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Her face burned and her eyes stung as she fought back tears. She nodded. “Much more than I expected. But Tyler can’t afford what he’s suggesting.”
“Then find someone who can, sweetheart. You owe it to yourself – to your aunt and uncle. They wouldn’t want to see you sell yourself short. John left you this land as your inheritance; he wanted you to profit from it, not give it away out of some false sense of obligation.”
She sniffed back a tear. “I hadn’t looked at it that way,” she admitted.
He came around to her side of the table and put an arm around her shoulder. “I can see how much all this is upsetting you, sweetheart. It might be much easier if you just take the money and get back to your life. After all, there’s nothing keeping you here, is there?”
More tears streamed down her face as the truth of his words hit her. The only things she had now were memories, and they were in her heart, not in this run-down house.
“Leave everything to me. I promised your uncle I’d look after you, and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” he said soothingly.
She stared up at him. “Really? But you hardly knew me.”
He smiled. It wasn’t as warm as when Tyler smiled, and she felt her stomach lurch at the thought.
“My dad was a good friend of John’s,” he told her. “And during the past year I’ve sort of kept an eye on him for you. I know Brannagh was working for him, but somehow I got the impression he was just trying to inveigle his way into the old man’s will. Unfortunately, I was right.” He sighed. “But I didn’t have anything to gain from him. I was an impartial observer, if you will. John was getting old and needed a friend. I was there for him. Just as I’m here for you. Not to cheat you out of what’s yours, but to help and advise you the best way I can.” He was stroking her back, but it didn’t feel as comforting as it should.
“Thank you,” she said, wiping her face with Tyler’s handkerchief.
“No problem,” he assured her. “Now eat up; you’ve got some packing to do.”
She watched him go back to his seat and tuck in to the rest of his stew. Suddenly she’d lost her appetite. She toyed at the food with her fork.
“The snow’s stopped,” Bill went on. “I know it’s pretty thick out there but I’ll have no problem driving you down to the station in the morning. You’ll have to take the train back to Atlanta; I’ll take care of your car until the roads are passable and then I can bring it over to you, if you like. You’ll be able to manage without it for a few days, won’t you?”
She gaped at him, trying to compute what he was saying. He’d obviously put some thought into this, as he seemed to have every base covered.
“Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” she pointed out. Looking around the kitchen she thought of all the things she would normally be doing on Christmas Eve; last-minute baking, preparing vegetables for the morning, wrapping presents. She sighed. She hadn’t so much as hung up a sprig of holly this year.
“That’s all right, sweetheart. Some of the trains will still be running.” He smiled at her, finishing his meal. He looked at her plate. “Are you eating that?”
“I’m full. It was lovely,” she said, her mind whirling. She wasn’t concerned about whether or not the trains would be running – she was worried that it was Christmas Eve and the first year she hadn’t prepared for Christmas. She cleared away the plates and started to wash up.
Bill was tapping into his cell phone. “You can get a train at a quarter after eight,” he announced after a few minutes. “I’ll pick you up half an hour beforehand, give us plenty of time to get down the mountain and get you boarded. Do you want me to buy your ticket online? I can do it right now, save you the trouble.”
She shook her head in horror. This was all moving too fast; she hadn’t made any decisions about what she was going to do, but it seemed Bill had. “Not now. I’ll think on it some more first.”
He stood up quickly. “Think about what, sweetheart?” He was right next to her now.
She sighed, turning to face him. His eyebrows furled in puzzlement.
“I don’t know about going back tomorrow. I haven’t thought it through.”
“There’s nothing to think about,” he said, incredulously. “You don’t need to be holed up in this draughty old place anymore. I’ll take care of it all. All you need to do is get back home and make sure you keep that job. I’m sure your boss’ll be pleased when you tell him you’re available to work the next day.”
She stared at his blank expression in disbelief. “But that would be Christmas Day. The office will be shut for the holidays,” she reminded him.
He huffed. “I would have thought in the city they wouldn’t bother to close for the holidays. Surely it’s more important to keep the business running.” He shook his head, clearly disappointed.
“They’re allowed one day off.” She frowned at him. “Most of the people who work for the firm have families. Lots have children. They’d want to spend Christmas with them, not at work. Besides, all our clients will be taking the day off. We don’t need to be open.”
She gulped, recalling her protestations earlier when she was talking to Tyler. She was appalled that the local real estate agent would be closing early tomorrow for the holidays. It hadn’t occurred to her back then that it was important for them to be around for their families at this time of year, not working all the time.
She bit her lip in shame. How could she have been so insensitive? So selfish? Tyler was right; she’d been sore at Uncle John for not being with the family for a few minutes while he checked on the animals that Christmas, and yet here she was expecting the local business to remain open, despite the fact that they wouldn’t have any clients – they’d be too busy spending time with their families.
Since when did she have such double standards? She flushed with shame. Tyler was right; she’d changed – and not for the better.
Bill frowned. “I think you’ve been back here too long,” he said, shaking his head in that condescending manner that really got on her nerves. “You’ve started to think like these rednecks. You seem to have forgotten that you’re now a high-flying businesswoman working for a top accountancy firm in the city. You need to get back home and get your head back in gear, sweetheart. The sooner the better.”
