Snow Going Back

Chapter 43

FORTY-THREE

Two days later, Kate stepped out of the car and stared up at the Coreaux Roots building. Burying herself in work, the way she always had when she needed to distract herself from the harder parts of life, she’d written up all the paperwork and sealed off all loose ends. She’d set it all up to make Edward Moreaux the sole owner of the company and all its assets, other than the house, which she’d left to Sam. Whatever he’d done to her had nothing to do with this. Cora would have wanted him to have the house, and Cora was who she was here for.

Another car pulled up beside her, and Kate put on a professional smile as Edward got out and stretched his legs. She walked over to him and waited politely for him to gather his cane and turn towards her.

‘Thanks for meeting me here,’ she told him. ‘I’ve got all the contracts with me; we just need to sit down and go over a few things in the office, get it signed and then we’re done.’

‘And then it’s all legally mine?’ he queried, glancing at the building critically.

‘Yes,’ she confirmed. ‘Well, as soon as I’ve filed it, which I’ll do this afternoon. Shall we?’

They walked into the building, and Kate led the way to Cora’s old office. She had a key now, which had been sorted out after she’d made Jenna acting CEO.

‘I’ll run through some basics with you, but most of what you’ll need to know you can find out through Jenna, the office manager. She’s been acting CEO in this interim and knows how to run everything better than anyone here on the office side of things. And if I were you,’ she added, ‘I’d promote her with a pay rise as soon as you can. You can’t afford to lose her, and she’s more than earned it.’

Edward’s gaze flickered sideways at her, and he gave a strange smile. ‘We’ll see,’ he replied. ‘I’ll keep your personal feelings in mind, but I like to judge people’s worth myself. I imagine this place comes with rather a lot of dead weight, too.’

Kate frowned but didn’t reply. As the company lawyer, it wasn’t her business to get involved past the point of signing things over correctly, but that comment didn’t fill her with confidence.

‘There are a handful of senior site managers on the operational side who, again, will be of great help. They’ve been running this place for years. One of them celebrated fifty years here last month.’

‘ Did he now?’ Edward asked, lifting an eyebrow in interest. ‘That is a long time indeed.’

‘It is,’ Kate agreed. ‘And very impressive. Right, here we are.’

She opened the door and gestured for him to enter ahead of her. Cora’s office was a big bright room with a wide desk and a cosier, less formal seating area to one side. Kate imagined this was where Cora used to look after Jenna as a baby, a thought that always made her smile. She moved towards it but then realised Edward had gone straight to the desk. He sat down behind it and ran his hands over the polished wood with a quiet chuckle.

Kate watched him for a moment, seeing the exultation in his smile and hating it. It was understandable, she supposed, to feel excited and happy at inheriting such a big and lucrative company. But some show of modesty wouldn’t have gone amiss out of respect for Cora.

She walked over to the desk, pulled the first of the two contracts out of the envelope and handed them over.

‘It’s all there, and my signature is already at the back.’ She flipped to the last page to show him. ‘Feel free to take some time to read it over, then sign whenever you’re ready.’

He nodded and pulled out a pair of glasses from his inside pocket.

Leaving him to it, Kate crossed her arms and wandered over to one of the windows to look out at the view. The office overlooked the front car park and part of the winding drive up from the main road before it disappeared behind trees. Everything was still covered in snow, which glistened like a million tiny diamonds under the bright midday sun. As she looked, a car appeared in the distance. Not really surprised, as there was still a skeleton staff in today to keep things ticking over, she watched it approach, but then her eyebrows rose as she realised whose car it was.

Jenna parked up and looked at her car and then Edward’s with a small frown before heading in through the front door. Kate glanced back at Edward, who was still skimming the pages of the contract. She hadn’t yet had the chance to tell Jenna what was happening, as she’d gone away for Christmas, so this was actually perfect timing.

‘I’ll be back in a moment,’ she said, walking to the door.

He grunted and didn’t bother looking up.

She made her way back through towards the front and met Jenna in the hallway behind the admin office. ‘Hey!’ She smiled. ‘I thought you were off until tomorrow?’

‘I was, but I wanted to get the new year shifts booked in,’ Jenna replied, for once not returning Kate’s smile. Instead, her dark eyebrows were puckered in concern. ‘Kate, whose car is that next to yours?’

‘Well, that’s what I need to talk to you about,’ Kate replied. ‘That belongs to the new owner of Coreaux Roots. Edward Moreaux.’

Jenna’s eyebrows shot up, and her eyes widened as she visibly paled. ‘Edward Moreaux, as in William’s brother? As in the old man with the newspaper, Edward?’

‘Yes, and I know what you’re thinking,’ Kate replied. ‘He’s eighty-four and that doesn’t exactly shout company stability, but he’s bringing his son over to?—’

‘Kate.’ Jenna grabbed her forearms urgently, cutting her off. ‘Where is he? Have you made it official?’

Kate blinked. ‘He’s in the office. He’s signing the papers now.’

Jenna paled and let go, putting her hands to her mouth for a moment.

Kate felt a sense of panic as she saw the other woman’s face. ‘Jenna, what is it?’

‘Kate, I don’t know what he’s told you, but the only reason he wants this company is to destroy it. He hated William. He was so jealous of William’s success that it led to a big falling-out years ago. He threatened then to destroy all they’d built, one way or another. He’s tried all sorts of things to sabotage this place, though luckily failed. But if he has control of it…’

‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ Kate breathed. She stepped backwards and turned, speeding up into a run. ‘Quickly! There may be time!’

Jenna followed hot on her heels, and Kate felt her heart beat painfully fast against her chest as the implications of what she’d done began to hammer down on her like the weight of the world. This couldn’t be happening. After everything that had happened here and the trust William and Cora had placed in her via their will, she couldn’t be the cause of everything crumbling to the ground. She just couldn’t. All the faces of the people who worked here, the townsfolk, the family the Moreauxs had created, flashed through her mind, and she pressed on faster, pushing through the door and into Cora’s office.

She stopped, Jenna skidding in beside her, and her heart dropped as they watched Edward sign the last page and put the pen down with a smile.