by Fox Brison
“Not half a million,” I whispered, “half a billion.” The whole café came to a standstill, everyone’s eyes glued on me. The expression about hearing a pin drop? Yeah that was what happened.
“I… oh… what… really…”
“And guess what? Next week I’m taking you motorcycle shopping for a Harley.” Jessie shook her head; she’d truly run out of words this time.
“My daughter, speechless.” Eli gave me a tight hug. “It couldn’t have gone to a better family,” he kissed the top of my head. “To Rachel and Ruth,”
“Rachel and Ruth.”
***
“You look pensive, Rachel.” Hannah found me hiding in the back with half a glass of wine and a sausage roll.
“Just overstimulated, I guess. It’s hard to take everything in.”
“I bet. A lot’s happened to you in the last few weeks and we honestly didn’t think we were going to get you that happy ending. You are happy, aren’t you?”
“Of course, it’s just, I don’t know, Hannah. I feel like I’m missing something,” or someone, “maybe I just want to know, why me?”
“Because your great great, and so on and so forth, grandmother was impregnated by the cousin or something, of the original Gideon.”
“Yes, but surely there were other heirs?” I think this was the thing that I still couldn’t get my head around. Oh and the amount of money of course.
That was just unbelievable.
“It wasn’t as simple as just finding a relative and giving them the money,” Hannah pulled herself up onto the counter next to me and took a bite of my sausage roll. “The will contained a special clause which basically declared that only someone with a good heart could inherit. And yes you’d think in over two centuries someone before you would have come along, but they didn’t, and that’s why this nut has been so hard to crack and why we were so underhand in doing it. We had to be one hundred percent certain you were the right person.” She narrowed her eyes in thought. “You know it’s strange, but Devon actually came back to the office after meeting you in the café for the first time and claimed you were the one… for the inheritance. At least I think that’s what she meant.”
“Have you spoken to her since yesterday? Is she alright?” I didn’t look at Hannah. I didn’t want her to see the truth in my eyes. God how I missed Devon.
“You could text her and ask her herself,” Hannah said with a knowing grin. Yeah, she didn’t even need to see my eyes to recognise the truth.
“Hannah, I-”
“Rachel, look. I know more than anyone what an arse Devon can be, and yes, she made some mistakes, but it was never to hurt you, you have to believe that. And I recall someone saying that they thought everyone deserved a second chance,”
“I do think that.”
Hannah remained silent, I think she was giving me time to process. “So what are you going to do with all that money?” she finally asked. “Apart from Harley shopping.”
“I’m gonna go back to school and finish my graphic design course,” I said with a smile.
“And then?
“Then I’m gonna bring Durban House up to scratch and make sure Morris Miller doesn’t get his hands on it.”
***
The party was winding down and to tell the truth, so was I. I felt like I could go to bed and not get up again for three days. Ruth, in contrast was still mingling and buzzing around on a sugar high. She loved people and in truth was more sociable than I was.
“There’s one last thing we need to show you,” Celeste said as we people watched from Devon’s table. Devon’s table. I smiled. I don’t think it will ever be anyone else’s.
“Can it wait a while, Celeste? I need a few hours to decompress, plus it won’t be long until Ruth suffers a major come down.”
“Of course. You get Ruth home for a rest and we’ll call around at about five o’clock. Will that do?”
Clearly Celeste wasn’t great at taking hints. Maybe it was another one of the job requirements for Heavenly Heirs. “That’ll do brilliantly,” I said. “Thanks, Celeste.”
I dragged a very reluctant Ruth from Eli’s and we started the short walk back to the flat. It had begun snowing and actually lying this time, so the world around us was silent and even the traffic noises were muffled on the white fluffy roads. I held Ruth’s hand as we took our familiar route through the streets of Seven Sisters. But this time it was a walk to remember and reflect on a chapter of our lives that was ending, and an opportunity to look forward to new adventures and new challenges.
We were starting again with a clean slate this time and there’d be no looking back over our shoulders.
As soon as we got home Ruth zonked out on the sofa with Badger curled up next to her purring like a freight train. But try as I might, I just couldn’t switch off. I sat staring at my phone, at a picture of Ruth and Devon stringing tinsel on the tree. I must have started then deleted seven texts to her, I just didn’t know what to say.
Would she even want another chance?
I don’t know where the time went, but the next thing I heard was the honking of a horn. Jesus, the air raid sirens of seventy years ago would have had nothing on this. I ran to the balcony and looked over to see Hannah’s head popping out of the top of a limousine. It suddenly dropped back and Jessie stood up and waved.
“You’ll get me evicted,” I shouted, then realised it didn’t matter. I had enough money to buy a new house. In actuality, there was enough money in the bank to buy several new houses and still have change for an aeroplane and Rolls Royce.
I woke a sleepy Ruth and carried her down the stairs, although once she caught sight of the limo, she perked right up. “Overkill?” I asked an embarrassed Celeste.
“I don’t think so, we needed room for your family,” Hannah answered. She opened the door and Eli, Jessie, Mrs Jessop and Ted the Tinker were all inside sipping champagne.
“If we keep going this way, the money won’t last long,” I grumbled, but good-naturedly.
“Come on, times a wasting,” Celeste waved us into the car and we were off.
I kept asking where we were going and kept being told it was a surprise. Barely an hour later the limo pulled to a stop in front of two massive black wrought iron gates suspended between pale yellow limestone pillars. I gulped.
Was I about to meet a long lost relative who lived in such a grand place?
It was also on my mind that we might have been kidnapped by a gang of serial killers or slave traders. So far I had seen nothing but a small piece of paper detailing the inheritance and a name, Tara Stephenson followed by a string of letters and a mobile telephone number. This could all have been some sort of elaborate hoax…
The car meandered along a gravel road, which was slowly disappearing as the fluffy snowflakes drifted to the ground and buried it beneath its white blanket. It was bordered by massive trees. I didn’t know which species they were because they were completely bare, but my creative imagination soon took hold. I pictured them in the spring as they first began to bud, then in the summer thick with verdant foliage which the sun struggled to penetrate leaving dappled shadows on the road, then finally the autumn, when burnt umber and ochre, coppers and crimsons set fire to the sky.
We pulled to a halt and I was afforded my first view of the main house. It was enormous, like something from Downton Abbey or Brideshead Revisited. There was a large circular turning area, the car tyres crunching on the snow, and we stopped beside several pale grey steps leading the eye up to a wide stone veranda. We all climbed out and simply stared.
There were lights, bright sparkling fairy lights strung along the balustrade and hanging from the roof, and to the left of us, a twelve foot Christmas tree was decorated with coloured lights and baubles – Badger would think he’d died and gone to Christmas tree heaven. An inflatable Santa Claus was bobbing and weaving on our right and I chuckled at the incongruity.
“Mummy, look,” Ruth pointed as every window in the house sudd
enly darkened to leave only white light decorations visible, dozens of stars, snowflakes, and reindeers.
“You weren’t just left money, this place,” Celeste waved her hand at the gargantuan house, “is also yours.”
Wow.
What?
Really?
Yes I was speechless. What the hell was I going to do with something the size of Malta? I bet I could fit my whole flat into the garage. Although… I looked at Ted and Mrs Jessop wide eyed and grinning. They could live here with us. Ted could help run the place. “There’s a school about five minutes from here in Ide Hill. You can walk through the grounds, or take a car.”
“I can’t drive,” I whispered.
“You’d better learn,” Hannah laughed.
“She doesn’t have to,” Jessie argued and I shook my head. One day those two will stop arguing with each other and then watch the…
Fireworks.
They exploded into the night sky and Ruth squealed excitedly.
We watched mesmerised as coloured rockets whizzed and banged for the next five minutes. I thought Ruth was going to combust. Celeste corralled us into the entrance hall where we took our coats off and just gaped.
And gawked.
And stared some more for good measure.
The lights came back on revealing the inside of the house which had also been decorated for Christmas; in fact, it was like the season of goodwill vomited decorations, they were literally, everywhere. It was someone’s idea of a happy holiday welcome, and although it was a little too much for me, Ruth adored it. She was like a kid in Hamley’s for the first time, pointing at everything with excited cries of “Look, look!” She stopped at the double doors into another room. “Oh, Mummy,” she whispered, “look.”
I did look. The ballroom had been transformed… it was the Christmas miracle part twenty five by now…
***
“So what do you want for Christmas?” Father Christmas asked. The large ballroom had been turned into his workshop, complete with elves to help out.
“I can’t think of anything,” I said, lying through my teeth. There was one thing, but I feared too much had happened, too many unforgivable words said in the heat of the moment to allow for reconciliation.
He smiled. “Everyone wants something, sometimes they just don’t know how to ask.” He went back to his seat and I stared at him, utterly bemused. Behind him was another enormous Christmas tree with a mountain of presents underneath.
“So what did you wish for this Christmas?” Hannah asked.
“I can’t say or it might not come true.”
“I think it already has.” Hannah said. She looked over my shoulder and waved at someone. I glanced backward then turned to continue the conversation.
“Besides I really do have every-” My head snapped back and I gave myself instant whiplash.
Devon.
Here.
Looking incredibly nervous, shuffling her toes into the rug. Looking incredibly beautiful, in a red dress that shimmered in the firelight.
I smiled at Hannah who winked. “What can I say, I’m a born matchmaker. I think I might start my own company, Heavenly Pairs.”
I began walking towards Devon and she did the same. We met under the mistletoe. It was fate, right?
“I’m sor-” she began but I shushed her.
With a kiss.
***
“What I don’t know,” Jessie said as myself, Devon and Hannah sat in front of the roaring fire sipping brandy, “is how you knew to get to the offices in time and stop Rachel signing all of this away.” She was looking at Devon expectantly.
“That was the easy bit,” she explained. “Hannah bugged Robert-”
“No I didn’t,” Hannah interrupted, “I didn’t have time. Everything happened so quickly.”
“Then how did Celeste know?” Devon got up and threw another log on the fire.
“And how did she know Lou wasn’t my sister? The only person who knew that was my solicitor.” I asked, sneaking back under Devon’s arm as she sat back down.
“Yeah, I never even knew that,” Jessie added.
“Jane must have found the birth certificates-” Devon began.
“No again,” Hannah interrupted softly. “Jane said it would take at least another couple of days.” She looked at Devon. “It was a good job you applied for Heavenly Heirs when you di-”
“I didn’t apply for the job, I was head hunted. Celeste’s boss told her to hire me.”
We all sat in silence.
“The whole case has been whacky from the start. I mean we only got the lead because a friend of Celeste’s found a two hundred and fifty year old diary on a market stall just weeks before the money would be handed over to Flood and Williams.” Hannah added. “How lucky was that?”
“Divine?” Devon said softly. She twirled a white feather in her fingers which she found next to the mistletoe after we’d kissed. We all stared at it in silence.
“Nah,” Jessie chuckled, and we all laughed along, nervously, however. “You don’t think…?” she left the question hanging.
Epilogue
Devon
Saturday December 31st, 2016
“Here you go, Darling. Where’s Ruth?” I handed Rachel a glass of champagne. We were nearing midnight on our first New Year’s Eve together. A few days at Ide Hall mansion followed by a couple packing up her flat back in London settled things for us.
The ring in my pocket (all fingers and toes tightly crossed I wasn’t jumping the gun) would just cement the deal.
Rachel wore her blue dress. I pestered her to buy another, but she argued that this was her lucky dress and it held too many memories to be replaced.
I’d thought the thawing of my heart complete but Rachel still found ways to melt it further.
“Ruth is with Jessie, Hannah, Celeste and Jane. They’re out on the veranda waiting with everyone else.”
“So it’s just us?” I gulped. I heard the cries of ‘where’s Dev and Rache and knew my time was running out. It was now or never.
“Yes,” she pulled me down and kissed me, a possessive bruising kiss.
I loved it when she kissed me like that.
“Rachel, I want you to know I fell in love with you the first time I saw you in the café. I know I said I didn’t believe in love at first sight, but that was only because I didn’t have the faith in myself to give you and Ruth what you needed.”
“You gave us your heart, that was all you ever needed to give.”
“I know. Now I want to give you this,” I removed the small black box from my pocket and got down on one knee.
Hey if I was going to do this, I was going to do it properly.
“Rachel,” her hand covered her mouth and there were tears of joy in her eyes, “will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”
She nodded and then chuckled.
“What?” I asked. “Did I do it wrong?”
“No, but now I have all that money in the bank, I’m richer than you?”
“So that’s your answer? You’re richer then me?” I was a little nonplussed.
“My answer is yes, of course I’ll marry you, I’ve always fancied a bit of rough!”
“I’ll give you a bit of rough,” I said taking her in my arms. “I love you, Rachel Mary McTavers.”
“And I love you, Devon,” she looked appalled. “I just agreed to be your wife and I don’t even know your middle name.”
“It’s Josephine.”
“I love you too, Devon Josephine Williams.”
Other Books by Fox Brison
Out Now
Island Skye
Skye Donaghie is having a bad day; she gets stranded above the North Sea, her girlfriend dumps her and her neighbour is run over by her car – whilst fishing.
The one saving grace is she reconnects with Natalie Jeffries, the gorgeous soccer playing sister of her best friend, Sara, when she comes to the rescue. However, the reunion proves bittersweet as it bri
ngs back memories Skye has spent the past decade trying to forget.
Faced with a family who abandoned her and a friend who doubts the relationship, Skye must face some home truths and conquer her demons or she risks losing everything.
Awakening Sorrows – book one in The Sorrows Series
The Dark Times are a whisper of a memory, of a time when Terrakuis was invaded by a vicious and merciless host, an army which tore through the continent like a vicious plague. But after being decimated in a battle seared on the souls of those left standing, the Kortoban army retreated to their homeland…
Teran, his sister and their two friends are living a peaceful life until their world is ripped apart when one of them is discovered to possess a rare and dangerous gift. Accompanied by two master magicians, Jacob, the wily Hunter of the Light and his much maligned apprentice Eslin, they become embroiled in a conspiracy which leads them to unearth an even more horrific truth; the only object that can halt the impending destruction of not only their world but the Light itself is The Star of Boran, a gift from the gods.
Hounded by those they fear and betrayed by those they should trust, their journey towards self-discovery ultimately turns into one of self-preservation.
The Shadow Moon is rising, an ominous warning that The Mistress of the Dark is gaining in power.
Her army is set to march once again.
Coming Soon
A Game to Love
Georgia Maskell is a rising tennis superstar who loses everything in a moment of madness. Languishing at number four hundred and eighty-four in the world, her coach enlists the services of Emma Myers a highly rated sports psychologist to get her head back in the game. Georgia quickly realises that an unexpected friendship and the love she craves may be the key to help her rediscover her winning ways both on and off the court.
Abiding Sorrows – book two in The Sorrows Series