Five
Molly sat crossed legged in front of the fire, on a rug on the floor of the open plan sitting room, dining room, and kitchen of her family home. Her dad sat on an armchair beside her. Boxes, black sacks, and a couple of her grandmother’s suitcases surrounded them. Basically, they had brought in everything that had originally been removed from Oak View Cottage, and had been stored in the garage. Her mum watched them from the kitchen, and topped up her glass of white wine.
‘I believe this may take a lot longer than you two think,’ Nikki said, grinning over the rim of her glass.
‘It would take less time if you helped,’ said Owen, throwing his wife a cheeky smile.
‘I’m busy making dinner.’ Nikki gave him a wink. ‘Besides, this was your idea, not mine, and honestly, I’m not sure what you’re hoping you might find. Just because two old ladies say something weird to Molly, it doesn’t make it true. I know you loved your mum, my darling, and I know you’d like to have an explanation for her horrid ways. But some people are simply born that way and there’s nothing you can do to change them.’
‘This isn’t about grandmother,’ Molly said, before her dad could answer. She got to her feet and walked towards the kitchen where she held out her glass for a refill. ‘Well, not entirely. It’s also about great-grandmother. She was the one the Boot sisters said had a ‘condition’ and that people had to be invited to visit Oak View Cottage. Don’t you see? That means grandmother wasn’t the first in the family to have this odd and frankly awful behaviour. It might also mean that there is … well … something in the family. At least, in the female line. I was astonished when I inherited the cottage. I’d like to be sure that grandmother hasn’t left me something … extra. That there isn’t something in my genes, I ought to know about.’
Nikki frowned, and almost dropped the bottle of wine onto the counter.
‘What? Are you seriously suggesting that there might be some sort of personality disorder in the Law, female line?’
‘That’s what we’re trying to find out.’
Nikki’s gaze of astonishment drifted from her daughter to her husband and back again. ‘You must be mad.’
‘I’m hoping it’s not that bad,’ said Molly.
Nikki’s shriek sounded as if she herself might be demented. ‘Oh come on, Molly! This is crazy. You know I didn’t mean that in the literal sense. How can you possibly think that insanity might run in your dad’s family?’
‘Did you meet his mother?’ Molly’s sarcasm made her mum grin.
‘Okay. I will accept she was thoroughly unpleasant. And mean, and unkind. But that doesn’t make her mad. That is a personality trait. Her father doesn’t have it, and more importantly, nor do you. Don’t you think that if you were anything like your grandmother, it would have come to the fore by now?’
Molly returned to sit with her dad. ‘I don’t know. Perhaps it comes with age. You must admit that I look almost exactly like her.’
‘Just because you look like her, it doesn’t make you her. For goodness’ sake, Owen, why are you encouraging this?’
‘I’m not encouraging anything. But the Boot sisters mentioned something in my family’s past that I hadn’t been aware of, and they made it sound as if the family had tried to keep it secret. I only met my grandmother briefly, and I was very young when she passed on. All we’re trying to do is to see if there is something in Mum’s belongings and papers that might tell us what that was.’
‘And whether it’s been passed on to me,’ Molly said with a shrug.
‘Then why not ask the Boot sisters?’
‘They told me to ask Dad.’
‘But I have no idea what it is,’ he said.
‘Then why don’t you go and ask them, Owen? Millicent was your mother after all, and her mum was your grandmother. You have a right to know anything the Boots might be hiding. Any secrets they’ve been asked to keep. Especially as both the women in question are now dead.’
Owen looked at all the boxes, bags and cases and then glanced at Molly. ‘It might save us a lot of time. And your mum is right. I am entitled to know. They seem to think I do already, so when you consider that, what reason would they have to keep it secret from me now?’
‘I suppose that’s true,’ said Molly. ‘I’ve got to go to Oak View Cottage tomorrow, to see Jemma, so we could go together, and I could do that, while you go and ask the Boots about great-grandmother. Although you’ll have to promise me that you’ll tell me what they say. No matter how bad it might turn out to be.’
‘I promise, sweetheart.’
Nikki puffed out her cheeks and blew out a sigh. ‘It won’t be anything bad. I bet it’s something really silly, and we’ll laugh about this tomorrow.’
‘I wish I had your confidence, Mum. But I can’t help thinking that I’m more like grandmother than any of us realised.’
‘No you’re not. Now let’s forget about this for tonight. Come and help with dinner, and then we’ll open another bottle of wine, and watch a movie. Your dad can drive tomorrow.’
