, said. He smiled, "good for him."

"This is bullshit," Eli said and walked out.

The rest of the brothers start to leave, and Mr. Hartswigen stops me.

"Miss Brennan, could I have a word?"

Ian looks at the two of us and then leaves the library shutting the doors behind him.

"Yes?" I ask once we are alone.

"Here is the deed to the estate in your name. All I need is a signature."

I paused before taking the pen. "I can't take this. I wouldn't even have enough money to pay the taxes or the electricity alone the workers that take care of the land."

"Mr. Star set up a trust. He has enough money set in there that you will die before the funds run dry. Of course, it's all set up; all you need to do is sign the paperwork." 

I sign on the line.

I now owned a thirty-million-dollar estate. At least I would never be homeless again.