The Legacy: Trouble Comes Disguised As Family (Unspoken Book 2)

by T. A. Belshaw

  ‘That particular armchair is going nowhere,’ replied Jess. She looked around again. ‘I have an idea who might find a home for the bed, and the sofa has to go, even Nana said so. I’ll definitely be getting a new one. The first thing I need to buy is a new bed. The springs in Nana’s old one play a tune whenever anyone lies down on it.’

  ‘How many bedrooms do you have?’ Sam asked.

  ‘Four now, plus the attic, that’s huge. There were five originally but Nana had one converted to a shower room a few years ago.’

  ‘No bath? I love a shower, but I couldn’t live without a bath to soak in.’

  Jess walked to the open kitchen door. ‘There is a bathroom. It was built onto the parlour on the other side of the kitchen,’ said Jess. ‘But it hasn’t been used for thirty years or more. The bath is cracked and the sink is hanging off the wall. I could get that fixed up, though I might just leave that as it is and have a bath put in next to the shower upstairs. The downstairs bathroom was added during the nineteen-thirties and it hasn’t been touched since.’

  Sam pointed towards the stairs. ‘Put one up there, love, maybe just get the lavatory working down here.’

  Twenty minutes later, Jess and Sam sat on the old sofa sipping at glasses of Pinot Grigio, the nine black bags having been unloaded from the cars and stacked like a plastic Stonehenge in the middle of the lounge.

  ‘Here’s to your new home?’ Sam chinked Jess’s glass and took a deep sip. ‘Ooh, that’s hit the spot. It’s a shame I can only have this titchy amount.’

  ‘You can stay over if you don’t mind a lumpy old bed,’ said Jess. ‘I’ll have the sofa. It isn’t a problem.’ Jess looked hopefully at her best friend.

  Sam thought for a moment, then drained her glass. ‘Sounds good to me, pass that bottle.’

  Jess poured herself a top up and passed the bottle to Sam, who filled her own glass to the brim.

  ‘This sofa isn’t the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on, and I can fully understand why you don’t want to use the hospital bed, so why don’t we share the upstairs bed? It wouldn’t be the first time we bunked up together.’

  ‘It’s bad enough with one person sleeping on it,’ Jess said with a laugh. ‘It would be like a rusty spring orchestra playing Beethoven’s fifth with two of us tossing and turning all night.’

  Jess patted the pocket of her jeans. ‘Bugger, I left my phone in the car.’ She got to her feet. ‘Tell you what. I’ll nip up to the Tesco Extra while I’m out there and pick up a couple of bottles of PG, that one isn’t going to be enough.’

  ‘Grab some bacon too,’ said Sam, as she kicked off her shoes and sprawled back on the sofa. ‘Even PG can be improved with a bacon butty.’

  Jess walked out to the car, started the engine and turned on the headlamps. She looked in the rear-view mirror before reversing onto the lane and was blinded by a wide beam of light as a long, sleek car roared past. Jess blinked a few times until her normal vision was restored, then cursed. She’d know that car anywhere. She remembered Calvin showing off after he’d made some modifications to make it sound like a supercar. It had to be Calvin, there was only a farm below hers on the lane and the occupants of that were in their eighties and hardly likely to own a BMW with modified mufflers. No, it was definitely Calvin, but what the hell was he doing parked up next to the farmhouse?

  As she headed up the lane towards the town, Jess decided not to tell Sam about the incident. She’d want to get the police involved, but Jess was reluctant. She blew out her cheeks as she turned off the lane and onto the main road that led to the supermarket.

  ‘Bloody Calvin,’ she spat.

  Chapter 9

  As Jess came out of Tesco Extra carrying her bag of shopping, she heard a familiar voice call her name, she turned to see Ewan Drake, an old school friend who had spent a few years working for a charity in Africa.

  ‘Hello, Ewan, I haven’t seen you since the day of your Uni presentation when Calvin created all that fuss in that café. How are you? I hope the lecture went well.’

  Ewan flashed a quick smile. ‘I’m good thanks. The lecture went very well, so well in fact, that I’ve been asked to do a series of them on different aspects of charity work.’

  ‘That’s great news, well done.’ Jess smiled and patted his arm. Ewan looked down at her hand, then back to her face.

  ‘Look, Jess… I heard through the grapevine that you’re young, free and single again. I was hoping to catch up with you to ask… well, to ask if I could take you out to dinner one night.’

  Jess bit her lip.

  ‘I’m sorry, Ewan, but I’m not ready to move on yet. I was with Calvin for years and it’s only been a few weeks since the split. I’m not really over him yet.’

  Ewan’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘You’re not thinking of having him back after what happened at the café are you? He was bang out of order, having a go at you like that, especially as the woman he’d been having an affair with was standing right next to him.’

  ‘No, I’m not going to have him back, Ewan. Believe me, the situation got much worse when I got home.’ She felt a chill down her spine as she remembered the day. ‘As you say, I’m young, free and single and I’m going to stay that way for a good while. I don’t need any more complications in my life at present, I’ve got enough on my plate.’

  ‘I wasn’t offering to marry you, Jess, it was only dinner. No strings.’

  Jess’s face softened. ‘It’s very sweet of you, Ewan, but honestly, I’m off men at the moment.’ She put her hand on his arm again. ‘It’s not you, I’m not ready, that’s all. I’m just going to get on with writing my book. I haven’t had a chance to get started on it, what with Nana dying and then the break up.’

  Ewan was appeased. ‘Well, if you change your mind, I’ll book us a table, somewhere nice. Do you still have my number?’

  ‘It’s on my phone, Ewan, but honestly, please don’t hold your breath. I need to get my head sorted out, and that’s going to take time.’

  She pressed the button on her key fob and the lights on her car flashed as the central locking opened up. She gave him a quick smile and turned towards the car as he leaned forwards, lips pursed.

  ‘Bye, Ewan. See you around.’ Jess climbed into the car and dropped her shopping onto the front passenger seat. She closed the door quickly, pulled on her seat belt and started the engine as Ewan bent down to look into the car. Without a sideways glance, she indicated, then pulled out onto the evening traffic.

  ‘I got two extra bottles; we may as well make a night of it.’

  Jess waved the bag of shopping at Sam as she walked into the lounge.

  ‘That sounds like a plan,’ replied Sam, waving an almost empty bottle of wine in return.

  Jess walked through the kitchen into what was once the parlour, but was now used as a store room. She opened the lid of the old chest freezer and placed the two wine bottles carefully on top of the bags of frozen vegetables.

  ‘Remind me in twenty minutes, the wine is getting a quick chill,’ she called.

  ‘No need to shout,’ said Sam, appearing behind her. ‘Did you remember the bacon? I’m starving.’

  ‘I got bacon and some fresh rolls,’ replied Jess. ‘Do you want to do the honours, or shall I cook?’

  ‘I’ll cook, seeing as you were kind enough to buy the stuff,’ said Sam, taking a gulp of her wine. She walked back into the kitchen, took a frying pan from the hanging rack above the big oak dining table and set it on the hob.

  ‘This cooker has seen better days too, my darling,’ she said as she turned the knob and pressed the ignition button.

  ‘I know. I’ve got to plan a refurb. I’ll get a wall mounted oven and a halogen hob, but I’m not sure I have the patience to design my own kitchen. I think I’ll get onto Robin’s, let them handle it all.’

  Sam dropped six rashers of bacon into the huge cast iron skillet.

  ‘Blimey, this thing weighs a ton.’

  Jess laughed. �
��It’s been in the family for generations, it’s an heirloom.’

  ‘It’s a bloody wrist breaker,’ her best friend replied. ‘I’ll tell you what. Back in the day, if the old man came in late from the pub and got clobbered with this, he’d think twice before he stayed out again.’

  Fifteen minutes later, Jess transferred one of the bottles of wine from the freezer to the fridge and carried the other one through to the lounge.

  ‘I’ll call Sky to get my TV and broadband account switched over tomorrow.’ She picked up a remote control and turned on the 32-inch flat screen TV. ‘Until then, I’m afraid we only have a choice of five channels. Nana wouldn’t even have Freeview installed.’ She flicked through the channels before settling on an episode of the detective series, Vera. ‘It’s like the dark ages, isn’t it?’

  ‘I can’t remember not having broadband,’ said Sam. ‘I must only have been a kid when we first had it installed at home.’

  ‘Mum and Dad found other things to waste their money on,’ replied Jess. ‘I seem to remember a lot of squealing and squawking when Dad used the internet back in the nineties.’

  Sam’s phone pinged. She picked it up, read a text message, then sent a reply. ‘Jamie, checking in to see how things are going. I sent him a wine glass emoji in reply.’

  ‘He’s a nice bloke, your Jamie, you’ve really landed on your feet there, Sam.’

  ‘He’s all right,’ Sam replied. ‘He’s the marrying type though, and I’m not really sure that I am.’

  ‘Don’t let him slip away,’ Jess advised. ‘Nice men like that are a rarity these days. He’s a keeper.’

  Sam looked up from scouring WhatsApp. ‘I know, I’m just not ready to be tied down yet, that’s all. I’m not daft, Jess. I know I have a good one.’ She looked back to the phone again. ‘So, are you ready to get back onto the saddle, so to speak?’ she gave Jess a wicked grin, made a semi fist with one hand and moved it up and down over the index finger of the other.

  Jess rolled her eyes heavenwards.

  ‘Not for a long while yet, Sam. I was just saying the same to Ewan Drake, outside of Tesco’s this evening.’

  ‘Ewan? That lanky, skinny, lad? The one who followed you around like a lost sheep at school?’

  ‘That’s him, only he’s not so skinny these days, he’s built like a rugby player. He went to Africa to do charity work.’

  ‘Ooh, do tell. What was he after?’ Sam sat bolt upright.

  ‘He asked me out to dinner. But I refused,’ Jess added quickly.

  ‘Why? What’s wrong with him? Fred West would be a breath of fresh air after Calvin.’

  Jess pulled a face as she thought. ‘He’s a bit too clean cut, if you know what I mean? He’s very serious all the time. For all his many faults, Calvin could at least make me laugh. I’ve never seen Ewan laugh in all the time I’ve known him.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right, you need a shared sense of humour, love. Jamie can tell some right dodgy jokes when he’s had a few.’

  ‘Ewan would take serious offence at a dodgy joke,’ said Jess, sadly. ‘He’s on the woke side of things.’

  ‘Oh, God, that’s worse than finding religion,’ said Sam. She looked up at the TV. ‘Blimey! this is awful. Remind me never to slag off Netflix ever again.’

  ‘I’d try to get Netflix on the laptop, but honestly, Sam, even tethered to the phone for internet, the speed would be so poor it would be buffering all the time.’

  Sam pulled a face. ‘I’m getting WhatsApp messages, but even the smaller videos aren’t working.’

  ‘It’s like the back of beyond out here,’ laughed Jess. ‘Luckily the houses just up the road and the farm beyond this one, have broadband connections. It would have cost a fortune getting the fibre optic cable to me if they’d had to run it from the junction box outside the Old Bull pub.’

  ‘Well, you can afford it now, Mrs Moneybags,’ Sam said with a laugh. ‘I’m sure your nice lawyer would have paid for it had you asked. What is he like, anyway? Is he cute, or is he an old duffer?’

  ‘He seems very nice. He is rather good looking, a couple of years older than me, single… at least I think he is. He was married for a short time when he was in his early twenties but it didn’t work out and they got a divorce. He has a flat down the Gillingham Road.’

  ‘Blimey! You got all that from a will reading appointment? I shudder to think what you’d get out of him on a date. It would be like the Spanish Inquisition.’

  Jess laughed. ‘It wasn’t like that at all. It came up in conversation when we were sitting outside Café Blanc, that’s all.’

  ‘Hang on a minute.’ Sam put her glass on the floor and twisted around so that her face was only a foot away from Jess’s. ‘You didn’t say anything about romantic meals at the Café bloody Blanc.’

  ‘We’d both missed lunch… and it wasn’t romantic at all… well, the setting was, but our meal wasn’t. We just had a late lunch and a chat about things in general and that’s it.’

  Jess dragged her eyes away from Sam’s intense stare.

  ‘I see. So, when are you seeing him again?’ Sam twisted her head so that she could see Jess’s face.

  ‘I’m not… at least… I’ve got to call him soon to get the repairs and improvements started on the farm. He gave me his personal mobile, so I can reach him…’ Jess tailed off realising how it sounded.

  Sam leapt on the pause and clapped her hands in delight.

  ‘Well, it didn’t take you long to get over Calvin did it? Listen here you, I want a full report on my desk within an hour of you either seeing, or speaking to him. Do you understand?’

  Jess sighed and held up both hands.

  ‘All right. But don’t expect anything too exciting. He’s only my lawyer, he’s there to look after my assets.’

  ‘Precisely.’ Sam sniggered and winked.

  Jess topped up their glasses and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction.

  ‘I don’t want to delve into the trust for everything,’ I like to pay my own way if possible.’

  ‘I’m only pulling your leg, love.’ Sam patted Jess on the thigh. ‘What are you going to do with yourself in this huge old place anyway? You’ll rattle about like a pea in a whistle.’

  Jess looked around. ‘It is a bit big for one person. If I get too lonely, I might take in a lodger or a student… but, I’m going to be spending the next few months working on my novel, as well as writing any commissions the magazine editors might offer me.’

  ‘It must be so nice being a creative,’ replied Sam. ‘I do envy you.’ She took a sip of wine. ‘Then again, I remember Uni, those impossible deadlines, you still have to work to those, don’t you?’

  Jess nodded. For the magazine and newspaper articles, yes, but I don’t have a publisher for the novel. I haven’t even worked out how the story is going to go; I have the source material in Nana’s memoirs and there’s definitely a novel in there. I just need to work through them all and pick out the bits I can manipulate into a story.’

  ‘Watch out, kiddo, with your family you could end up in the courts if you type the wrong sentence.’

  Jess pulled a face. ‘Don’t even think that. I’m going to be really careful about changing dates, place names and so on. I’ll invent my own characters; it’s not going to be Nana’s biography. It’s just background material really.’

  Sam gave her a thumbs up. ‘I’m sure it will be fabulous. Do I get an advanced copy?’

  Jess grinned. ‘Signed and dedicated to my batshit crazy best friend.’

  Sam pouted. ‘Aww, you say the nicest things.’

  Just after midnight, with just half a bottle of wine remaining, Sam rolled off the sofa and got unsteadily to her feet.

  ‘Right, Missis, I’m going up. Are you sure you don’t want to share my bed?’

  Jess waved a finger at her.

  ‘All right, but keep your hands to yourself, you’ve had a few too many and I don’t want you thinking you’re in bed with J
amie in the middle of the night.’

  ‘You should be so lucky,’ said Sam. ‘I’m a good girl I am.’

  The two friends made their way to the staircase, flicking off the kitchen and lounge lights as they went. At the top of the stairs, Jess pointed to the left. ‘That’s the bedroom door, the loo is the one next to it.’

  ‘Good, I’m bursting,’ said Sam, as she pushed down the door handle.

  While Sam was in the bathroom, Jess made a turn at the top of the stairs and walked along the landing to the window at the front of the house. Outside, a crescent moon shone brightly in an almost cloudless sky. Jess looked up the lane towards the Old Bull pub, then looked the other way towards the next farm along the lane. About fifty yards along, on the wide strip of bare land that had been cut out to allow tractors to turn, was the dark shape of a car. The headlights were off, but by the waxy moonlight, Jess could see a shadowy figure, reclining in the driver’s seat.

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, Jess was just stepping out of the shower when her mobile rang. Wrapping a beach towel around herself, she walked quickly to the bedroom and with her dripping hair falling around her bare shoulders, she rummaged about in her bag until she found the phone. The caller was listed as unknown.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Jessica, I have to say I’m extremely disappointed in you.’ The tone of Martha’s voice did nothing to disguise the fact.

  ‘Grandma?’

  ‘You promised to call me immediately after coming out of the solicitor’s office. I waited in all afternoon.’

  ‘I promised no such thing, Grandma. You demanded that I call you.’

  Jess heard a deep breath, then the sound of it being exhaled.

  ‘I’m not going to argue over semantics, Jessica. I expected better from you. We’re family… do I have to remind you of that?’

  Jessica resisted the temptation to reply with a sarcastic comment. ‘Of course you don’t, Grandma.’

  There was a long pause.

  ‘Well?’

  Jess took a deep breath. She knew the calls would keep coming until she broached the subject.