Page 81 of The Key to the Last House Before the Sea

‘Mmm.’ Billy walked slowly round the room and stopped to stare at the painting that Gabriel had done. Nessa had propped it up on the windowsill. The bright colours and thick brushstrokes cheered up the room. ‘Are you an artist, Nessa?’

‘No, not me. That picture was painted by your son, actually. It’s great, don’t you think? He’s got a real eye for landscapes.’

Billy bent and peered at the canvas more closely. ‘It’s very…’He took a deep breath and, without finishing his sentence, stood up straight and looked out at the sea.

Nessa wished that Gabriel would arrive. His father was being polite – charming, even – but he made her uncomfortable. Waves of energy were bristling from him and shifting the atmosphere in the cottage.

He turned from the window. ‘The view is magnificent here, with the sea ahead of you and the headland behind. This is the perfect setting for the development I have in mind, once this cottage has been demolished.’

‘But your text said—’

‘It doesn’t matter what my text said. I wanted to make sure you turned up this morning.’

Nessa’s stomach lurched. He hadn’t accepted her moving in here at all. ‘I’m sure there are lots of other places along the coast where you could build,’ she said, trying to keep her voice level. ‘Places without such a special history.’

‘I’m sure there are but I’ve set my mind on this one.’

‘Then I’m very sorry to disappoint you but my family has long-standing permission to live here.’

‘Oh, I’m not disappointed, Ms Paulson.’ When Billy stepped forward, Nessa fought an urge to back away from him. ‘I’m afraid you’re the one who will be disappointed because your lease on this cottage isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.’

‘But I stayed here for a whole month as the lease stipulated.’

‘A whole month? Are you sure?’

When Billy gave a cold smile, Nessa felt sick. He knew.

‘The lease was very specific and included a rather peculiar clause,’ he continued. ‘Though, believe me, I’ve seen more peculiar in my many years in the property business. There was one that—’ He paused. ‘But I’m getting off the subject. The lease in question specified that you were obliged to spend thirty nights here. Thirty unbroken nights.’

‘Which I did,’ blustered Nessa.

Billy wrinkled his nose and made a ‘tsk’ noise through his teeth. ‘Not really. I understand that you were absent from this cottage on the night ofJuly the twelfth.’

Nessa felt her stomach sink into her sandals. The only way Billy could possibly know that she’d been away that night was if his son had told him.

‘Not the whole night,’ she said, her throat tight. ‘My daughter was staying with her grandmother and I had a call in the early hours to say she was very ill. I had to go to her.’

‘Of course. That’s what any good mother would do. But the lease doesn’t make an exception for family emergencies, I’m afraid.’ He winced at a streak of dust on his trouser leg and brushed it off. ‘Don’t take it to heart, Ms Paulson. It’s purely business. You contravened the lease criteria and therefore you have no right to this cottage, if indeed the lease would have stood up in court anyway.

‘Don’t get me wrong. I admire your pluck and resolve, I truly do. It’s the kind of determination and bloody-mindedness that got me to where I am today. But on this occasion it wasn’t enough and I’m afraid you’ve lost. I do hope you’re a good loser.’

He breathed out a puff of air. ‘You could challenge me in court, of course. But that would take money, which I doubt you have, and ultimately you would lose because the lease is in black and white and I have irrefutable evidence that you contravened a specific clause.’

Nessa felt completely blindsided. All of her efforts, and those of her friends, had been in vain. All of the hard work and the sacrifice and the hopes and dreams. They’d all come to nothing. And Billy was right. She didn’t have the financial clout to challenge him and, even if she did, she would lose. She had lost.

I’m sorry, Gran. She bit her lip to ward off the tears that were threatening to fall. She wouldn’t cry in front of this man. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

No wonder Gabriel was untrustworthy after growing up with this cold, ruthless soul. No wonder he was still trying to earn some respect after all these years. No wonder he’d betrayed her to win a business deal.

‘Who told you?’ she asked quietly as the wind picked up outside and the open front door began to bang against its frame. ‘Was it Gabriel?’

She still had a vestige of hope that Gabriel hadn’t lied to her about keeping quiet.

But Billy fixed her with a hard stare. ‘Who else?’ He looked over her shoulder. ‘Speak of the devil.’

When Nessa turned, Gabriel was standing behind her. He was clean-shaven and in his suit. The Gabriel she’d first met at Driftwood House a month ago.

‘I thought we weren’t meeting for another fifteen minutes.’ He nodded at Nessa, his eyes meeting hers. ‘Hello.’

She looked away. He’d told his father, even though he knew why she’d had to leave the cottage in the dead of night.

Families stick together. Wasn’t that what people said? And Gabriel had chosen his father and his work over Nessa. Of course he had.

Nessa pushed past him without a word. She was bitterly disappointed that the cottage wasn’t hers, and beyond upset that it and the Ghost Village would be razed to the ground. But she was also heartbroken that the man she’d started falling for had let her down so badly. He must have been laughing at her and her stupid dreams. Dreams didn’t come true for people like her.

She marched up the path and climbed the slope towards Rosie’s car. And she didn’t turn once, not even when she heard Gabriel calling her name over and over from the cottage doorway.

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