Saving Willowbrook (36 page)

‘The sort of people who go to your conference hotels don't give a damn for whether the countryside is unspoiled or not. They're either getting married or they're eager beavering on a training course.'

He didn't bother to argue. She'd been prickly all the way down here. He'd not have allowed it in any other employee.

The huge vehicle rolled slowly round the side of the house.

‘What a beautiful old place it is!' she said softly, her eyes still on the house. ‘Anyone can see that it's genuinely old. Your scout lied to you, Ray.'

He shrugged. ‘It not only has to be old to be heritage listed, it has to be special in some way. This house is common or garden Georgian. The National Trust has quite enough of those on their lists. I checked it all out—'

He stopped talking as the car came to a halt in the yard behind the house and he saw the incident tape across the entrance to the barn, the fire service vehicle and the police car parked to one side.

‘What the hell's been going on here? Don't tell me it caught fire! How sad.' He gave a wolfish grin. ‘With a bit of luck, that barn has been damaged beyond repair. Cameron said it was the oldest part of the farm. The wood's bound to have been well dried out and would burn easily.'

‘If you've been involved in this fire, Ray Deare, I won't be at work tomorrow – or any day after that.'

That annoyed the hell out of him. ‘Do me a favour! Would
I
do something so crude, not to mention criminal?'

He got out of the car without waiting for the chauffeur to open the door or for Sonia to answer his question, and walked across to the barn. Two men who had an official look to them were inside, discussing something and pointing.

Sonia followed him, waving to Cameron, who'd seen them arrive from the kitchen doorway and was now walking across to join them.

‘What's been happening here?' Ray asked.

Cameron came up to them and explained.

‘Much damage?'

‘Just a bit of smoke blackening. The arsonist was incompetent. Welcome to Willowbrook anyway. We'll show you round the place later. Sonia, it's lovely to see you. To what do we owe this extra honour?' He went through the usual air-kissing ritual with her then steered them towards the house.

‘I came to keep an eye on him,' she said, ignoring Ray's rumble of annoyance at this. ‘What pretty gardens! In fact the whole place is delightful.'

Inside the house Ella was waiting for them. The rooms, as Ray noted sourly, shone with cleanliness and with that extra something that said this was a well-loved home. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get this effect in any of his hotels.

He moved forward, hand stuck out. ‘Ray Deare, CEO of DevRaCom.'

‘Ella Turner, latest in a long line of Turners who've owned Willowbrook,' she tossed at him before shaking hands.

He blinked in surprise and studied her with greater attention. Parnell had said she was stupid. She didn't look stupid to him. ‘Pleased to meet you.'

Cameron moved forward to stand beside Ella. ‘She's also engaged to me and I'm now an official member of the group eager to save Willowbrook.'

Ray's smile faded. ‘You two are
engaged
? You always did move fast. Congratulations. That explains why you wouldn't help me.'

‘I'd not have helped you anyway. Once the arson inspector's left, we'll show you a barn built six hundred years ago, complete with secret passages and friendly family ghost.'

‘Now that I'd like to see,' Sonia said cheerfully. ‘But if that coffee tastes as good as it smells, I'm going to beg a cup first.'

Cameron took them to sit in the conservatory and Ella brought in the tray she'd already prepared.

‘Good coffee,' Ray acknowledged.

‘The coffee's better than what we serve in the hotels,' Sonia added. ‘Perhaps you'd tell me its name and I'll order that sort from now on? Ray would happily drink any brown liquid if you called it coffee.'

Ray studied the biscuit. ‘Nice biscuits, too. Have that home-made look. Where do you get them?'

‘I make them myself.'

‘She'll be happy to sell you some recipes,' Cameron said.

‘I'll be in touch,' Sonia said at once. ‘We have nothing as good as these.'

Ella blinked from one to the other. Miles had said she could sell her recipes. She hadn't believed him. For once, he'd been telling the truth.

After some more chit-chat, Ray said with the abruptness for which he was famous, ‘What will it take to persuade you to sell Willowbrook to me, Ella?'

‘I've already told you: there is nothing –
nothing at all
– that will make me sell my home.'

‘Everything has its price.'

‘No. Some things are beyond price.'

‘I hear you owe a lot of money.'

Cameron joined in. ‘I'd not let my future wife lose her home over a mere fifty thousand pounds, now would I?'

Ray breathed deeply.

Someone knocked on the door just then and Ella went to answer it, her conversation clearly audible from the conservatory.

‘We've got all the information we need,' a man's voice said.

‘It's the arson inspector,' Cameron whispered.

‘You can clear up now, Ms Turner, but if I were you, I'd take photos beforehand for the insurance people. Just one thing. Do you recognize this? It's the sort of so-called lucky piece that usually hangs on a key ring.' He held out a small metal figurine. Its shape was twisted by the heat, its colours were burned off, but its glass eyes still twinkled malevolently.

She recognized it at once. ‘Yes.'

‘Ah.' The inspector waited.

‘Brett Harding has one like that. I can't say whether this one is his, of course.'

‘I saw him with one like it, too,' Cameron said. ‘When I had an altercation with him for trying to rape Ella.'

The police officer stiffened. ‘Are you sure of that?'

She nodded.

‘Why didn't you report the assault?'

‘I didn't want to cause trouble in town.'

‘You mean with his father.'

‘Yes. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that Mr Harding is very protective towards his son.'

‘So Brett Harding might have a grudge against both of you?'

‘Yes.'

‘We'll question him, see where he was when the fire was lit. We'll be in touch.'

Ella and Cameron watched them drive away.

‘Why didn't we think of Brett?' she asked.

‘I did. But I couldn't see him doing something like that.'

‘He's an alcoholic, may not be thinking clearly.'

‘Well, let's hope we've found the guilty party. If he did set the fire, he'll be lucky to get away with it. Modern forensic methods can detect minute traces of smoke and accelerants on people's bodies and clothes even after an arsonist has tried to wash himself clean. He'll definitely go to prison if it is him, what with the other offences.'

‘Serve him right. Now, let's get this over with.' She went back into the conservatory. ‘Perhaps you'd like to see the barn now, Sonia, Mr Deare?'

Inside, it still smelled of smoke, but with light pouring into the building through the big double doors, it was clear the damage really was limited to one of the more modern corners.

Ray looked up to the roof, stared at the huge sawn trees used as supporting beams, turned round slowly on the spot to look at the barn, whistling softly as he stared. ‘Your husband lied big-time about this place.'

‘Yes. But Miles hasn't been my husband for a while.'

‘You could still withdraw your heritage application, if you chose. I'd find a way to preserve this barn, have it moved stone by stone if necessary.'

She smiled. ‘I'm still not selling.'

‘No. Now that I've met you, I can see that this is rather special. Pity.' He went up to stroke the bottom of one of the huge beams. ‘A cruck barn. I never thought I'd actually touch one.'

Ella looked at him in surprise.

Sonia nudged Cameron and went to link her arm in Ray's. ‘Leave it be, Ray. It belongs here and so does she.'

‘I still need that new development.'

Just then they heard a car draw up and Ella moved to the door to see who it was.

‘Miles is back. And my daughter looks upset. Excuse me.'

As he drove into the farm Miles saw a limousine parked to one side with a chauffeur sitting in the driving seat reading a newspaper. ‘Who does that belong to?'

‘None of your business,' Stephanie snapped. ‘It's someone to see Ella.'

‘I'll find out what she's up to when we go in.'

‘There's no need whatsoever for you to come inside.'

He laughed, ignored this and led the way towards the house without waiting to help Amy out of the car. He hadn't wasted the last two hours only to miss some of the moves Ella was making. It just showed it paid off to visit the brat.

But Amy fell over again and started sobbing. Fed up of her, he turned back and yanked her to her feet. ‘Stop that squalling! You're not hurt. You fall over all the time without crying. I've seen you.'

She shoved him back unexpectedly, taking him by surprise so that he caught his heel in the crazy paving and pitched backwards into the soft earth of the flower bed.

Amy's tears changed to laughter, but one look at his expression as he started to get up and she went hurrying into the house.

He brushed himself down, trying in vain to see over his shoulder. ‘What's my suit like at the back, Mum?'

Stephanie clicked her tongue in exasperation, but her maternal instinct made her move forward and brush him down. ‘There. Your suit will live. But it'll need dry cleaning. I can do nothing about the muddy bits, so keep your face towards people you want to impress, don't turn your back. You should let the mud dry and brush it off before you have the suit cleaned.'

Furious, he followed her inside.

Amy was sitting munching a biscuit. She looked at him warily.

The sound of Ella's voice made him ignore his daughter and move on to the sitting room. By the time he'd got to the door, he'd realized who one of the other voices belonged to: Ray Deare. He had not the slightest hesitation in walking in on them. If something was going on between her and DevRaCom, he wanted to know about it.

‘I've brought our daughter back safely, Ella. Oh, hi Ray! And Miss Bradley, too. How are you?' He ignored that sod Cameron.

Sonia gave him a frosty nod, Ray a quick one, before he turned back to his hostess.

‘You haven't heard the last of this, Ella. I don't give in at the first obstacle or I'd not have built DevRaCom to what it is. You'll be hearing from me.' On this excellent exit line, Ray got to his feet and walked out.

With a shrug and a wink at Cameron, Sonia followed.

Miles tagged on behind them, ignoring his ex.

When they were alone, Ella turned to Cameron. ‘What part of
No
does Ray Deare not understand?'

‘Don't underestimate him. He's a juggernaut when he wants something.'

She plumped down on the sofa with a groan. ‘How long is this going to go on? I can't get on with my life with threats hanging over me.'

He sat beside her. ‘Don't forget there are two of us to face the world now.'

She relaxed a little and took his hand.

‘We'll start by paying Miles back what you owe him.'

She opened her mouth to protest.

‘I know you were going to sell your family jewels, but I don't see any need for that. I have plenty of money.'

‘I'm not marrying you for your money.'

‘Hey, pull your claws in. I know that. It'd be more accurate to say I'm benefiting from marrying you by being able to live at Willowbrook. I really did fall in love with the place that first day, you know.'

She relaxed still further. ‘Do you really love it?'

‘Yes. And the first time I stopped in Chawton, I felt at home in the village too. I've never had that, a real home, a permanent place to live.'

She leaned over to kiss his cheek then said, ‘Perhaps Ray will back off with you on my side.'

He nodded, though he wasn't optimistic. He didn't trust Ray and he knew how much was vested in this development, maybe even the whole future of DevRaCom. That thought worried him more than he'd admitted to her.

Twenty-One

Miles followed Ray to the limo. ‘I've another suggestion for you. How about we go somewhere and discuss it?'

‘If it's going to give me as much grief as this one has—'

‘No. It's something I found out purely by accident and I don't want anyone else overhearing what I have to tell you.' He jerked his head towards the chauffeur and whispered, ‘What would you say to a new development near here that would cost a tenth of what this one would?'

‘What do you mean by that?'

‘It's not something I want to discuss here. Look, there's a hotel in Chawton, the Old White Horse, and they do afternoon teas that are to die for. How about we go there and find a quiet corner where we can chat?'

Before they could move away, Oliver drove up to the house, with a weeping Rose slumped beside him.

Miles stared at them. What the hell next? Then he remembered something he'd overheard. None of his business, but . . . He turned to Ray. ‘I'll meet you at the Old White Horse. I know these two. I have an idea about what's upset them and I may be able to help. Give me half an hour.'