Page 31 of The Key to the Last House Before the Sea

‘Not yet,’ said Nessa, her face deadly serious. ‘But I’m about to move in.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t live there. The place is falling down.’

‘It’s not. The roof is on, there’s glass in most of the windows, and the place is watertight, more or less. I think squatters lived there a while back and did some repairs.’

What self-respecting squatters would make home improvements? Sorrel Cove would be the death of him. Gabriel sat back in his seat, feeling more hot and bothered than at any other time during his stay in Devon.

‘You can’t live there,’ he told her. ‘The place has been empty for ages.’

‘I’m going to do it up.’

‘While you’re living there? That’s crazy.’

Nessa’s determined expression faltered but she shot back, ‘Maybe, but sometimes you have to do something crazy to change your life for the better.’

This was getting them nowhere. Gabriel changed tack. ‘How can you think of moving in with a small child in tow? You’d have to live there day and night for thirty days. That’s no place for your daughter.’

He’d struck a nerve. He knew it when Nessa bristled and pushed her face towards his.

‘I think I know better than you what’s best for my daughter,’ she said, her words clipped. ‘And what she needs is somewhere long term that she can call home. I’m sure I can make the cottage habitable enough for her in a month, and in the meantime she can stay with her grandmother. It’s all arranged.’

‘And what happens after the thirty days?’

‘The cottage will be ours, I can finish doing it up and we can live there, happily ever after.’

Happily ever after? The deluded woman was living in some kind of fairy tale.

Gabriel folded his arms and gave her his best icy stare.

‘So what you’re saying is you’ll be a sitting tenant on the land, which means our plans will be severely affected?’

‘That’s right.’

She sat back and held his gaze, only the tightness of her jaw betraying her strong emotions.

Gabriel breathed out slowly, torn between anger at this woman’s attempts to thwart his plans and grudging admiration that she wasn’t rolling over and letting the diggers move in. Most people did.

‘You can build your posh apartments somewhere else,’ added Nessa, her lips pursed. ‘That’s the only solution.’

When she continued eyeballing him across the table, Gabriel’s admiration for her began to fade. This woman was attempting to scupper his plans. And if the lease held up, she might just manage it.

But the cottage had to go. The footprint of the new apartments included where it currently stood. And redrawing the project to avoid demolishing the cottage wasn’t the answer – people paying a fortune for luxury homes wouldn’t want a tumbledown house left on the site.

If the project didn’t go ahead, he’d never live it down with his father. Or with his cousin, James, who, Gabriel knew in his heart of hearts, was far more suited to corporate life than he was.

‘I need a copy of this lease,’ he said coldly.

Nessa reached over and pulled it from his hands. ‘Of course. I’ll get you one, but right now I have to go.’

She stood up, pushing her chair back so hard, it wobbled and almost fell into the table behind her. Then, she shoved the lease into her bag and, with a curt nod, hurried off.

He watched her go, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He’d badly misjudged single mum Nessa. She looked vulnerable and unthreatening, but she was proving to be a real thorn in his side. And his father would be furious at any delay.

Gabriel picked up a teaspoon, pushed it into the pot of thick cream and shoved the sickly sweet spoonful into his mouth. He was going to need lots of energy for the phone call he was about to make.

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