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Rex sighed. “You’re always in such a rush, Carmen.” He stretched out and wrapped the toe of his shoe around the leg of her chair, drawing it closer to his. “Let’s get comfortable before we get down to business.”
She froze. He always did like to spar, but if he was going to play the bad boy at a time like this she’d find it difficult. “Rex, please.”
He lifted his hands in apparent surrender.
“Besides,” Carmen continued, “I’m sure this has very little to do with me—”
“I’m sure it has very little to do with me, either,” Rex interrupted. “After all, I was disinherited years ago.” He stared at her deliberately.
Carmen frowned. Was he insinuating that his father had left Burlington Manor to her? Rex had no other siblings, so she’d assumed that Rex would get it. It made sense to her. Charles Carruthers was deeply traditional at heart, despite the rift. She’d only come there because she was ready to buy Rex out. Rex had never been interested in Burlington Manor, whereas she had a deep connection to the place. Before her death, Carmen’s mother had created a beautiful home, an interior that complemented and enhanced the historic building. Carmen had been happy there and wanted to recapture that. She looked back at the solicitor. “Chris?”
Chris pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. “If you’re both ready to begin?”
Rex nodded.
“Good. Well, the normal course of events at a time such as this would be to keep it as impersonal as possible. However, as you are both aware, Charles Carruthers and I were old friends. He moved all the family’s legal work to me as a favor to help me get off the ground when I was starting my own practice here in London, back in the 1980s. There have been several alterations to his will over subsequent years, but I’m familiar with all the changes and Charles’s intentions. There are several bequests for staff, but I’ve arranged to see them later today. I made that decision based on the fact you might want some of the contents of the will to remain confidential for the time being.” He paused. “Those that relate specifically to you both, until you decide what to do about it.”
Puzzled, Carmen looked at Rex.
He shrugged.
She shook her head to indicate she hadn’t a clue what it might be.
It instantly intrigued her—both the confidential nature of the will, and the fact they were able to communicate silently, as they had done so many years ago. It reminded her of sitting opposite him at the dinner table at Burlington Manor, and how he used to make her smile with the slightest expressive glance.
“Should you have any questions at all,” Chris continued, “please just interrupt and ask.”
Carmen forced her attention back, startled at how quickly being around Rex took her attention away from this important event and back to that time when she wanted him.
“The staff will be concerned about the house being sold,” she stated, curious that he’d opted to deal with the staff separately.
“I daresay they are.” Chris gave her a genial smile.
She wanted to state her intention to buy it, to own it and keep the staff on in their jobs, no matter what, but it wasn’t the time. Once they’d heard the contents of the will she could flag that up immediately.
Chris lifted the papers on his desk, and began. “Thank you for gathering here today. This is the last will and testament of Charles Denton Carruthers.”
He launched into a summary of the contents of the will.
Carmen attempted to focus on Chris as he read, even though she was constantly aware of Rex at her side. Rex: dark, volatile and unpredictable. Much like he’d always done, Rex seemed to demand her attention without doing anything at all. She resisted as best she could.
When she took a glance his way she discovered that he was staring blatantly at her while he listened to Chris. His appraisal was so undisguised that her blood rushed in her ears. Chris’s voice faded in and out and she had to struggle to focus on what was being said.
The first part of the document was devoted to Rex’s inheritance of various stocks and shares, and a property in the Channel Islands. “‘To my son, Rex, I leave the marina apartment in Jersey and the mooring rights, in recognition of his attachment to the place during family holidays as a young boy.’”
Carmen noticed Rex’s expression changed on hearing the personal information attached to that request. He seemed more thoughtful, which was understandable. About time, too. Despite the fact that Rex and his father were estranged the connection was there. The remark about his childhood served as a reminder.
She forced her attention back to Chris. He was currently summarizing some money allocations and provisions for long-serving staff, several of them who had retired; the rest still held posts at the manor.
“‘Briefly, the key factor here is that the property known as the Lodge House, which is the current residence of Mr. and Mrs. Amery—the caretakers of Burlington Manor—should be granted to them with freehold ownership in recognition of the service they have provided over the years.’”
Carmen nodded. She was pleased to hear that.
Then they got to the important thing—Burlington Manor itself.
Chris glanced up to make sure he had their full attention before he moved on. “‘Regarding Burlington Manor, it is my wish that Carmen Shelby should receive a fifty percent share in the house, the other share going to my only son, Rex.’”
Carmen blinked. “Excuse me, did I hear that right?”
