Page 79 of Snow Going Back

Edward chuckled. ‘I’m afraid you’re too late for all that,’ he told them. ‘Oh, Miss Hunter, really… You have me down as that stupid? I took photos of every page, and the second I saw you blast back in here with Cora’s favourite little minion and that look on your face, I sent them all over to myself on email. They’re long gone, and there’s nothing you can do aboutthosenow, is there? And with your signature all over it, what better evidence of my viability as CEO here could there possibly be?’

Kate closed her eyes and felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach.

‘That doesn’t mean anything without the original though, right?’ Jenna asked urgently. ‘Kate? It doesn’t, does it? I mean, he can’t file with apicture.’

Kate reopened her eyes and glared at the devious old man, his smirk making her blood boil. ‘No, he can’t file. But that’s not the only way he could use it.’

She placed her hands on her hips and turned away with a sound of frustration. How could she have done this? How could she have made such a colossal mistake? She should have asked them about him. Jenna at least. She’d been too cautious after the incident with Aubrey, too careful. So caught up on keeping herself clean so the woman had nothing on her when things got messy that she didn’t dig deep enough for the case. And perhaps, she admitted to herself, she’d also let herself become too distracted by the situation with Sam to think it all through thoroughly enough before going ahead. Either way, this was all her fault. She had royally dropped the ball. She pinched the bridge of her nose, stressed.

‘What do you mean?’ Jenna asked. ‘How can he use it?’

‘What she means,Gemma,’ Edward replied, pointedly using the wrong name, ‘is that I can use it as evidence in court. And it just so happens that there is already a court case coming up about who should be given control here in just a few days, isn’t there, Miss Hunter?’ He grinned coldly at Kate. ‘That crazy sister of hers and the airhead great niece. I think I’ll fare pretty well in comparison now, wouldn’t you agree?’ He rounded the desk and walked towards the door, reaching up to mimic the action of tipping his hat to them as he passed.

‘No,’ Jenna said, her voice low with simmering anger. ‘No. You’re not getting your hands on this company. I’ve watched you try to destroy us for years. The people you sent to plant things in here that could have us shut down, the forest fires you started, the machines you messed with…’

‘All hearsay,’ Edward replied easily, not bothering to pause. ‘Nothing ever proved, was there, child?’

‘No, but only because your brother was better to you than you deserved,’ Jenna shot back. ‘Williamhadproof that could have put you away more than once, and he chose to let you go. Because he was a good man. He cared about people even when they didn’t deserve it, andthat’swhy he ended up being so much more successful than you – the thing you’re so bitter about. Because he earned people’s respect and their loyalty.’

‘Huh!’ Edward turned to face her and rested both hands on his cane. ‘The only reason my brother did so well was because he got a good deal on land before people realised the worth of this place, and he convinced a few gullible locals that he was the second coming, getting them to do his dirty work. He never deservedany of it. And he should have put me away when he had the chance. Because when I get my hands on this place – and I most certainlywillnow that Miss Hunter here has been so helpful – your beloved little wood shop will be stripped down piece by piece until there’s nothing left. And theland, all these miles and miles of forest surrounding that twee little toy town my brother built you all, will be sold off pocket by pocket to steel factories, mining companies and cheap motel chains. By the time I’m done with it all, you’ll barely see sunlight for all the industrial smog, and the only reason anyone will mention my brother and his wife’s name will be to curse them for coming here in the first place.’

Jenna’s bottom lip wobbled and her cheeks turned scarlet as furious tears began to fall down them. She opened her mouth to reply but couldn’t, and clapped a hand over it instead, turning her head away.

Edward continued walking away from them, and Kate cursed as he reached the door, furious with herself. ‘You’ll regret this, Edward, I assure you. And if you turn up to that courtroom, I will tear you to shreds in front of them all.’

Edward paused and looked back with a cold, hard glint in his eye. ‘I look forward to watching you try.’

FORTY-FIVE

Kate’s phone rang, interrupting the deep spiral of despair she’d been circling after the catastrophic mess she’d made at Coreaux Roots. She looked down at the screen. It was her mother again. Closing her eyes, Kate rubbed them tiredly. The news had gone down about as well as she’d known it would when she’d rung to tell her parents she’d ended things with Lance the day before. Eleanor’s hysterics had escalated to such a degree that, in the end, Kate hadn’t been able to make out any words at all – but not before she’d told Kate what a colossally stupid mistake she’d made. Not before demanding she find Lance and apologise for how awfully she’d treated him , and that she beg him to take her back. Not before she made the depth of her disappointment in Kate crystal clear. Kate had taken her mother’s heartbroken rant with quiet resignation, it being exactly as she’d expected.

Eventually her dad had wrestled the phone from his sobbing wife and had simply asked Kate if she was OK. That had been her undoing, and she’d promptly burst into tears. But she’d quickly got her emotions back under control and assured him she was fine, and after she’d fielded a few more questions of concern, he’d allowed her to retreat.

Eleanor had been calling her repeatedly to continue the conversation, but Kate hadn’t picked up, unable to deal with any more guilt or shame or general argument over Lance right now. With everything she had going on, Kate felt thoroughly depleted. All her emotional reserves were spent. She was tired, she was anxious, and she felt horribly and deeply alone. And she knew this was just a rocky part of her journey. It would get easier in time. But right now, she was finding it hard to figure out a way forward.

The call rang off, and Kate let out a breath of relief. A second later, a message pinged through and she glanced down, expecting it to be from her mother. This one, however, was from her dad.

Pick this next call up. Please. Trust me. Dad Xx

A few seconds later, the phone started ringing again, and she grimaced. With a deep sigh, she braced herself for the onslaught and answered the call.

‘Hi, Mum.’ She put the call on speaker and placed it on the desk, then leaned back in her chair and waited.

‘Finally,’ Eleanor exclaimed. ‘Katherine, I’ve been worriedsick.You need to stop ignoring my calls. I’m yourmother.’

‘I know, Mum. I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to worry you,’ Kate said tiredly.

There was a short silence, and when Eleanor spoke again, her voice was unexpectedly gentle. ‘You don’t need to be sorry.’ She sighed. ‘Ido.’

Kate blinked, and she squinted at the phone, sure she must have misheard. Eleanor’s apologies weren’tquitea thing of myth, but being as confident as she was that she was always right about absolutely everything, they were certainly a thing of great rarity.

‘You know how much I think of Lance,’ Eleanor continued. ‘He’s a wonderful man and one I’d have loved to see you happily married to. But there isno onein this world I’d ever want to see youunhappilymarried to. So I’m sorry for how I reacted when you told us.’ Eleanor’s voice grew smaller somehow, and Kate realised she felt ashamed.

‘It’s OK, Mum,’ she said.

‘No, Katherine, it’s not,’ Eleanor replied firmly. ‘All this time you’ve been with Lance, I’ve been so pleased you found someone who we liked so much that I stopped paying attention to howyoufelt about him. I didn’t notice how unhappy you were.’ She sounded so sad that Kate felt a lump begin to form in her throat. ‘I thought it was just wedding jitters. You’re trulyawfulwith surprises, and that proposal was a huge one. I thought you were just feeling off centre and that deep down you’dwantthat future, once you’d got past that.That’swhy I’ve been trying to keep you on track and why I tried to get you to go back and fix it. Not becauseIwanted you to marry Lance. I know it probably looked like that, but I was just terrified you’d done it for the wrong reasons and would look back with regret. The last thing any mother wants is her child to live a life of regret.’

‘I appreciate that, Mum. And I know you meant well,’ Kate replied, blinking away the mist in her eyes.

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