The Ardmore Inheritance by Rob Wyllie (best value ebook reader TXT) 📗

is our darling Esme. Esme, say hello to the nice lady and gentleman.' The toddler gave a coy smile then turned her face away, placing a comforting thumb in her mouth.

'She's shy,' Maggie said, fondly remembering how her son Ollie had been exactly the same at that age. That was just six years ago, but it seemed like more than a half a lifetime away given everything they had been through together in that time.

Kirsty got up and walked over to her husband, wrapping an arm round his waist and gently brushing back a wisp of her daughter's hair. In an instant, Maggie could see why this power couple were in such demand. Young, successful and ridiculously good-looking, it was hard to think of an aspirational brand that wouldn't want to be associated with this perfect family. But Jimmy had told her about his one previous meeting with Kirsty Macallan, when, seemingly unconcerned at the presence of his wife, she had shamelessly delivered a proposition that most men would have found impossible to resist. And then there were the photographs from her father's funeral, images she had not yet seen but whose contents she was aware of. Once on a popular chat-show, she had heard a well-known actress lament what she described as her out-of-control libido, and if this was an affliction shared by Kirsty, then perhaps not everything in the Macallan household was as rosy as it looked at first sight. Or at least if it was, it wasn't likely to stay that way for long.

'You know why we're here, I assume?' Maggie said quietly. 'And forgive me, but I should have said sorry for your loss. It must have been terrible for you.'

'Yes, we're so sorry,' Jimmy added. 'Such an awful thing.'

'Yes it was awful,' Kirsty said, her eyes moistening. 'I still can't believe it happened, it still seems like a dream. But life must go on of course. And I'm so lucky to have these two. They're everything to me.'

Rory Overton gave his wife an affectionate kiss on the cheek. 'We'll be fine. And it'll get better in time. You know it will babe, trust me.'

'But I loved them both so much and I miss them terribly.'

Maggie gave Jimmy a wry look, remembering him relating what her sister Elspeth had told him. Kirsty hated them both, more than me I think. Whether that was true or not would no doubt emerge in due course. But right now she had to ask the question, insensitive as it unarguably was.

'I don't really like to ask, but have you any idea why he did it? Your father I mean.'

Overton shot her a sharp look. 'I don't see how that's any business of yours.'

'It's ok Rory, really it is,' his wife said. 'The fact is, we don't know. And we'll never know the truth now, will we?'

'Kirsty's brother was useless,' Overton said, interjecting. 'And darling, before you say anything, you know it's true. I know you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but Peter was nice but seriously dim, not to put too fine a point on it. I think it frustrated the old man, how his son was making such a botch of running the estate. My belief is they were having a big argument about it and the Commodore just lost it.'

'I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry,' Maggie said, pondering on Overton's words. It seemed just so implausible, this hugely-senior ex-naval officer losing his cool and murdering his own son in cold blood. But he was probably right, it wasn't any business of theirs.

'So Posy's dead and buried then?' Jimmy said, evidently deciding a change of subject was called for. 'I was talking to your sister the other day and she told me about your rebranding and all that stuff.'

'I'd have done it at least two years ago,' Kirsty said, a hint of bitterness in her tone, 'because once I got all this then it made sense to leave the teenagers behind. But Elspeth couldn't see it, no matter how hard I tried to convince her.'

'She's still jealous babe,' Overton said. 'That's what it is. Jealous of me and jealous of Esme.' There was a horrible coldness to his tone that caused Maggie to bristle.

'And how did you two meet then?' Jimmy said out of the blue.

Maggie saw the Overtons exchange a knowing look as if to say, shall we tell them or not?

'A case of mistaken identity,' the husband said, smirking.

'He came up behind me at a party and put his hands on my boobs,' Kirsty giggled.

'Thought it was Elspeth of course,' he said. 'Easy mistake to make, isn't it?'

'So you were with Elspeth before?' Jimmy said, asking the question Maggie was about to float herself, and evidently struggling to hide his surprise. 'Wasn't that a bit awkward?'

'It was just a casual thing with me and Elspeth, always was. She wasn't looking for any commitment and that suited me fine at the time. But then I met Kirsty and everything changed.'

Maggie wondered if he really meant it, or whether he was saying it for his wife's benefit. She also wondered how Elspeth Macallan would feel, hearing their relationship so callously dismissed. She'd known Rory Overton for barely ten minutes but already she'd decided she didn't like him at all. Too smug and too smooth by half. But the fact was, it really was irrelevant to the matter in hand how she felt about Kirsty's husband, the matter in hand being the last will and testament of Commodore Roderick Macallan RN.

'Obviously we're here to talk about your father's will,' she reiterated, 'as agents of his executors Addison Redburn.'

'The provisions are quite clear,' Kirsty said sharply. 'I'm the elder twin and Ardmore House and the estate comes to me and my family.'

Jimmy gave her a quizzical look. 'The problem is your sister says exactly the same thing, she told me herself. So I'd be interested if you've got any suggestions as to how the situation can be resolved.'

'Resolved? There's nothing