‘So you keep saying, but it’s what she wanted.’
‘It’s not what she wanted at all! She was just?—’
‘Just what?’ He swung round to face her, feeling suddenly bitter that he’d been put in this situation. ‘Deranged? Of unsound mind? You might well be right but try proving it in a court of law.’
‘Sorry for you,’ she hissed. ‘She was just sorry for you.’
He gazed down at the floor. He thought it would have been better if his mother had been of unsound mind after all. Anything would have been better than her leaving him Watersmeet out of pity. Is that what she’d done?
Carne trotted over to him and sat by his side, gazing up at him with a solemn expression. Mac reached down and fondled the little chap’s ears, feeling stupidly grateful for the warmth and affection in the dog’s eyes. Right now, it felt as if Carne was the only person in the world who cared about him.
‘It had nothing to do with pity,’ he said, straightening as he remembered the other animals bedded down for the evening: the cows, the ponies, the ducks, the ex-battery hens, all safe and secure because he’d taken care of them and made sure they were. ‘You know as well as I do why she left this place to me. You left her with no choice.’
‘But you agree with me, don’t you? Deep down you know I’m right, and before long you’ll only do what I was going to do anyway. Why drag it out? Gavin will take it off your hands. You know he’ll be fair and?—’
‘How many more times? I’m sure Gavinwouldtake it off my hands, but the fact is that Mum didn’t want him to. In fact, it’s exactly what she tried so hard to prevent. Hence lumberingmewith the place!’
‘Lumberingyou?’ Stella’s face was wet with tears, whether of anger, sadness or frustration Mac wasn’t sure. Probably all three. ‘That’s how you see it? This beautiful house!’
‘That’s not what I meant,’ he protested feebly. ‘Look, I haven’t got the energy to argue about this now, and I don’t want to fight with you. Have a cup of tea with me. We can have a nice evening together catching up. I haven’t seen you properly for so long and it would be good to chat. How are Ned and Crystal?’
Stella glared at him as she swiped the tears away with the back of her gloved hand. ‘Mykids are fine. How areyours?’
He flinched as if she’d slapped him. ‘Low blow, Stell.’ She probably knew better than he did how Wyatt and Sarah were. Part of him longed to ask her if she’d heard from his children lately, but he didn’t dare. Even if she had, would she tell him? And did he want to hear it anyway?
For a moment her face softened, as if she realised she’d gone too far. He seized upon the chance to start building bridges.
‘Look, stay a while. I’ve got some biscuits somewhere,’ he offered, trying to smile. ‘We can have a proper catch-up. Forget all this business for one evening and just be…usagain.’
Her mouth tightened and he knew he’d lost her. ‘I’m not staying if you’re not going to talk about Watersmeet,’ she said coldly. ‘When you’ve thought it over and decided I was right and you’re willing to start negotiations then I’ll come round and eat as many bloody biscuits as you’ve got. Until then, we have nothing to say to each other.’
‘Stella,’ he pleaded, but she turned and strode down the hallway towards the front door, ignoring him. He winced as she slammed it behind her, heading out into a night as bitter as she clearly still was.
‘Oh, Mum,’ he groaned. ‘Look what you’ve done. As if I hadn’t messed things up with her enough already.’
The kettle reached boiling point, and he went to the cupboard for a mug, noticing his mobile phone on the worktop. For a moment his hand hovered over it. His pulse raced. His heart thudded.
‘“Tomorrow is tomorrow”,’ he reminded himself. ‘“All shall be well”.’
Yes, he was mixing his quotations but so what? If it worked…
He turned his mobile phone over so he couldn’t see the screen and busied himself making the mug of tea, half smiling as Mrs Beddows stalked in and wound between his legs, clearly on the scrounge for food.
‘You two…’ He shook his head as the dog and cat looked hopefully at him. ‘You never stop, do you?’
But he was glad of their company. Glad of the interaction. Glad to be needed and wanted, even though a part of him screamed at the very idea of all that responsibility.
‘I’m trying,’ he told them. ‘I’ll do my very best not to let you down.’
It was as much as he could promise.
7
Yes, there was no doubt about it. The twins definitely took after their mother. Their attempts to manipulate Alison on the drive over to their house were shocking, as they remembered various other things they’d like to have with them overnight – ‘But Grandma, we reallyneedour tablets’ – and decided that she should raid the fridge for a certain brand of yoghurt that Maister’s didn’t sell but which their mum had plenty of, and which they’d love to have for breakfast the following morning.
Fearing they’d be stuck in the house for hours while the twins did a massive search, Alison informed them they were to stay in the car and wait for her while she rushed in and picked up their project.
‘But you won’t know where it is. We should come in and get it,’ Hallie said, while Ada nodded determinedly.
