Chapter 10
Clive had brought bacon sandwiches for Maya and Lennox, which pleased them. It was a cold Monday morning, so he thought it the least he could do, given that they were teenagers who’d miraculously managed to drag themselves out of bed at this ungodly hour to be at the stables before school.
‘Tuck in, kids,’ he said, handing the foil-wrapped packages over. ‘Let’s fill up before we start work.’
Viva danced around him, her nose twitching as she caught the scent of the bacon she’d watched him grilling just twenty minutes earlier.
‘We’ve had this conversation,’ Clive told her. ‘You can’t have bacon. It’s bad for you. Anyway, you’ve had your breakfast so you can stop looking at me with those pleading eyes, you wee monkey.’
‘She does look sad,’ Maya said, sounding guilty.
‘She’ll look even sadder when she’s got pancreatitis,’ Clive said darkly. ‘No bacon for her please.’
They leaned against the stable walls in companionable silence, enjoying the thick sliced white bread and not too crispy bacon that Clive had cooked with his own fair hands.He pretended not to notice when Maya gave Viva a bit of her bread crust.
‘Just think, Summer will be on a plane now,’ Lennox said dreamily. ‘Lucky cow.’
‘Bet she’ll hate Australia,’ Maya said. ‘All them spiders. Ugh! The ones in the stables are bad enough, but they’re the size of dinner plates over there. They crawl up the toilet and bite your bum when you’re having a pee. You don’t see that on Home and Away, do you?’
‘I think there’s a bit more to Australia than spiders,’ Clive said. ‘Anyway, it will be good for her to spend time with her dad. I know she’s missed him. And of course, they’ll be staying with her sister and brother-in-law so I’m sure she’ll have a brilliant time.’
‘I think just getting away from here for a bit will do her the world of good,’ Lennox said, with surprising wisdom. ‘She looked knackered lately.’
‘Bet Ben will miss her,’ Maya added.
Clive had no doubt about it. He thought it was probably a good thing that Ben had a busy day ahead of him at the surgery. It would stop him brooding. It was going to be a long three weeks for the loved-up couple.
At least he’d managed to reassure Summer on Saturday night, after Jennifer’s little bombshell had dropped, causing Summer to panic.
‘But if Bethany already owns Whispering Willows, she won’t have to wait for any of the legal stuff, will she? If she wants to sell the house she can go right ahead,’ she’d gasped, as realisation had set in.
It had already occurred to him, and his heart had sunk at the prospect, even as he wondered how he’d never known that the house and sanctuary didn’t belong to Joseph at all. He supposed the subject had never come up. Why would it? He’d naturally assumed that Joseph owned it because, after all, he was the only son of Terence and Coral Wilkinson, and a lot older than Bethany. It seemed odd that Coral had bypassed Joseph and made Bethany the main beneficiary of her will. Why?
Evidently, Sally had been wondering the same thing because she’d asked Jennifer what on earth Coral had been playing at.
‘Joseph was too soft with his father,’ Jennifer said. ‘Maybe she thought if she left it to him Terence would have forced him to sign documents handing it over or something. I wouldn’t put anything past that man. Coral probably wouldn’t have dreamed, when she made that will, that Bethany would still be a child when she inherited. My mother said that the main thing, though, was that Coral didn’t want Bethany to end up in the same situation as herself. She wanted Bethany to have independence and to be able to live her life without needing a man to keep her, and probably hoped Bethany would have more sense when it came to men and finances than she’d had. My understanding is that Whispering Willows and the bulk of her fortune was held in trust until Bethany turned thirty, although some of her money was to be released to her on her twenty-first birthday.’
‘Sounds like Coral had good advice,’ Rafferty had mused. ‘Given everything we’ve heard about Terence, she clearly thought he’d find a way to sell the house at the first opportunity.’
‘What about Joseph’s inheritance?’ Summer asked, sounding hurt on his behalf. ‘He must have got something from someone! How else could he have kept the sanctuary going all these years?’
‘Oh, Joseph got a very generous financial settlement,’ Jennifer assured her. ‘He just didn’t get the house and land.’
‘Yet Bethany allowed him to continue living there, even after she left?’ Clive said, frowning. He’d have thought that, after whatever had happened to cause her to leave, she’d have turfed him out after their father died. She probably could have done. Certainly after she turned thirty she could have sold the house outright and Joseph wouldn’t have been able to stop her.
For some reason, she’d not done that. She’d allowed her brother to stay, and only now, when he’d passed away, was she determined to offload Whispering Willows. What had taken her so long? It wasn’t what he’d expected to hear, and he thought maybe there was more to Bethany than he’d given her credit for.
‘She could have sold it ages ago if that was her plan,’ he’d said to Summer, hoping it would reassure her, even though he felt bad at his deception. ‘I wouldn’t worry. I’m sure Whispering Willows is safe.’
Ben had looked uncomfortable but didn’t contradict him.
‘Clive’s right, love,’ Sally said. ‘I reckon now she’s back she might well stay. Hey, you never know,’ she added eagerly, ‘she might put you in charge of the place and pay you a proper wage for it. That would be grand, wouldn’t it?’
Summer grinned. ‘You think that’s a possibility?’
‘Stranger things have happened,’ Clive had said, avoiding Ben’s gaze. ‘Jennifer, this paella is absolutely fantastic.’
He hadn’t felt good about deceiving Summer, and he knew Ben hated it, but they’d both agreed she would never get on that plane if she was worried about the future of Whispering Willows, and she needed that holiday. Mind, she wasn’t the only one. He was ready for a break himself.
Thank the lord for Maya and Lennox because he wouldn’t have been able to manage at the stables without them while Summer was away. Making them breakfast was the least he could do. He’d make them a daily three course lunch if they asked him.
‘Would have been even better with ketchup,’ Lennox told him, nodding at his half-eaten sandwich. ‘Just for future reference, like.’
‘For future reference,’ Maya said firmly, ‘ketchup is vile on bacon butties. It’s brown sauce all the way.’
‘Aye, well, I wasn’t sure which you’d prefer, if any, so I didn’t put any on to be on the safe side. And for future reference, maybe tomorrow it’s your turn to make me a bacon butty. What do you reckon?’
Maya’s eyes widened. ‘I haven’t got time for that!’
‘Me mam wouldn’t like me messing about in her kitchen,’ Lennox said quickly. ‘Especially not at that time in the morning. Anyway, I don’t think we’ve got any bacon.’
Clive laughed. ‘Seems like I’m on butty duty every day then.’
They looked relieved. ‘You can deduct it from our wages if you like,’ Maya said hesitantly, earning a disapproving look from Lennox.
‘Ach, you’re all right,’ Clive assured her. ‘I reckon I can stretch to a butty every morning. Mind, it won’t always be bacon. I’m not made of money.’
He didn’t want them taking him for granted, after all, he thought with wry amusement. He glanced over his shoulder, surprised to hear a car approaching. They all straightened and exchanged bemused looks as a bright blue hatchback pulled up in the stableyard. Viva let out a yap, warning whoever it was that Whispering Willows was protected by a bichon frise who would take no prisoners if they meant any harm.
‘What’s she doing here at this time of the morning?’ Lennox muttered. ‘Must be crackers.’
‘You’re here,’ Maya pointed out.
‘Exactly.’
Clive scrunched up the foil that had held his bacon sandwich and stuffed it in his pocket, then gathered Viva into his arms as Bethany stepped out of her car looking surprisingly elegant for so early in the morning, dressed in smart navy-blue trousers and a grey sweater.
‘Morning!’ she called, smiling at them before reaching into the back seat, and retrieving a huge pile of papers.
That was possibly the most cheerful she’d sounded since she’d got here, he thought with surprise.She had a lovely smile and he wished she’d smile more. It really brightened her face.
‘Er, morning.’ He glanced at the teenagers who gave him a knowing look.
‘Come to check up on us,’ Lennox whispered.
‘We’d best get to work,’ Maya added.
‘Finish your sandwiches,’ Clive instructed them. ‘You’re entitled to some breakfast. Besides, you’re volunteers as far as she’s concerned. What’s she going to do, sack you?’
‘Fair point,’ Lennox said with a shrug, taking a huge bite of his bacon butty and fixing Bethany with a defiant stare, as if she was planning to snatch his breakfast from his hot little hand.
Bethany gave them a cheerful wave and headed towards the house. ‘Lennox and Maya, right? Thanks so much for turning out this early. I’ll put the kettle on, shall I?’ she called as she neared the door. ‘Shall we say five minutes?’
With that, she entered the house and closed the door behind her, leaving all three of them standing there in stunned silence.
‘What’s got into her?’ Maya asked Clive, as if he’d know. ‘Summer said she was a cold fish, but she seems all right to me.’
He thought a cold fish was a bit harsh. She’d had a rough time at Whispering Willows so she was bound to feel a bit out-of-sorts here. And she had, after all, allowed Joseph to stay here when she could have sold the place from under him years ago.
Maybe he should be a bit friendlier towards her. Maybe she’d cared more about her brother than she’d let on.
Although, if that was the case, why hadn’t she come to see him when he needed her most?
Don’t get carried away, Clive, he told himself as he headed slowly towards the house. She probably charged Joseph an extortionate rent or something.
Now that was a point. He wouldn’t be at all surprised.