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CHAPTER 24
CASSIE
Cassie closed the door and leaned her head against it with a thud, taking a huge breath to calm her racing heart. Leo was still interested in her. It was smart to get some distance from him, but it wasn’t what she wanted to do. The sex they shared had been scorching hot, but sex alone couldn’t sustain a relationship. Fortunately, she didn’t need to solve that dilemma today.
The grandfather clock in the entryway struck four o’clock. Margaret Astley would be here soon.
Cassie wandered into the drawing room. Taking a seat in an overstuffed chair, she studied the formal portrait painting of Beatrice as a young debutante. She wore a white, off-the-shoulder, chiffon dress, her dark hair styled in a pixie cut. Leaning on a classical balustrade, she held a small bouquet of pale pink roses. Beatrice’s familiar amused smirk was a sly declaration she agreed to be a debutante, but she had no intention of following the traditional path of marriage and children. It must have taken tremendous determination to overrule her aristocratic parents’ wishes. Beatrice followed her dream and lived her life with no regrets. Could she do the same?
The doorbell rang. She got to her feet, walked through the entryway, and opened the door.
“Hi, Ms. Astley. Please, come in.” She ushered Margaret inside. It seemed strange to invite Margaret to enter her aunt’s home because Cassie was basically housesitting with Mrs. Mackay.
“Good afternoon. And please, call me Margaret,” she said with a warm smile. She’d changed out of her black dress and wore a white silk T-shirt paired with a short black jacket, jeans, and boots. Margaret Astley was the only child of Beatrice’s youngest sister. She was likely in her sixties, with short platinum blonde hair and the same piercing blue eyes as her aunt. Beatrice had described her as a kindred spirit, an outlier in a traditional English aristocratic family. She’d never married and devoted her life to global environmental and sustainability issues. Beatrice had been fiercely proud of her favorite niece’s independence, so it was no surprise she had selected Margaret to be the trustee and executor of her estate.
Margaret headed straight to the drawing room, holding a leather portfolio.
Following her, Cassie asked, “Would you like anything to drink?”
“No, thank you.” Margaret settled herself in a leather chair.
Cassie took the opposite seat and waited.
Margaret opened the portfolio and shuffled though some papers. “First of all, I want to thank you for being a friend to my aunt.”
“It was an honor to work with her but especially to be her friend.”
“As you know, most people found her to be—” Margaret paused, searching for the right word. “Difficult,” she said with a chuckle. “I never had a problem with her, but then, most of my family feels the same way about me.” She gave a playful shrug.
“We had our moments, but we worked it out.” Cassie cleared her throat. “Why did you ask to see me? Is this about organizing Beatrice’s library?”
“Not completely. We’ll discuss that later.” She placed a thick document on the small table between them. “This is for you. It’s a copy of my aunt’s amended will. Normally, this would be something the solicitor would handle, but I wanted to tell you myself.”
Cassie stared at the document and lifted her eyes to Margaret. “I don’t understand.”
“My aunt made some changes a few days before she died. The amended will contains a provision for you.”
“For me?” Her speculation went into overdrive. The fact Beatrice amended it meantshe had a change of heart about something.
“She originally had planned to give Meraki, her property on Crete, to my cousin, Alistair.” She picked up the will and flipped to the last page. “However, my aunt decided to give it to you instead. As she says, ‘In thanks for Cassie’s friendship and appreciation for her professional assistance.’”
This was impossible. She leaned forward, staring at Margaret. “What did you say?”
Margaret gave her a big smile. “Congratulations, you’re the new owner of Meraki.”
“I can’t accept something that valuable.” A book or a brooch she would proudly accept, but Meraki was too much.
“Of course, you can,” Margaret said in a straightforward tone. “Meraki includes the farmhouse and the surrounding property.” She glanced at the will. “It’s just over forty thousand square meters.” She looked at Cassie. “That’s about ten acres. My aunt also included a generous yearly payment to cover the costs of maintaining, or to modify the property.”
“What does ‘modify the property’ mean?”
“You might choose to remodel the farmhouse or add additional buildings.”
“My goodness.” How would she manage the property much less decide what changes should be made?
“That’s not all.”
She jerked her head up to Margaret. “There’s more?”
