Saving Willowbrook Read Free Page A

again.
    â€˜Why is Daddy so angry?’
    â€˜Because he’s not going to live with us any more.’
    Amy frowned. ‘Never?’
    â€˜Never.’
    â€˜Nessa’s old daddy went away. It’s called a divorce. Are we going to have a divorce?’
    So much for breaking the news gently! ‘Yes.’
    â€˜Nessa’s going to have a new daddy soon. Are we going to get a new daddy?’
    Ella shuddered at the thought. She was done with men. ‘No. There’ll just be you and me.’ She hugged the child and settled her with a glass of milk and a biscuit, keeping an eye on the barn through the kitchen window, watching Miles load his possessions into his car. When he’d finished he stood for a minute or two, studying the jumble of outbuildings, turning slowly round in a circle, staring for a few minutes at the picturesque eighteenth-century farmhouse then staring at the line of willow trees along one side, where the stream ran into the lake.
    Taking out a camera, he snapped a few photos then climbed on a nearby wall and turned his attention to the chalets. The outsides were fully clad in timber now, waiting for the insides to be finished, and the buildings looked pretty, even without being painted.
    That raised her suspicions again. She could only suppose he’d not given up hope of making money from Willowbrook. Well, I’m not going to sell it, whatever you do! she thought as he put the camera back into his briefcase. You’ll get nothing from knowing this place exists .
    It was a relief when he got into the car and drove away, but sounds carried clearly in the still air and she heard the car stop again on the other side of the house. She ran upstairs and watched him get out of the vehicle near the end of the long dirt drive. Once again he took photos.
    Surely he didn’t think he could still get his hands on the farm?
    She’d see him in hell first.
    After lunch the next day, Ella went up to the bedroom to change out of her old jeans ready for her trip into the village to see Ian Hannow and discuss the divorce plus Miles’s suggested financial agreement.
    Sitting down at the dressing table she tidied her hair then opened her jewellery box. Tears came into her eyes as she took out three eighteenth-century pieces she knew to be valuable. They were family heirlooms, but she’d have to sell them now to finish fitting out the chalets. Perhaps Ian would be able to advise her on how best to do that.
    â€˜Georgina’s set’ was named after the jewels’ original owner. The small gold brooch was in the form of a circle bridged by a bar studded with pearls and it was one of her favourite pieces. She held it up against herself one final time, admiring it in the mirror, then put it resolutely into the padded bag, together with the matching necklace and bracelet.
    She couldn’t afford to get sentimental. Keeping Willowbrook was more important than keeping the jewels and anyway, there were still one or two other pieces of jewellery left, so she could at least pass on part of the family inheritance to Amy.
    Closing the drawers, she locked them carefully, something she didn’t usually bother doing, then studied the battered old box, which held her last objects of real value.
    Perhaps Miles was right, about this at least, and it wasn’t safe to leave the box on her dressing table. She hadn’t bothered much about security before, because she was two miles out of the village and could see or hear if anyone drove up the track to the house.
    But now . . . She couldn’t be too careful of what few treasures she had left.
    So she put the box in the safest place she knew. The old house could still keep its secrets, she thought with a smile as she went back downstairs afterwards.
    Ten days later, having sold Georgina’s set with Ian Hannow’s help, Ella went into the village to look at paint colours for the inside of the first three chalets.