The Soft Whisper of Dreams

by Christina Courtenay

  The Soft Whisper of Dreams

  Christina Courtenay

  Table of Contents

  Copyright page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  Copyright © 2014 Christina Courtenay

  Published 2014 by Choc Lit Limited

  Penrose House, Crawley Drive, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2AB, UK

  www.choc-lit.com

  The right of Melanie Hudson to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 9HE

  ISBN-978-1-78189-147-6

  Chapter One

  ‘Now then girls, as you’ve probably guessed, your parents’ will doesn’t contain any surprises, except for ... What I mean to say is that you will, of course, share their assets equally. There’s no question about that.’

  Mr Parker, the family solicitor, was perched on the edge of the sofa, his papers spread out before him on the coffee table in neat little piles. Madeline Browne and her younger sister Olivia occupied the two armchairs facing him, and they waited in silence for him to continue.

  ‘Yes, and …?’ Olivia, impatient as always, prompted when he didn’t immediately go on.

  ‘Well, there is one small detail which I am obliged to disclose to you,’ he said finally, ‘although it won’t make any difference to the will itself.’ He looked extremely uncomfortable and cleared his throat twice.

  A fly buzzed at the window, attempting to escape to the freedom outside and Maddie wished she could do the same. She swallowed down the tears that threatened to spill over once again. This is beyond awful.

  ‘Your parents added a codicil to the effect that, uhm, I have to tell you ... er, in short, they thought you ought to know that you’re not sisters by blood.’ He managed to spit it out at last, and added, ‘Maddie, you were adopted.’

  Maddie drew in a sharp breath and stared at the solicitor. ‘Adopted?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’ Mr Parker nodded for extra emphasis and shuffled a pile of papers which were already perfectly aligned.

  ‘But what …? Why, I mean …’ Maddie couldn’t believe she was hearing this and had trouble making her brain process the information. There was a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach, as if she had swallowed an ice bag and her entire middle had gone numb. She’d known the reading of the will would be painful, but this was totally unexpected. How could Mum and Dad have kept that a secret for so long? And why on earth hadn’t they told her? She was twenty-seven, not a child any more.

  As if he’d heard her thoughts, Mr Parker said, ‘I’m afraid I don’t know why they didn’t want to tell you before now. Perhaps they thought it was for the best?’ He shrugged. ‘They didn’t confide in me about that matter.’

  There was another silence, this one distinctly more uncomfortable. Mr Parker shifted nervously on the sofa and leaned forward to re-shuffle his papers yet again. Maddie sat transfixed, unable to move a muscle, but her sister’s next words broke her trance.

  ‘If Maddie’s not my real sister, why should she have half my parents’ money?’

  ‘Olivia!’ The solicitor’s eyes opened wide in scandalised surprise at this blunt and callous question, but Maddie herself didn’t bat an eyelid. In fact, she almost smiled for the first time since receiving the news of her parents’ car crash. The question was entirely in character with the way Olivia’s devious and selfish mind worked. No one knew that better than Maddie.

  ‘As your parents’ adopted daughter, Maddie has just as much legal right to inherit their assets as you do, Olivia. The paperwork is all in order.’ The solicitor’s mouth had settled into a thin, uncompromising line and his brows drew together into a formidable frown of disapproval, but Olivia wasn’t fazed. Her thinly plucked eyebrows rose over heavily made-up eyes, attempting a look of injured innocence.

  ‘But if she’s no blood relation, shouldn’t I at least have the larger portion?’ Olivia’s face was cold under the thick layer of foundation, her expression one of clinical detachment. There was no grief for their parents’ passing. No sign of guilt at wanting to deprive her sister of her inheritance. Nothing to indicate that she even understood the cruelty of what she was saying. Mr Parker’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

  ‘Really, Olivia, this is beyond anything!’ He turned to Maddie with an apologetic gesture, clearly floundering in the face of this unexpected turn of events. He began to fidget with an elegant silver fountain pen, capping and uncapping it. ‘I’m at a loss for words,’ he added unnecessarily.

  Maddie decided it was time to come to his rescue. While listening to Olivia’s questions, a quiet fury had begun to build up inside her. It wasn’t something which had come on suddenly, she realised. The anger had been increasing steadily over the years, but she had always reined it in out of respect for their parents. Now there was no longer any reason why she shouldn’t let it out and the rage gave her the strength to deal with this now, once and for all.

  ‘Don’t worry, Mr Parker.’ Maddie leaned forward to lay a soothing hand on his sleeve. ‘This has all come as a huge shock to me, as you probably guess, but it’s made me see one thing clearly – Olivia is not, and never has been, a sister to me. No matter what I did the two of us couldn’t get on. I’ve always wondered why, because I wanted us to be close, but today you’ve given me the answer. Thank you.’

  ‘Always playing the saint,’ Olivia sneered under her breath. ‘Nothing ever changes.’

  Maddie didn’t rise to the bait. She’d had years of practice at ignoring her sister’s barbs for the sake of a peaceful existence and in order to spare her parents grief, as they had hated confrontations of any kind. Besides, there was no point in retaliating. Olivia had skin thicker than an armadillo, and somehow, in the end, she always had her way.

  ‘Your parents adopted you because they didn’t think they could have any children,’ the solicitor interjected. ‘I have known them for years and they loved you as if you were truly theirs. That fact didn’t change when they were blessed,’ here he hesitated slightly and cast a doubtful glance at Olivia, ‘with a natural child.’

  ‘I know, Mr Parker.’ Maddie held up her hand to stop him. This was all too new, her emotions were still very raw, and she would rather not discuss it. All she wanted was to escape from this room, this house and Olivia’s presence. ‘I agree, I couldn’t have had a better mum or dad. They gave me what I needed
most when they were alive – their love. I don’t want anything else from them now. Let Olivia have it all. It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘But Maddie, of course it matters. We’re talking about a substantial sum here.’ The stunned expression had returned to the man’s face.

  ‘No, I’m serious. I know her better than anyone.’ It was Maddie’s turn to glare at Olivia. ‘And I can see that she’ll stop at nothing until she has her way.’

  Olivia turned away to study her immaculately painted talons, as if the discussion had nothing whatsoever to do with her and she hadn’t been the one to set the cat among the pigeons in the first place. Maddie clenched her teeth together hard.

  ‘There is nothing Olivia can do,’ Mr Parker protested. ‘It’s all legal.’

  ‘I don’t care. I don’t ever want to see or hear from her again, so if you would be so kind as to help me remove a few personal items and keepsakes, she can have the rest. You’ll take care of the paperwork, right?’ Maddie was seething and she could feel the red-hot lava of emotions bubbling up inside her, waiting to erupt, but she was determined not to give way. She could cry later, when she was alone. For now, she’d leave this place in a dignified manner and never look back. Never come back. It was the only way.

  Olivia, who had been listening to this exchange with a small smirk of satisfaction playing about her mouth, suddenly frowned and looked at Maddie suspiciously. ‘What are you taking? You’re not having Mum’s best ―’

  ‘Olivia!’ Mr Parker barked out the name this time in a voice which reminded Maddie of a headmaster speaking to a naughty child. If only Olivia’s real parents had tried that approach occasionally, she thought, they wouldn’t be having this conversation now. ‘I suggest you count your blessings,’ the solicitor continued with a withering look at Olivia, ‘and let Maddie choose whichever items she wants. If not, I have a good mind to force her to accept your parents’ bequest. Don’t believe for a moment that I couldn’t do it. Or even, if need be, retain it in trust for her children. Do I make myself understood?’ He looked sufficiently fierce for his words to have the desired effect and Olivia nodded in simmering silence.

  ‘Don’t worry, Olivia,’ Maddie gave a brittle little laugh, ‘we’ve never had the same taste so I’m not likely to want any of the things you like.’ She stood up and headed for the door.

  ‘We’ll see,’ Olivia muttered as she followed her former sister out of the room, arms crossed belligerently over her chest.

  Mr Parker brought up the rear, anger and disbelief still written all over his face. As he caught up with the sisters, Maddie saw his confusion and whispered, ‘Really, this is the best way. Now I can be free of her for the rest of my life. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.’

  Mr Parker would have to take her word for it.

  Chapter Two

  ‘Kayla! It’s so good to see you, and thank you again for having me to stay at such short notice.’

  Maddie hugged her friend Kayla Marcombe and tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to overflow. Here, at last, was one place where she felt welcome. That thought almost opened the floodgates, but somehow she kept them closed for the time being.

  ‘Oh, Maddie, you know we love to have you here any time. It’s only natural you should want to get away from London after the last few weeks.’ Kayla put an arm round Maddie’s shoulders, despite the fact that her friend was almost a head taller, and pulled her towards the huge curved staircase. ‘Was it really awful?’

  ‘You have no idea.’ Maddie shuddered at the memories and followed her tiny friend up the stairs, hardly noticing the grandeur of her surroundings. Kayla was married to a baronet and lived in palatial style at seventeenth century Marcombe Hall in Devon, but Maddie had visited them frequently and the magnificent house had ceased to impress her. To her, it was simply Kayla’s home now.

  ‘Come and tell me all about it,’ Kayla invited, leading the way into one of the many guest rooms. This particular one was decorated in shades of primrose and lilac, but Maddie wouldn’t have cared if it was neon orange. As far as she was concerned, a spartan cell in a nunnery would have been preferable to her London flat at the moment. She’d desperately needed to escape.

  Annie, the Marcombe’s housekeeper, clattered into the room with a laden tea tray. ‘Welcome to Devon again, Maddie,’ she beamed. Maddie felt as if she had come home, and the kindness of the old woman compared to that of her own so-called sister was almost too much for her composure. The threatening tears hovered on her lashes.

  ‘Thank you, Annie. It’s good to be here.’

  Annie tactfully left the two friends together, and Maddie curled her long, slender legs into a deep chair with a sigh. Kayla poured them both a cup of tea, added lots of sugar to Maddie’s and passed her both the tea and a plate of biscuits.

  ‘This is heavenly, just what I needed. Why does it taste so much better here in the country?’

  Kayla laughed. ‘The water perhaps? It might be marginally cleaner here.’ She sank into a chair opposite Maddie’s. ‘So come on, let’s hear it. You weren’t very coherent on the phone. All I could understand was that your life is a disaster.’

  Maddie smiled ruefully. ‘That’s the understatement of the year. Sorry, Kayla, but I’ve had a terrible time of it. First it was the shock of my parents’ accident. Being woken up at midnight and having to rush off to hospital, only to find it was too late … well, you can imagine how I felt.’ She closed her eyes, reliving the horrible events of that night. They were etched onto her brain, a nightmare vision.

  Kayla nodded sympathetically, but didn’t interrupt.

  ‘Then there were all the arrangements for the funeral to be made,’ Maddie continued, taking a sip of the scalding hot tea. ‘Olivia was no help at all as usual. I lost count of the number of times she changed her mind or pretended she’d never said something when she had. And the funeral itself ...’ Maddie shivered violently at the memory. Standing at not just one parent’s graveside, but two at once. It was so unexpected, so shocking, and had brought the reality of their deaths home to Maddie as nothing else could have done. ‘It was so final, Kayla. The end of a part of my life.’

  ‘I can imagine,’ Kayla murmured soothingly.

  ‘On top of everything else, Olivia and I had to see the solicitor that same afternoon. He insisted, and since he’s a family friend we couldn’t refuse. And then he dropped his bombshell – he told us I was adopted. That was the final nail in the coffin.’ She smiled feebly at her own bad joke, but at the same time tears welled out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She swiped at them ineffectually. ‘For God’s sake, Kayla, why didn’t they tell me?’

  The anguished question was one which she had asked herself repeatedly since leaving her parents’ house. ‘I wouldn’t have loved them less and it would have explained so much.’ She shook her head. ‘I always knew I was different somehow. I mean, for a start, none of my family looked anything like me. Olivia must have sensed it too, although that might have been wishful thinking on her part. But I thought it was my fault, some fundamental flaw in me. All along it was just the fact that I was adopted.’

  ‘They never even hinted at it?’

  ‘No, never. I was treated exactly the same as Olivia. I honestly don’t think they ever wanted me to know.’

  ‘Perhaps they were afraid you would leave them, want to find your real parents?’

  ‘Why would I want to do that? My birth parents obviously didn’t want me, so why should I want them?’

  ‘Curiosity, maybe? Most adopted children want to find out about their natural parents.’

  ‘Well, not me. I’ve had my fill of rejection for a while. I have to take stock of my life now and seriously consider where I’m going. I need a complete change of scenery. A fresh start.’

  ‘Take your time. You only just got here. We don’t want to lose you too soon, so stay as long as you like. It’s lucky you were just temping at the moment and not in a permanent job.’

  ‘Yes. And I h
ave some money put by for a rainy day. Somehow I think it has arrived. In fact, it seems to be pouring at the moment.’

  ‘No, no, that’s defeatist thinking. There must be some positive things happening in your life too. Didn’t you tell me you’d met this gorgeous man recently? What was his name again?’

  ‘David. And I didn’t mention him because he’s no longer in the picture.’ Maddie clenched her fists. ‘He was a bastard.’

  ‘What? But I thought ...’ Kayla looked bewildered. ‘You were so in love, last time I talked to you. Surely that was only a couple of weeks ago?’

  ‘That was before I found out he’d been hitting on my flat mate Jessie when I was out. Thank God for true friends! If she hadn’t told me, I might have made an even bigger arse of myself.’

  ‘Oh, poor Maddie, I guess you’re right. It really is pouring on you at the moment. Never mind, let’s go and find Wes and the kids and let the future take care of itself for a while. You’ll soon figure everything out. In the meantime, you can have a vacation. How does swimming down in the cove sound?’

  Maddie dried her tears and managed a watery smile. ‘Absolutely fantastic. I’d rather swim in saltwater than produce buckets of it, which is all I seem to be capable of at the moment.’

  Maddie woke early the next morning, drenched in perspiration and with all the bedding twisted round her legs. She lay in the semi-darkness of dawn, breathing heavily while her heart thumped against her ribcage. The dream had returned. Maddie groaned. ‘Not again, please,’ she whispered, but she knew that no one would be listening to her plea.

  It was a dream which had plagued her as a child, and later as a teenager, playing out the same scenario night after night. It was always incredibly clear and always followed the same pattern. Afterwards she remembered every minute detail even though she didn’t want to.

  Each time, she was in a sunny garden surrounded by rose bushes, bearing flowers of every hue. There was a swing hanging from the stout branch of an old apple tree, and somehow she knew it was hers. Whenever she looked at it she felt a sense of ownership and pride. Possessiveness even. The dream always began with her rushing towards it.