by Lulu Taylor
‘So let me get this right, Mr Campbell. You’re prepared to sell your house and land to the Dangerfield Group, on several conditions.’
Daisy’s voice floated out over the darkened boardroom. The eyes of all the executives were fixed on the film now playing on the drop-down screen, revealing the gloomy interior of a Scottish cottage. Daisy stood to one side, the control in her hand, watching her audience as they took in what they were seeing.
The camera fixed on Campbell’s face. He had a weathered complexion, bright blue pin-prick eyes under bristling eyebrows, and snow-white hair. He tapped the arm of the chair he was sitting in and nodded. ‘Aye.’ He spoke in a thick Scottish brogue. ‘I know that the business will be good for land and jobs round here, right enough. So long as you meet my terms, then we may be able to make a deal.’
Daisy’s voice was heard again. ‘You want your house taken down and reconstructed, brick for brick, on a similar piece of land.’
‘Aye. Every plank and board the same,’ he growled.
‘And you want a wildlife preservation charity set up and funded by our organisation, to make doubly sure, beyond even the government restrictions already in place, that everything is protected.’
‘Cor-rrect.’ Campbell’s r’s rolled portentously.
‘And a job in this charity, patrolling and monitoring birds and animals on the Dangerfield land. For life.’
‘Cor-rrect again.’
‘Well, Mr Campbell, I think I can happily agree to all those conditions – although we do have one of our own. Work on moving and rebuilding your house must start immediately so that we can commence our own works.’
‘As soon as ye like.’ He nodded slowly. ‘I cannae pretend all this has been easy. I’m glad it’s over. Ye’ve listened to me, young lady, and that was all I asked. I didnae like being bullied by those other types. I’ve got what I wanted, and that’s enough for me.’
‘Thank you, Mr Campbell. I’m delighted to have done business with you.’
Daisy clicked off the film and the lights came up. The executives turned to her almost as one, their expressions elated, and the next moment a round of applause filled the room.
Karen O’Malley stepped forward, her face beaming. ‘Fantastic, Daphne, thank you! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Daphne Fraser … who has just managed to rescue the Scottish links project from disaster.’
Daisy nodded in acceptance of their praise, beaming but embarrassed. As the room subsided into a buzz of excited chatter, the executives getting up to mingle, Karen congratulated her again. She had known in advance the contents of the film but was still thrilled to see it. ‘That was marvellous! And you and I both know how precarious the situation really was.’ She gave Daisy a knowing look. ‘Darley didn’t let it get out, but a few more weeks and there was a real risk of this bringing the organisation down. With renewed confidence that the project will be completed, the banks will certainly extend our credit.’
‘I was happy to help,’ Daisy said, flushed with her triumph. It had been a fantastic moment when Campbell had agreed to her suggestions. Christophe had filmed it all on his phone so that there was irrefutable proof of what had been decided in that dark fisherman’s cottage on the edge of the dunes. Daisy had known that this way she could ensure that the Dangerfield Group, which she loved, survived. How she would deal with Daddy was another matter.
Karen rested one hand lightly on Daisy’s arm. ‘Can I introduce to you to Mr Dangerfield? I don’t think you’ve met, and you certainly should. I’ve briefed him about what you’ve done.’
‘Yes, what a good idea,’ she said. Though she was outwardly calm her stomach flipped over with nerves as she followed Karen out of the boardroom and down the hall towards Daddy’s office.
It was all still so familiar. Almost nothing had changed. Her breath began to come in short bursts as they approached the penthouse office suite and her heart raced unpleasantly in her chest. I have to be calm. I mustn’t let him guess – not yet. The time isn’t quite right. I want it to have maximum impact.
Karen knocked at the door and entered. Daisy followed her, feeling that powerful presence before she’d even seen him. Then she caught a glimpse of him, a large, imposing figure behind the familiar desk, and almost gasped out loud. He’d aged. There was no disguising that he looked pale and tired under his tan, and his bushy eyebrows had straggly white hairs emerging from them. He was thinner and hunched-looking, as though worry was burdening him. He stared at her as she approached. She faltered for a second, fear and nausea rising in her stomach, and then regained control. She had to be strong.
A second later, Daisy was standing in front of him, as Karen smoothly introduced her – ‘Daphne Fraser, our bright young hope for the future. She’s sorted out our little local difficulty in Scotland. Just in time, too, sir.’
Daddy stared at her through eyes that were more faded and rheumy than she remembered. ‘So you’re the up-and-coming executive I’ve heard so much about,’ he said in that familiar booming voice. That, at least, hadn’t changed.
She felt sure she was trembling visibly, certain that in a second he’d recognise her. But he kept gazing at her with a friendly interest, obviously seeing only the dark hair, the glasses, the identikit black business suit. ‘Yes,’ she said in a high voice. ‘It’s an honour to meet you, sir.’
‘Well done on your negotiating skills. I’m impressed. You’re the kind of person I’d like to see more of in this organisation: forward-thinking and go-getting.’ Daddy nodded. ‘Yes. More like you, please!’
‘I’ll do my best for you, sir,’ she said.
‘I’m delighted to hear it. You’ll find out we reward loyal members of the Dangerfield family very well. You, Miss Fraser, look as though you’ll fit right in. Well done.’ He smiled at her, his face creasing into wrinkles, eyes receding into fleshy pouches.
So that’s that. The words I’ve wanted to hear for so long. She’d expected to feel overwhelmed, triumphant, victorious. Instead a quiet satisfaction crept through her, along with a sense of completion. ‘Thank you, sir,’ she said in a low voice.
‘Thank you. Good day.’ Daddy signalled the interview was at an end.
Karen led her back to the door. In the hall, she said, ‘That went well. Believe me, he’s hardly ever complimentary.’ Her eye was suddenly caught by someone emerging from the executive lift at the other end of the hall. ‘Hmm, maybe this is why,’ she murmured.
Daisy followed her gaze and saw a slim young woman, sexily and very expensively casual in jeans, boots and a big shaggy white coat, stalking down the hall towards them. Her face was hardly visible under the giant Dior shades she was wearing, but her pink-glossed lips were set in a resolute straight line. ‘Who’s that?’ Daisy whispered as the girl approached, tossing back her golden-caramel hair as she came.
‘The new lady in his life,’ muttered Karen. ‘Shh!’
They both stood to one side to let the girl stride past. She ignored them completely and went straight to Daddy’s office. As she flung the door open, she cried, ‘Daddy darling, it’s me!’
Daisy watched, open-mouthed.
‘Did you see the rock?’ Karen asked conspiratorially. ‘It’s the most enormous thing I’ve ever seen.’
‘You mean, they’re engaged?’ Daisy was stunned.
Karen nodded. ‘Looks like it. No fool like an old fool, eh?’
79
THE HIRED MERCEDES roared along the country lanes, leaving hedges shaking in its wake. Will realised he’d missed the beautiful English countryside and all its lush greenness. The sight of it was helping to lift his spirits just a little from the black gloom he’d found himself in lately.
I’ve been away too long, he thought. I’ll go and see Mum. I’ve missed her. He had been a neglectful son, only calling every few weeks to tell her his news and relying on Sarah to provide her with company. He would put that right as soon as he had talked to his sister. There was plenty for them to sort out and it had to be done q
uickly.
He’d stopped at a country pub for a drink and to stretch his legs when his cell phone went. It was Hanratty with the news that the writ had been issued and the other side had suggested a meeting of all the parties, to see if the matter could be resolved without the expense and intrusion of a court case.
‘The papers are already reporting on the affair,’ Hanratty explained down the line, ‘and your father’s lawyers are keen to get this sorted out in private.’
‘I bet they are,’ Will said grimly. ‘The old man’s reputation will count for shit once he’s revealed as a swindler who would cheat his own children. OK, we’re up for it. I’m sure my sister will agree to be there as well.’
He did not add that his father was also a man who would marry a woman young enough to be his daughter, but that thought was tormenting him too. He’d been plunged into depression ever since the revelation that Coco was seeing his father. He was tortured by hot dreams of her, where she’d be in his arms again, kissing him, yielding her beautiful body to him, letting him push himself in between those taut thighs to her secret, delicious centre. And then the ugly truth dawned: she was his father’s. Her beauty and all the pleasures it brought with it belonged to him now, and it sickened Will to his stomach to think of the revolting old man pawing that body, tasting the delights that had meant so much to Will himself. He had woken gasping more than once, longing to his core for the woman he now told himself he hated with a greater passion than ever he had loved her.
But it made sense to do as his father suggested and meet to talk out the situation. Surely the old man would see his position was weak – but Will had a sneaking feeling that his father’s obstinate pride would not allow him ever to give in. He half dreaded and half desired the meeting. It would be the first time he had been face to face with his father for many years.
He climbed back into his car and headed off. The Sat-nav guided him perfectly to the cross-barred gate at the entrance to Ivy House Farm, and before long he was approaching the old farmhouse at the end of the drive, a large two-storey building in weathered Dorset stone, with a muddy Range Rover and children’s bikes standing outside.
Will parked and went to knock on the front door, banging the iron ring with relish. There was an instant flurry of barking from inside, a voice shouting at the dogs to be quiet and the sound of footsteps on stone flags. A moment later the door opened and there was his sister, a delightfully ordinary figure in jeans, a light blue polo-necked jumper and a waistcoat, her dark red hair tied back into a loose ponytail. Two black Labradors panted and pushed around her, keen to see who the visitor was. Her coppery-green eyes, so like his own, lit up when she saw him.
‘Will!’
The next moment he was engulfed in a fierce hug. He laughed and tried to kiss his sister’s cheek, but her face was buried so deep in his chest it was hard to find it.
‘I’m so glad to see you! Come in, come in.’ Beaming, Sarah took his hand and led him down the hall to the farmhouse kitchen, a warm, cosily shambolic room, full of the detritus of childhood: scrawled drawings pinned to the walls and the fridge, plastic toys scattered about, a Spiderman mask abandoned on the floor alongside some well-read comics. The dogs padded in behind them, taking up residence in baskets by the warm Aga and watching the goings on with shiny black eyes.
‘Where are the kids?’ Will asked, looking fondly at the mess.
‘At school. They’ll be happy to see you. I’m so pleased you’re here! You’re staying, aren’t you? I’ve got a room all ready for you, and the boys made you some welcome presents and a banner – it’s in the bedroom, you’ll love it. Do you want tea?’
‘Yes, and yes,’ Will said, laughing. He felt happy for the first time in ages, as though just walking into his sister’s comfortable home had given him a much-needed dose of family life.
‘We’ve got so much to catch up on,’ Sarah said, filling a big red kettle and placing it on the Aga to heat up.
‘I know. It’s not the same on the phone, is it?’
Sarah shook her head, her hair glinting amber and gold where it caught the light.
‘And it’s not just the good stuff,’ he went on, suddenly solemn. ‘You know why I’m here … why I came back?’
Sarah nodded, an agonised expression crossing her face. ‘So it’s going ahead?’
‘Yes,’ he said simply. ‘You and I never wished for this, but it’s the only way. He can’t be allowed to get away with it, you know that.’
Sarah took her time before answering, busying herself with fetching mugs and teabags. Then she said, ‘From what you’ve told me, it’s the right thing to do, and I’m with you all the way.’
Will smiled. ‘Thanks, Sarah. It’s the right choice, I just know it. I hope it will be as painless as possible. I just wish I could find out more about this Foundation I told you about, but my investigators are drawing a blank. Besides,’ he said, his eyes darkening, ‘we have to act now, before he gets married again. Otherwise we could see another sizable chunk of the money in trust disappearing into smoke.’
Sarah gasped. ‘Gets married again? Who … when …? This is the first I’ve heard of it.’
Will stared down, observing that his fists were suddenly clenched, the knuckles white. ‘Some gold digger, a stripper or something, if you can believe it.’
Sarah sank down into a chair as if her legs had suddenly weakened beneath her. She paled. ‘A stripper? After all that talk of the Dangerfield honour and the marvellous family legacy … he’d marry a stripper?’
‘Looks like it,’ Will said harshly. ‘And I’m not going to let that tramp get her hands on any of what belongs to us. But let’s talk about something else. How are the kids? Tell me all about the farm, the horses, and let’s forget about this awful business for a while.’
It was only later, after the boys had come home, climbed excitedly over their uncle, had supper and gone to bed, that the talk returned to the serious matter of the Dangerfield family trusts. Sarah’s husband, Ben, a solid, reliable farmer, joined them for dinner but excused himself afterwards so that brother and sister could talk about family business in peace. Will explained all the aspects of the case.
‘If only Daisy were alive,’ Sarah said, an expression of sadness passing over her face. ‘She would be able to help us. She’d certainly be able to confirm that the Gainsborough wasn’t sold until recently.’
‘Do you really think so?’ Will shook his head. ‘She was his creature. She would never have turned against him.’
Sarah fixed her brother with a heartfelt look. ‘I feel so bad now – about the way we broke off all contact with her. She was just a child. She wasn’t to blame for what happened. We should have been more generous to her.’
An image floated through Will’s mind: the look in his little half-sister’s eyes when she’d found him at her mother’s funeral, the spark of pleasure and awe he’d seen there then. She’d obviously thought the world of him. He felt a stab of guilt, remembering. ‘You’re right. I feel terrible as well. I last saw her years ago, at Julia’s funeral. She thought I was coming back to the family and I told her we could never be anything to each other as long as she was on Dad’s side.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘The look on her face … I feel so awful about it now. I punished her for the anger I felt with Dad. But, you know, if she hadn’t died, she would definitely be on his side.’
‘I suppose we’ll never know for sure,’ Sarah said softly, and they were both silent as they remembered the little girl they had hardly known, who’d sunk to her death in the warm waters off Thailand.
80
COCO KNEW THAT she didn’t have to be frightened, but she was. Margaret was not in the house, she was sure of that; she was definitely in Paris, on some unspecified tasks for her master, going about her work with all the diligence and discretion she’d always shown.
This is my chance. At last.
Coco padded along the carpeted corridor, lit by small lamps on side tables and in alcoves. The hous
e was never completely dark. Daddy preferred it to be kept semi-lit at all times, as though it were a great hotel, always on standby to answer his needs, rather than a family home.
He would be snoring away by now in his huge, swagged four-poster bed, said to have been slept in by Charles II. The royal connection appealed to him. As she went past the landing that led towards his bedroom suite, Coco glanced down at the vast yellow diamond glinting on her finger.
Daddy’s proposal had put her in a quandary. She hadn’t been expecting it in the least. He’d seen her obvious shock at once, and had clearly panicked that she might run in the opposite direction and abandon him altogether.
‘You don’t have to say anything,’ he’d said quickly. ‘Please … I’ve been stupid. I’ve rushed you. Take your time and decide when you’re ready. But please, Coco, wear the ring as a sign that you’re thinking about it.’
She had let him persuade her to accept the ring. Despite what it signified, she’d been enraptured by its beauty. The huge yellow diamond shone like a small sun on her finger, a promise that she would never have to return to the darkness again. Now the world believed her engaged to the old man, and she was sure everyone was having a good laugh about it … but she knew she would never marry him. She had once thought she might be able to, as an act of spite towards Will. In her wildest dreams of revenge, she’d imagined marrying Daddy and becoming Will’s stepmother, with access to all the riches he’d wanted to reclaim from his father, and then taking great pleasure in squandering as much of his inheritance as she could. She would give it away, spend it on nothing at all, dress herself in the finest clothes and jewels in the world … and let him see her do it, helpless to stop her. She would make him suffer, and feel a tiny bit of the pain he’d inflicted on her.
But when it came down to it, Coco couldn’t do it. The moment Daddy had asked her to marry him, she’d known it was impossible. Her heart had rebelled against it. She’d tasted love now, even if it had been so cruelly destroyed, and something in her that had been dead had come alive. It wouldn’t let her stamp it down again. It wanted all the things she had shared with Will – to live and to feel and to love again.
