The Legacy: Trouble Comes Disguised As Family (Unspoken Book 2) by T. Belshaw (the best books to read .txt) 📗

Grandma. That’s the very reason it was placed into a trust. She loved this place and—’

‘This place? So, you’ve already moved in?’

‘Yes, I moved in last night.’

‘Ha! You couldn’t wait, could you? How long have you been planning this? Whispering in her ear, poisoning her thoughts. You didn’t just get your feet under the table, you crawled underneath it.’

‘Grandma! How could you say such things? You know I wasn’t expecting to be left anything?’

‘And yet, now you have EVERYTHING, you aren’t prepared to share.’

‘I can’t share. I told you, every dec—’

‘The trustees, yes, yes, I heard the excuse, but there has to be a way around it, there always is.’

Jess tried her best to keep her voice at an even tone. ‘There are no ways around it, Grandma. As the solicitor told me, legally, it’s watertight.’

There was a pause. When Martha spoke again, she used a softer tone. ‘Forgive my anger, Jessica. I didn’t mean to speak as I did. I’m just so frustrated by the whole affair. Do you know how much Marjorie and I have to live on? All right, we have a nice house, but I can’t even afford a winter break. I had to cancel the newspapers and the milk delivery to save money. I haven’t had a summer holiday for ten years. That’s hardly fair is it?’

‘I’m sorry about that, Grandma, but I really can’t see how I can help you get onto a plane.’

‘I can see plenty of ways, but… Listen, Jessica, it’s high time the many wounds inflicted on this family, were healed. The feuding should stop. My mother is dead, please don’t just step into her shoes and take up the cudgels. Let’s heal the rift and become a proper family again. Don’t take my mother’s side.’

‘I’ve never been on anyone’s side particularly, Grandma. I was close to Nana, but the reasons for the hostility between you, were hers. Not mine. I’d like to see our family come together as well; I can’t see any reason for bitterness or recriminations. Maybe we should all get together for a night out. I just found a lovely place to eat.’

‘Night out? I see no reason for a celebration.’

‘Just a nice cosy meal, me, you, Aunt Marjorie and Mum. I’m sure we could bury the hatchet once things have been talked over.’

‘Hmm. All right, Jessica. Are you going to arrange it? Let me know where and when. I’ll look forward to seeing whose head the hatchet is buried in.’

‘Grandma!’

Martha let out an exasperated breath. ‘It was a joke, you silly girl. Call me when you’ve organised it all… I can’t afford to contribute, neither can Marjorie and your mother spends every spare penny on booze, so don’t expect anything from her either.’

‘I’ll pay for the meal, Grandma. Don’t worry about that.’

‘Of course, you will. You can afford it now, can’t you?’

‘Goodbye, Grandma.’ Jess hit the red button on her screen to end the call. Grabbing another towel, she began to dry her still dripping hair and marched down the stairs. Looking towards the black and white photograph of Alice that sat next to the DAB radio on the sideboard, she let out an angry snort, then sat down in the armchair opposite the one that Alice used to sit in.

‘Oh, Nana, what have I just done?’

Chapter 11

After dressing, Jess made a bacon sandwich and a mug of strong, barista-style coffee and carried them through to the lounge on a small tray.

‘Curse you, Sam. I’ll have to get a fair bit of exercise to work this lot off.’ Jess bit into the sandwich and searched on her phone for her Internet provider’s number. After booking an appointment for the following Thursday to have TV and broadband installed at the farm and the service to the flat turned off, she took her empty tray back into the huge, old fashioned kitchen. She picked up a pen and notepad from one of the worktops, hoisted herself up onto the big oak table and began to make a list of the things she needed for the upgrade. When the list was complete, she blew out her cheeks and shook her head.

‘It’s a good job you’re paying for all this, Nana,’ she said aloud. ‘I couldn’t afford to do it on my own.’

Jess put the notepad on the table and slid off. Walking through to the parlour, she turned to the right and pushed open the door to the bathroom that Alice had got her local builders to install back in the 1930s.

‘Well, Nana, what shall we do with this?’

She thought it might be easy enough to get it up and running again. A radiator was a must and a new bathroom suite, maybe with an overhead shower, it needn’t be anything flash. She returned to the kitchen, made a few more notes on the pad, then carried it into the lounge where she added a new sofa and a queen-sized bed, both of which she would pay for from her own savings.

‘That will do for now, Nana,’ she said.

She sat on the sofa, pulled out her phone and searched for Robin’s kitchens. After making an appointment with one of their designers for Thursday, she grabbed her bag, pulled on her coat and walked out to her car. Fifteen minutes later, she parked up outside the library where she knew she would get Internet access, and walked inside to check her emails and indulge in a bit of online shopping. There were two emails from the editor of a magazine she wrote occasional articles for and after making a quick decision, she sent off a short reply, accepting both commissions.

After sending out a couple of article queries that she had put on hold when Calvin had turned her world upside down, Jess logged onto Google and searched for a new bed. She considered hanging on for the Black Friday sale, but then she remembered how uncomfortable she had been, tossing and turning on Nana’s lumpy, old mattress, and