Snow Going Back

Chapter 23

TWENTY-THREE

With a chuckle, Kate pulled on her hat and gloves then set off towards Main Street, deciding to work in the quaint-looking coffee shop she’d spotted on her way into town that first day. The sound of cheerful Christmas songs rang out as she passed the raised bandstand where a local choir practised. White twinkling lights wound around each wooden beam, bathing the singers in a warm ethereal glow. It somehow made everything look even more magical, and Kate smiled, feeling the festive warmth fill her heart.

Much as this place had been thrown at her, and much as she truly despised Sam, she realised she’d begun to fall deeply in love with Pineview Falls, with its pretty town centre, caring community and beautiful history. And suddenly she was glad that she’d been given the chance to experience this place in the run-up to Christmas. Even if it was causing all kinds of chaos back home. Pineview Falls was a rare hidden gem – and one she hoped stayed that way, for its own sake. Wonderful aesthetics aside, it was a town with a true beating heart. A town with a soul in a world where most places had sold theirs to the highest bidder long ago. It was simply and quietly beautiful. To be part of it for a little while, even as an outsider, was a gift she knew she was unlikely to experience again.

Reaching the coffee shop, she walked inside and ordered a peppermint hot chocolate before setting herself up to work in a cosy-looking corner. Soon absorbed in what she was doing, Kate zoned out, oblivious to the time and the world around her as both continued moving forward. When she was finally pulled from her focus, two hours had passed.

‘Kate?’ She looked up to see Jenna, the office manager from Coreaux Roots, smiling at her tentatively.

‘Jenna, hi!’ Kate smiled back, folding her file over to the side.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just thought I’d say hi,’ Jenna told her with an apologetic look.

‘No, no, you haven’t,’ Kate replied. ‘I’m done, anyway. How are you?’

‘I’m OK, thanks,’ Jenna replied. She held up a take-out cup. ‘I have a rare weekend off from the kids so thought I’d go wild and wander down here for a hot chocolate.’ She laughed, sounding slightly embarrassed.

‘Ah.’ Kate held up her empty cup. ‘I’ve chosen the wild side, too.’ She grinned. ‘How old are your kids?’

‘Five and nearly seven now.’ Jenna’s warm brown eyes lit up as she spoke. ‘They’re staying with their grandpa for a couple of days, and my husband works nights, so it’s just me tonight.’

‘Would you like to join me?’ Kate offered, gesturing towards the empty chair opposite her. ‘I’d welcome the company.’

‘Sure, that would be nice.’ Jenna smiled and sat down.

Kate ordered a fresh drink, along with two of the cookies she’d previously been eying. She offered one to Jenna.

‘Oh, thanks!’ Jenna smiled. ‘These are really good.’ She took a bite. ‘So, what about you? Do you have a family back home? Kids?’

Kate shook her head. ‘No, not yet. But I’m engaged,’ she added, trying to sound upbeat. ‘Getting married on New Year’s Eve, actually.’

‘Congratulations!’ Jenna said. ‘Gosh, it must be so stressful being here with all that going on. Though you’re probably all set by now, I imagine.’

Kate forced a bright smile. ‘ Few things left to do, but, er, yes. Mostly.’

‘How are you getting on at the house? You have everything you need?’ Jenna asked.

‘It’s going OK,’ Kate replied. ‘There was a lot more to sort than I’d anticipated, but I’m making some headway. I’m learning so much about Cora and William, too. That’s probably what’s slowing me down the most, to be honest.’ She laughed. ‘The more I discover, the more I want to know. They seem like they were pretty amazing people.’

‘They were,’ Jenna said with a smaller smile this time. She took a sip of her drink.

Kate’s mind wandered back to Cora’s diary and the sweet-talking mailman. ‘So, you and Cora were pretty close. Can I ask you a question about her? It’s quite personal.’

‘Sure, go ahead,’ Jenna said, her eyes filling with curiosity.

‘Did Cora ever mention another man? From her past, I mean. A first love, perhaps.’ Kate sipped her hot chocolate.

Jenna’s forehead puckered into a frown. ‘ No ,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘No. William was the only man Cora had ever loved. She’d say that a lot. Those two were the most perfect couple there ever was.’ Jenna smiled fondly and looked away. ‘I knew them both my whole life. I’ve never known a couple so deeply in love, so happy, no matter what was happening or how many years passed. They—’ Jenna stopped abruptly as her bottom lip wobbled and tears filled her eyes.

‘Oh, gosh, Jenna, I’m sorry,’ Kate said, aghast. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’

‘No, you didn’t,’ Jenna told her, wiping her eyes as the tears began to fall. ‘Really you didn’t. I just really miss her.’ She gave Kate a sad smile as more tears followed, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue. ‘Cora was like a mom to me, you see. Mine died when I was just a baby, and when my dad couldn’t figure out how he was going to work and take care of me, Cora was the one who made it possible. She had a corner of her office set up with baby equipment and arranged it so that when he worked, she’d look after me there. Wouldn’t take no for an answer, my dad said. And would never accept a word of thanks, either. She was amazing. Threw me a birthday party every year. Took me shopping for my first bra, showed me how to style my hair, nursed me when I was sick.’ She closed her eyes and bowed her head in pain.

‘Jenna, I’m so sorry,’ Kate said, feeling heartbroken for the woman.

Jenna sniffed and wiped her eyes. ‘No, I’m sorry. You’re here just tryin’a work and enjoy your night, and here I am bawling all over you.’ She laughed, visibly forcing back the tide of grief. ‘I’m fine. Really. It’s fine. Death is part of life.’ She shrugged, her eyes still glistening but the tears subsiding. ‘That’s what Cora told us when William died. As long as we remember the good times, people live on through us.’

Kate nodded and reached out to squeeze Jenna’s arm. ‘If there’s anything of Cora’s you’d like to keep, let me know, OK? I’ll see it comes to you.’

If anyone was deserving of being left something by Cora, it was her. Kate found it strange, knowing as she now did how close the couple had been to people, that they’d never written an updated will. She frowned, and Jenna looked at her questioningly.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

‘Nothing,’ Kate said, waving the question away. ‘It’s…’ She squeezed her gaze, suddenly realising that if anyone knew why, it would likely be Jenna. ‘Actually, there’s just something that strikes me as odd.’ She looked down at the table, gently tapping her finger on the grainy wood as she picked her words carefully. ‘The last will we have on record is from 1962. It doesn’t specify any names, only gives instructions on how I’m to decide based on different possibilities. I’m just surprised they never wrote an updated one.’

Jenna met Kate’s gaze with a frown. ‘But they did ,’ she said with certainty. ‘I remember. I was there when they had the witnesses round to sign.’

Kate sat upright, her eyes widening. ‘Are you sure ? Absolutely sure?’

‘Yes,’ Jenna replied. ‘I was off school sick, so Cora had me laid up on the sofa in her office.’

‘Was there a lawyer there?’ Kate pressed.

‘No.’ Jenna shook her head. ‘I remember, Cora wanted one there, but William told her that he’d already run it past their lawyer friend, who’d said that so long as they got witnesses to sign, it was legally tight.’

‘Jacob,’ Kate breathed.

‘They had some friends of theirs in, got it signed, had some coffee and then they all left except Cora. I was curious, being a kid, so I asked, and Cora explained what a will was,’ Jenna told her.

‘Where did it go?’ Kate asked urgently. This would change everything. Her mind whirled. ‘Their lawyer friend, Jacob, he was my firm’s founder, but we never got a copy of this. Do you know what it said or where it went? When did this happen?’

‘Er…’ Jenna’s eyes darted from side to side as she tried to recall the details. ‘I was about nine, I think. Yes, I was because it was around Sam’s sixteenth birthday.’

If she was seven years younger than Sam, then Jenna was thirty-one, Kate noted, adjusting her mental profile of the woman. She looked much younger.

‘Where it went, I couldn’t tell you. It’s not in the company safe or in Cora’s office, and she’s never told me. I just assumed Sam knew or that you had it.’ Jenna grimaced. ‘As for the contents, I have no idea. So, what does this mean now?’

Kate took a deep breath and blew it out through her cheeks, lying back against the chair. ‘Well, unless we find it, it means nothing ,’ she told her. ‘Legally we have to abide by the last known will on record. Without it physically in front of me, legally speaking, it doesn’t exist. What about the witnesses? Do you remember who they were?’

‘I do, but that won’t help. They both died in a crash a few years back,’ Jenna replied.

Kate grimaced.

‘You should ask Sam,’ Jenna advised. ‘If anyone knows, it will be him. I’m surprised he hasn’t brought it up already though.’

‘Hmm,’ Kate agreed, biting her lip. ‘Why hasn’t he?’

Kate finished up her text conversation with Lance and walked through the door, disappointed to hear the sounds of men watching sport coming from the lounge. Clearly her hiding spot wasn’t as clever as she’d thought. She hung her coat and slipped off her boots, then walked towards the kitchen, but as she passed the archway to the lounge, she jerked to a halt and turned to stare in amazement.

Pieces of plaster and drywall littered the floor, and a jagged gaping hole that revealed the timber frame behind now surrounded the TV. A sledgehammer leaned on a piece of wall that was still intact below. Someone hit a ball, and a loud cheer erupted. Only Sam’s head turned towards her, his glare piercing into her from across the room with a mixture of anger and defiance. Kate closed her mouth, suddenly aware it had dropped open, and then slowly turned to continue into the kitchen, completely lost for words.

She’d give him one thing – he was certainly determined.

After putting away the few grocery items she’d picked up on her way home, Kate grabbed a drink and headed up to bed.

She lay staring up at the ceiling for some time, thinking over her conversation with Jenna. Eventually she heard the men downstairs trickle away, and then Sam went up to bed. She bit her lip and listened closely, waiting for the moment he found the remote. She still couldn’t believe he’d actually destroyed a wall to watch that game rather than miss it. Hearing him curse and march back out of his room, Kate quickly grabbed a book and pretended to be reading. Her door almost instantly flew open, and he appeared in the doorway.

‘Didn’t your mother teach you to knock?’ she asked dryly, not looking up from the pages.

‘ No ,’ he answered shortly. He held up the remote in the air accusingly. ‘ Really ?’ he asked. ‘ Seriously ?’

Kate just shrugged, keeping her eyes on the page and watching him in her peripheral vision. ‘I told you it was in the house.’

Sam made a low growling sound in the back of his throat and wrung his hands in the air as if imagining her neck was between them.

‘Shut the door on your way out,’ Kate said sunnily, but as he turned, she remembered what she’d wanted to ask him. ‘Oh, Sam?’ She sat up, putting the book aside.

‘ What ?’ he seethed.

‘The will I’ve been working from – it’s an old one. Very old. Jenna told me they wrote a more recent one, about twenty-two years ago.’ She watched as his frown lessened slightly and couldn’t help but notice how much nicer he looked when he wasn’t glaring at her or plotting something. Her gaze slipped from his face down to the curve of his collarbone and she pulled it away quickly, clearing her throat. Why did she keep doing that? ‘Do you know where it is? Have you seen it?’ She paused, but he didn’t answer. ‘It would really help speed things up.’

Sam looked away down the hallway, then shook his head. ‘I haven’t seen any will.’

‘OK. Well, if you come across…’ Kate trailed off as the door was swiftly shut again and Sam’s angry stomps returned to his own room. His door slammed, and she turned to the picture of Cora on the wall. ‘Where did you hide it, Cora? And why have you made it so hard to find?’