‘Fraser is the owner,’ said Lizzie although there was doubt on her face.
‘No,’ said Fraser. ‘I never said I owned it. I said I could use it.’
‘Who owns it then?’ Lizzie was getting more irate by the second.
‘My father does,’ said Fraser.
‘Actually,’ said Effie holding up her hand to get their attention. ‘He does, but I do too.’
Everyone looked surprised. ‘Effie, are you sure?’ asked Dolly looking concerned.
‘Yep. Dad left it jointly to Uncle Rory and me. Uncle Rory can run it and repurpose it with my approval but if it’s to be sold then both of us have to agree. And I don’t.’
Lizzie was going a strange colour. ‘I’m speaking to my solicitor about this.’
‘You should,’ said Effie. ‘I spoke to mine and he was lovely. I wish I’d done it years ago.’
Lizzie let out a frustrated squeal and marched out of the hotel, bumping Callum as she went.
‘Woo-hoo!’ yelled Liv starting to clap, and the others joined in. Effie felt her cheeks pink up. Liv wrapped her in a hug. ‘You complete blooming star! You stood up to Lizzie.’
Callum stepped forward, looking apprehensive. ‘Fraser, can I have a word?’
‘I’ve nothing to say to you.’ Fraser glared at Callum.
Liv leaned into Fraser’s shoulder. She would have whispered in his ear but he was too tall for that. His shoulder was as close as she could get. ‘Maybe hear him out?’
‘I’ll handle this, thank you,’ said Fraser to Liv and she backed off. He turned to Callum. ‘You’d better get after your girlfriend.’
‘She’s not my g—’ but Callum didn’t get to finish the sentence before Fraser was pointing forcefully at the door.
‘Get oot!’ Fraser’s voice was getting louder.
Callum held up his hands. ‘Fraser, I’m sorry about everything. I dunny want to make things worse. You know where I am if you…’ Fraser’s frown was deepening. Callum shrugged. ‘You know where I am.’ With that he turned and walked out.
Fraser looked visibly relieved as he turned to Effie. ‘Is there anything else I should know?’ he asked her.
‘Sorry, I was going to tell you but it was all a bit crazy this morning with the solicitor and the estate agent and then Lizzie turned up.’
‘That’s okay. What are your plans for this old place?’ Fraser looked apprehensive.
‘I don’t know, but I want you to go ahead with the restaurant and maybe if that goes well we could do some refurbishment and reopen the hotel.’
‘Can you afford to do that?’ asked Fraser.
‘Yeah. Dad left a lot of investments. No wonder the solicitor kept writing to me. Whoops.’
‘But you didn’t put it on the market?’ asked Liv looking confused.
‘No that was Uncle Rory,’ said Effie. ‘Apparently he told the estate agent that I would sign whatever he told me to. I guess he thought he could treat me like an idiot too.’ She didn’t like how that made her feel.
‘You’re not an idiot,’ said Liv giving her arm a squeeze.
‘Very astute businesswoman I’d say,’ added Robbie. ‘Well done.’ Everyone’s words made her feel better, but Robbie’s meant the most.
‘Thanks,’ said Effie.
‘Actually I came over because I wanted to show you something,’ said Robbie, guiding her into the library and leaving the others chatting in the entrance. Robbie put a video into the old player. ‘Have a seat.’ He pointed to the window seat.
