Page 54 of One Snowy Day
Alyssa had known Cathy since the café opened, and she’d come in every Monday with Jessie on her day off from the salon. She was the loveliest lady, but she sure didn’t have these cut-glass vowels and the assertive presence of her daughter.
‘Yes, I’ll just get it and thank you – I can’t tell you how grateful I’d be. I’ve been totally blindsided by this to be perfectly honest, and I don’t have a clue what to do.’
Alyssa had said all that while going to the drawer and pulling out the letter and the lease yet again. Even looking at it had made her stomach churn, but at least this time there was a flicker of hope that this lady could help. She’d handed it over and then held her breath.
Helena’s first reaction had been to the company name at the top of the letter.
‘Huntington Farrell. They’re a good company. Expensive.’ She’d then lowered her gaze to the bottom of the letter. ‘Jeremy Sprite. Okay, I know him too. Bit of an arrogant git, and a reputationfor being a rottweiler for his clients. Not the best start,’ she’d observed, before her gaze went back to the top of the page and she’d fallen silent as she read the contents.
Alyssa had felt her hands shake as she’d shot a silent but grateful glance at Kayleigh, who’d responded by holding up crossed fingers.
After a few seconds, Helena had paused, lifted her head again. ‘Your landlord was Martyn Morden.’ It wasn’t phrased as a question – more of a notable observation.
‘Yes, do you know him too? Sorry,didyou know him. I believe he died a couple of months ago. Which was sad. Obviously. For his family. And his friends. And… people.’
Aaagh, she wasn’t sure if she was more intimidated by Helena’s steely gaze and authoritative manner, or terrified about what Helena was going to tell her, but her brain had turned to mush and she’d lost the power of articulation.
‘Yes, I knew him. Met him many times over the years. A good businessman – a property developer, and a bit of a pillar of the community. Although he raised a few eyebrows among the stuffed shirts when his wife died, and he married a thirty-year-old and went off to live out his twilight years in Monaco.’
Alyssa had thought back to Lachlan Morden’s visit earlier in the day.
‘Do you know his son?’
‘Not personally. Bit of a twat, by all accounts.’ Her lips had pursed as if she were trying to recall something, before saying, ‘Jason Morden, that’s it. He’s a property developer too, but a separate entity from his father.’
By this time, tension had raised Alyssa’s shoulders to the level of her ears.
‘Oh. No, that’s not the one I met today. The one who was here was called Lachlan.’
Helena had an immediate response to that. ‘Wait, he came here? Was it some kind of intimidation tactic? Some of these alpha male fuckers think they can railroad anyone into doing what they want.’
‘No, no! Actually, he’d come because… I’m not even sure. Something to do with his mum working here when she was younger. He didn’t even say who he was until my daft sister tried to…’ She hadn’t been able to say it. How pathetic would Helena think she was if she told her about Ginny’s plans for a romcom moment? Instead, she’d finished with, ‘…to engage him in conversation and pried it out of him.’
Helena was clearly not impressed by this development at all. ‘And what happened?’
Cue Alyssa’s second opportunity to sound pathetic. ‘I basically begged him to help me keep the café and he said there was nothing he could do. He wouldn’t even try.’
‘Mmm.’ That was all Helena had said, before resuming her study of the documents. When she’d read the letter, she’d gone on to the lease. After what felt like a week and a half, but was probably only a couple of minutes, she’d raised her head again. ‘Alyssa, I’d love to give you good news, but as far as I can see, this all seems to be in order. The difficulty is that you signed this lease – in effect a contract – and one of the clear terms was that in the event of the death of either party, there would be a sixty-day termination period.’
‘I didn’t even register that when I signed it.’
Helena had nodded thoughtfully. ‘That’s understandable. It’s more usual that the owner of a commercial property would be a limited company, but for some reason this building was owned personally by Mr Morden. Probably why his lawyer inserted this clause. As I said, I don’t know enough about property law to advise you. What I would say is that you need a good lawyer…’
The air had seeped out of Alyssa’s body. ‘I can’t afford a lawyer. Not one that could challenge something like this.’
Helena must have taken pity on her. ‘I understand. Look, send me copies of all this tomorrow and I’ll ask a colleague that specialises in this field to take a look at it as a favour. No promises, but I’ll see what I can do. My mother would be horrified if I didn’t try to help – she says your prawn toasties are the best things she’s ever tasted.’
‘Thank you. Thank you so, so much.’ Alyssa could have cried. She almost did, but Helena’s generosity had been dampened by her next statement.
‘You’re welcome. But, Alyssa, I do want to manage your expectations, so I have to say that I’m not optimistic that there’s a way out of this. In a fair world, there would be, but…’
She hadn’t had to finish the sentence. Instead, she’d handed the documents back to Alyssa and given her a sympathetic smile. If Alyssa were ever to be convicted of a crime, she’d already decided that this woman would be her first call.
When they’d left, she’d finished the candle placement, then slumped down on the chair, grateful for a quick minute of solitude, replaying the conversation in one of the few moments of peace she’d had all day.
Maybe it would be pointless after all. Perhaps it was time to accept that this was her new reality and come up with an alternative plan. If the catering company idea didn’t work, maybe she should just sell everything off, take a year out, go travelling. She’d grafted solidly since she was a teenager and hadn’t done the gap year thing, or the university summer holiday trips. She’d been too focused on saving up to open her own place, and then too busy running it to take a holiday.
And yet… the thought of sunny beaches and carefree days didn’t even come close to the happiness that she had here, day in and day out.
