honour?’
Rosie experienced a jolt of shame at the phone call she had made to Austin before she hammered on Emily’s door and her willingness to ditch the whole package in his hands and hare off back to Manhattan without a backwards glance. She had no idea what Bernice had intended her to do with the cottage, but did she foresee its immediate sale? Had her aunt offered her the benefit of her sage guidance and a refuge once again – in death, as in life?
Emily changed tact. ‘This Austin Meadows chap? What’s he like? Nick and I met Mr Richmond when we redrafted our wills after Lorcan was born. Their offices are out of Dickensian London. I expected Mr Pickwick to pop out of the book shelves at any moment.’
‘No, far from it. Austin would be in his early thirties.’ Annoyingly, Rosie felt a hot flush seep across her cheeks and down her neck. She reached to twiddle with her earring.
Emily missed nothing.
‘You fancy him, don’t you! Come on, he could be your perfect match, you know – both corporate high-flyers, career-obsessed, intelligent, sophisticated, similar academic backgrounds. Hmm, I wonder if he’s single. I’ll ask around.’ Emily had an extended coterie of mummy friends from whom to elicit nuggets of gossip. ‘Was he handsome, Rosie? Oh, I can see the answer is “yes”.’
‘No! Look, Em, I need to get back to New York. Whether I fancy him or not is irrelevant. For your information, yes, he is good-looking in that clean-cut English gentleman sort of way.’ She resisted sharing with Emily the frisson of sexual desire she’d experienced when he clasped her hand in his. ‘If Austin says Thornleigh Lodge is marketable in its current condition then it must be okay to put it up for sale. I have no time or inclination to “do up” the lodge, and if I can’t trust my aunt’s solicitor then who can I trust?’
‘But…’
‘It’s the only solution. I’m sorry it can’t be any other way. If the lodge sells quickly I needn’t worry about its maintenance over the winter months, and I can give half the proceeds from the sale to Freya.’
‘But Rosie, your aunt wanted
you
to have the cottage – not Freya – otherwise she would have left it to you both. The way I see it, by leaving it to you, and only you, she wanted you to
keep
the lodge – to use it as a refuge, like you did before.’
‘She didn’t say keep.’
‘But she implied it!’
Rosie grasped Emily’s hand and leaned in. ‘I know you mean well, Em. I’d love to spend more time here in Devon. It’s a truly idyllic retreat from the manic circle of a corporate career and I do envy what you and Nick have here: two beautiful, if somewhat boisterous, boys, a comfortable home bursting at the seams with love, a community to feel part of. Compared to my Upper West Side apartment and frantic lifestyle, what’s not to crave?
‘But my life and work are in Manhattan. Especially now that Mission Freya is finally accomplished, I can truly concentrate on my career. I have no spare time to squeeze in a visit to Dad in Stonington Beach, never mind hop on a transatlantic flight to the UK, then take an exhausting train journey down to Devon and an exorbitant taxi fare from Tiverton to the lodge!
‘The only logical solution is to tie up Aunt B’s estate as swiftly as possible and that involves selling Thornleigh Lodge. My taxi’s booked for five a.m. tomorrow. When the cottage sells, I’ll catch a weekend over here to clear out the contents.’
Emily’s distress was clearly etched on her attractive face, but it wasn’t her decision to take. Fortunately, the tension of her disapproval was broken by a piercing scream when Ethan evicted Lorcan over the edge of the trampoline and Emily’s attention was required to broker a fraternal peace.
***
As the same taxi driver that had brought her to Thornleigh Lodge on that first morning drew up outside the cottage after her chat with Emily, and Rosie reached for her purse to discharge
Rosie experienced a jolt of shame at the phone call she had made to Austin before she hammered on Emily’s door and her willingness to ditch the whole package in his hands and hare off back to Manhattan without a backwards glance. She had no idea what Bernice had intended her to do with the cottage, but did she foresee its immediate sale? Had her aunt offered her the benefit of her sage guidance and a refuge once again – in death, as in life?
Emily changed tact. ‘This Austin Meadows chap? What’s he like? Nick and I met Mr Richmond when we redrafted our wills after Lorcan was born. Their offices are out of Dickensian London. I expected Mr Pickwick to pop out of the book shelves at any moment.’
‘No, far from it. Austin would be in his early thirties.’ Annoyingly, Rosie felt a hot flush seep across her cheeks and down her neck. She reached to twiddle with her earring.
Emily missed nothing.
‘You fancy him, don’t you! Come on, he could be your perfect match, you know – both corporate high-flyers, career-obsessed, intelligent, sophisticated, similar academic backgrounds. Hmm, I wonder if he’s single. I’ll ask around.’ Emily had an extended coterie of mummy friends from whom to elicit nuggets of gossip. ‘Was he handsome, Rosie? Oh, I can see the answer is “yes”.’
‘No! Look, Em, I need to get back to New York. Whether I fancy him or not is irrelevant. For your information, yes, he is good-looking in that clean-cut English gentleman sort of way.’ She resisted sharing with Emily the frisson of sexual desire she’d experienced when he clasped her hand in his. ‘If Austin says Thornleigh Lodge is marketable in its current condition then it must be okay to put it up for sale. I have no time or inclination to “do up” the lodge, and if I can’t trust my aunt’s solicitor then who can I trust?’
‘But…’
‘It’s the only solution. I’m sorry it can’t be any other way. If the lodge sells quickly I needn’t worry about its maintenance over the winter months, and I can give half the proceeds from the sale to Freya.’
‘But Rosie, your aunt wanted
you
to have the cottage – not Freya – otherwise she would have left it to you both. The way I see it, by leaving it to you, and only you, she wanted you to
keep
the lodge – to use it as a refuge, like you did before.’
‘She didn’t say keep.’
‘But she implied it!’
Rosie grasped Emily’s hand and leaned in. ‘I know you mean well, Em. I’d love to spend more time here in Devon. It’s a truly idyllic retreat from the manic circle of a corporate career and I do envy what you and Nick have here: two beautiful, if somewhat boisterous, boys, a comfortable home bursting at the seams with love, a community to feel part of. Compared to my Upper West Side apartment and frantic lifestyle, what’s not to crave?
‘But my life and work are in Manhattan. Especially now that Mission Freya is finally accomplished, I can truly concentrate on my career. I have no spare time to squeeze in a visit to Dad in Stonington Beach, never mind hop on a transatlantic flight to the UK, then take an exhausting train journey down to Devon and an exorbitant taxi fare from Tiverton to the lodge!
‘The only logical solution is to tie up Aunt B’s estate as swiftly as possible and that involves selling Thornleigh Lodge. My taxi’s booked for five a.m. tomorrow. When the cottage sells, I’ll catch a weekend over here to clear out the contents.’
Emily’s distress was clearly etched on her attractive face, but it wasn’t her decision to take. Fortunately, the tension of her disapproval was broken by a piercing scream when Ethan evicted Lorcan over the edge of the trampoline and Emily’s attention was required to broker a fraternal peace.
***
As the same taxi driver that had brought her to Thornleigh Lodge on that first morning drew up outside the cottage after her chat with Emily, and Rosie reached for her purse to discharge
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