Page 28 of Love By Sunset

Emily laughed. ‘Come on, Lucy. I was brought up in a village myself. It must be all over Solhaven I’m Jake Bradstock’s latest holiday fling.’

‘Candy floss.’

‘What?’

Lucy blushed. ‘His mother refers to his holiday flings as candy flosses. Mind you, I’ve heard she’s met you and quite likes you?’

‘Well, we’re going there for dinner on Sunday.’

Lucy stopped dead and stared open-mouthed and open-eyed at Emily.

‘What?’ Emily smiled slightly, shrugging and spreading her hands.

‘He’sneverdone that before. Ever. Taken one of his holiday conquests home. Come to that, I gather you’ve as good as moved in with him. He’s never done that, either.’ Now Lucy was looking frankly curious.

Emily shivered. All these firsts. Jake had said something along those lines right back at the beginning, and this morning, he’d got angry when she’d jokingly referred to herself as his holiday fling. Could it be… was it possible… he’d like her to stay around? What Lucy was saying only reinforced this.

The courtyard was sleepy in the late September sun, with warmth bouncing back from the surrounding walls of the house and outbuildings. Emily thought yet again how these buildings could be utilised. Some for storage and freezer rooms, but some would make lovely holiday cottages, or a couple of them could be live-in staff quarters, if she ever realised her dream.

‘Okay,’ she said, slowly turning full circle. ‘We started here. I looked in the outhouses…’ she recalled the cobwebbed windows and shadowy corners, with the slight smell of hay and dust. ‘And I went in here…’

She strode over to the old coach house and tugged on the door. It was heavier than she remembered as she dragged it open, allowing a shaft of light to enter the gloomy building. ‘I commented to you there were two cars in here, and you said they were Henry Whitchurch’s and he’d used one to drive into Solhaven, but that was as far as he went.’

Lucy stepped into the cavernous building. ‘Yes. Poor old Henry. He’d obviously intended to go somewhere that morning. I think I mentioned he had his heart attack here. The car door was open, and he was on the floor. So sad.’

Emily stared at Lucy, her eyes blank, a thoughtful look on her face. ‘I wonder…’ she murmured. ‘Is it okay if I look in the car? Which one did he use?’

‘The blue one in front of you. The other was his wife’s. Hate to think what state it’ll be in. It’s not been touched for years.’

Heart beating fast, Emily stepped forward and opened the driver’s door. There was nothing to be seen. Leaning in, she checked the door pocket before running her hand down the side of the driver’s seat and then underneath. Retreating, she opened the rear door and looked on the back seat and under the driver’s seat again. Standing once more outside the car, she tapped her lower lip before sliding into the passenger seat and repeating her search. Nothing. Disappointment flooded through her until one final thought made her pause. She kept documents in the glove compartment and rarely opened it, but maybe Henry Whitchurch had used it regularly? Hand trembling, she leaned over and flipped the catch.

She could see the white of an envelope.

CHAPTER14

Half an hour later,Emily sat in Robbie Jones’s office and told him where she’d found the envelope.

‘Well, well, well’ He smiled and tapped it on his desk, clearly excited. Using a paper knife to slit the envelope, Robbie pulled out two sheets of official-looking paper. Scanning them quickly, he looked up, his eyes shining. ‘Yes!’

‘Jake?’ Emily could hardly breathe. ‘And why didn’t the witnesses come forward?’

Robbie held up a hand. ‘Hang on.’ He read a little further, flipped a page over, and a slight frown crossed his face as he looked up. ‘The witnesses were from Durham. Obviously, I’ll get in touch and find out who they are. Now, the will. Emily, I can’t tell you what’s in it until I’ve spoken to the beneficiaries.’

Emily’s mouth turned down as disappointment clouded her eyes, but she nodded. ‘I suppose.’

‘But because you’re the one who’s looked and looked for this dratted document, and finally found it, I’ll say one thing. And I’m trusting you a hell of a lot in saying it. I’m going to need to see Jake Bradstock as soon as possible.’

Emily stood up and held out her hand. ‘I’ve kept enough business secrets over the years, Mr Jones, and I can keep this one until you’ve seen Jake. Thanks. I won’t let you down. And thank Lucy, will you? If she hadn’t come back and gone through it all with me, I might never have thought of the car.’

She left on almost dancing feet, and half an hour later, she was pulling up outside the café. She hadn’t seen Jenny for a few days and assumed she was having some time off. There were a few cars in the carpark and a scattering of people on the beach, one family flying a kite. She glanced at her watch and saw it was nearly time for Jake to close. Good. she could maybe help him with the cleaning.

As had become her habit, Emily went round to the rear of the café and into the kitchen. There was no sign of Jake, so she crossed to the door leading into the café and had it partly open when she froze. What was the matter? That was Jake, and he sounded furious, which was very unlike him.

‘What thefuckare you doing here? How dare you come back!’

She peered in and saw Gerry Hansard standing opposite.

Gerry?

---