Coming Home to Maple Cottage: The perfect, cosy, feel-good romance

by Holly Martin

  ‘Why don’t we see what Karie says about it? I’m sure she’s seen this kind of thing before,’ Leo said.

  ‘Really? Our situation is a little more complex than most.’

  ‘It’s not straightforward, no, but I’m sure Karie will know what to do for the best.’

  ‘I hope so,’ she sighed and kissed his chest. ‘Come on, we have pancakes to make.’

  She got out of bed and threw some clothes on, deciding she’d have a shower after breakfast.

  Isla padded downstairs, followed by Leo, and she saw that Elliot was busy drawing a picture at the table, his wax crayons moving furiously over the page.

  She poured three glasses of juice and took one over to Elliot.

  ‘What are you drawing a picture of, honey?’ Isla asked, leaning over him and kissing him on the forehead. She took a sip of her orange juice.

  Elliot leaned back so she could see and she nearly choked on her juice. There was a picture of two stickpeople in bed together, the blonde one lying on top of the man. But the pink he had used for the bodies made it look like both of them were naked.

  ‘It’s for Agatha,’ Elliot said, simply.

  ‘You know, that’s such a beautiful picture, I’d love to have it on our wall at home,’ Isla tried.

  Leo leaned over to look at the picture too, his eyes widening and a huge grin spreading on his face.

  ‘Good job, buddy. Why don’t we stick that up on my fridge for now, then you can take it with you when you go home.’

  Elliot handed it over to Leo and watched as he pinned it up on his fridge. ‘Are we going home today?’

  ‘We’re going to be staying with Leo for a few days,’ Isla said, hoping that Elliot wouldn’t ask why.

  His face lit up with excitement. ‘Are we moving in with him? Marigold said we would.’

  ‘Um, no, just staying for a little while,’ Isla said as Leo started getting the pancakes ready.

  ‘Oh.’ His little face fell slightly. And then it fell even more. ‘Are we going to be here for Halloween?’

  ‘Maybe. We have a few… problems with the house. So we might be here for a few days.’

  ‘But you promised we would decorate the house for Halloween,’ Elliot said.

  ‘I know I did, honey, but maybe we can decorate your room here instead. We can make the whole room Halloween-themed with spiders and bats and pumpkins and whatever you like. Would that be OK? I even saw some spooky-looking duvet covers in town, we could go and buy them for the bed too.’

  ‘The ones with the ghosts that glow in the dark?’ Elliot said, excitedly, his mood changing again.

  ‘Yes, those.’

  ‘Yay! Those are super cool.’

  Crisis averted.

  ‘We have the golden acorn hunt this morning. I’m so excited. If we find all the acorns we win some chocolate,’ Elliot said.

  Ah crap. She had promised she’d take him to that. Before she got a job and before Sadie turned up wreaking havoc over their lives. Now she felt like she had a ton of stuff to sort out this morning.

  ‘I’m not sure—’ Isla started.

  ‘You should go,’ Leo said. ‘Keep everything normal, remember.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘I will sort out the house stuff,’ Leo said, his reply hopefully vague enough for Elliot not to understand. ‘Why not give Karie a call and see if she can come round here this afternoon?’

  Leo was being remarkably calm about this.

  Isla looked at Elliot and he looked back at her with wide hopeful eyes. She didn’t want to let him down but sorting out this mess with Karie had to take priority.

  ‘Elliot, I really need to see Karie today. I’ll call her and see when she can meet me. If she can do this afternoon then I’ll definitely take you to the acorn hunt this morning, but if she can only do this morning, would you mind going with Melody or Nanny instead?’

  He looked a little disappointed by that but nodded anyway.

  She hated Sadie a little bit more right then.

  The sooner they could get this sorted and get her out of their lives the better.

  As it happened, Karie wasn’t able to meet Isla until that afternoon. Leo had heard Isla briefly explaining over the phone that Sadie had come back. The swearing that Leo could hear from the other end was neither professional nor ladylike, but it had made him smile to hear that kind of passion for their case. Karie wanted Elliot to stay with Isla as much as they did. It had been Karie who had been pushing the judge towards an adoption rather than a guardianship, which was what Isla currently had. She would fight for them, he knew that.

  Leo had packed Isla and Elliot off on the golden acorn hunt and then sat down to make some phone calls.

  Kim Nash was one of the best solicitors around. She had looked over the deeds to Isla’s house when Matthew had first died, in the hope that Isla would inherit the house fully. Although there was nothing Kim could do to remove Sadie’s name from the deeds, she was confident that, if it went to court, the judge would not give Sadie half the value of the house. Leo knew he had to call her now to get some advice on how to proceed and get her to take their case should it get that far.

  He picked up his phone to call her but it rang before he could dial out. It was Thomas, his godfather.

  That was odd. Thomas never called him. He would be at work right now too. He ran his own law firm on the far side of the village, which sounded a lot grander than it was, the firm being just Thomas and his wife, who was his secretary. But as far as Leo knew he was always very busy. Leo quickly answered the phone.

  ‘Thomas, are you OK?’

  ‘I’m fine, son. Listen, do you have half an hour to come in and see me?’

  ‘I, um… not really. I—’

  ‘You’re busy, I know. Sadie Norton has just been in to see me.’

  His heart missed a beat. ‘I’m on my way.’

  Leo strode into the office a few minutes later and Jeannie, his godmother, came round to greet him, hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

  ‘Go on in dear, he’s waiting for you.’

  He walked into the little office where Thomas was sitting at his desk. His godfather gestured for him to sit down. Leo watched him carefully. He looked… tired. Christ, he hoped he wasn’t ill. Or maybe it was just so many years in the job wearing him down. He was always busy with clients from the village. He had a kind, grandfatherly approach which many of the villagers liked. Although back in the day, Leo knew he’d had a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a dragon. He had clearly mellowed with age. There was no dragon in him now, more of a… newt than anything else.

  ‘Sadie Norton came in to see me about an hour ago,’ Thomas said, not bothering with any preliminaries. ‘Asked if I would take her case and help her to get her house back.’

  ‘I hope you told her where to go,’ Leo said.

  ‘I did nothing of the sort,’ Thomas said.

  Leo stared at him in shock. ‘You took her case?’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘Because someone has to.’

  ‘It doesn’t have to be you,’ Leo protested. He couldn’t believe this. He’d always liked Thomas, he had many qualities, and loyalty had always been one of them.

  ‘If it wasn’t me she would have gone to someone else,’ Thomas said.

  ‘So?’

  ‘It could be someone far savvier and gung-ho than I am.’

  Leo’s anger faded away slightly.

  ‘I’m sixty-four, Leo. I’ve been doing this job since I was a lot younger than you. When I first became a solicitor I was passionate, I cared, I wanted to fight the good fight. I read every article, every paper, every book that I could get my hands on.’

  ‘You had an excellent reputation in the village and beyond,’ Leo said and then inwardly winced that he’d used the word had.

  ‘I suppose if you do any job long enough you become jaded and tired. I’ve fought on the wrong side too many times. I’ve fought for cases
where I didn’t think what I was fighting for was right. I’ve helped wives screw over their husbands and husbands screw over their wives. I can’t say I’m particularly proud of my life as a solicitor. I probably should have given it up a long time ago.’

  ‘I think a lot of people in the village would have missed you if you had,’ Leo said.

  ‘I’ve been spending more time down the allotment lately than I have here. I’m supposed to retire in six months but Jeannie and I have been talking over the weekend. I’m sure you’ve heard about Annie and Bill going off on this world cruise? Well, we’ve decided to shut up shop, close the business and start enjoying our retirement now too. We’ve even talked about going to Florida for Christmas. Anyway, we were coming in for the next few weeks to tie up all loose ends, let all of our clients know, sort out any paperwork. I had no intention of taking on any new clients. But when Sadie walked in here this morning, I felt sure taking her case was absolutely the right thing.’

  Leo still wasn’t entirely sure he followed.

  ‘I’m not a good solicitor, Leo. I was, but I’m not any more, because I simply don’t care enough. Taking her case means I will do the bare minimum instead of fighting to win like some other solicitors.’ Thomas cleared his throat. ‘It also means I can give her advice that maybe another solicitor wouldn’t.’

  Leo’s eyebrows shot up. ‘But that’s—’

  ‘Unethical, completely unprofessional? I could lose my licence? Yes, you’re right. But maybe I can fight for something good and right for a change. Isla keeping that house is the right thing. Hand on heart, if Sadie was to go to court with any solicitor, any half decent judge wouldn’t give her half the value of the house and I told her that. She paid two thousand pounds towards the deposit of the house and Matthew paid three thousand. She didn’t work in the months after they bought it because she was looking after Elliot so she didn’t contribute to any of the bills and then she left. I also know that she stole four thousand pounds from her and Matthew’s joint account to go to Australia. She doesn’t know I know that, but Matthew came to see me after she left to ask about removing her name from the deeds and he told me all this. But that’s something you might want to tell your solicitor, make sure the judge is aware of it too.’

  Leo didn’t know whether to be a bit disappointed that Thomas was not a good solicitor or be relieved and pleased that he was on their side. He’d always respected him for being an upstanding member of the community, but maybe loyalty was a much worthier attribute to be respected.

  ‘Honestly, I don’t think she has a cat in hell’s chance,’ Thomas went on. ‘Especially as there is a child involved. Selling the house would effectively make Isla and Elliot homeless and the judge would take that into consideration. And Elliot is Sadie’s son. That looks even worse for her. I’ll do everything I can to get the best result for you. Taking her case means I can also keep you in the loop as well. But you understand that you can’t tell anyone about this meeting, about anything we’ve discussed. My name will probably be mud anyway in this village for taking the case but I can’t tell anyone why – my reputation will be in tatters if I do, and I’d quite like to retire gracefully.’

  ‘You have my word. But can I tell Isla? I’m sure she will be relieved to know you’re fighting on our side,’ Leo said.

  ‘Yes, but make it clear it can’t go any further.’

  Leo nodded. ‘So what happens now?’

  ‘I’ve told Sadie to think about it. I’ve told her my fees and she wasn’t impressed but I know I’m the cheapest in the area. I explained that going to court is going to be a long and expensive battle and I don’t think she’s here for the long term. I’ve told her to think about considering an out-of-court settlement, my fees for that would be a lot less. But I think you would have to offer her a fairly decent amount to agree to have her name taken off the deeds. If we went to court the judge might award her anywhere between ten and twenty-five percent and I told her that as well. Well, I told her she might get ten percent if she was lucky.’

  Leo smirked slightly at the underhand tactics.

  ‘We have another issue,’ Leo said, the smile falling off his face. ‘We’re worried about Elliot. We’re moving to formally adopt him but this could throw a spanner in the works. We really need her to agree to give parental responsibility to Isla.’

  Thomas pulled a face. ‘She could use that as leverage.’

  ‘Did she mention him at all?’ Leo asked.

  ‘No, she didn’t, so I can’t see that’s a priority for her. But once she knows that’s an issue for you guys she might try to push for more money. Maybe I’ll mention that she’ll have to start paying child maintenance if she doesn’t sign over parental responsibility.’

  ‘I think Isla would quite like it if we didn’t mention Elliot at all. She doesn’t want Sadie anywhere near him.’

  ‘OK, maybe I’ll add that in at the end of the process. Who are you going to get to represent you?’

  Leo felt bad that he hadn’t thought of Thomas, but he’d considered him to be soft and with a good heart when it came to his cases, whereas Kim was the hard-assed, take-no-prisoners sort that would grab a case by the jugular. Exactly what he needed to fight Sadie.

  ‘Kim Nash.’

  ‘Ah, I like her, she reminds me of me in my youth. I think it’s best that any further contact will be between me and her so you won’t hear from me, but I may contact you surreptitiously with any updates you need to know.’ He tapped his nose. ‘Keep it under your hat.’

  ‘I will, thanks Thomas.’

  He nodded and Leo stood up and shook his hand. ‘We’ll sort this out and hopefully Sadie will disappear back off to where she came from.’

  ‘Let’s hope so.’

  Leo left, feeling slightly better about this nightmare already.

  Chapter Twelve

  Isla hurried along the beach to meet Melody and Tori for the golden acorn hunt – or rather she was dragged along by Elliot, who was beyond excited.

  She couldn’t help thinking she should be doing something to deal with this Sadie situation rather than going out and enjoying herself. But Leo had insisted that she take Elliot to the acorn hunt, practically pushing her out the house. She knew he didn’t want her to worry and he was trying to ease some of that stress by taking care of the solicitors himself. Although she was quite capable of dealing with that on her own, she was pretty happy to share the load, and she had enough on her plate at the moment trying to sort out what they would do about the adoption.

  Ahead of her on the beach, she saw Melody and Jamie, Tori and Aidan, Emily and her daughter Marigold, Agatha and Isla’s mum Carolyn. Isla forced a smile on her face as she approached. Melody and Tori greeted her with a kiss and hug and Carolyn embraced her too.

  Melody gathered her nephew up in a big hug. ‘Are you ready for the acorn hunt, little man?’

  ‘Have you seen the prizes? If we find all the acorns we get a chocolate one. Leo says I’m to keep my eyes peeled,’ Elliot said, holding his eyes wide open with his fingers.

  ‘We’re going to make sure that we find all those acorns. We have the map, we have our fabulous team, are you ready to get going?’ Melody asked.

  ‘YES!’ Elliot cheered.

  ‘Go and say hello to Marigold,’ Melody said, gesturing towards Elliot’s best friend who was a little way ahead and already studiously looking at the map with Emily. She put him down and he raced over to join them. The kids dragged Emily ahead of the group as they searched for the golden acorn cards that were hidden among the trees.

  ‘You OK?’ Melody said to Isla. ‘You look like you haven’t slept.’

  Isla knew she had slept only a few hours the night before, partly because she was so worried and partly because she had spent many hours kissing Leo like her life depended on it. She smiled slightly at that wonderful memory.

  ‘She hasn’t slept because she spent the night at Leo’s last night,’ Agatha said, waggling her eyebrows mischievously. ‘And
my spies tell me that the light in the guest room that Isla normally sleeps in didn’t come on all night.’

  Isla stared at her in shock. How could she possibly know that? And then she remembered that Elsie West from the chemist, one of Agatha’s best friends, lived opposite Leo. But surely she hadn’t been watching the house that closely over the last year that she would know which room Isla normally slept in when she stayed over?

  Melody and Tori’s faces lit up at this exciting news. Even Carolyn seemed delighted.

  Isla decided to try to change the subject. ‘And have your spies told you that Sadie Norton is back in town?’

  All of their smiles disappeared. They all knew what that meant: Elliot’s adoption, her house, it was all up in the air now.

  ‘Normally the town grapevine is a lot better at keeping us informed.’ Melody looked at Agatha accusingly. But Agatha shrugged; she clearly hadn’t heard either.

  ‘When did she arrive?’ Carolyn asked.

  ‘Last night. She came to my house,’ Isla said.

  ‘What does she want?’ Tori said as they started making their way down the beach, the kids racing on ahead.

  ‘At the moment she just wants the house but I’m scared she’ll want to see Elliot. I’m petrified she’ll fall in love with him if she does.’

  ‘She left because she had no interest in being a mum,’ Aidan said.

  ‘And she was completely useless at being a mum when she was here,’ Jamie said.

  ‘But what if she left because she couldn’t cope with the sleepless nights and the crying?’ Isla said. ‘I know Matthew found that first year hard, any parent would. But Elliot is past all that now and he’s cute and funny and kind and wonderful. What happens if she meets him and sees how amazing he is and wants to be part of his life again?’