AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Miss Watson stood up, her business finished here. ‘For the property to be held in trust, there had to be trustees. There were three originally – Daphne Harris and two others. I don’t know the circumstances of the other two, but at least one must have survived her and acted upon her wishes; the property was transferred to your late husband on her death.’
Abigail sat there, waiting expectantly for their names as the solicitor put on her coat.
‘Well, that’s me done here.’
Abigail rose from the sofa. ‘Wait – who were the other trustees?’
‘I’m really sorry, but I can’t help you with that.’
‘Why?’
‘Because there was a request for anonymity. The only person who would have been able to tell you is—’
Abigail frowned, ‘Daphne.’ She sat back down on the sofa.
‘Perhaps the letter from your late husband might shed some light on things?’
Abigail looked at the letter she still had in her hands – the one Toby had told her nothing about, along with the cottage she knew nothing about either.
Miss Watson paused to look around the small rental flat. ‘I know it’s not my place to say it, but does it really matter? You’ve inherited a cottage by the sea. If I were in your shoes, I’d get away for a bit. Go and stay in your cottage and enjoy it.’
‘Did you just say –enjoy it?’ Abigail scowled at her.
The look on the young woman’s face said she had realised too late that under the circumstances, she’d said the wrong thing. ‘I’ll, er, show myself out.’
‘Good idea,’ Lili replied, frowning at her.
Lili and Abigail remained seated on the sofa. The sound of the front door clunking shut broke the silence. Lili turned to Abigail. ‘She has a point, you know.’
‘Which point are you referring to – that I shouldn’t bother digging into his past?’
‘I don’t know. That’s for you to decide. I think the fact that the family are contesting the original trust, though, means it might be worth looking into, to find out why Toby was given it. Perhaps it might be a good idea to find the trustees, if they’re both still alive. I know a man who can help.’
Abigail knew who she was talking about; Lili’s friend, Ray, a former police officer who now ran an heir-hunting business. He’d helped Lili find her relatives.
‘It’s yours now, Abigail, and I, for one, don’t want anyone taking it away from you. That cottage has a special history for you.’
Abigail stared off into space. Lili was right: it had a special history. It was the place she and Toby had returned to time and time again, when they were going through some extraordinarily good times together – when he’d qualified in his dream job as a paramedic. Toby had also proposed when they were there on holiday, and it was where they’d spent their honeymoon. And there were the bad times too; needing to get away when she’d suffered a miscarriage, and then when the IVF failed and they’d run out of the savings that were meant to be for a house. That was when it had begun to hit home that they’d never be parents.
Lili added. ‘I think Miss Watson is right. You should take a break and go away to the cottage.’
Abigail shot out of her seat. ‘No, absolutely not.’ She couldn’t imagine returning to the cottage without him – how would that make her feel?No worse than how you feel now.Abigail dismissed that thought. She added, ‘Besides, I haven’t got the time. I’ve got way too much to do here.’
Lili stared at her. ‘Like what?’ she said sceptically.
‘I’m still sorting through Toby’s things.’
‘How much more have you got to sort through?’ Lili said. ‘I saw the bags in the hall.’
Abigail wanted her to leave, too. ‘Look, I’m really busy.’
Lili wasn’t getting the hint. ‘I’ll help.’
‘No, I really don’t need your—’
‘I insist. Then when we’re done, you can pack a case and return to Suffolk with me.’
Yeah, like that’s going to happen, thought Abigail.
