Page 220 of The Moon Sister
‘No, Zara, I don’t hate him. Dad was who he was, just like Fraser. But to be honest, I’m not sure I ever loved him, or him me. You don’t get to choose your relatives after all.’ Charlie cast a sad glance in my direction.
‘What about Beryl and what she did?’
‘I think shedidlove my dad. And the fact she was here to take care of him as he got older made my life a lot easier. More than anyone, she was, and still is, heartbroken at his loss. She’s all alone now.’
‘Well, the good news is, that you’renot, ’cos I’m here, Dad, and I love you loads,’ Zara said fiercely. ‘I’ll look after you, promise.’
I wanted to hug Zara for being so mature – in so many ways,shewas the real victim of this situation.
‘Thanks, darling.’ Charlie kissed his daughter’s shiny head, obviously moved. ‘But I’m afraid that there’s even worse.’
‘Worse than what you’ve just told me?’ Zara rolled her eyes. ‘Jesus! Bring it on then, Dad, while you’re on a roll.’
‘So,’ Charlie continued, a quiver in his voice, ‘at first I couldn’t work out why Fraser had suddenly come back here at Christmas, but of course he was actually here to see if he’d been left anything in the will.’
‘And had he?’ Zara asked.
‘Well, Dad didn’t get round to making one, so on paper, there was nothing. Although I found out recently from the family solicitor that years ago Dad had signed over the deeds to the cottage Fraser is living in now. It was probably organised to assuage Dad’s guilty conscience, because he would never be able to legally acknowledge Fraser. Everyone assumed that the estate would automatically pass to me as his heir. Or at least . . .’ Charlie took a deep breath. ‘Theydid.’
‘What do you mean?’ Zara frowned.
God, no. . . I thought. Given what Charlie had told me in Spain, I reckoned I had an idea of what was coming.
‘The problem is, Zara, I mentioned earlier that Fraser is my father’s eldest son, and given my dad didn’t make a will leaving the estate to me, by rights he has a legal claim on Kinnaird.’
Zara swore heavily under her breath as I grabbed a lungful of my own.
‘So what will happen now?’ Zara’s elfin features showed her horror.
‘Well, remember he came up here to the Lodge to see me just before New Year?’
‘Yeah, I heard all that shouting and then you said we were going home to Inverness and I was really piss— fed up,’ Zara recalled. ‘I came to the cottage and complained to you, Tiggy.’
‘That’s right, yes,’ Charlie confirmed. ‘Fraser told me that day he’d taken legal advice, and that he intended to go to court to claim what he felt was his rightful share of the estate.’
‘No!’ Zara stood up and began to pace the room. ‘You just can’t let this happen, Dad. You can’t! Fraser hasn’t even beenherefor the last God knows how many years!’
‘Like father like son . . .’ Charlie sighed. ‘In so many ways, he’s the natural heir. I—’
‘Stop it, Dad! You can’t just roll over and let this happen! Kinnaird’s yours –ours! And just because he shares some DNA with you doesn’t mean anything.’
‘In a court of law, I’m afraid it does, Zara. In fact, I’ve just had a letter from Fraser’s counsel asking me to provide a sample of saliva and a hair follicle, but there’s little doubt from what Beryl told me, that Fraser will be confirmed as my half-brother.’
‘But Fraser’s a bastard! Like, in every way,’ Zara raged, standing up and pacing the room. ‘You’re the true heir, ’cos Grandpa and Granny were married!’
‘You’re right that several decades back, an illegitimate heir wouldn’t even have been countenanced, but in today’s world, that’s not how it works. I promise you, I’ve taken the best legal advice there is, been down every avenue I can think of, but facts are facts. Fraser is my elder brother, the son of my father, the Laird, and – illegitimate or not – stands to inherit at least half the estate. If that happened, Kinnaird would probably have to be sold so the assets could be split, because, sadly, sharing Kinnaird with Fraser is not an option. I’d just have to walk away. I’m so sorry, Zara. I know what Kinnaird means to you, but at the moment, I can’t see a way out.’
‘Does Mum know?’ Zara said eventually.
‘Yes, she was there the day he told me.’
‘Oh my God!’ Zara shouted. ‘What really gets me is that Mum is obviously onhisside! I mean’ – she was off pacing again – ‘she knows what Kinnaird means to me! Like, she’s getting off with a man who could end up cutting her own daughter out of her inheritance!’
‘To be fair to your mum, she did say that Fraser had agreed that if they had no children, he was prepared to name you in his will as the heir.’
‘Oh myGod, Dad!’ Zara said again. ‘How can you be so calm?’
I watched as Zara exploded once more at the unfairness of it all. Even though my own blood was boiling at the injustice, I kept silent. This was not a moment to add my own thoughts to the proceedings.
