‘So are you from a large family, Oliver?’ asked Kate, possibly sensing his lack of interest in school galas. Lucy knew it was a question her mother had been dying to ask but had refrained until the afternoon was drawing to a close. Presumably she trusted Oliver wouldn’t be offended at this late stage.
‘No, not really,’ he said with a smile which had suddenly become guarded, the smile polite. ‘I’m an only child. No other family.’
‘You were raised in New Zealand?’ It seemed Kate was determined to find out everything there was to know about Oliver.
‘Khandallah, Wellington. In a big old house, of the same vintage as this, actually,’ said Oliver, glancing around at the exterior of MacLeod’s Cottage.
Kate leaned in to him. ’And yet it seems your interest is in modern architecture. Didn’t you love being raised in an old house full of character?’
Oliver shifted, clearly uncomfortable now. ‘In a word, no.’ He sighed heavily and continued, as if softened by Kate’s sympathetic glance. ‘To be honest, my upbringing was far from idyllic and I wanted nothing more than to have no reminders of it.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘It’s fine. I’ve moved on.’ He sat back in his seat, and looked around. ‘I guess it’s different for your family. You’re happy. Anyone can see that, and your house must feel like it’s a part of your family.’
Kate suddenly looked down and Jen frowned. Silence descended. Oliver looked at Lucy with a puzzled frown.
Then Kate looked up. ‘I don’t own it.’
Lucy and Jen exchanged surprised looks. Lucy hadn’t imagined her mother, who’d been reluctant to broach the subject even with her own family, would tell Oliver. It seemed she must trust him.
‘But, it’s MacLeod’s Cottage, of MacLeod’s Cove. Who else could it belong to?’ he said.
‘Excellent question. On the death of my grandmother I discovered the house wasn’t hers, but owned by some other person or entity, I don’t know which. And there’s a trust, the trustees of which are similarly unknown, which had allowed my grandmother to live in the house for the rest of her life. But not her descendants’ lives.’
‘We’re looking into it,’ said Jen. ‘But only have a few clues so far. It looks like it began around 1946, when Ngaire — that’s Mum’s grandmother — moved in, and that it might be connected to a US marine who was stationed here during the war, and Michigan in the US.’
‘Sounds an unusual set of clues.’
‘It’s an unusual problem,’ said Lucy. ‘A friend of ours is checking out some local history to see if there’s anything there that could shed any light on it.’
‘Local history? There are a lot of files sitting untouched in filing cabinets. And it looks like the American Marines frequented the pub. I’ll have a look through what we have there. I don’t think it’s been touched in decades and the previous owners all seemed to have been hoarders.’
‘Talking of our clever researcher!’ said Kate jumping up. ‘Here she comes!’ She looked to the side of the house where Augi stepped uncertainly, holding a covered plate.
‘I hope you don’t mind me coming round the back but I knocked and no one answered.’
‘Not at all,’ said Kate, giving Augi a hug, which seemed to alarm her a little. ‘Next time, knock and then enter and call out.’
Augi nodded but Lucy could tell that hell would freeze over before this polite and secretive woman ever did anything so familiar.
Augi looked around and blushed. Kate and Lucy followed her gaze to Dan who had turned to look at her, surprise evident on his face. They didn’t seem to know that everyone was looking at them.
Jen, clearly taking pity on them, said loudly, ‘Dan, you’re relieved of child duties. Why don’t you get Augi a drink?’
Lucy had never seen her brother so flustered. ‘Sure, er, I’ll…’ He looked at his muddy hands and then without a further thought, wiped them across his jeans. He took a few steps up to the verandah and Lucy could now clearly see the interest in his eyes.
‘Augi,’ he greeted. ‘Glad you could come. I thought?—’
‘Kate invited me,’ said Augi quickly.
He cleared his throat, raked his fingers through his hair and twisted around. He suddenly noticed everyone was looking at him. ‘Would you like a glass of wine? Champagne?’
‘White wine would be lovely, thanks.’
Lucy and Jen exchanged amused looks. Lucy couldn’t help thinking she was witnessing the beginning of something. But what that something would be she had no idea. Because, apart from being very different people, Augi had to be about ten years older than Dan. Still, stranger things had happened.
‘Augi,’ greeted Lucy. ‘Come and take a seat.’
