Snow Going Back

Chapter 46

FORTY-SIX

The next few days passed in a blur as Kate threw all her energy into making things right at Coreaux Roots. As it was all her fault, she’d made the decision to do something she’d once vowed she’d never do, and that was to outright lie on the stand. It went against the oath she’d sworn upon becoming a lawyer. It went against everything she stood for, but she knew that if it offered a chance of putting things right, of saving this incredible place and the livelihoods of all the people within it, then she had to try. So, with Jenna’s help, she’d fabricated a story as to why and how Edward had forged her signature, and would just have to pray that it didn’t come back on her in court.

The problem was, this court would have no choice but to make a decision of some sort on who should take over, as she hadn’t been able to fulfil the requests within the will. Kate had ideas of her own as to who should be awarded the company, and she’d put together a strong argument for why. But they were not blood relatives, and she’d be hard pushed to get that accepted in the face of three contenders who were.

As New Year’s Eve came round, Kate had done almost as much as she could to prepare for court, but there was one place she still hadn’t yet looked for evidence against the people now trying to destroy or run the business into the ground. Cora’s diaries.

She’d put off going back to the house so far, not wanting to run the risk of bumping into Sam. They still hadn’t spoken since he’d walked out on Christmas Day, and she didn’t feel up to breaking that streak now. But she’d taken a couple of detours around that way over the last couple of days and was pretty certain that he hadn’t been home. The snow was piled high on the drive, no track marks to indicate he’d parked there recently. So after psyching herself up, she’d decided that today was the day she’d risk it. Better sooner rather than later.

An email from Bob popped up at the corner of the screen. Kate clicked on it and skimmed the contents until she reached the part she’d been waiting for right at the bottom.

And as for your request, I’m happy to report that it was granted by the board, and by unanimous vote, too. This is certainly going to be interesting, and I, for one, look forward to seeing what the future holds.

Best regards,

Bob

She smiled, the words lighting her up on the inside for a moment, allowing her temporary relief from all the stress and worry. It was something good in a sea of bad, but it was also something that would have to wait. Because she knew if she didn’t go to the house to read through Cora’s diaries now, she never would.

After closing her laptop on her small hotel-room desk, Kate stood up and shrugged on her coat with a sigh. She reached into her pocket and checked she had the right keys, then opened the door to leave. But as she moved forward to step out, she almost instantly jerked back with a small yelp, because right there in the hallway, facing her with one hand raised as if about to knock, stood Amy.

‘Oh my God ! What are you doing here?’ Kate cried.

Amy threw both woolly mittened hands up in the air and made jazz hands with a wide, dazzling grin. ‘ Surprise ! We didn’t get a chance to exchange Christmas gifts this year, what with you not coming home, so I thought I’d bring yours to you.’ She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and rolled it inside before pulling Kate into a one-armed hug. ‘It’s me,’ she added as she squeezed. ‘I’m the gift.’

Kate laughed with joy as Amy let her go and carried on into the room. This was one surprise she could actually get on board with. ‘Well, that’s the best gift you could have ever got me.’

‘I know, right?’ Amy joked, looking around. ‘Nice digs.’ She took off the pale pink mittens and matching earmuffs. ‘I still need to book myself a room, but I just had to come up and see you first. It’s been such a long crazy journey.’

‘Yes, I know. You must be exhausted,’ Kate replied. ‘But don’t bother booking a room – just bunk in with me, like we used to.’

‘Yeah?’ Amy smiled and ran her fingers through her blonde wavy hair. ‘I was rather hoping you’d say that. So much more fun that way.’ Her smile softened a little. ‘Plus, I didn’t want to leave you alone, tonight of all nights.’

Kate smiled back sadly. Today was supposed to have been her wedding day. ‘How’s he holding up – do you know?’

‘He’s coping,’ Amy replied. ‘Rick’s with him. They went up to Scotland. They’re doing something tonight with big burning torch things. I don’t know.’ She shrugged. ‘ Man make fire .’

Kate smiled. ‘That sounds fun. And good, as long as he’s OK.’

Amy nodded. ‘He will be. You both will.’

Kate nodded. ‘I know.’

But while she knew she’d made the right decision for them both, she still worried about him and felt guilty for the pain she knew she’d caused.

She glanced at the door and back to Amy. ‘Listen, um, I hate to do this when you’ve just arrived, but I was about to pop out for a bit. I just need to shoot to Cora’s house to check some things out, and I don’t want to leave it too long in case Sam comes back. Why don’t you grab some rest now for a bit and then we’ll go out somewhere for dinner when I get back?’ she suggested.

‘No chance!’ Amy exclaimed, immediately pulling the mittens back on. ‘I’m coming with you!’

An hour later, Kate sat back on the floor of her old bedroom, poring over the box of diaries Cora kept, searching for any useful snippets of information about Aubrey, Evelyn and Edward. She’d found a couple about Aubrey and one on Edward, but nothing too damning so far.

‘Is this the bat you terrified Sam with that first night?’ Amy asked, sticking her head back around the doorway and brandishing it.

‘That’s the one,’ Kate replied, amused. Amy had been roaming the house, shamelessly poking around, since they’d got here.

‘Ooh, I wish I could give him a whack or two with it. I bet it really hurts,’ she said, eying it up.

‘Yeah.’

Kate’s eyes flickered up to the spot on the bed where she’d laid the box with the necklace inside. It had disappeared, so Sam must have been back and taken it at some point. It made her feel strangely empty that it was now gone. Even though it had clearly never meant anything to begin with, just a meaningless prop in his and Aubrey’s big plan, whatever that plan was. The thought of them together and how much they must have laughed at her turned her stomach, and she looked back to the diary in her hand.

‘You find anything useful yet?’ Amy asked, walking into the room and wandering over to look at the photo of Cora.

‘Yes, a few things. Nothing massive though.’ She kept reading, her eyes skimming the pages swiftly for any sign of their names. Turning the page, she carried on, almost flicking to the next when something interesting suddenly caught her eye. She went back and read it slowly, excitement dawning in her eyes. ‘Hang on…’

‘Hmm?’ Amy turned to her. ‘What is it?’

‘It’s…’

Kate trailed off, and they both froze as they heard the front door open and then close below. Footsteps trudged through to the kitchen, and Kate and Amy locked eyes. Amy’s gaze slipped down to the bat in her hands, and with a fierce glint in her eye, she retightened her grip and set off out of the room.

‘ Amy !’ Kate hissed, quickly standing up. ‘Amy, where are you going?’

She went out to the hallway just in time to see Amy rounding the bottom of the stairs, then with a deep, screeching warrior cry, Amy ran towards the kitchen with the bat held high.

‘Oh shit …’ Kate ran down the stairs after her, alarmed, turning the corner just in time to catch the shock and fear on Sam’s face as he registered the second, crazy, British, bat-wielding banshee coming to attack him unexpectedly in his home this winter.

‘ What the hell !’ he yelled, jumping out of the way of the swooping bat as Amy attacked. She raised the bat again, and he hastily set off at a run around the kitchen island. ‘ Jesus Christ , what is going on ? And who the hell are you ? Ow! Ouch ! Ow !’

‘Take that , and that , and that !’ Amy roared, hitting him whenever she caught up with him.

‘ How did you even get in ? Oh. Thank God. Kate, can you help me a little here, please ?’ Sam begged, spotting her.

Watching him get a little taste of his comeuppance though, Kate wasn’t sure she wanted to help him, after all. ‘Mm.’ Kate rocked her head from side to side, pretending to consider it. ‘ Nope .’

‘Kate? Kate !’

Amy managed to corner him and began jabbing away with the end of the bat. ‘How do you like that then, tough guy, huh? And this !’

‘I don’t!’ he yelled between ouches.

After a few more decent hits, Kate pulled Amy gently back. ‘OK, I think that’s enough.’

‘Yeah?’ Amy checked, breathing heavily from the exertion. ‘You sure? I can do more.’

‘I think we’re good. Thank you though,’ Kate smiled at Amy, and Amy smiled back.

‘No problem.’ As Amy’s gaze turned back to Sam, her smile dropped to an evil glare, and she pointed two fingers towards her own eyes and then his as she walked away.

Sam watched her with a deep wariness as he straightened up. ‘What the hell is going on, Kate? What is this? And why are you here ? Why aren’t you getting married ?’

Kate ignored the last part and lifted her icy gaze to his. ‘What’s going on is I know exactly what you’ve been up to, Sam. About your partnership with Aubrey to manipulate me into doing what you want with the paperwork for the company.’

‘ What ?’ Sam frowned.

‘Don’t play dumb, please,’ Kate snapped. ‘I saw you. I heard you talking. The game is up.’

‘What game ? There is no ga— Oh …’ Something occurred to him, and he froze for a moment as it finally clicked.

Kate looked at him coldly. ‘We’re all on the same page now, yes? Good.’

‘It’s not what it looks like,’ he said, following her as she walked through to the kitchen.

‘No?’ Kate asked, not bothering to turn round. ‘It wasn’t that you’re working together to manipulate me into doing what you want with the business.’

‘ No , it’s really not,’ he replied, standing at the kitchen island.

‘Oh, OK. Great. So it wasn’t you absolutely playing me into having feelings for you, while you and Aubrey laughed behind my back, either, right?’

‘ No , of course not!’ Sam exclaimed, his face crestfallen.

‘Oh, please,’ she scoffed. ‘Save me the dramatics. I know you played me, and you might not be able to tell me why, but I’m certainly not going to fall for it again.’

‘Kate, I’m serious.’ He moved towards her but swiftly moved back again with his arms in the air as Amy shot a warning swing. ‘Please, just hear me out.’

‘ Why, Sam?’ Kate demanded. ‘You lied to me and treated me like a fool.’ Tears prickled at her eyes. ‘You made me believe there was something between us, and all along it was just cruel lies. I really should have known better the first time, but I sure as hell won’t be making the same mistake twice.’

‘That’s what you think ?’ Sam demanded, anger clouding his handsome face as he took a step towards her. ‘That all of it was just a lie?’

Kate held his gaze, ignoring the hurt she could see there. He was good at faking it. ‘Yes,’ she said strongly. ‘That’s exactly what I think.’

Sam took another step forward, growing closer to her now, frowning down at her with a look of betrayal. ‘You think all of that was nothing? All our talks and the things we shared. That moment on the slope when we crashed, Christmas Eve – that was all fake to you?’

Kate’s lip wobbled as he brought the pain all flooding back to the surface, and she turned away to the hallway. ‘I can’t do this.’

‘Well, you’re going to have to,’ Sam thundered, following her out and grasping her arm. He tugged her back round and glared down at her. ‘Because if you want to walk away now, that’s fine. I’ll respect your choice. But I sure as hell won’t have you deciding it was because of me. That it was because I wasn’t genuine.’ His bright blue eyes held hers with a deep fire burning within. ‘I don’t feel things for other people easily, Kate. Not romantically, at least. It’s a hard thing to let someone in, after the childhood I had. And I didn’t want to let you in, but you bulldozed in there anyway, with all the ease of a damn hurricane, messing up my life and tossing my world around so I don’t even know which way is up anymore. And then you left . To marry some guy who doesn’t deserve or understand you one bit. And I still held my tongue because that was your choice.’ He pulled a deep breath in and pointed a finger at her. ‘But don’t you dare try to tell me those moments between us weren’t real. Because they were. Or at least they were for me .’

Tears streamed unbidden down Kate’s face now. ‘Then explain what that was with Aubrey.’

Sam pulled back, instantly closing up. ‘I can’t .’

‘ Tell me !’ Kate screeched, losing control of her patience with all this entirely.

‘ Fine !’ Sam yelled back. ‘You really want to know what I was hiding? I was hiding the will, Kate.’ His voice deflated as she gasped and stepped backwards. ‘I was hiding the damn will. The one you were looking for. I’ve known where it was all along.’