The Inheritance (8 page)

‘Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested,’
he snapped.  As he was about to shut the door on her, Kate said urgently,

‘I’m not selling anything.  My car
is parked at the car park down the road by the cliff top.  I’ve lost my car
keys, I don’t have my phone with me and I have no way of getting home.  If I
could just use your phone… I need to ring my dad.  Please help me.’  Her voice
cracked at the end of her plea and she felt tears welling up in her eyes again. 
I mustn’t cry, she told herself and managed to swallow a sob that was threatening
to engulf her.  There was a pause as the man considered what she’d said.  Just
when she thought he wasn’t going to help her, his face relaxed a little and he
opened the door a bit wider.

‘I must say you don’t look like
you’re selling something.  You look like you’ve been through the wringer.  Come
in then and ring your dad.’

Nervously Kate walked inside the
cottage as the man shut the door behind him.  The warmth of the cottage washed
over her and she felt herself begin to thaw out. 

‘The phone’s in the living room. 
Follow me.  Would you like a cup of tea?’

‘Oh yes please, I’d love one.’  The
man left the room.

Kate picked up the phone and
dialled the number.  Her father answered almost immediately.

‘Kate!  Where are you?  What
happened?  Are you all right?’

‘Yes, Dad, I’m fine,’ she said, a
lump in her throat.  ‘I went for a drive, parked the car, went for a walk and
lost my keys.  I’m at a complete stranger’s house because I had nowhere to go. 
I stupidly left my phone at home too.  I’m sorry.’

‘I’m the one who should be sorry. 
I’ve been ungrateful of your help.  If you want to work on the farm, that’s
fine.’

‘Dad, it’s OK.  We’ll discuss it
later.  Right now I need to get the car sorted out and…’

‘Don’t worry; I’ll get on to it now. 
The most important thing is to get you home.  Were you out in that rain?’

‘Yes.’

‘Tell me where you are and I’ll
come and pick you up as soon as I can.’ 

She gave him the details of where
she was and hung up.  The man returned with a steaming mug of tea.  He gestured
to Kate to sit down.  She sank onto the soft padding of the sofa and relaxed a
little.

‘Your dad’s coming to pick you
up?’  He passed her the mug.

‘Yes.’ She took a long sip of the
tea, feeling its heat passing through her warming her and making her feel
normal again.  ‘You’ve been very kind to me and I don’t even know your name.’

‘William.’

‘Kate.’  He held out his hand and
she shook it.  ‘Thanks again.’

‘That’s all right.  Once I knew you
weren’t a salesperson I felt a lot happier.’

‘You get salespeople all the way
out here then?’

‘Not very often.  But I do remember one
occasion distinctly.  It must have been… oh, best part of ten years ago.  A very
aggressive man came to the door.  To begin with he was trying to sell me
something, I can’t remember what, and when I said I wasn’t interested he got
quite cross.  Then for some reason he changed tack completely and said he
needed to know if I’d seen a young man around.  He was keen to find him and
said that this person was the key to the company he worked for being a
success.  He gave me a name which I still remember, I don’t know why.  He said
the man’s name was Steven.’

Emma’s head was pounding as though
someone had punched her skull hard.  She’d taken a combined pill of ibuprofen
and paracetamol but so far it hadn’t had much effect.  The previous night’s
festivities were taking their toll.  It was December and as well as being the
run up to Christmas, it was also her and Natalie’s birthdays.  They’d had a
joint party last night which had been held at the exclusive club that Rebecca,
and now Emma and Natalie too, frequented.  Their birthdays were only a week
apart so it made sense to celebrate together.  Emma was sitting in the
conservatory sipping at her black coffee, hoping it would help.  The strong,
low winter sun streaming through the windows was making her headache worse
though, so she pulled the blinds down.

She could barely believe she’d been
in London since May.  The time had passed so fast.  The weather had been
amazing.  Since she had moved here, there’d only been a few rainy days here and
there.  She and Natalie had had some lovely trips out in the glorious summer
weather London had experienced this year.  Some days in Cornwall you hardly had
a single hour of sunshine.  Rain was more usual.  Emma was glad to see less rain. 
The dry weather kept her spirits up, a natural stimulant.  It was now coat, hat
and scarf weather though, which she didn’t like as much. She had always hated
the cold.  Finishing her coffee, she set the cup down on the table beside her
and closed her eyes, trying to think of something other than her headache. 

In spite of her efforts to control
her thoughts, her mind drifted back to the farm and her father and sister, but
also to Meredith.  She couldn’t remember her mother very well but now and then
she’d heard her father muttering to Kate that she was like her, as though that
were a bad thing.  Emma knew next to nothing about Meredith, only what she’d
been told and yet she felt as if Meredith were with her all the time, a part of
her.  If only she knew the truth of what had happened all those years ago.  In
some ways, she wished now that she had gone to the police and told them what
her father had told her instead of promising to keep it a secret.  She knew
that he’d killed her; he said it’d been a terrible accident, he’d explained
what had happened.  But what if he’d been lying and he’d murdered her in cold
blood? 

Emma
couldn’t remember much about that awful time in her life, when Meredith died, but
she did recall the police doing a thorough investigation of the farmhouse the
evening of her death.  Or had it been a couple of days later?  Emma wasn’t sure.
 
But she could still picture in her mind
the police officers combing through the farmhouse as if they were trying to
find a single grain of sand on a beach.  Her father had been taken to the local
police station for questioning.  He’d had to stay overnight.  A friend of the
family had come to look after Emma and Kate while their father was gone.  After
that overnight stay, her father had returned.  The police had cross examined
him, but had released him without charge.  He had never been quite the same
again, that much she knew.

Her eyes flicked open.  The thought
crossed her mind that she could still go to the police and tell them what had
really happened, that her father had been responsible for Meredith’s death. 
Emma knew that Kate would never forgive her if she did.  She loved their father
more than Emma did.  Emma knew it but she couldn’t change how she felt, she
couldn’t love more than she was able.  She realised increasingly that she was more
Meredith’s daughter than her father’s and felt a huge sense of injustice that he
seemed to resent her for it.  To reveal the truth of what had happened would be
an awful thing to do, this she knew.  Maybe she’d keep it as a last resort to
fall back on if she needed to.

Natalie burst into the
conservatory.

‘Hey, Em!  How’s the head?’

‘Well it was getting better until
you shouted in my ear.’

‘That bad eh?’

Emma nodded.  ‘I don’t really know
why it’s so bad this time.  I mean, I am used to drinking alcohol and… What?’

Natalie’s face was contorted with
laughter.  ‘Em, you should have seen yourself last night.  You were knocking it
back like there’s no tomorrow!’

‘Oh.  Well I’m regretting it now.’

‘Well don’t.  You were celebrating
your birthday.  You only get that chance once a year, make the most of it. 
Anyway I for one am glad we celebrated our birthdays in style.  We deserve to
treat ourselves.’

‘Yeah.  You’re right.’

Natalie sat down in one of the
chairs opposite Emma’s.  Emma saw that she had her ‘I’ve got a plan’ expression
on her face.  She waited expectantly.

‘Why don’t we go out for lunch in
half an hour – or an hour if you need longer to get ready?  We could head in to
town, maybe go for a manicure in Selfridges, you know they’ve got this fabulous
new nail bar.’

Emma smiled, amused that her
friend’s speech was starting to sound more and more like Rebecca’s.  She didn’t
particularly feel like travelling all the way into the centre of the city, but
maybe a trip out would do her good.

‘All right.  Give me a quarter of
an hour and I’ll be ready.’

Less than an hour later the two
girls were walking around the centre of London.  They certainly looked stylish,
with their elegant clothes and perfectly coiffed hair.  Emma was wearing her
shades, making her look all the more sophisticated. But she was only attempting
to keep the bright winter sun at bay.  Her head was still screaming in pain.  They
had a look around a few fashion shops before heading to their current mecca
Selfridges.  Once inside they headed straight for the nail bar.  Emma let
Natalie take the lead, as she often did.  She confidently asked for the two of
them to have their nails done together and it wasn’t long before they were
sitting chatting away, completely ignoring the manicurists hard at work on
their nails.

‘Em, how do you fancy another night
on the tiles?’ Natalie asked her.

‘Tonight?’

‘No, this Friday.  It’s going to be
a really special event.  Some celebrities will be there, maybe even a duke or
two.  It will be something different.  You’ll love it.’ 

‘OK, well maybe,’ Emma replied,
non-committal.  She watched Natalie’s face fall.  ‘All right, all right, I’ll
come.  It sounds fun.’

‘Great!’ Natalie beamed with
delight, like a naughty child who’s been told they can go to the party after
all.  ‘We’ll have to get new outfits.  This event just screams classy, so we
have to look the part.’ 

She chattered on brimming with
excitement and Emma nodded and put in a yes or no as required, trying to sound
enthusiastic.  But in truth she was feeling so awful that right now she didn’t
want to think about parties and shopping, she just wanted to go home to bed.

‘Emma, you could be a bit more
enthusiastic.’ Natalie pouted.  Emma had had enough. 

‘Natalie, I’ve got the world’s
worst hangover and my head is pounding,’ she snapped.  ‘I’m feeling sick and I
want to be at home in bed.  You dragged me out here when I wasn’t well enough and
not only that, you want me to behave as though another party is just what I
need.  What I need is to be allowed to recover from the party I’ve just been
to.  We can think about outfits and everything for the next party you’re
dragging me to another day.  That’s it for me for today.  I can’t take any more.’ 

The manicurist had finished her
nails. Emma put some money on the table and turned to the bewildered-looking
woman.  ‘I think you’ll find that covers it,’ she said curtly.  She stood up
and picked up her bag.  ‘I’ll see you at home, Natalie,’ she said and stalked
out of the store, catching sight of her friend’s incredulous expression in the
mirror opposite as she left.

******

Emma opened her bleary eyes.  How
long have I been asleep? she wondered.  It felt like a while.  She didn’t move
for a moment, just lay still and thought about her outburst.  In her mind she
saw Natalie’s reproachful face.  She could be so selfish sometimes.  Emma shut
her eyes again and lay very still for a while, then felt herself begin to drift
off to sleep again. But she forced herself to open her eyes and sit up in bed. 
She’d slept enough for now and had lost all track of time. 

Her room was dark.  She’d drawn the
curtains because the strong sunlight had been hurting her head, but now it was
night outside.  It was cold too.  She shivered as though she were outside with
no coat on.  Why hadn’t the heating come on?  Switching her bedside light on, she
glanced at her clock and was surprised to see that it was seven pm.  Where was
Natalie?  Emma got up and ran a comb through her hair.  Natalie could get like
this sometimes when she was cross, just disappear and Emma wouldn’t see her for
a while. 

Still this was longer than she’d
been missing for in the past.  Don’t get all stressed; Natalie can look after
herself, she thought.  She’d obviously gone off in a huff.  Maybe she had a
right to be angry, but Emma wished she would come home and talk to her, rather
than disappear in this childish way.   But I’m not going to sit around by the
door waiting for her to return like a worried surrogate mother, Emma told
herself.  She would have a shower and get something to eat. 

It wasn’t until eight thirty that
Emma heard a key turn in the lock and the door slammed as she was curled up on
the sofa watching telly with the gas fire turned right up.  But Natalie didn’t
come in; Emma heard her stomping up the stairs.  She sighed.  It was obviously
going to be a while before her friend would talk to her, let alone forgive
her.  Well I’m not going to be the one to grovel with an apology this time,
Emma thought to herself.  As she saw it, she’d had a right to be cross. 
Natalie had been totally inconsiderate.  She was sorry that she had snapped at
her, but was fed up with having to placate her, as though trying to avoid a confrontation
with a predator who might charge at any moment.

Half an hour later the door
squeaked as it was pushed open.  Emma turned to see Natalie standing with a
tray.

‘May I join you?’ she asked,
managing to sound polite and hostile at the same time.

‘Sure.’  Emma switched off the TV.

‘You don’t have to turn it off.’

‘Don’t you want to talk about this
afternoon?’  There was a long silence.

‘Yes, all right,’ Natalie said
finally.  ‘I obviously upset you.  But Emma, you need to decide what you want
from this life in London.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well I live my life here a certain
way and I thought we were on the same wavelength.’

‘Aren’t we?’

‘I’m not sure we are any more.  You
seem to be fed up with our lifestyle and it’s obviously wearing you down.  But
I don’t want to change my routine, how I live my life.  I don’t want to get
back here at three in the morning and have to tiptoe around because you’re
trying to get a good night’s sleep.  We can’t be having separate routines like
that, it just won’t work.’

Emma felt her jaw drop.  She couldn’t
believe how selfish Natalie was being.  ‘It was just about one party, Nat,’ she
protested.  ‘I don’t see why you think I’m not interested in our lifestyle here
just because of one argument.’

‘Yes it was just about one party. 
But I’ve noticed lately that you don’t seem very enthusiastic about your life
here in London.  You were quiet at Rebecca’s the other day and when we go out
you seem overwhelmed.  Maybe life in London is getting too much for you.’

‘Don’t you think it’s a little
unfair to say that after I’ve complained once?  Once!  I don’t want to leave
London, I love my life here.  Just because I don’t want to go out every night
doesn’t mean I’m no longer committed to our life here.’

 ‘OK fine, keep your hair on.  I
just need to know how you see things, Em.  It’s not fair on either of us if we
can’t see eye to eye.’

Emma exhaled slowly.  ‘I do want to
stay here with you, Nat.  It’s just that sometimes I get tired and I need a little
while to recover, to have a break from going out all the time.’

‘OK.  Well if that’s how you feel… maybe
we should see how things go.  But I don’t want our lives here to revolve around
your nerves.’

Emma swallowed a sob.  Her
so-called friend was being so unfair.  This was a new low for Natalie.  For a
moment Emma almost wished herself back at the farm.  Almost but not quite.

‘So are you up for the party
tomorrow night?’

The words were spoken calmly but
there was no mistaking the edge to Natalie’s voice.

‘Yes, sure thing.’

‘Good.  We’ll have to think about
what we’re going to wear.’

Emma nodded.  It was going to be tough
faking her enthusiasm for all the social events Natalie wanted to go to but
obviously she didn’t have a choice.