Snow Going Back

Chapter 33

THIRTY-THREE

A few days later, after settling back into life at Pineview Falls, Kate ventured out to the Christmas market for some fresh air and a distraction from her spiralling thoughts. Having been suitably distracted from the moment she arrived, and unable to resist all the mouth-watering smells filling the air, she trudged back up the snowy hill a couple of hours later laden with paper bags fit to burst with delicious seasonal treats.

It wasn’t just the market that had brought back her smile though. It was also eager anticipation for the trip she was taking to one of Sam’s housing projects that afternoon. Since learning what he did for a living, she’d been more and more intrigued, and eventually she’d worked up the courage to ask him if she could go along and see it in person. Sam had been surprised but more than happy to let her come along. Kate could hardly wait. Hearing about all the inspiring things that Sam was doing here interested and excited her in a way nothing else had for a long time. The creative things he’d developed fascinated her, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised her excitement lay in what these things meant for the people they helped. She admired what Sam was doing and realised she envied him, too.

She envied him the gift of waking up every day knowing he was going to make a difference to someone. Someone who needed it, rather than some penny-pinching CEO trying to hide failing parts of their business in the paperwork of a complicated deal.

Lost in thought and humming the tune to ‘Deck the Halls’, Kate didn’t initially notice the car slow to a crawl behind her. She heard the window wind down though and glanced back. For a moment, she assumed it was someone looking for directions, so she stopped and turned properly. But then she saw who it was and froze.

‘What do you want?’ she asked coldly.

Aubrey moved alongside her and leaned out the window with an angelic expression of sorrow. ‘I want to apologise,’ she said humbly. ‘I really don’t know what came over me that day – I swear to God, it was like something just took over my body. I wasn’t seeing sense. I wasn’t seeing anything at all . All I can remember is that we were having a nice talk over a cup of your lovely tea, and then my grams arrived, and – and then suddenly Sam was there and there was water all over the floor, and when I learned what I’d nearly done . Oh my gosh …’ She put her hands to her cheeks and shook her head, looking stricken. ‘Kate, I just cannot bear it. Can you find it in your heart to ever forgive me? I can’t forgive myself, but if I know I have your forgiveness along with the good Lord Jesus on my side, then I may just get there someday.’

Kate made a sound of derision. ‘ Ugh … Don’t use Jesus as part of your scam this close to his birthday, Aubrey. It’s really not good form.’

She turned and carried on up the hill, glad that it was still daylight and that other cars were regularly driving past. The luck on her side was that with the snow, Aubrey probably couldn’t mount the pavement with her car, so Kate was at least safe from being run over. But she still felt tense with the woman so close behind her.

The car moved to keep pace alongside Kate.

‘Kate, it’s the truth,’ Aubrey insisted. ‘I’m really not a bad person. I feel horrible. Honestly, I think it was seeing my grams. There’s all sorts of bad childhood trauma there, you see.’

‘Mhm,’ Kate murmured. ‘With a grams like yours, you’d think your acting skills would be a little better.’ She turned to face her. ‘But even if they were, that excuse isn’t even close to believable. Childhood granny issues don’t cause someone to accidentally try to blackmail a lawyer with violence and permanent scarring. What you did was… ugh …’ Kate recalled the dark, vindictive look on the woman’s face as she’d gone for her that day. ‘That was something else entirely.’

A glint of annoyance flashed across Aubrey’s face, even as she tried to keep up the act, and Kate shook her head, a fierce feeling of protectiveness for Coreaux Roots sweeping through her like a hot tidal wave.

‘Look, you’re not getting any part of Coreaux Roots, Aubrey,’ she said suddenly. ‘Not you or your grandmother. That’s what you’ve come sniffing around for, so you might as well know that now. Neither of you understands what that company really is or cares about it at all ! Which means neither of you are worthy of it.’ Kate watched as the mask dropped and Aubrey’s face contorted with bitter sparks of hot rage. She reined her emotions back in and suppressed a shiver. ‘You need to leave now.’

‘You self-important, stupid little bitch ,’ Aubrey hissed.

Kate kept her expression carefully neutral, pointedly aware of how unpredictable and dangerous Aubrey could be. They were almost at the house now, and Sam suddenly walked out and down the drive towards them with a frown.

‘Think what you like of me, Aubrey,’ she said calmly. ‘It makes no difference. To me or the outcome of this case.’

She heard Sam’s boots crunch in the snow as he strode the last few feet behind her.

‘I thought I told you to stay the hell away?’ He glared at Aubrey darkly.

Aubrey moved her hateful gaze between the two of them, eventually resting it on Kate. Her mouth widened into a cold, sly smile.

‘Thanks for showing your cards. We’ve already gone through our options with our own lawyers and will now act accordingly.’

‘Good luck with that,’ Kate responded, unfazed. It had been inevitable.

‘I mean it, Aubrey– get out of here ,’ Sam ordered.

She ignored him, her gaze still burning a hole into Kate. ‘Expect to be served before Christmas. Time is money, after all. And it is my money we’re talking about.’

Spinning her wheels on the snow, Aubrey drove away.

Sam watched her leave with a dark look, then took the bags from Kate’s arms and turned back towards the house.

Kate fell into step beside him. ‘Thanks.’ She glanced back over her shoulder. ‘I’m glad you happened to see us. That woman really puts me on edge.’

‘Well, someone prepared to burn your face off will do that to you,’ he replied. ‘But, actually, I was waiting for you.’

‘Oh? How come?’ she asked.

‘You left your phone,’ he replied.

Kate’s hands flew to her pockets, finding them empty. ‘Oh! I didn’t even notice.’

‘It rang a couple of times. First one was your mom, so I left it,’ he told her.

‘ Wise ,’ Kate muttered.

‘Second one was a local number, so I picked up in case it was urgent. It was odd.’ He frowned. ‘Some old lady who told me I sounded suspicious and said she’d only give me the message in code.’

Kate laughed, realising it was Edward’s secretary. ‘What did she say?’

They walked into the house. ‘I wrote it down on the pad in the kitchen.’

Kate walked through, taking off her gloves and other layers as she read the note.

E.M. 26 th 14:00

She frowned. That couldn’t be right. Boxing Day? She picked up her phone and dialled the last incoming number, waiting for the old lady to pick up.

‘Hi, it’s Kate Hunter,’ she said. ‘I just…’

‘ Who ?’ the woman asked.

Kate closed her eyes. ‘Kate Hunter. The lawyer who?—’

‘Yes, yes , I know who you are. What do you want?’ she asked, cutting Kate off irritably.

Kate looked up to the heavens. ‘I just got your message. Am I reading it correctly – is it the twenty-sixth of December?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘OK.’ Kate frowned. ‘Is there any other day he can do? Only with it being Christmas, I’m not going to be here, so?—’

‘I thought you said this was urgent?’ came the impatient reply.

‘Yes, it is, but?—’

‘Well then, that’s all he can do. He’s extending his stay at the retreat until Christmas, he’ll be around that day and then he leaves for New Zealand to visit his son. It’s either then or not at all,’ she told her.

Kate sat down on one of the bar stools, aghast. How could she tell Lance and her mother that she wouldn’t be home for Christmas ? How could she even get her own head around that?

‘Well? What’ll it be?’ the woman prompted.

‘I…’ Kate raised a hand and then dropped it defeatedly. ‘OK. I’ll have to take it.’

‘Very well. Now please don’t call again .’

The line went dead, and Kate put her phone on the side, then dropped her head into her hands, feeling thoroughly deflated. How was she going to explain it to Lance? And, even worse, to her mother.