Snow Going Back

Chapter 25

TWENTY-FIVE

Kate looked up from the photo album she was poring over cross-legged on the basement floor and tilted her head to the side. Had that been the doorbell or was she imagining things? After a second, it sounded again, and she tutted, dragging herself up with reluctance. Sam wasn’t in, so she’d have to answer it.

She checked her watch as she climbed the stairs, surprised to see it was almost five. She’d been wading through the basement boxes all day and had decided to stop and reward herself with a little break and a look through more of Cora and William’s old photo albums. They’d been on so many adventures together. Safaris and sailing trips, with snaps from the tops of snowy mountains to the bowls of desert valleys. But the one thing Kate noticed in all of them was that, whether they were on an adventure, or simply sitting in the garden, the happiness and love shining from their faces never altered.

The doorbell chimed a third time as she reached the top of the stairs.

‘Just a sec!’ she called, quickly patting the basement dust off her trousers.

Kate opened the door with a polite smile, then froze as she came face to face with Aubrey Rowlings.

The gleaming smile, militantly straight blonde hair and eerily wide blue eyes hit Kate like a glitch in the Matrix, being such a perfect match to her posed photo. But unlike the photo, this Aubrey couldn’t be ignored.

‘Oh my gosh !’ Aubrey gushed, ascending into a high muted scream and throwing her arms outwards. ‘It is so good to see you ! Come here – let’s hug !’ She grabbed Kate and squeezed her against her ample bosom.

‘Oh, er, oop ! OK…’ Kate muttered awkwardly, feeling alarmed.

‘Ah, Kate, how are you?’ Aubrey released her and twisted her around in one swift move, linking her arm through Kate’s and walking her forward into the house. ‘How’re you holding up? Are you OK ? You doing OK ?’ She was nodding at Kate encouragingly now, her forehead puckered in concern as though worried about her.

Kate blinked, thoroughly confused. ‘Er, yes, thank you. I’m – I’m fine.’ She stared back at Aubrey, who was now nodding faster and making crooning sounds of sympathetic agreement. ‘But it’s me who should be asking you that,’ she said slowly, trying very hard to keep the instant distrust she felt towards Aubrey out of her expression. ‘You’re the one who just lost your great-aunt.’ She gently but firmly removed her arm from the other woman’s grip, softening the move with a smile and a gesture to walk through to the kitchen. ‘ Tea ?’

‘Oh my gosh, you’re so British !’ Aubrey exclaimed with a laugh of delight as she moved to walk ahead of Kate.

‘Er, yes ,’ Kate responded awkwardly, shooting a wary frown at the back of the woman’s perfectly styled head. ‘So I’ve been told.’

‘ Tea ,’ Aubrey repeated, amused. ‘I thought that was just a joke , that offering tea is the first thing you British people do. Like something that went viral from a stand-up or something. I didn’t realise it was true .’

She let out another sharp burst of laughter, and Kate’s frown deepened, but she swiftly smiled as Aubrey reached the kitchen and turned around.

‘Er, yes . I guess it is true,’ she agreed. ‘So…’ She walked over to the kettle. ‘Would you like one?’

Aubrey grinned and sat down on one of the bar stools, running her fingers through the ends of her perfectly straight hair. ‘You are adorable , Kate, honestly .’

The little devil on her shoulder popped up with a look of question and an array of choices, and even the angel pointedly studied her nails between hopeful glances. But Kate simply took a deep breath and smiled, leaving them to share a disappointed look.

‘Well, I’m having one,’ she said firmly. ‘Let me know what you decide.’

‘I’ll join you,’ Aubrey replied. ‘I can’t pass up the opportunity to enjoy a cup made by a real British person now, can I?’

Having turned around, Kate was free to roll her eyes.

‘How do you take it?’ she asked.

‘Oh, I’ll have it however you take it, Kate,’ Aubrey replied. ‘You show me how it’s done.’

‘So, Aubrey, it’s great to finally meet you,’ Kate said as she readied the cups and boiled the kettle. She turned and leaned back against the side. ‘Please accept my apologies for not reaching out before now. I’ve just been trying to get everything in order first before meeting any of you to discuss things further.’

Aubrey’s smile twitched, and her head tilted a little to the side as she let out a tight tinkling laugh. ‘ Any of us?’ she asked. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Everyone who submitted a claim on the estate,’ Kate replied. ‘There are a number of you, so I’ll need to arrange some meetings to assess everything.’

‘ Well !’ Aubrey’s eyebrows rose upwards, and she pulled her chin backwards with another delicate laugh. ‘I am personally shocked that anyone else has had the audacity to try and claim our company ,’ she declared.

‘ Our ?’ Kate queried, holding her gaze. ‘I was under the impression that the company was owned solely by Cora. At least, that’s who it’s filed under.’

Aubrey’s big blue eyes flashed with irritation, and something dark began to show through the cracks of her fixed smile.

There you are , Kate thought.

Aubrey was an anomaly in Kate’s world. She possessed a personality type Kate hadn’t crossed before, but what Kate was familiar with was the attempt to hide behind a mask. Everyone did it to some degree, but the people with the worst intentions always worked the hardest to disguise themselves.

‘I’m sure you also know that I’m the only member of this family who actually cares enough about our company to work there then,’ Aubrey replied.

Kate nodded, turning to pour the water as the kettle came to the boil. ‘I do. You’re a junior marketing exec, right?’

She stirred the tea, noting the pause.

‘I am in marketing at the moment, yes,’ Aubrey said, her tone more professional now as she tested the waters. ‘My great-aunt wanted me to work across different areas of the company in the time before I took over,’ she continued. ‘So I started off in the general office, learning payroll, scheduling, contracts, all those sort of things. After I mastered that, I moved on to marketing. Because you know what they say, don’t you?’

Aubrey shot Kate a winning smile as she walked over with the two teas.

‘What do they say?’ Kate asked.

‘You can have the best product in the world and still fail if you don’t understand how to market it .’ She gave Kate a look as if to press home a lesson, then took a sip of her tea. ‘Gosh, this tea is divinity itself,’ she gushed. ‘How do you make it? You must tell me so I can make this at home.’

‘Teabag, water, milk, two sugars, stir,’ Kate replied, adding a smile to take the sharp edge off of her delivery.

She watched Aubrey nod along seriously as if taking notes and resisted the urge to shake her head.

‘Thank you,’ Aubrey enthused. ‘I shall remember that.’ She smiled. ‘So, who else has put in a claim for our company , Kate? This is something I take quite seriously, and as you are our lawyer, I would like to discuss that with you further.’

Kate took a deep breath and exhaled, immediately seeing the trap Aubrey was trying to lay. She sidestepped it with a snap decision.

‘Actually, until the ownership of the company is decided, Jenna, the office manager, has been appointed as temporary CEO. So I’ll be discussing anything relating to the business with her at this point in time, and you’ll be made aware of any decisions accordingly.’

As soon as she said it, Kate realised it made perfect sense. When it came to management, Jenna had been, in all but title, Cora’s second in command. Who better to keep things running smoothly? She decided to make it official first thing in the morning.

‘ Excuse me?’ Aubrey said, the friendly tone beginning to wear thin. ‘I’m sorry, but what did you just say?’

Kate held her gaze levelly. ‘I said I’ve appointed Jenna to stand as temporary CEO until matters are settled. She’s best placed to do so, and as an impartial party, she’s also best placed to help me decide on the best candidate to take over long-term.’

‘Yes, that’s what I thought I heard,’ Aubrey snapped. ‘ You telling me that you’ve made a decision about my family’s business without even asking my permission . How dare you?’ she demanded, her anger beginning to redden her cheeks. ‘I’m family , I work there, I have rights .’

‘Actually, you don’t,’ Kate replied, turning her head at the sound of the doorbell. She lifted a finger to stop Aubrey in her tracks as the woman opened her mouth to speak again. ‘Hold that thought.’

She nipped out to the front door, thankful for whoever was on the other side of it for shattering the tense exchange. Her thankfulness was short-lived, however, when she opened the door and found Evelyn, Cora’s sister, standing on the other side.

‘Oh, for the love of God ,’ she muttered under her breath, wondering if it was National Harass a Kate Day and no one had bothered to tell her.

Wrapped in a vintage mink fur coat that had seen better days, Evelyn clutched her handbag to her chest with both hands. Her pale cheeks were dotted with a little too much blusher, and her red lipstick bled out through the fine lines around her lips, which she squeezed together as if sucking on a lemon.

‘ Where is she ?’ Evelyn demanded, sweeping past Kate with barely a glance. ‘ Where is my granddaughter?’

‘ Please ,’ Kate muttered wryly, shutting the door. ‘ Do come in .’

She followed Evelyn through to the kitchen.

‘ I knew it ,’ Evelyn declared in angry triumph.

Aubrey glared at her grandmother. ‘I said I would sort this out, and I will ,’ she replied.

‘ Oh really ?’ Evelyn asked with obvious disbelief. ‘Let’s see, shall we?’

She swung round to face Kate, quickly shifting her expression to a calm sweet smile. The sour battle-axe who’d stormed in moments before was gone, replaced with a soft elderly woman who looked like she probably spent her days in a rocking chair crooning at babies and knitting them hats. Kate marvelled at the woman’s ability to flip an instant personality change. Perhaps she hadn’t been that bad an actress, after all.

‘Kate, hello ,’ she said, her voice distinctly slower and weaker. Evelyn placed her handbag on the side and walked over with a new stiffness in her gait, reaching out to grip Kate’s hand between both of hers. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, my dear. An absolute pleasure . I’m Evelyn, Cora’s sister.’ She cast her gaze down a little too perfectly, raising it again with a sad smile.

‘It’s nice to meet you, too,’ Kate said, drawing her hand back.

‘I’ve been trying to call you,’ Evelyn said, screwing up her face to look a little confused. ‘I’ve been terribly worried, you see. I have a letter from my sister that?—’

‘Oh, Gram, stop ,’ Aubrey ordered angrily. ‘I said we’d cut a deal and I meant it, but right now we have a bigger problem. Kate here has decided to make some decisions of her own without consulting me, putting the control of the company in the hands of Cora’s office girl .’

‘ What ?’ Evelyn demanded, the soft-knit grandmother disappearing instantly. ‘What do you mean , Aubrey? She can’t do that, can she?’

Kate sighed, looking between their angry faces as she tried to work out how best to proceed. ‘ Look , let’s all just calm down and have a civilised discussion.’ She flicked the switch to reheat the kettle. ‘Evelyn, would you like a cup of tea?’

‘ No ! She does not want a cup of your damned tea, ’ Aubrey exploded.

‘ Well …’ Evelyn tipped her head sideways as if she wanted to disagree, glancing at Aubrey’s mug with interest.

‘ No . No tea . Tea does not fix this. You fix this.’ Aubrey pointed at Kate.

Kate stared back at her coldly, having had enough of the woman’s tantrum. ‘I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but I can assure you, you’re not helping yourself at all right now.’

She recalled Bob’s warning to tread carefully with Aubrey and stopped there. With Aubrey’s love for attention and clear desire to be in the media, they didn’t need her walking off with any ammunition. Still, that didn’t mean she had to accept this kind of behaviour. So long as she remained calm and professional, she could still tell the other woman to take a hike.

Aubrey slipped off the stool and stalked towards Kate. Kate watched her warily and felt a ripple of unease as Aubrey’s eyes turned glassy, a darkness flickering just behind. The woman no longer looked anything like the preppy cheerleader type from her picture. Now, with her vacant stare and obvious anger, she just seemed dangerous.

‘ You don’t know who I think I am?’ she asked in a low, shaky tone, taking another step towards Kate. ‘ I’m the person you’re going to hand the company to, Kate. Because it’s what I’m owed . Because it’s rightfully mine , by blood . You’ll hand me this house, too, and everything else you’ve listed. And I will decide who gets what out of it. And you’ll do that now .’

‘ Damn right,’ Evelyn snapped waspishly.

Kate glanced at the older woman and at the sour look on her face, then turned back to Aubrey, taking a measured step backwards to the counter as the woman moved into her personal space.

‘Aubrey, I think I should remind you that I’m a lawyer ,’ she said in a calm but firm tone, feeling anything but those things. ‘Threatening me into putting my legal stamp on anything is a federal offence, which you could, and would, go to prison for, if I were to report you.’

A smile briefly played on Aubrey’s lips. ‘Oh, you won’t be reporting anything , Kate,’ she said with confidence. ‘You’d turn yourself into a joke and never be taken seriously again.’

Kate frowned. ‘I don’t think you understand what I’m saying, Aubrey.’

‘No, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying,’ Aubrey shot back.

‘Why don’t you explain it to her a little better,’ Evelyn hissed menacingly.

The kettle came to the boil and clicked off, and Aubrey glanced towards it with a glint in her eye. Kate frowned as a warning prickle travelled up her neck, but she didn’t catch Aubrey’s dark train of thought until it was too late.

Snatching up the steaming kettle, Aubrey moved closer to Kate with a manic look. Kate darted backwards, startled, and held up her hands defensively.

‘ Hey ! Whoa, what the hell are you doing?’ she demanded.

Aubrey brandished the boiling-hot stainless-steel kettle like a weapon and backed Kate into the corner of the room. Her teeth clenched, and her lips curled back.

‘I did not pander to that woman for three whole years to walk away now with nothing,’ she growled.

‘Aubrey, stop this. This is crazy ,’ Kate pleaded, genuinely afraid now. ‘I’ve never said you’d walk away with nothing. All I said was that I’m in the process of working things out. Nothing has been decided.’

Aubrey let out a sharp laugh. ‘Oh, but you did , Kate, when you told me you’d be taking advice from Cora’s little paper pusher . That spiteful little thing hates me, just because I was actually related to Cora and she wasn’t. She’ll make sure to steer you anywhere but me, with all sorts of lies that are really just a cover for her jealousy . And I can’t have that. I need this money and so does Gram. So get to it , or I will burn that pretty little face of yours so bad you’ll never look the same again.’

Kate’s eyes flew fearfully to the kettle as she took in the threat. Was Aubrey really that crazy? How had things flipped so drastically? Kate was right in the corner now, with no way out, as Aubrey loomed over her.

‘ Well ?’ Aubrey suddenly roared. ‘What’ll it be, Kate? You gonna make up the papers, or am I going to burn your face off?’

‘She don’t bluff, child,’ Evelyn threw in with a nasty smile. ‘So I’d choose wisely.’

‘You’re crazy ,’ Kate breathed.

‘You’re not the first to call me that,’ Aubrey replied. ‘And you’ll doubtful be the last. Now, make your damn choice !’ She leered in. ‘Let’s see if we can’t persuade you, huh? Test it out on your arm first.’

‘ No ! Aubrey, stop this!’ Kate begged.

‘ Gimme your arm.’ Aubrey lurched forward and grabbed her arm viciously. Kate yelped and tried to pull away, but there was nowhere left to go. ‘Let’s see this pale English skin of yours burn .’

Kate squeezed her eyes closed, her heart thudding hard and the internal roar of blind panic filling her head until it was all she could hear.

A deep voice suddenly boomed through the room. ‘ What the hell are you doing ?’

Aubrey’s vicious grip suddenly ripped away from her arm, and she opened her eyes to see Sam flinging the woman across the room towards Evelyn with one hand as he cast the kettle across the floor with the other. Boiling water splashed out everywhere as Aubrey collided with her grandmother, and fear briefly flickered across her face. She quickly straightened, watching Sam warily as she smoothed her hair.

‘Sam—’ she began, but he cut her straight off.

‘ Get out of my house !’ he bellowed. ‘ Now !’

Evelyn backed away from Aubrey and was now feigning shock. ‘Thank goodness you arrived, Sam,’ she simpered. ‘I was just?—’

‘ Both of you,’ he shouted at her. ‘ Get out and don’t you ever come back here. I find you threatening Kate like that again, so help me God …’

‘ OK, OK !’ Evelyn raised her hands in surrender and turned to join Aubrey, who was now waiting for her in the hall, shooting evils at Sam.

‘You don’t know what she’s done ,’ Aubrey hissed.

‘I don’t need to,’ he shot back furiously. ‘If it’s pissed you off, that’s enough to know she’s on the right track. Now get out before I throw you out myself!’

Sam marched a few paces towards them, and they quickly scuttled out of the house, slamming the door behind them. Sam’s torso sharply rose and fell a few times as he stared after them, then he stepped back and forced a couple of deep calming breaths before turning back towards Kate.

Kate stood frozen in the corner, her fists tight against her chest.

‘Are you OK?’ Sam asked, genuine worry in both his tone and eyes.

Kate wetted her lips and then tried to clear her throat. She nodded slightly, her gaze flickering past him to the hallway.

‘Yes,’ she said in not much more than a whisper. ‘Yes, I’m OK.’

She moved forward off the wall and lowered her arms shakily as Sam moved towards her, looking her over.

‘Here, let me see that.’ His voice was surprisingly gentle now, and she instinctively wanted to comply, but she frowned, not understanding. ‘Your arm,’ he clarified.

She looked down at her arm and blinked in surprise at the three angry red gashes. ‘I’m bleeding ,’ she said with a strangely detached voice. ‘I can’t even feel it.’

‘That’s the adrenaline,’ Sam told her. ‘But it’ll wear off. Let me sort that out before it does. It’ll be easier.’

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she should decline. Sam was the enemy, not a friend. But in the face of Aubrey’s attack, something had changed in his voice. In his eyes. So instead, she simply nodded, holding her arm out with an inexplicable feeling of trust. As he went to touch it, she gasped and pointed to the angry red burn that ran up his arm.

‘Yeah, that I can feel,’ he told her with a small, grim smile.

And that was what tipped her over the edge. She wasn’t sure if it was the burn or the shock wearing off, or a combination of everything that had happened, but as Kate opened her mouth to speak, she suddenly let out a loud sob. Tears filled her eyes, and she shook her head helplessly, trying to force them away, but they wouldn’t go, and as the second sob followed, she covered her face with her hands.

‘Hey, it’s OK,’ Sam told her gently. ‘You’re safe now. They’re not coming back.’ He hesitated for a moment and glanced over to the kettle on the floor, scratching his head. ‘You know, er… I heard a cup of tea is the ultimate solve-all solution for you Brits, but how do things stand after one’s been terrorised by the kettle?’

Kate laughed through her sobs at the perfectly timed joke and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Her grin softened to a thankful smile. ‘You know, I don’t think there’s anything that can strip the therapeutic qualities of a good cup of tea for us Brits. Not even being terrorised by the kettle.’