Page 62 of Do Opposites Attract?

‘What did your Dad do when he found out?’

‘He knew Catherine must have been conned. After all, why else would an elderly woman leave money to an eighteen-year-old the rest of the family had never heard of? So he told the solicitor to stall on the changes and to send a letter to Mitch saying he wasn’t to contact Catherine again or they would call the police. It seems he’d already tricked her out of some money. They didn’t want her duped into giving anything more. Especially her home. That’s something that should go to family, not some chancer who came in off the streets.’

Brianna bit back all the ripe responses that immediately came to her mind. ‘It sounds like your aunt had a lucky escape,’ she murmured instead.

‘And so did you from the sound of things.’

‘Yes, it would appear so. What did Catherine think about all this?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve never spoken to her about any of it.’

‘Simon, do you think Catherine would mind if I contacted her? I don’t want to upset her, but it might help both of us to talk about how we were taken in by this man.’

Beside her, Melanie stifled a gasp and gaped at her.

‘I’m sure my aunt wouldn’t mind,’ Simon replied, oblivious to Melanie’s muffled sounds of horror. ‘She’s a bit old now, but you’d never know to talk to her. She’s bright as a button. She’d probably enjoy the company.’

A minute later, Brianna was clutching Catherine’s phone number in her hand. The key to Mitch’s past.

‘Well, that was ridiculously easy.’ Melanie glanced down at the scribbled number. ‘But now you’ve got it, what the flipping heck are you going to do with it?’

‘I don’t know,’ Brianna admitted shakily. ‘God I need a drink.’ As she poured herself a glass of wine her hands trembled.

‘If you phone Catherine now, you really are meddling in stuff that’s not yours to meddle in,’ Melanie warned.

‘I know.’

‘And if Mitch ever finds out, he won’t just be angry, he’ll be apoplectic. From what I’ve seen, and what you’ve told me, the man guards his privacy as if it were the crown jewels. Invading it like this would be, well, tantamount to betrayal I guess.’

‘I know that, too.’ She took another large gulp of wine. ‘But what if there’s been some sort of misunderstanding? What if my interfering can help Mitch in some way? He did once mention a kind lady who’d taken him in and helped him go to university. If this is that lady, he might want to speak to her again.’

‘So why hasn’t he? He’s hardly the shy retiring type.’

‘Maybe they lost contact.’ She stood and snatched up the phone. ‘Bugger it. I’ve got this far, I might as well follow throughwith it now.’ Ignoring Melanie’s grimace, Brianna took another swig of wine, for Dutch courage, and dialled Catherine’s number.

‘Hello?’

‘Good evening, is that Catherine?’ Before the lady had a chance to reply, Brianna continued in a rush. ‘You don’t know me. I’m Brianna Worthington, and I’m a friend of Mitch McBride.’

There was silence on the end of the phone. It went on for so long Melanie mouthed at her to check Catherine was still there.

‘Yes, dear, I’m still here,’ the old lady confirmed. ‘Hearing Mitch’s name, it’s such a shock. I haven’t heard it for so many years.’

Brianna’s heart was pounding so much she could hear it. She hoped to God Catherine couldn’t hear it, too. ‘I wondered if you could spare me a few minutes to talk about him?’

‘Well, of course. Is he all right? He’s not in any trouble?’ The concern in her voice was clear, and Brianna felt a rush of relief. Whatever had happened, Catherine clearly didn’t still hate Mitch for it.

‘He’s fine, really. It’s quite a long story though. Would you mind if I came over, perhaps tomorrow evening, to talk to you in person?’

Next to her Melanie let out a strangled noise and mimed slitting her throat. Brianna ignored her and concentrated on Catherine’s reply and the warmth of her voice.

‘I wouldn’t mind at all, dear. In fact, I’d love to talk to you about Mitch. I always wondered what happened to him. He used to write so regularly, and then, out of the blue, his letters stopped coming, and I never heard from him again.’

Brianna’s still pounding heart skipped a beat. ‘Catherine, are you sure you didn’t ask your family to write to Mitch, instructing him you didn’t want him to contact you anymore?’

‘Why ever would I have done that? He was like a son to me. No, dear, I may be in my dotage, but I know for a fact I would never have wanted Mitch to stop seeing me. I assumed he got bored of writing to an old woman. That he’d found himself a new life and didn’t need a constant reminder of his old one.’

‘Catherine, I think there’s a lot we need to talk about,’ Brianna replied softly. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

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