‘Hi, Joel,’ he said, injecting as much cheer into his voice as he could. ‘What’s up?’
‘Guess where I am?’
‘I’ve no idea. Somewhere in the Middle East, as usual?’
‘Guess again.’
Noah’s heart began to race. Some sixth sense was telling him that he was going to like what Joel was about to say even less than he usually did. He tried to play it down, keeping his tone light. ‘Honestly, bro, I’ve no idea. Why don’t you tell me and put me out of my misery?’
Joel’s humourless laugh rattled Noah’s spine. ‘I’m in the Star and Telescope, Noah. I thought I’d spend the night at Grandpa’s since my flight was diverted to Bristol but imagine my surprise when I got to the house and I found a sitting tenant. Well, two of them, if you count Monty.’
‘Oh. Right.’ Noah’s mind began to race, but it had been a long day, and he’d had a couple of glasses of champagne to celebrate his team’s success, and he found he couldn’t think straight. ‘About that…’
‘Yes? Something you need to tell me?’ Joel paused. ‘Are you shagging her? Is she your latest squeeze who you thought you’d install in a little Somerset love nest? Someone for the weekend? Bit Gerald Croft, isn’t it?’
Noah’s irritation rose, as it always did when Joel started worrying the open sore of their relationship. The reference to the somewhat morally dubious character from a play they’d both had to study at school irked him as well. Joel wasn’t well read and probably hadn’t clapped eyes on a play or a novel since he’d sat his exams.
‘It’s nothing like that,’ Noah snapped back. ‘I was intending to call you and Marc to let you know what’s been going on, but I’ve been so busy with work and sorting out everything that needs to be done with the cottage before it goes on the market that I haven’t had the chance.’
‘Oh, pull the other one,’ Joel hit back, ‘it’s got bloody bells on. You had no intention of telling us anything. That cottage was perfectly saleable as it was, there was no need to start arranging all that work. Someone would have come along and bought the place in a heartbeat and you know that. Why the fuck didn’t you run all this past Marc and me before you went ahead and moved – what’s her name – Bella, in? And as for Monty… I thought he was toast weeks ago.’
Noah winced. Suddenly, despite the bluntness of Joel’s response, the reality of what he’d done hit him. Joel was right: hehadacted unilaterally when it was his moral and legal duty to keep his brothers informed. As co-beneficiaries, they had a right to know the progress on the estate. His grandfather might have appointed him sole executor, but that didn’t excuse him keeping them out of the loop. But something about letting go of the cottage kept holding him back. Not that he was going to admit that to Joel, on the phone, or ever.
‘Well, he’s not. And in my professional opinion, it was worth waiting to get the work done on the cottage.’ Noah pushed on before Joel could retort. ‘After all, I know how much you love money. This way, you’re going to get a whole lot more of it.’
‘And when will that be?’ Joel snapped. ‘After the foam removal and the electrics, what other jobs are you suddenly going to invent to stall selling the cottage? A new kitchen? An extension on the back?’ He paused, but Noah knew more was coming. ‘Or maybe you’ll let this Bella stay there, sleeping with you instead of paying the rent? What a lovely arrangement.’
‘Shut the fuck up, Joel.’ Noah could hear the dangerous tone in his own voice, and he fought to keep his anger under control. Joel had cornered him, but for all his faults, his brother had got to the nub of the issue. Joel was forcing him to admit to things he really hadn’t wanted to before. ‘The cottage will go on the market when it’s ready.’
‘In whose opinion? Yours? Don’t you think you’re playing a risky game here, brother dear? What would trading standards say if they got wind that one of the most successful estate agents in London was ripping off his own flesh and blood? Or the solicitors handling Grandpa’s estate? Have you thought of that?’
‘Don’t threaten me. You don’t know what you’re talking about.’ But Noah’s heart was racing. Realistically, he knew Joel was angry that he’d been kept in the dark, and that his brother didn’t have a leg to stand on, but the whole tenor of this conversation was deeply unpleasant, and Noah didn’t like the insinuation that he’d been acting immorally towards his family and Bella.
‘We’ll see about that.’
Before Noah could respond, Joel had ended the call. For some seconds after he was cut off, Noah just stared at the phone. His first instinct was to call Bella, but if Joel had confronted her about being in the house, she’d likely refuse to answer his call. But he couldn’t sit here and stew. He had to do something. With shaking hands, he dialled the first number he could think of, and prayed that, when he explained the situation to the person on the end of the call, they’d be willing to help.
47
‘Are you all right?’ Marieke’s concerned tone matched the look in her eyes as Bella warily opened the front door of the cottage again.
‘Yeah.’ Bella’s eyes filled with tears, and she could hear the tremble in her own voice as she answered. Hurrying to the front door, she pulled it open and in marched Marieke, carrying a bottle of wine and a pizza box.
‘That dickhead, Noah, rang me about ten minutes ago on my bloody work phone,’ Marieke said without preamble. ‘He got the number from my sodding LinkedIn profile, of all places! He told me that his even bigger dickhead of a brother had been over here. Did he try to scare you out of the cottage?’
Bella smiled, despite her worries. ‘He did his best at first, but it takes a lot to scare me.’ She hadn’t answered the phone to Noah when he’d rung shortly after Joel had stormed off. She could predict what he was going to say and she didn’t want to hear it at the moment. She knew she was burying her head in the sand, but the thought of losing this home so quickly had given her a scare; not just for herself, but for Monty, too.
Marieke headed into the kitchen and turned the knob on Jack’s ancient oven, before starting to search in the cupboard for a pair of glasses suitable for the wine. She stopped when she found a couple of large tumblers and poured two generous servings of a very expensive-looking red. Bella wasn’t usually a red wine drinker, but she was touched by Marieke’s evident concern, and she felt as though she needed something to steady her nerves.
‘Well, I’m staying here so he can’t try it again.’ Marieke turned clear blue eyes on Bella, seemingly daring her to disagree.
‘Don’t be daft, Mar,’ Bella protested. ‘You’ve got work in the morning, and I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.’
‘Everyone needs a friend to protect them against dickheads.’
‘You should get that printed on a T-shirt!’
‘I might.’
