‘That will be Benjamin. He was sponsored bySeñoraSantiago, and you’ll see him coming and going most days, until the end of the season anyway. After that, you will have to decide whether or not you share your great-grandmother’s love of polo. She wasn’t afraid to spend her money on what she loved, and there are many people hoping you will continue her traditions.’
Rose followed him to his car, noticing that her bag was waiting for her in the passenger seat.
‘Luis, do you have any idea how Valentina came to leave her child, my grandmother, at a place called Hope’s House in London? Do you know anything about her younger years?’
Luis met her gaze over the roof of the car and shook his head, before speaking earnestly. ‘No,señorita, I don’t. It has always been a mystery to me how she came to be estranged from her daughter, or that she even had a daughter at all, but we respectedSeñoraSantiago too much to ever ask. If I’m honest, I fear that her secrets have died with her.’
Rose nodded and looked back at the property, her eyes slowly roving across the landscape, taking in the towering trees in the distance that she guessed had stood for even longer than the Santiago family had owned the land. And she had the most overwhelming sense that perhaps whatever secrets her great-grandmother had, had not been taken with her to her grave, but were in fact waiting to be discovered. Why else would she have left her estate to a daughter and granddaughter who’d been kept hidden for so many decades?
‘SeñoritaRose?’
She turned, already deciding that she would come back the following morning to at least look around, or try to find the man she’d glimpsed by the stables to see what he knew. She had three days until her flight to New York, and she would need to make the most of it.
There’s no harm in trying to find out more while I’m here.
Rose sat in the car and reached for the little box in her bag, wrapping her fingers around it as she tried to understand how all this had come about, how a woman who cared enough to look from afar and leave a little box of clues behind had stayed hidden for so long instead of just coming forward.
‘This place, it will find its way into your soul,’ the lawyer said, as he turned the car around. ‘I have a feeling that you won’t want to leave now that you’re here.’
Rose stared at the trees in the distance, at the perfect wooden fences and endless acres of grass, and she had the distinct feeling that he was right. Part of her couldn’t wait to return in the morning. But the other part was terrified that she might fall in love with the property and never want to leave.
6
THE SANTIAGO FAMILY ESTATE, ARGENTINA, 1931
Valentina found every excuse to go near the horses when her mother wasn’t watching her. She leaned on the fence post and watched her father ride, showing interest in his training, but really it was Felipe whom she was there for. Even if she only caught a glimpse of him, it was worth it.
At the weekend, it was Felipe who held her father’s ponies in preparation for their ride, it was Felipe who would lead them around afterwards when they were hot and breathing hard, and he always made sure to walk the horses past where she was standing. It was in those moments, when he would smile and give her a little wave, or say hello, that her heart would leap, leaving her breathing almost as heavily as the animals he was walking.
But he would never stop. His eyes always met hers and they stared at each other until he could turn his head no longer, until the next time he passed, and Valentina was never brave enough to say anything more than hello. Perhaps if her father hadn’t been so near, or Felipe’s father hadn’t been keeping such a close eye on his son, they might have, but for now she was content to just see him. Especially when he seemed as happy to see her as she was him.
But today when Felipe walked past her, he stopped. Valentina dug her nails nervously into the wooden fence post, her heart pounding.
‘Morning,’ he said.
‘Good morning,’ she replied, although it came out as barely a whisper.
But Felipe’s grin was contagious, and she found herself grinning straight back at him, her nerves almost immediately disappearing. He ducked his head under the horse’s neck, looking back at their fathers, but from where Valentina was standing, she could see they were having a heated exchange about something and weren’t looking in their direction. They hadn’t even noticed he’d stopped.
‘What are they arguing about?’ Valentina asked.
‘Game strategies,’ Felipe said with a shrug. ‘It’s not a real argument, they just both get very passionate when it comes to polo.’
Valentina laughed, and then Felipe laughed, and she had a warm sensation pass through her as their eyes caught again. She couldn’t have looked away from him if she’d tried.
‘I like it when you come to watch,’ he said.
She nodded. ‘I like it, too.’
‘Felipe!’ came a shout from across the field. ‘Keep that horse walking!’
‘I’d better go,’ he said with a grin. ‘See you next weekend?’
Valentina bit her bottom lip to stop her smile from becoming too big before saying, ‘I’ll be here.’
He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe they’d finally spoken as he walked away, glancing back at her, and she felt as if her legs might give out from beneath her.
‘Hey, Valentina,’ he called out.
