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Joss glanced at her. ‘Is there one Somerville you like, in particular?’
Watching Oliver, she felt her face flush at the question. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I think you do.’
She was about to admonish him for being so daft, wishing her face hadn’t gone bright red, when she saw Oliver approach the cottage.I’m a widow. I’m not meant to have feelings for another man, not right now, so soon after Toby.
‘Shit, what’s he doing?’
‘Knocking on the cottage door,’ Joss said matter-of-factly.
‘I can see that.’ Abigail narrowed her eyes, suspecting he may have paid Joss’s uncle a visit on the pretext of calling next door and meeting the person who now owned his aunt’s cottage. Abigail breathed a sigh of relief that Oliver hadn’t turned up earlier. What if it had been him instead of Joss stepping through the open door of the cottage? She couldn’t have hidden from him then.
‘I guess he wants to meet the person who now owns his aunt’s estate.’
Abigail frowned at him. Now Oliver had called around, it was quite conceivable he’d come again, or that Carys might turn up too.
Joss guessed what she was thinking. ‘Why don’t you just tell them about the cottage? Maybe, if they want the cottage to stay in the family, they’ll buy it from you.’
Abigail furrowed her brow. She hadn’t thought of that. The problem with that scenario, although it was a very nice thought, was that she had seen their accounts. Even after the recent tax rebate, unless Lord Somerville had a private sum of money stashed away, or Carys was going to come into a sizeable amount from her divorce settlement – she hadn’t mentioned her plans once her divorce was finalised – it was a balancing act finding the huge sum of money required to run and maintain the estate, let alone buy her out. And now she’d discovered she owned the lighthouse, too. It made her wonder what the whole place combined would be worth.
That wasn’t the only problem. If she’d come clean about the cottage from the outset, things might be different. She may or may not still be friends with them, and be working at the Hall, but one thing would be certain, she wouldn’t be here now, worried about their reaction when they found out.
Abigail watched Oliver take a step back and look up at the cottage before turning on his heel and heading back to his car. He stopped at his car and Abigail saw him eyeing Joss’s uncle’s car. Fortunately, Abigail had put Penelope away in the garage on her way over to the lighthouse.
Abigail slunk from the window and sat down on the floor, her back to the wall, willing him to go away.
Joss joined her. ‘You’re worried that if they find out, they’re going to wonder why you didn’t bring it up.’
Abigail sighed. ‘I’m concerned about what their reaction might be.’
‘Well, I don’t see what your concern is. It’s just one of those things. No one chooses what they inherit, and what happened in the past.’
Abigail eyed him for a long moment, thinking that what he said was true, and wondering if something like this had happened to him. What was he doing there? Didn’t he have a job, a home to go back to? She got the impression that perhaps, like her, he was running away. Although there had been a silent understanding between them that they would ask not questions, she had it on the tip of her tongue to ask him what he was really doing there. Then she heard the sound of a car engine, and the moment was lost.
She stood up and looked out of the window. Oliver was in his car, backing out of the drive. She turned to Joss. ‘As soon as he’s gone, I want to get out of here.’ All she needed was for his uncle to come back.
‘Okay.’ He stood up too and made for the stairs. He paused before starting down. ‘You’re intending to sell the cottage, aren’t you?’
It wasn’t a question. Abigail looked at him in surprise. ‘Did Lili say something?’
He shook his head.
‘I just found out there’s a complication,’ Abigail blurted. She hadn’t meant to say that, but it was on her mind.
‘Really, what’s that?’
Abigail hesitated. She looked about her.Your uncle, she wanted to say, but that would be rude. ‘It’s nothing.’
Abigail had been wondering if he knew the basis on which his uncle had lived there all these years. Now she had her answer. He had no clue, otherwise he would have said something.
‘Can we go now?’
‘Sure.’
As Abigail followed him down the stairs, she wondered how his uncle had managed to bag himself a lifetime tenancy there. It was certainly something she wouldn’t do. Daphne clearly hadn’t thought of the long-term consequences if the new owner wanted to sell.
As they stepped out of the door, Abigail saw Oliver’s car disappear into the distance. She turned to Joss. She caught him glancing down the road too, before locking up the front door and placing the key back under the flowerpot. Joss looked at her. ‘Everyone can see it, Abigail, but you.’
