Page 57 of The Perfect Gift

‘I’ll send her a text now.’ Matt pulled out his phone and began to type. ‘I know she’s in work today because she was moaning about how boring it was going to be when we had lunch at Mum and Dad’s yesterday,’ he added, his eyes fixed on the screen as he continued to type. ‘She’s only there to answer the phones, so I’m sure she’d be glad of the distraction. There we go.’ He tapped the screen one last time then set his phone on the arm of the sofa beside him. ‘And if you decide to book an appointment I’ll be more than happy to give you a lift up there.’

‘You are a good boy.’ Mrs Jenkins beamed at Matt and it was clear to Ed from the relieved tone in her voice that it had been bothering her for a while. Her expression turned sad. ‘It’s such a shame you changed your mind about the cottage because I always knew it was in safe hands with you living there.’ She glanced over at Ed. ‘I suppose with you off on your travels it was harder to cover the bills, though.’

Ed decided it was time to lay their cards on the table. ‘I carried on paying my share of the rent, Mrs Jenkins. My job with the marine wildlife organisation came with full bed and board and, besides, I’d never leave Matt in the lurch like that.’

Her expression clouded over as she looked back at Matt. ‘But I’m sure Charlie told me the reason you moved out was because you couldn’t make ends meet on your own.’

Matt shook his head. ‘I make good money working with my dad, and even if Ed hadn’t carried on paying I would’ve been able to afford things.’ He shuffled forward on the sofa and reached over to take her hand. ‘I didn’t move out of the cottage by choice, Mrs J.’

Eyes wide in disbelief, she glanced between the two of them. ‘Then how come…?’ Her voice trailed off as realisation dawned. ‘Charlie.’ It was horrible to watch her expression crumple, to see so much of the light go out of her as she navigated her way through it all. ‘He was the one who told me you wanted to move out of the cottage. I’ll admit I was disappointed because I’d always thought you’d end up buying the place. I thought you’d got fed up of me waiting to make up my mind about selling it, and I couldn’t blame you for that.’ Her eyes were moist as she looked at Matt. ‘I just found it harder than I thought to let it go after I moved in here.’

Matt’s voice was a gentle rumble when he answered her. ‘I know, Mrs J, and I promise you I was willing to wait until you were ready to let it go.’

‘So what Charlie told me about you not being able to afford it? He gave me the impression you were worried about letting me down and that’s why you didn’t tell me yourself. I didn’t like the idea of the cottage sitting empty, but he told me not to worry about it because he’d heard the production company were looking for rental properties and it would give me a couple of months of breathing space while I decided what to do with it.’

‘Nothing he told you is true. I mean, he’d heard the production company were looking and that they were willing to pay handsomely for the right properties. He went behind all our backs, Mrs J, and made a deal with them. He came to me and said you had asked him to take over your financial affairs. I only moved out because he threatened to have me evicted if I didn’t leave under my own steam.’ He rubbed a big hand across his face and sighed. ‘I knew I should’ve talked to you about it, but I heard you weren’t doing too well and I wondered if perhaps that’s why Charlie was looking after things on your behalf.’

‘It’s true I had a nasty chest infection, but that was weeks ago and I’m over it now.’ She shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe this.’

Ed leaned forward next to Matt. ‘I hate to say it, Mrs J, but I’m not sure Charlie has your best intentions at heart in all this. My friend Frankie is the one who’s been living in the cottage. Did you know that Charlie had tried to negotiate a six-month rental extension with her?’

‘No? When was that?’

‘Only last week. Frankie got rather attached to the cottage and wanted to stay on after the show finished filming.’

Mrs Jenkins looked completely bewildered. ‘He’s not said anything to me.’

‘Maybe he decided it wasn’t worth bothering you with because Frankie decided against it when she found out Matt was keen to get the cottage back, but I’ve seen the contract he sent for her to sign.’ Ed paused then decided to just put it all out there. It was horrible seeing Mrs J upset but worse to think Charlie might find a way of talking her around. ‘How much rent have you been getting from the production company?’

‘A bit more than I was getting from you both.’ She cast a guilty look towards Matt. ‘I won’t say it wasn’t welcome at this time of year with my heating bills and everything, but I also know you’ve spent more than the discount we agreed on all your refurbishment works.’ She shook her head. ‘That’s why I was surprised you were willing to move out, after all the money you’d invested.’

Matt gave a small shrug of his shoulder but didn’t reply. A casual observer might think none of this was bothering him, but Ed knew his cousin well and could practically feel the anger vibrating off him.

Ed didn’t think what he had to say next was going to do anything to calm Matt down, but he had to drive his point home. ‘The contract Charlie sent to Frankie was for nearly three times what we were paying you, and he’d told her he was discounting it from what the production company paid.’

Matt grunted then stood abruptly and walked out of the room. They heard the front door open and close a moment later and Ed exchanged a glance with Mrs Jenkins. ‘Give him a few minutes,’ Ed suggested.

Mrs Jenkins’ face crumpled. ‘I feel like such a fool!’

Ed shifted to Matt’s vacated seat and took her hand. ‘It’s okay, Mrs J. Now we’ve figured out what’s going on, Matt and I are going to sort it all out.’

A ringtone interrupted them and Ed picked up the phone Matt had forgotten and looked at the screen. ‘It’s Chloe. Shall I ask her to make an appointment for you in the new year so you can discuss all your options?’

‘Yes, I think that would be for the best.’

Ed had just finished arranging things with Chloe when there was a gentle knock at the door. Not giving Mrs Jenkins the chance to get up, Ed went to answer it. Matt stood in the corridor, the shoulders and front of his grey sweatshirt wet and his dark hair flattened against his head. A rivulet of water leaked from his fringe and rolled down his face. ‘I forgot my coat,’ was all he said.

Mrs Jenkins appeared behind them and let out a gasp. ‘Matthew, darling, look at the state of you. Let me get you a towel. Ed, pop the kettle back on!’

Having something else to focus on seemed to be doing her good so Matt let her fuss over him. By the time she’d run his sweatshirt through her tumble drier and he’d dried his hair and was clutching a fresh cup of coffee, she seemed much calmer. ‘I’ve made an appointment with the solicitor in the second week of January and I’d like you to come with me,’ she told him.

‘Of course, I’m more than happy to give you a lift.’

Mrs Jenkins shook her head. ‘No, Matthew, I want you to come in with me. I’m still not sure about this power-of-attorney business, but I’ll listen to what they have to say and make up my mind about it afterwards. What we do need to sort out is the sale for the cottage.’

‘Are you serious?’ Matt looked between Ed and Mrs J as if he couldn’t quite believe what was happening.

She smiled at him. ‘Absolutely. I’ve hung on to it for too long, thinking I needed that connection to my Alan.’ She cast a fond look over to the TV stand, where a framed photo of her late husband took pride of place. ‘But it’s not about bricks and mortar, is it? It’s what’s in my heart and my memories. I don’t need the cottage because I carry him everywhere with me.’