Chapter 38
‘What’s up with Richard?’
Frank beckoned his eldest grandchild into the inner sanctum. ‘Just a dose of reality.’
‘Huh?’
‘Oh, he just found out what happens if you question my decisions.’
Troy stared at him. ‘You didn’t fire him – did you?’
‘No, of course not. We both know we’d be lost without him. Now, what have you got for me today, my favourite grandson?’
‘Your only grandson.’
‘Which is why you are going to own all this one day when I retire.’
‘You’ll never retire.’
‘Never say never. I might surprise you.’
‘That’ll be the day,’ quipped Troy.
Frank looked at his grandson, and chuckled. ‘I heard that. You know me too well. I’ll have to be six feet under, I’m afraid, before you can get your hands on my empire. In the meantime, I expect you to do what I say.’
‘Tell me something I don’t know,’ said Troy miserably.
‘You know, I was going to say the exact same thing. What have you got for me today?’ he asked again. ‘I was beginning to think you’d reneged on our arrangement and defected to the other side.’
‘What made you think that?’
‘Hmm, now let me see. Perhaps the fact that you’ve been avoiding me.’
Troy remained silent.
‘Ah, you thought about it. But something happened.’ He pointed at Troy in the awkward silence. ‘Women – they break your heart. That’s what they’re put on this earth to do.’
Troy did not want to talk about women, and one woman in particular. Instead, he said glumly, ‘What’s so important about The Beach House, anyway?’
‘That’s none of your business.’
‘Your business is my business – remember?’
Frank shook his head, thinking about Richard.
Troy noticed. ‘What?’
‘Nothing.’
Troy frowned at his grandfather. ‘Talking of business, I thought you were giving me a promotion to a more senior position?’
‘I was. I will. When you’ve upheld your end of the bargain. But let me remind you that this isn’t business. This is personal.’
Troy sighed. ‘Look, I wasn’t avoiding you.’
Frank sat back in his chair and raised his eyebrows – he didn’t look convinced.
‘I was staying at Coastguard Cottage with Willow, like I promised Dad. You know he doesn’t want Willow staying here with me while he’s away working.’
‘You mean, he doesn’t want her staying here with me.’
Troy didn’t want to get into that. ‘Well, now he’s back.’
‘Sebastian is back? He didn’t tell me.’
Troy gave him a look that said, Are you surprised?
‘He’s okay, then? I wish he’d come and work for me, or just accept some money so he doesn’t have to do that dangerous job.’
‘Me too. But you know he won’t take any of your money.’
‘What would persuade him to give it up, do you think?’
They’d had this conversation many times. Troy frowned at the thought of his dad having all those cosy conversations with Briony. Why did they get on so well? He’d overheard them talking about the ocean. Perhaps she’d persuade him to give it up.
‘Have you brought Willow to see me too?’
Troy frowned. ‘Yes.’
‘Good.’ He leaned forward in his seat. ‘Now, are you done with working on that outbuilding?’
‘I’m done there. I’m not going back.’
‘Thank the lord. Honestly, I didn’t know what you were playing at – do you? It started off simple enough. All I asked you to do was go and scope out The Beach House. Just have a look. Not start renovating an outbuilding on the property. What were you thinking?’
‘Yeah, well it ended up to your advantage, didn’t it?’ Troy recalled the rather heated conversation when Frank had found out what his grandson was doing.
He’d surprised Troy when he’d said, I want to pull down The Beach House, not renovate it. To which Troy had replied, I’m not renovating it, I’m doing the outbuilding. And why do you want to pull down a perfectly sound house? Are you after building a different property on the land?
His grandfather had refused to give away his intentions. Troy had told him it wasn’t his fault that he’d ended up with a renovation project. He hadn’t expected anyone to catch sight of him out there, looking at the property. There had been no car parked out front when he’d turned up. Troy had said, It wasn’t my fault the granddaughter was there.
She’s got a granddaughter?was his grandfather’s response.
That was when Troy had told him that Briony had got it into her head that he was there to renovate the outbuilding.
His grandfather had said, But you didn’t have to go through with it.
And he’d replied, But I wanted to.
Troy recalled that conversation almost verbatim, because that was when his grandfather had said, Why? Just because she’s a girl, and I bet by the look on your face, a pretty one at that? What have I told you about the first rule of business?
It’s not personal,Troy had replied.
He frowned at the thought that it certainly wasn’t personal anymore – not after what he’d heard at the party.
‘You’ve got something for me?’ His grandfather reminded him why he was there.
Troy said, ‘Now you’ll thank me for doing up the outbuilding. It’s how I found this …’ Troy slapped a dog-eared manila A4 envelope down on his desk.
He remembered the last conversation with his grandfather, there in his study. Troy had stormed out, wishing he’d never agreed to spy for him after what he had asked of him. Troy remembered shouting, ‘Are you seriously asking me to go in the house and search through the owner’s things when she isn’t there?’
‘Yeah – why not?’
‘Why not?’ Troy had looked at him thinking, Is he for real? ‘Do I have to answer that question?’
‘Look, you’ll need to use the lavatory, won’t you?’ his grandfather had replied. ‘And you’ll be there on your own at some point.’
‘Yes, and yes. She left me with a key,’ Troy had responded.
‘So, I don’t see the problem.’
Troy frowned, recalling that conversation. It was the first time he understood why his father avoided his grandfather. Why hadn’t he seen it before? His grandfather could be unscrupulous. Troy sighed. And now he was too.
He slapped the envelope down on his desk. ‘There, you’ve got what you wanted.’
Frank frowned. ‘What’s this?’
‘The deeds, of course.’
Frank gingerly took the envelope, and looked up at his grandson. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yep. I had a cursory glance. They’re the deeds alright. At least, I hope so. I didn’t have time to check it thoroughly. There were loads of people at the party. I didn’t want anyone to catch me.’
He didn’t want to think about Briony catching him walking out of the second bedroom in The Beach House, when he’d come up with some lame excuse to explain what he was doing there rather than tell her the truth – he’d found the deeds in a secret compartment in the old bureau. He had intended to tell Briony where they were. Then he’d thought he’d give them to Briony as a surprise – his grandfather, and that stupid bargain he’d struck to get a more senior position, be damned.
Then he’d caught her and Sebastian exchanging smiles and waves at the party, and had got madly jealous again, taking the deeds out to his van, full of indecision as to whether he should hand them over to his grandfather after all.
But as he’d sat in his van and cooled off, he’d had a change of heart. That was, until Freddie had turned up.
‘Loads of people – you say?’ Frank interrupted his thoughts.
‘Yeah, it’s a party to celebrate the grand opening of the outbuilding.’
‘Why aren’t you there, then? You renovated it.’
Troy rubbed his forehead. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
Frank sat back in his chair. His expression softened. ‘You like her, don’t you?’
‘Who?’
‘Who? The granddaughter.’
‘I did. Until I found out she had someone else all along.’
Frank leaned forward and cupped his hands together on his desk, as if in prayer. ‘Ah, the family curse.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘First me, then your father. We’ve all had our hearts broken by a girl. I thought that as we are not blood-related, you might escape it. But clearly not.’
Troy stared at his grandfather. ‘So, all this …’ he glanced at the deeds, ‘the reason you want that property is over a girl? A woman?’
Frank didn’t answer. Instead, he opened the envelope and carefully slipped out a single sheet of paper. He was about to read it when he was interrupted by someone knocking on the study door, and a little girl’s voice shouting out, ‘Grandpa! Are you and Troy finished yet?’
‘Just a minute sweetheart.’
Troy glanced at the single sheet of paper on the desk. ‘So, what’s written on the deeds?’
Frank picked up the piece of paper. ‘Aha! So this is the reason that she wouldn’t answer the letters, or let on that she had the deeds.’
‘What is it?’
Frank looked up. ‘A mystery solved. Or perhaps another one unearthed.’
‘I’m sorry – what?’
Frank slowly shook his head from side to side. ‘Who would have thought? All these years, she’s been living there, keeping a secret.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Troy.
‘The Beach House. Turns out that all along, it has belonged to someone else.’
Troy was about to ask him what he meant by that when they were interrupted by Willow again, knocking on the door, and calling out, ‘Grandpa! Can I come in now?’
Frank tucked the deeds back in the envelope with an enormous grin on his face, and called out, ‘Yes, sweetheart, you can come in now.’
Willow thrust open the door, and ran into the arms of her grandpa. He’d turned in his swivel chair, in anticipation of getting his usual greeting from his sweet little granddaughter, jumping on his lap, and putting her little arms around his neck. He always got a kiss on the cheek for his troubles too.
‘How goes the mission, sweetheart?’
‘The mission?’ Troy looked at his sister in surprise. ‘Are you spying for Grandpa?’
Willow eyed her brother, dropping her gaze as though she’d done something wrong.
Troy slowly sat down in a chair opposite them. ‘What did he promise you?’ Troy was guessing that it wasn’t another senior position in Grandpa’s company.
Grandpa bounced Willow up and down on his knee and smiled. ‘Now, remember, getting your very own pet relies on the success of the mission. Nothing comes free in life, Willow. Everything is hard-earned. Now, what have you got for me?’
Willow pursed her lips. ‘But I made a promise!’
Frank said, ‘How’s that?’
‘I’m in the Wolf Girls Club. We’re not meant to tell.’
Troy stifled a smile, feeling so proud of his little sister for not giving in to their grandpa. So, he wasn’t the only one who’d met Briony and then had second thoughts about following through. He’d nearly reneged on his grandpa’s stupid spy game himself because he’d met Briony and fallen in love. Troy raised his eyebrows. His grandpa was right: he’d fallen in love, and she’d broken his heart.
Frank studied his granddaughter. ‘You know, sometimes we have to think of the greater good.’
Troy caught Willow’s confused expression and sighed. ‘What Grandpa means is that sometimes you have to give up something in order to gain something … bigger.’ Troy frowned. That perhaps wasn’t quite the definition he was looking for, but explaining it to a five-year-old wasn’t exactly easy.
‘Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. Now, you have to choose. Which is more important – family, that’s me, your grandpa – or your friends?’
‘Frank!’ Troy stood up. ‘Really?’
‘What? It’s just a question.’ Frank turned to Willow. ‘Now, how about it? Are you going to tell me the Wolf Girls Club secrets? There’s a sweet little kitten waiting for you, if you do. Maybe even two?’
‘I want Tom and Jerry.’
‘Ah, the little foster kittens you told me about. Well, consider them yours.’
‘Oh, Grandpa.’ Grandpa got another kiss and a big hug. ‘You’re the best.’
‘I know.’
Troy scowled at him.
‘Now, what is it you want to tell me?’
Troy decided he might as well stay and hear what she had to say. Perhaps there would be something that cropped up in the Wolf Girls Club that explained why Briony hadn’t told him about her fiancé or the baby.
Troy sat there listening to his little sister. It turned out there wasn’t anything about Briony, it was just about Briony’s grandmother, Blythe, asleep in hospital and wouldn’t wake up. Troy didn’t bother correcting her or mentioning that she was in a coma. Even so, he noticed Frank’s happy demeanour slip when he heard that. He must have realised it was a euphemism.
‘Well, thank you for that report, Willow. I shall mull it over.’
Troy caught his grandfather’s expression, his voice sounded strained. Something was up.
‘What about my kittens?’
‘Of course. Troy will go and fetch them.’
‘I will not! I’m not going back there.’
‘Oh, but you will, if you want me to uphold my end of the bargain too.’
Troy frowned. ‘Thanks, Willow,’ he said sarcastically.
Five-year-old Willow didn’t get the sarcasm. She climbed off her grandpa’s knee, and ran over to Troy. ‘You’re the best.’
Troy hugged her tight and lifted her on to his lap. ‘Frank, are you all right?’ Were there tears in his eyes?
‘Are you upset because I told you about the lady in hospital, Grandpa?’
Frank suddenly swivelled in his chair to face the wall, his back to them. ‘Please leave me.’
Troy stared at the back of his chair. This was most unlike his grandfather He looked at Willow. She’d noticed too. He didn’t want to worry her, so he said, ‘Come on, let’s leave Grandpa in peace. You know what a busy man he is.’
‘Troy, are you going to take me to get my kittens now?’
Troy sighed heavily as they approached the door. As they stepped out of the room, he heard Frank’s strained voice on the speaker phone to his secretary. ‘Tell me when the visiting hours are at the hospital.’