Chapter Thirteen
A fter dinner with Isabella, the investor letters had been on Danni’s mind.
And the more she thought about them, the more they pissed her off.
So when she went up to the big farmhouse to pick up her mail and saw another, she was cross enough that she balled it up and threw it into the Aga before going out to track Hector down.
She found him in one of the outbuildings, stacking bags of feed.
“Tell me something,” she said, leaning against the wooden doorframe. “Who do you think keeps sending me those damn letters trying to buy the farm?”
Hector straightened up and wiped his brow. “Hello Danni, nice to see you, how are you, how’s married life, what a lovely day we’re having.”
“Huh?”
“Just illustrating how conversations usually begin,” Hector said.
“Right,” Danni said. “So. The letters?”
Hector wiped his hands on an already dirty rag. “It’s a developer, it’s always a developer. That’s how these things work.”
“You don’t know that for certain. You can’t,” said Danni, reaching down and picking up a feedbag to add to the stack.
Hector raised an eyebrow and got back to work himself.
“I don’t need to know. It’s just how these things work,” he said again.
“They see the land, they think about all the money they could make developing the land, they want the land, they buy the land. Simple as that. And if you, the landowner, say no, then they make sure you change your mind.”
Danni looked at him curiously. “How?”
Hector tossed another bag onto the pile.
“Don’t underestimate just how much these people want to build hundreds of identical houses in what used to be a field,” he said.
“They don’t play fair. You think they’ll just take ‘no’ for an answer?
Developers pull strings. They mysteriously get zoning laws changed.
Crops get sabotaged. Equipment starts to mysteriously break down.
That’s just the way they work. Which is why I keep saying that you need to be smart about all this. ”
Danni stopped and folded her arms. “I am being smart.”
“No, you’re being stubborn.”
“Am not.” She ground her teeth.
Hector sighed. “Look, all I’m saying is that this is a lot of money.
Money you need, your weird marriage situation aside.
And in all likelihood the developer will win out in the end, they usually do.
So why not take the money and save yourself all the hassle?
All this just because you don’t like the idea of selling. ”
Danni clenched her jaw. “Yeah? So I sell, and then what? Where do I go? What do I do? The farm is my life, Hec.”
“You come home,” he said. “At least for a while. Speaking of which, it’s about time, Dan.”
“No,” Danni said immediately.
Hector put his hands on his hips. “You got married. You think that no one’s told her? I know that the two of you don’t get on, but you promised me that you’d keep things civil. Which means that at some point you’re going to need to introduce your wife to your mother.”
“Forget it,” said Danni, backing out of the building. “Not going to happen.”
“Dan, come on.”
“Nope,” Danni said. “I’ll sell out to a developer before I get Eleanor and mum in the same room. Which means it’ll never happen. Not ever.”
???
The cafe was beautifully decorated, and Eleanor had to admit that despite being new, the place did know how to make a good pot of tea, always a good test of a new place. She was pouring herself a second cup when Elizabeth bustled in, her briefcase close to bursting.
“Sorry, sorry,” she said, pulling out a chair. “I got stuck in court and it’s been a pig of a morning.”
“Have a cup of tea,” Eleanor said, pouring one out for her.
“You’re a savior,” said Elizabeth, taking it. She looked Eleanor up and down. “You’re also looking stressed.”
“Yes, well, my house is an active construction site,” Eleanor reminded her.
“I had to climb over three ladders and avoid a near-death experience with a flying hammer just to get to my car, which still needs repairing. Not to mention that I’ve got to go back and made sure that Samson doesn’t let anyone pull out the original Georgian wallpaper from the gun room. ”
“With a big house comes big responsibilities,” Elizabeth said. “Not regretting taking the place on, are you?”
“Never,” Eleanor said sharply. “Although I do need your opinion on something.” She took out the latest investor letter and slid it across the table.
Elizabeth picked it up and scanned it. “Hmmm.”
“Hmmm?” Eleanor repeated. “That’s all you have to say?”
“It’s probably from a developer, these things usually are,” Elizabeth said. “Ignore it if you’re not interested.” She looked up. “If you are interested, I could set up a meeting?”
“I’m not interested,” Eleanor said. “And I would ignore it, but this is about the thirtieth copy I’ve received, which makes it rather hard to ignore. Now, can you tell me anything I don’t already know?”
Elizabeth looked at the letter again and shook her head. “I know the solicitor’s firm, I’ve got a friend from law school who works there.”
Eleanor sat forward. “And?”
“And that’s it,” Elizabeth said. “They’re a solid firm, good at keeping secrets, discreet, as is fitting for a law office.”
Eleanor huffed at that. “Ridiculous. They can send letters harassing us, but we can’t find out who’s behind them?”
“Us?” asked Elizabeth.
“Danni’s been getting them too, about the farm.”
“Interesting,” said Elizabeth. “This is a lucrative offer. But it’s not harassment, I’m afraid, so there’s nothing much that can be done. I’ll ask around see if anyone knows anything.”
“Thank you,” Eleanor said. “And as lucrative as the offer might be, I’m not interested.”
“I wouldn’t have thought you would be,” Elizabeth said. “But your wife might be.”
Eleanor scoffed, but the words lingered. Because, well, because it wasn’t an unfair point. There was a chance that at some point, the offers would become so generous that Danni might not be able to turn one down.
???
Dinner together at the farmhouse was a rare occasion, and Eleanor cooking was an even rarer occasion still. Danni sniffed at the air suspiciously as she came into the kitchen, pulling her boots off.
“Should I be worried?” she asked.
“The builders stopped early,” Eleanor said, face over a steaming saucepan. “Something about needing to dry damp plaster. So I thought we’d have a nutritious meal for once.” She looked up. “I can cook, you know.”
“So that expensive education was good for something then,” Danni said. To Eleanor’s credit, the food did smell good. Danni’s stomach rumbled as she pulled plates out of a cupboard .
“Sit down,” Eleanor said. “And don’t interfere.”
“Fine,” said Danni. She sat down at the kitchen table. “I was talking to Hector today about the letters. He said that developers play dirty and we should be careful.” She didn’t mention the part about her mother.
“Sadly, that’s probably true,” Eleanor said, putting a plate in front of Danni and then one on her own side of the table.
“From what I’ve heard, these things can get messy.
Which is ridiculous, because this is our land we’re talking about, nobody should be able to take it from us if we don’t want them to. ”
“Hec says that we should consider the offers before things get worse,” said Danni.
“I’ve got Elizabeth on the problem,” Eleanor said. “I met with her for lunch today. She’s going to ask some questions. Perhaps she’ll know more.”
“Perhaps,” Danni said. She was tired, and she knew she didn’t sound chirpy and hopeful.
“I won’t be bullied,” Eleanor said.
“No,” said Danni. She sat up straighter. “No, neither will I. We stick together, yeah?”
“Absolutely.”
But Danni could see from the way that Eleanor was looking at her that she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t know if Eleanor was doubting her own commitment to the cause or Danni’s, and before she had a chance to say anything, Eleanor’s phone rang.
???
“Anything?” Eleanor said, picking up the phone the moment she saw Elizabeth’s name on the display.
“Nothing,” said Elizabeth. “I told you. Discretion, client confidentiality, all of that is important.” She paused.
“But…” Eleanor prompted.
Elizabeth sighed. “But nothing, not really. Just… Well, when I mentioned your name, my friend said something about keeping it in the family, which sounded odd. He wouldn’t explain himself, I think the words slipped out before he realized what he was saying.”
“What?” Eleanor asked.
“That’s all I’ve got,” said Elizabeth. “Some kind of family connection. But to be honest, Nor, you’re related to half the county, that doesn’t exactly narrow things down, does it?”
“No,” Eleanor said. She hung up and filled Danni in.
“Not helpful then?” Danni said.
“We’re not likely to find out much more, I don’t think,” Eleanor said. “We’ll just have to be careful, keep an eye on things, make sure that these people don’t start making more trouble. I honestly don’t see what else we can do.”
“No,” Danni said, and she yawned. “Sorry, long day.”
The rest of dinner was a silent affair, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Eleanor loaded the dishwasher as Danni showered and then made her way upstairs. On her way up, she cast a glance at the couch in the kitchen.
Just for a moment, she thought about giving Danni her bed back. Not that Danni had ever complained about sleeping on the couch. But the woman was obviously tired.
She hesitated, debating as she went upstairs to change into her pajamas. She closed the bedroom door just a little too loudly.
“Hey, don’t break anything expensive in there, Your Ladyship,” Danni called out from the bathroom.
And Eleanor rolled her eyes and flopped onto the bed, abandoning all thought of giving it up in favor of the couch. Danni had asked her to stay, knowing that there wasn’t a guest bed, so Danni should pay the consequences. Besides, she hadn’t complained about sleeping on the couch.
There was a second there when the thought of Danni crawling into her own bed, her own bed that was occupied by Eleanor, snuck into Eleanor’s mind.
She growled to herself and got up to get ready for bed.
None of this was real, she reminded herself. As if it ever could be.