Page 30 of A Second Chance in Seabury
‘Apart from a seaside property that’s legally half mine!’
Dream on, buddy.She could explain about the additional clauses in Millie’s will, of course… but where would be the fun in that?
‘You owe me,’ he hissed.
‘No,’ she laughed. ‘Ireallydon’t.’
‘If you sell that house, I’m coming after you with everything I’ve got.’
‘Empty threats, Gar,’ she laughed. ‘But feel free to waste everything you have on a lawyer.’
‘I mean it!’ His voice had dropped to a low growl.
Hannah flinched. That would be his nasty temper rising to the surface… but she didn’t have to deal with the fallout any more, did she?
‘Seriously,’ she said, wanting to end the conversation before things got heated. ‘Let me save you the trouble.’
‘I knew you’d come around,’ he said, sounding pleased.
Hannah rolled her eyes. This had always been his problem. Gareth had a great deal of trouble listening to anything other than the sound of his own voice.
‘Listening ears on, Gareth,’ she said as if she were talking to a toddler. ‘I don’t know what you’ve heard, or who you heard it from, but I amnotselling this house.’
‘But…’
‘Hush, I’m still talking,’ she said, cutting across him. ‘I’m not selling this house. Even if I was, you wouldn’t see a single penny. Oh, and if you keep bugging me,you’llbe the one hearing frommylawyer.’
‘But…’
‘Bye, Gareth. Have a nice life. Or… you know… whatever.’
She hung up.
‘I’m… not selling?’ she said out loud, testing the flavour of the words on her tongue. A little tingle ran down her spine.
Hannah shook her head.Ridiculous. She’d only said that to rile Gareth. Her whole life was in London. Friends… job… flat…
Even so, as Hannah headed back through to the kitchen to grab her mint tea, the words kept swirling around her, making her feel giddy with possibility.
CHAPTER 13
In the cold light of day, Hannah could see her statement about not selling the house for what it was - a way to irritate Gareth and nothing more. It was daft to think she could keep Aunty Millie’s house when her entire life was in London.
That’s why she’d just got off the phone with Grace, her contact at the estate agent’s over in Dunscombe Sands. Hannah had let her know that she was in town as planned, and she’d given her the landline number while she was at it, considering her mobile signal was so poor in the house. They’d made an appointment for the end of the following week. Grace had practically been vibrating with excitement by the end of the call. According to her, it would be a quick sale because properties in Seabury hardly ever became available.
The thought made Hannah feel slightly sick.
‘Don’t be daft,’ she muttered, perching on the edge of the study desk. It was probably just a rush of adrenaline from finally taking the first real step… something Hannah had forced herself to do. She had a feeling that if she left it any longer, there was a good chance she might not do it at all.
Things felt different this morning. Hannah didn’t know if it was because she’d had such a lovely time at the hotel last night, or because she’d finally stood up to Gareth. Whatever the reason, she’d woken up with a strange sense of freedom. She could do whatever she liked… and perhaps even muster the courage to chase her dreams again.
Hannah’s hand went to her acorn necklace, and she peered around the study, taking in the boxes of paperwork that desperately needed sorting through. Back when she’d thought this house might be their forever home, she’d dreamed of turning this room into her studio… somewhere she could work on her jewellery designs and slowly create an entire collection inspired by Seabury.
Swallowing down a massive dollop of regret, Hannah sighed. Well… she was going to have to let go of that specific dream once and for all. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t look into doing it somewhere else, did it?
Hannah shrugged. The idea didn’t feel right… but maybe that was just because she’d spent too much time that morning cleaning, clearing and scrubbing.
Before she’d called Grace, Hannah had felt like she needed to make a token start on the house. So she’d cleared all the rubbish off the kitchen surfaces, lining up several bulging bin bags by the back door. Then she’d filled her new washing-up bowl, pulled on a pair of marigolds, and spent several hours scrubbing the kitchen until it gleamed.
