‘Listen, you stupid wanker, I’m here because Noah Hathaway gave me permission to move in here while work is being done on the cottage. If you don’t believe me, I can call him right now and you can speak to him, and then maybe you can leave me the hell alone and stop harassing me on my own doorstep.’
The man’s brow wrinkled, and suddenly, for Bella, the penny dropped. ‘Which one are you?’ She sighed.
‘Which one?’
‘Which one of his bloody brothers that Noah was meant to have told that I was living in your granddad’s cottage are you?’
The man put up his hands but took a step back from Bella. She felt glad of the space. Brother of Noah’s or not, she was two seconds away from decking the bloke.
‘I’m Joel,’ he said wearily. ‘And you are?’
‘Monty’s guardian. Unofficially. Noah’s tenant, informally. But apparently, to you, I’m just some hippy squatter.’ She tried to calm down, but the adrenaline was still running through her. ‘And now we’ve established that, what exactly areyoudoing here?’
Joel gave her an icy smile. ‘I’m back on business in the UK – I work in the Emirates, and I wasn’t supposed to be in the West Country at all, but my flight got diverted to Bristol. Since I was in the area, I thought I’d pop down and check out Grandpa’s old cottage. I had no idea that there would be someone living in it. The last I heard, Noah was getting some work done before it went on the market. And he certainly didn’t mention anything about having a tenant.’
And I thought I had a family with communication problems, Bella mused as she finally started to relax a bit. ‘So, Noah never told you about the new arrangement, then?’
Joel shook his head. ‘I guess it must have slipped his mind.’
‘Well,’ Bella replied, ‘so long as you promise not to try to throw me out again once you get through the door, I suppose you’d better come in.’ She opened the front door wider and Joel, without another word, followed her through to the kitchen, where she made them both a cup of tea.
‘I see Monty’s still with us,’ Joel said as the cat came slinking into the kitchen.
‘Very much so.’ Bella wasn’t going to give him too much information. That was a conversation that Noah needed to have, and should have had by now, with his brother. He’d implied it was all sorted when she’d agreed to come and live here: from the looks of it, it was a long way from being so.
‘Look.’ Joel’s voice was softer now and had lost the aggression from the doorstep. ‘I’m sorry for the confusion. Noah’s never been a great communicator. He hadn’t let me know about this living arrangement at all.’
‘Funny,’ Bella observed, ‘when Noah’s business is all about persuasion. I’d have thought he’d have known exactly what to say to keep you up to speed.’
‘Well, he might be good at his job, but he’s not great when it comes to talking to me and his other brother. Noah stalling about putting this house on the market doesn’t help anyone.’ Joel gave her a brief smile. ‘I realise it’s not ideal for you if we decide to bring that forward, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m sure you can see it’s for the best.’
‘So, are you planning on speaking to Noah?’ she said, realising Joel was expecting her to reply.
‘I’m going to ring him in a minute,’ Joel said, a grim note in his voice. ‘He had no right to act unilaterally. We’re all joint beneficiaries: we should all have had a say on its future.’
‘And in the meantime?’ Bella had to ask. ‘What happens to Monty and me?’
‘You can stay for now,’ Joel said. ‘But I think it’s only fair to warn you that once Marc gets wind of this, the shit’s really going to hit the fan.’ Joel’s face clouded over. ‘Marc’s wife is ill, and he doesn’t need any extra complications.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Bella replied. She could see Joel’s concern for his other brother’s situation plainly in his expression, and despite her earlier antagonism, she felt a sliver of sympathy for him.
‘Thanks. We all need this house sold and Noah farting around making it more presentable is just window dressing. As an estate agent, he should know that. I’m amazed he’s spent so much time stalling as it is.’
‘He told me it wouldn’t sell without the work that was needed,’ Bella objected. ‘There’s a problem with the insulation foam in the roof, and the electrics were pretty out of date, too. Why would he bother to go to all that expense if it wasn’t worth it in the long run?’
Joel shrugged. ‘He never could let go of things very easily. My best guess is that he wanted to hold onto the cottage a bit longer, until he was ready to sell it on his own terms.’ He gave a laugh that sounded more bitter than merry. ‘He always got on the best with Grandpa. Marc and I weren’t here as much as we should have been in the later years.’
‘So all this stuff with Monty… it was an excuse not to get rid of the place?’
‘I’m pretty sure, yes.’
Bella’s head started to spin. She’d walked in, wide-eyed, to what she’d thought would be a good temporary solution to her housing problem. She’d trusted that Noah had squared it with his brothers, and that, for a little while at least, she’d have a roof over her head and a bit of stability. Now it seemed that her living arrangements were becoming decidedly unstable. Whilst she was used to moving on when she needed to, she’d got comfortable here in Jack’s cottage, and happy with the routine. With a rising sense of unease, she wondered if she’d be looking for somewhere else to live before the week was out. And, she thought with another lurch that made her feel sick, what would happen to poor Monty?
46
It had been a very successful Monday for Noah Hathaway Estates. Noah had closed a sale he’d been chasing for a month, at the asking price, and the vendors and buyers had been over the moon. Ruby was well on the way to a deal with another buyer, and Violet had announced that she’d signed up two more vendors after a positive referral from a previous, very satisfied customer. Despite Ruby’s worries earlier in the summer, it seemed as though things were on the up.
Noah was therefore not best pleased when his brother Joel’s name flashed up on his mobile shortly after 5p.m. He thought about ignoring the call, but he knew if he did that Joel would only keep ringing. Sighing, trying to hold onto his good mood, he answered.
