Joel offered his brother a ‘who, me?’ gesture in response, but said nothing.
‘Come on, bro.’ Noah knew it was imperative to keep his cool. Losing his rag with Joel never achieved anything; his brother enjoyed confrontations. ‘Let’s get back to the pub and talk about it.’
‘What, you’re not even going to invite me into the house?’ Joel replied. ‘Bit rude, isn’t it?’
‘Bella’s still my tenant, and it’s her home for now.’ Noah’s tone was firm, and he was praying that Joel didn’t argue. ‘And I’m not asking her to leave the place so that you and I can have a private row. Either come back to the pub with me or don’t, but if you want to have a proper conversation about the future of this place, I suggest you do as I say.’
The look of surprise on his brother’s face was almost worth it. Noah didn’t often try to win arguments with Joel: he’d learned, very early on in their relationship, that it was better to find a solution that meant Joel thought he had the upper hand, but this time he wasn’t prepared to risk putting Bella in the firing line for a cock-up of his own making.
‘All right,’ Joel muttered. He waited for Noah to join him by the gate.
‘Don’t worry,’ Noah murmured to Bella. She looked so lost and alone that his heart ached. He couldn’t lose her, not now, but he also knew he’d have to do some very fast talking if he was going to achieve the right outcome with his brother. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can. And I’ll make sure Joel’s out of your hair later. He won’t be bothering you at work, I promise.’
Bella nodded. Noah wanted to kiss her so badly, but keenly aware that his brother was waiting, and with Joel’s previous aspersions about the nature of his relationship with Bella blaring all too loudly in his memory, he made do with briefly squeezing her hand. ‘I’ll see you soon.’
‘Well,’ Joel said as soon as they were both out of Bella’s earshot. ‘I never thought you’d go for a girl like that. I mean, hardly your type, is she?’
‘I’m not going to discuss Bella with you,’ Noah said, picking up the pace so that Joel had to extend his stride to catch up. ‘All you need to know is the arrangement I came to with her in relation to the cottage. No more, no less.’
‘Is that so?’ Joel sneered. ‘Well, from where I’m standing, the two things would seem to be pretty much inseparable. Like you and her, in fact.’
‘Don’t push it, Joel.’ Noah stopped walking and looked his brother dead in the eye. ‘Grandpa made me executor, remember? As such, I have the power to run things as I see fit, provided there isn’t any disadvantage to the beneficiaries. You and Marc will gain, rather than lose, from the decisions I’ve made.’
‘How do you figure that?’ Joel drew closer, and, hating himself for it, Noah was forced to take a step back. ‘I mean, the cottage should have been put on the market months ago, straight after Grandpa died. But you’ve stalled and stalled, claiming you were too busy with work to give it the time, and now I find you’ve got your girlfriend living there, and there’s been absolutely no move to sell it. Tell me how that makes sense.’
‘Because in the long run, you’ll pocket a whole lot more cash from the cottage if it’s in better condition,’ Noah replied. ‘You have to admit, that’s logical, right? And I know you’ll want to make as much money as possible.’
‘And who’s footing the bill for all of the renovations? Aren’t you just robbing the pot?’
Noah sighed. Everything, no matter how large or small, always came down to money where Joel was concerned. As his grandfather had once remarked, on one of the rare occasions he’d criticised his youngest grandson, he knew the price of everything and the value of nothing.
‘It’ll be worth it in the long run, Joel.’ Noah put up a hand to cut off Joel’s flow as he started to object. ‘I know I haven’t been entirely straight with you and Marc, but I’ve been doing this for all our sakes. Marc needs a cash injection to pay Tessa’s medical bills, and I’m sure you wouldn’t turn down some more money. If you wait a few more months, then it’ll be worth it. I know what the value of a fully renovated property will be on the open market, and it’s a damned sight more than we’d get now. The work on the roof alone will massively increase its saleability.’ Noah knew he was slipping into professional mode, but it felt like a defence mechanism, in the face of Joel’s scepticism.
Joel’s raised eyebrow suggested that, for all Noah’s sales patter, his brother wasn’t remotely convinced.
‘Right,’ Joel said. ‘And you’re telling me that moving that woman into the house was merely an act of altruism? That having someone there to let in the tradespeople and look after that old cat was just convenient charity? Pull the other one, Noah. I could see from the moment I clapped eyes on you both that you’ve fallen for her. She’s done a right number on you.’ He paused and shook his head. ‘Oh, please be my landlord, you sexy thing. Let me live in your house and look after your granddad’s cat for you.’ The whiny falsetto set Noah’s teeth on edge. ‘You’ve been played, Noah. Do you really think this Bella chick’s going to get out of the house, now? Not likely. You’ve let her stay there rent free, I assume, for weeks, have the run of the house. She’ll be clinging to the doorframe by her dirty fingernails.’
Noah felt his anger rising at the accusations, and before he could stop himself, he’d given Joel a shove. ‘You need to shut up,’ he said harshly. ‘You don’t know anything about Bella. She’s good and kind and loved Monty as much as Grandpa did. If you’d ever bothered to keep in touch and come and see him, you’d know that Monty was what kept him going, and Bella knew that. All she wanted to do was look after Monty until the end came.’
‘Yeah, right. And live in a lovely cottage while she was doing it! You’re a stupid tosser, Noah, if you think it was anything more than that.’
‘No,’ Noah repeated. ‘I’m not the stupid one. You are, for not valuing Grandpa while he was alive. All you care about now is your share of the cash. Why the fuck do you think he made me executor and not you or Marc? I was the only one he could trust to do right by Monty and the cottage. I was the only one who came to see him in the nursing home, who gave a shit about him in his last months. Where the fuck were you when he was dying, eh, Joel? Too busy living it up on the other side of the world to come home and say goodbye. So don’t lecture me about motivation, because as far as I can see, the only thing you care about is a quick buck. And you’re not going to get that until I see fit.’
The look of shock on Joel’s face at the stark reality of Noah’s accusations almost made Noah regret speaking them aloud. But he thought back to all the hours he’d spent with Jack in the cottage, and then, whenever he could, during his last months at the nursing home and he squashed that feeling. He had no time for his brother’s accusations and insinuations. He knew he was in the right, and he wasn’t prepared to argue any longer.
‘Checkout time is two o’clock at the pub, isn’t it?’ Noah spoke now with an exaggerated calm. ‘I suggest you get your stuff together and get down to London early, if you’ve got a meeting tomorrow. There are plenty of places in the city you can stay until then.’
A look of hurt momentarily crossed Joel’s face as the full impact of Noah’s words sank in. ‘This isn’t over,’ he said bleakly, breaking his brother’s gaze. Then, turning away towards the pub, which was now looming into view, Joel walked away.
Noah shoved his hands into his pockets as they started to tremble. There was a bit of him that wanted to stride after his brother, to try to smooth over the waves they’d created, but he forced himself to stand still. Joel would come around, in time, and if he didn’t, then perhaps when he received his share of the proceeds for the cottage he’d be more willing to reconcile. For the moment, though, Noah needed to get back and sort things out with Bella. She must be feeling confused, angry and hurt, and he couldn’t think about anything else while there was still that uncertainty between them.
53
Bella tried not to think about the exchange between Noah and his brother, but she found it increasingly difficult to stop her thoughts from drifting back to them as the minutes ticked by. Now that Monty was gone, what did that mean for the arrangement between herself and Noah? Was she going to be out on her ear? Marieke had offered her her old room back, but she was reluctant to return to what she now thought of as ‘the love nest’. Gerard and Marieke wouldn’t mind but once she’d moved on from somewhere, she never liked to look back.
Of course, if the alternative was kipping on a bench in the woods, then what choice would she have? The thought of being awoken by the dogwalkers of the woodland by Observatory Field, even on these mild summer days, wasn’t an option. But gooseberrying along with a loved-up couple didn’t exactly fill her with joy, either. Catastrophising about her situation wasn’t helping either. She had some money saved from the rent-free weeks at Jack’s cottage, after all.
Plucking idly at a couple of dead flower heads in one of the pots by the front door of the cottage, it took Bella a moment to register the familiar voice that was calling her name. Looking towards the gate, she tried to brighten her expression when she saw Mollie standing there.
