Chapter Forty-Four Lee
Chapter Forty-Four
Lee
After explaining the situation to Frankie as briefly as possible, and agreeing that it would be best for him to beat a tactical retreat for now, I make my way towards the hot chocolate stand.
Here Charles is being flanked by not only Luke, Tara and Claudia, but Mei and Kat as well.
They have arranged themselves around him like a human shield, and it does not look casual. The poor man looks hunted.
‘Hi!’ I say brightly, and everyone sends me a relieved look when I am clearly Frankie-free.
‘Lee! Darling!’ Claudia practically throws herself on me. ‘We were telling Charlie that you and Nico had probably snuck away just the two of you because you’re so happily married and deeply in love!’
‘Yep,’ Kat nods eagerly. ‘The most happily married. The most in love.’
‘And so stable,’ Tara chips in. ‘That’s what we always say. Wow, Lee and Nico. Couple goals. But in a responsible way.’
‘Extremely responsible,’ Mei agrees.
‘Yes, I…’ Charles looks like he’s feeling dizzy.
‘Oh!’ Phil in his Henry VIII costume bounces up. ‘Were you just talking about how happy and in love Lee and Nico are? Because boy, do I have some stories to share! Actually, there are four of us who tell them best. We like to act out the various parts, if you’ll hang on for one minute…’
‘That really isn’t necessary,’ Charles says weakly.
‘Hey…’ Nico’s hand slips around my waist, and I sag back against him in relief. He’s brought Jack and Cynthie with him.
‘You must be Mr Saunders,’ I hear Cynthie say, her hand outstretched as she glides towards him, her famous smile wide and sincere. ‘I’ve heard so much about you. May I call you Charles?’
All the colour leaves Charles’s face. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. ‘No!’ he says. ‘No! This is taking it too far.’ He glances wildly around at the group of us, before pointing to Cynthie with a trembling finger. ‘This woman won an Academy Award last year!’
Cynthie’s smile falters. ‘Did I say something wrong?’
Charles reaches into the pocket of his coat and pulls out an envelope, holding it out to Nico.
‘I can’t do this anymore,’ he says. ‘I was happy enough to go along with the charade in the beginning. Of course, I thought the people in this town were a bit overenthusiastic, but they’re clearly very fond of you.
And naturally, I hadn’t anticipated what a pleasure it would be spending time with your lovely mother,’ here his cheeks turn pink, ‘but I told your brother that I’m concluding the investigation early, so there’s no need for you to bring in further witnesses to this pretence of a marriage, especially not ones with an Oscar on their mantelpiece. ’ He gestures at Cynthie.
‘I also won a Teen Choice Award,’ I hear Jack protest.
‘Pretence of a marriage?’ I murmur, feeling all the blood leave my head as his words sink in. ‘You mean… you knew?’
‘Of course I knew,’ Charles scowls. ‘I am excellent at my job. There didn’t seem any reason to bring it up when I came here with a specific remit.’
‘So you were happy to let us tie ourselves in knots because you’d already decided we were going to fail the assessment?’ Nico sounds furious.
‘No, no,’ Charles sighs. ‘You misunderstand. I was under instructions to make sure you passed the assessment.’
There’s a stunned silence.
‘What?’ Nico asks.
‘I had to make sure all of the paperwork was in order, do my due diligence, but there was never any question of you failing,’ Charles says.
‘But why wouldn’t you tell us that?’ I ask, bewildered.
He looks offended. ‘Because that would be deeply unethical! Which is what I told your grandmother when I spoke to her. Not that she seemed to appreciate the fact.’
‘You… what?’ I’m glad Nico’s arms come around me again, because I’m having trouble standing. ‘When did you speak to my grandmother?’
‘Yesterday.’ Charles looks nettled. ‘She’s the other person listed as inhabiting your London address.
Of course, at first she tried to go along with the story, even though she obviously had no clue what I was talking about.
It was simply part of the consultation process, dotting every i, but eventually she asked me why I didn’t just tell you the truth…
got quite angry in fact. And I’ll tell you what I told her and His Grace…
we must be extremely careful to keep everything above board, in case any other beneficiaries ever challenge this decision in court.
I have simply been trying to do my job to the best of my abilities while protecting your interests.
’ He removes his bowler hat, produces a handkerchief from his pocket and dabs at his forehead.
‘This whole thing has been extremely stressful if you must know.’
‘Oh, Charlie!’ Claudia throws her arms around him, and he goes even pinker.
‘Yes, well,’ he blusters. ‘If you could all forget that I told you any of this, that would probably be for the best. That envelope contains a letter from your brother that should hopefully explain things more fully. Now,’ he draws himself up, ‘Claudia, might I buy you a drink back at the hotel?’
‘I’d be delighted,’ Claudia purrs, and the two of them make a hasty retreat.
‘Charlie’s got game,’ Luke whistles.
‘So it’s over?’ Tara asks.
‘Just like that?’ Nico sounds dazed.
‘But I didn’t even get to do my bit,’ Phil moans. I’d actually forgotten he was here, which just goes to show how wild the last few minutes have been because the man has several pillows strapped to his stomach and is wearing a codpiece.
‘He told Gran,’ I whisper, ‘she knows I lied!’
‘It’ll be okay,’ my brother says. ‘We’ll talk to her together.’
‘Tomorrow. There’s nothing we can do about it now,’ Nico says gently.
I nod, knowing that letter must be burning a hole in his pocket. ‘Magda’s already picked up Phoebe and Taco. We should head off.’ A thought strikes me and I turn to Jack and Cynthie. ‘Where on earth are you two staying? Darlene’s wig room is already taken.’
‘I have no idea what that means,’ Jack says, ‘but we’re staying at the inn. Magda organised it for us, she said the place is just about ready to open again, anyway.’
‘Wow, Magda, a heads up might have been nice,’ Nico grumbles.
Jack winces. ‘I think she was under the impression we were invited.’ He throws his hands up when Nico glares at him. ‘It was supposed to be a surprise! A nice one! I didn’t know we were walking into the middle of a French farce.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll look after them,’ Kat says to me. ‘Darlene’s doing two-for-one cocktail hour so we can show these Hollywood types that Roseport knows how to party.’
‘Come on, Daisy,’ Nico throws his arm around my shoulder, ‘let’s go home.’
The house is quiet when we get back, and I feel wrung out. I change out of my gold dress and into my cosiest pyjamas and a pair of fluffy socks while Nico puts the kettle on.
In the bedroom I stare down at my hand for a moment, twisting the rings on my finger.
The truth is out and Nico has what he needs.
Our relationship might just be starting, but our marriage is about to come to an end.
With a sigh, I slip the rings from my finger and leave them on the bedside table. Claudia will want them back.
Pushing my complicated feelings aside, I head back for the living room and Nico. ‘How are you feeling?’ I ask as we sit on the sofa. He pulls my feet into his lap, absently running his hand up and down my calf.
‘Honestly, I’m not sure.’ He shakes his head. ‘Mostly confused, I think.’
I eye the envelope on the coffee table. ‘What do you think it says?’
He shrugs. ‘No idea. I haven’t talked to Ward since Dad’s funeral and that was only in passing. Before that it had been years.’
‘I never liked to ask about them so I wasn’t totally sure,’ I admit. ‘I assumed you were all estranged.’
‘Yeah,’ he sighs. ‘I don’t think anyone was exactly thrilled when Dad married my mum so soon after his first wife died.
Ward and Rupert were only babies themselves, so we were all very young when my parents split – I guess there wasn’t any reason for them to stay in touch. Harder for Mum than it was for me.’
I flinch at that. Knowing Claudia, she’d have bonded with her stepsons.
He nods at my expression. ‘I doubt Dad would have let her have any contact. I don’t know much about them, except that Rupert is married and he has two little boys.
Dad had his heir, his spare, his line secure, so there wasn’t much need for me.
Honestly, I think Mum getting pregnant was the beginning of the end for them. ’
He says the words without emotion, but I know that what I’m looking at is a very deep hurt, the kind that has impacted his life in a hundred different ways, big and small.
‘You know,’ I say carefully, ‘whatever that letter says, it doesn’t change anything.
Your dad was a bad father, a bad husband, a bad man.
And you’re nothing like him. He might have made you feel like no one needed you, but that has never been true.
’ I scramble up, onto my knees beside him.
‘You, Nico Hart, are loved.’ I press my lips to the sharp line of his cheekbone.
‘Deeply.’ I kiss the hollow underneath his ear.
‘Irrevocably.’ My mouth finds the tiny scar above his top lip. ‘For ever.’
His hand tightens around my waist and he pulls me into his lap, dragging me in for a long, slow kiss. Our marriage might be ending but his heart thumps under my splayed hand, each steady beat a promise.
‘I love you,’ he whispers against my skin, and I wonder if those words will ever feel ordinary or if it will be like this every time – an explosion of joy that feels too big for my body to hold.
‘I love you, too.’
We sit for a moment, quiet and content. ‘So,’ I say finally, ‘do you want to read it? Or are we doing some sort of ceremonial burning?’
‘You read it,’ Nico says, ‘we can always do the ceremonial burning afterwards.’ But he doesn’t relinquish his hold on me, so I reach over and grab the letter, still settled across his lap.
When I rip open the envelope I pull out a sheet of thick, expensive-looking paper topped with an actual family crest. The handwriting that covers it is scrawled and untidy in bold blue ink.
‘Dear Nico,’ I start. ‘If you are reading this then it means Charles has completed his assessment. I am sincerely sorry that you had to endure it at all. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to find a way around it, but our father managed to tie things up pretty tight. It was a vindictive thing to do, but perhaps that’s not surprising – he was a vindictive man.
The conditions of the trust have now been met, and I will ensure a swift transfer of the funds in their entirety. They should have been yours all along.
‘I regret that he kept us apart for all these years, but more than that I regret my own complicity in allowing him to do so. If you feel that you want nothing more to do with our family, I wouldn’t blame you, but Rupert and I would both like the chance to get to know you and our niece if you were open to the idea.
‘I leave it to you. In the meantime if I can ever offer any assistance, don’t hesitate.
‘Ward.’
I glance up from the letter to find Nico’s expression thoughtful.
‘Not what I expected,’ he says finally.
I run my finger over the ink. ‘He’s very Jane Austen, isn’t he? Very formal and full of honour. I bet he does a lot of striding.’
Nico’s mouth kicks up. ‘Yes, he does actually. He’s always seemed like a serious sort of person.’
‘What do you want to do about it?’
He glances down at the letter again, then he plucks it from my hand and throws it back on the table. ‘I’ll think about it,’ he says. ‘Right now I’m very happy to concentrate on the family I have.’
Then he turns the full force of his concentration on me and I find I have no complaints about this decision.