Snow Going Back

Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

Kate smiled at the picture Lance had sent through of the two of them dancing and laughing at a party last New Year’s Eve. Amy had taken it, she recalled. It had been a brilliant night. But as she remembered how good it had been, her smile began to fade. Things had been fun then. They’d only been dating a couple of months and had still been enjoying the rose-tinted honeymoon period that new couples go through. She typed out a quick response to Lance.

Great pic. Hope you’re OK. It doesn’t look like I’ll get home this weekend, after all. Will see if I can make it work for next week and let you know. –K x

Her phone vibrated with his response just a few seconds later.

OK. Talk later. –L x

Kate slipped the phone back into her coat pocket, then got out of the car and trudged through the snow to the main double doors of the Coreaux Roots offices. As they closed behind her, she stamped her feet on the welcome mat and looked around. The reception area was small and simply decorated. A few sturdy practical chairs lined one wall facing a small, and currently vacant, reception desk. Kate leaned over to look down the hallway that led off behind, then peeped through the small window in the only other door in the room. She couldn’t see a soul.

Resigning herself to a wait, she pushed her hands down into the pockets of her big white coat and wandered over to the framed pictures hung beside the door. The first one was very old, a handful of people standing together in front of some trees. She recognised the young smiling faces of William and Cora. The second picture was a few years later, a larger group beside a cleared section of forest, William and Cora front and centre once more. The company snapshots continued every few years, right up to the most recent, where one space was noticeably empty beside Cora. Kate looked at her sadly, noticing she still smiled, but without the excitement and hope that had been there before. Kate tried to imagine how it would feel to lose someone you’d spent a lifetime with.

‘They’re all taken in the same spot,’ a voice said behind her.

Kate turned to see a woman who she guessed to be in her late twenties watching her from behind the desk. She was dressed in a vertically half-black, half-blue knee-length dress, her shiny dark hair loose around her shoulders.

‘The pictures,’ she clarified, pointing to the photos Kate had been looking at. ‘All taken in the same place, from the first to the last.’

‘Really?’ Kate looked back across them. The background evolved from trees to cleared ground to a wooden cabin that grew and was eventually replaced with the building she now stood in. She smiled. ‘I like that. That’s almost as interesting to watch as the change in the people.’

‘They’re one and the same, this place and its people,’ the woman replied. ‘That’s what Cora used to say. The body and soul, both equally as important.’

Kate nodded. ‘Wise words.’

‘She was a wise woman.’

Kate walked to the desk and held out her hand. ‘I’m Kate. I’m?—’

‘I know who you are,’ the woman said, cutting her off. ‘Sam called to tell us you were coming.’

‘Ah.’ Kate let her hand drop. ‘I see.’

The woman grinned. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘We make up our own minds about people around here.’

‘Oh.’ Kate felt her hope lift, and she smiled back. ‘Good.’

‘I’m Jenna,’ the woman said. ‘I manage the office. Make sure the contracts are all in order and operations are running smoothly. Field incoming requests.’

This jogged something in Kate’s memory. ‘We’ve exchanged emails before, haven’t we?’

‘We have,’ Jenna confirmed.

Kate nodded. Things were run so smoothly here that her involvement had always been minimal, and this was the person responsible for such easy dealings. She noted Jenna down as the person to come to when she needed to delve deeper, which she inevitably would.

‘I was hoping to look around, get a general idea of how things work here,’ Kate said.

Jenna nodded. ‘I thought you would, so I arranged for one of the senior site managers to take you on a tour and answer any questions you have.’

‘Oh. Thank you,’ Kate said, impressed. ‘That’s actually perfect.’

‘I think you’ll enjoy it. This is a really special place.’ Jenna grinned again, her brown eyes twinkling with the quiet confidence of someone about to share something they clearly loved. ‘Take a seat – he won’t be long. I have to get back, but if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to call.’

‘Great, thanks. It was nice to meet you,’ Kate replied.

‘You, too!’

Jenna disappeared down the hall behind the desk, and Kate stared thoughtfully after her.

The door beside her swung open a second later, and she turned to see an older man in faded blue overalls poke his head in with an expectant expression on his weathered face.

‘You Kate?’ he asked.

‘That’s me,’ she replied, following him through to the building beyond.

The various clunks and whirrs of heavy machinery grew louder as they walked through the production area, and the man raised his voice to be heard above it.

‘I’m Matthew,’ he shouted. ‘I’m one of the senior site managers. Ain’t nothing I don’t know about this place, so feel free to ask away. I joined back when it was still pretty small. I’ll have been here fifty years next month.’

‘ Wow !’ Kate exclaimed.

‘Came here right outta school. Started at the bottom and worked alongside Will and Cora and the others to grow this place to what it is today.’ He looked around, and Kate could see the pride in his eyes. ‘It’s been a real journey.’

‘That’s amazing,’ Kate said. They reached one of the machines, and she squinted at it. ‘What does this do?’

‘OK, so we make three different products here, all of them from wood.’ Matthew led her to a bench along the back wall. ‘Come sit. My legs ain’t what they used to be.’ He eased himself down, and Kate sat beside him. ‘That’s better. Will and Cora came here when this town was nothing. And I mean nothing . There was probably a hundred people or so, a church, few houses and one general store. And that store was nothing like the ones you see today, let me tell you.’

‘Did you grow up here?’ Kate asked.

‘I did,’ he confirmed. ‘This place had nothing going for it at all, but Will saw things differently. He saw the forest as wood that could be turned into something useful. And they were practically giving land away back then, so Will saved up and bought a whole lot of it. Moved over here with his new wife, knocked up a little cabin to live in and got to work.’

‘A cabin?’ Kate asked. ‘So they didn’t build the big house straight away?’

‘No, that came a few years later. They didn’t have much at all when they started out. Built up everything they had with their bare hands.’

Kate frowned. In Cora’s diary, she’d made it clear William had come from money. His family must have lost that money or cut him off. She resolved to continue reading and find out.

‘Will started out making furniture. Decent stuff. Sturdy. Back then plastic was all the rage, but Will stuck to wood, saying that eventually quality would win out over flimsy fashion. And of course he was right. It was a slow start, but that’s what got them on the map.’ Matthew scratched his head. ‘It was Cora’s idea to branch out into making wood charcoal with the cutoffs, few years on.’

‘I was wondering about that. Surely with so much wood around here people just burn that?’

‘Some do,’ he told her. ‘But charcoal made from untreated wood burns hotter and for longer. It’s a flameless burn, too, so no smoke.’

‘Huh.’ Kate raised her eyebrows. ‘I never knew that.’

‘Third product is cellulose film. Fake plastic. Started production a couple of years back. It’s still small, but it’s catching on now, and we’re getting some bigger orders in.’

‘And that’s made from wood, too?’ Kate asked, intrigued.

‘Yep. We break down the wood fibres with a chemical compound and then put it through a process that turns it into a clear single-use film. It can be made into bags, food wrap.’ Matthew grinned. ‘Anything plastic can do, it can do better. And after it’s done with, it can be thrown on the compost heap, and it’ll break down in just three weeks.’

‘That’s incredible,’ Kate said, impressed. ‘That’s the kind of product that will change the world.’

‘That’s the plan,’ he told her. ‘That’s kinda been at the soul of this place from the start. Everything Will and Cora ever did helped others in some way. They created jobs, opportunities for people like me, who didn’t have any. They plugged money into the town. They actually built more than half of it, renting out the shops cheap to people who were just getting started, then selling them the premises when they were doing well enough to buy them.’

‘Seriously?’ Kate’s eyebrows shot up.

‘Yep. They were the best people I’ve ever known.’ He looked away sadly. ‘The world is a better place for them being in it.’

He fell silent, and Kate gave him some space to ride out his thoughts. The more she learned about this place, the more she could understand why its people loved it so much. What they did here mattered . And the sense of community was deep and strong. She could see now why the contract had so clearly specified that she had to spend time here. This place wasn’t something that could be described. It had to be seen to be understood. It had to be felt.

‘Come on.’ Matthew stood up. ‘I’ll show you how it’s all done.’

She followed him down the side of the room and glanced up at the windows of the offices above. ‘Is Aubrey Rowlings here today?’

She didn’t really want to meet her yet, but after all the messages the woman had left, she knew it would be rude to leave without at least introducing herself.

Matthew’s expression fell into a grim frown. ‘I doubt it. After Cora got ill and couldn’t check in on her anymore, she’s been here less and less. It’s been a whole lot more peaceful.’ He glanced at her. ‘I probably shouldn’t say that to you, with her about to take over, but…’ He squinted into the distance and scratched the back of his neck. ‘When you get to my age, you get a bit tired of toeing the line with people like that. When she takes charge, I’ll probably just retire. Would make the wife happy, I guess.’ He sighed. ‘Company won’t last much longer, anyway, in her hands.’

Kate pursed her lips as he confirmed her suspicions about Aubrey. ‘Actually, it’s not been decided who’ll inherit yet. That’s the real reason I’m here, to work all that out.’

Matthew looked surprised.

‘I know. She made it sound more like it was pre-decided in that article.’

‘She’s been outright telling people that, too,’ Matthew told her. He tutted. ‘Will and Cora must be turning in their graves watching that girl right now.’

‘Is she really that bad?’ Kate asked.

Matthew sighed. ‘When she first came here, she worked for Jenna as an assistant. Though worked is really too strong a word. She’d swan in late, leave early, do nothing but make personal calls between complaints that she was born for better things .’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Jenna put up with it for as long as she could, not wanting to upset Cora. She was very close to Cora. Most of us were. But one day she caught her red-handed dipping into the office safe. We always have a few hundred dollars or so in there for cash flow. Jenna saw her slip some cash into her pocket and called her on it. Aubrey kicked up a stink and left, and when Jenna checked, the books balanced fine. But when she dug in further, she discovered a whole load of fake receipts – good ones. A lot of them, too.’

‘You’re kidding ?’ Kate asked, shocked. ‘Didn’t she tell Cora?’

‘She did,’ Matthew replied.

Kate frowned. ‘Why didn’t they fire her?’

‘Oh, Aubrey turned on the tears, swore blind she knew nothing, hadn’t taken nothing. Made up some tale for why she’d been in there. No one believed her, not even Cora, but no one could prove it, either. And even when it stung, Cora was a strong advocate for innocent until proven guilty, so…’ He shrugged, his disapproval clear. ‘Cora moved her over to marketing and tightened up the access to the safe. Aubrey still treats people like crap and walks around up there like she owns the place, and she does no more up there than she did downstairs. Not that anyone expects her to at this point. Except Cora . Cora did.’

Kate felt troubled as they walked outside, feeling the weight of the responsibility she’d been handed grow heavier on her shoulders. She had to get this right. The last thing she wanted to do was hand over control of the company to someone who’d use that power to treat all the people Cora and William had cared about badly.

‘Who would you have take over this place?’ she asked.

‘Well, anyone would be better than Aubrey, I reckon.’ Matthew skewed his mouth to one side as he thought it over. ‘You’d think there’d be a clear choice at this point, but there ain’t. The only person who knows the business well enough is Sam. But he doesn’t want that, from what I gather.’

‘No.’ Kate stopped and looked out at the blanket of snow-topped pine trees that covered the valley below. ‘This is an incredible view.’

‘Yeah.’ Matthew moved to stand beside her with a fond smile as he looked out, too. ‘See that big one on its own there?’ He pointed to it and chuckled. ‘Every year Cora heads down on the first of November with one of the forklifts and covers it in enough Christmas lights to blind a space station.’ His smile faded. ‘Or she did , anyway.’

‘I’m so sorry for your loss,’ Kate said gently. ‘I’m learning a lot about Cora, and I’m sad I never got to meet her. She seems like someone I’d have really liked.’

Matthew turned and directly held her gaze for the first time with a warm smile. ‘ No . You’d have loved her. And I think she’d have rather liked you.’

Kate looked out at the beautiful valley where William and Cora had created so much and enriched so many lives, and wondered once more how the boy they’d raised had turned out to be such an arrogant idiot.