Starr Destined (Starr Series) (34 page)

“Do you want me to ring them for you?” he offered, as he quickly Googled the Kline Humphries Pond law firm on his laptop.  “They look legit, but I could ask Jonathan, my lawyer, to handle it for you if you prefer?”

“No, I’ll call them.  I don't have to give anything away, I can just get them to explain while I listen to what they have to say.”

“Do it now,” Liam suggested, as he indicated his phone.  “Put it on speaker phone, then I can listen in as well.”

So I did.

“Ah, Seraphina Jones!  At last.  We’ve been trying to track you down for a while,” Felix Pond exclaimed when I was put through to him.

“Look, I think there’s been some mistake.  I don't know any Harry William Jones.”

“Okay, well let’s establish a few facts first shall we?  If you wouldn’t mind, could you please confirm that your date of birth is 31 August 1991, and that your full name is Seraphina Róisín Jones?”

I muted the phone and looked at Liam.”

“Can’t see that’s a problem,” he shrugged.  “You’re not telling him anything he doesn’t already know.”

I un-muted the phone.

“Yes, those details are correct.”

“And your father was Alexander William Jones, and your mother was Angela Niamh Jones?”

“Yes, they were my parents, but…”

“Then I think you are almost certainly the Seraphina Jones we’ve been trying to track down,” he confirmed.  “Which means that the late Harry William Jones was your paternal grandfather.”

“But my dad’s parents died before I was born,” I pointed out.  “You can't have been trying to track me down for that long, so I still think there’s been some mistake.”

“Miss Jones, I suggest you come into our office, along with some ID, and then we can sit down and go through everything to clarify the full circumstances of your potential inheritance.  All I can say at this stage, is that it is to your advantage to come forward and make your claim on his estate, as you would be his only living relative, and therefore the sole beneficiary.”

“One moment please, Mr. Pond.”

I muted the phone again and looked over at Liam, who was perched on the edge of his desk with his arms folded, as he rubbed his chin in contemplation.

“You might as well go and check it out.  I’ll get my lawyer to look into it for you, once you’ve got all the facts to hand.” 

“Will you come with me?”

“Of course,” Liam smiled. 

Silly me.  Wild horses wouldn’t have stopped him coming with me to the solicitor’s office, would they?

***

“But I’ve always understood that both my grandparents on my father’s side had died before I was born.  There’s certainly never been any contact with them, so if they were alive when I was growing up, how come I knew nothing about them?”

Liam and I were sitting in the Primrose Hill offices of
Kline Humphries Pond, listening as Felix Pond explained why he’d been trying to trace me, but I was having a hard time taking in what he was telling me.

Felix looked
at me over the rim of his half-moon spectacles with his hazel eyes.  He had a long, thin face, and just a few wisps of hair that I could see dancing about as the sunlight shone through the window onto his bald pate.  He wore a kind smile, as he patiently went over all the facts, none of which made any sense to me.

“As I understand things, your father, Alexander, used to work for his father in the family business, Jones Construction Limited, which was a successful and profitable company.  But then father and son had a massive falling out, which culminated with Harry cutting all ties with his son, and Alexa
nder going off and setting up his own rival construction company.  From the enquiries I've made, it seems that Harry was a very stubborn and strong willed man, who refused to have anything further to do with his son after this, despite Cressida - his wife - begging him to reconsider their feud.  She was heartbroken and felt torn between her husband and her son, who was their only child.”

“How sad.  Do you have any idea what this disagreement was about?”

As I heard the next part of the story, I was really glad Liam was there holding my hand.

“I’m sorry to say that it appears your grandfather didn't approve of your father’s choice of wife,” Felix Pond said quietly, and then waited for the implications to sink in.

“You mean he didn't approve of mum?  He cut my father off because he married my mother?”  I asked incredulously.

“Yes, I'm afraid that seems to have been the case, Miss Jones,” Felix confirmed.

I sat there open mouthed with shock, as I started to picture things.  I knew my parents had both been very young when they’d met, and that they’d been crazy about each other from the moment they met.  I also knew I’d been an unplanned baby, and that they’d really struggled to make ends meet when I came along.  I’d only been a baby when Dad died, but I remembered how Mum had explained things when I was old enough to start asking questions.  She’d told me how my dad had been working very long hours on a difficult job that no one else had been prepared to take on, which had ended up with him being killed in a horrific accident when some shoddy scaffolding had collapsed under him. 

That had left Mum virtually penniless to bring me up on her own.  Now I couldn’t remember if she’d ever actually said that Dad’s parents were dead, or whether she’d just said something along the lines of them being dead to us.  Had I just assumed they’d passed away? 

“Just to make sure I’ve got this right, exactly when did my dad get cut off by his father?”

“From what I’ve managed to ascertain going back through all the associated paperwork, this all o
ccurred in the first half of 1991.”

“The year I was born,” I murmured, as I put the pieces together.  So it seemed my dad’s family had been comfortably off, which was news to me.  My grandparents had disapproved of my Irish mother and maybe even thought she’d got herself pregnant on purpose just to land my father - because of their money.  They’d probably thought by threatening to cut him off, he’d break things off with her.  But Mum had been the love of his life, so he’d chosen her over his bullying parents. 

At this point, I felt an overwhelming rush of love for my father, even though I’d been too young when he died, to remember much about him.  The other strong emotion that surged through me was hatred for his parents.  How
dare
they assume my mother had been some kind of a gold digger, and then leave her to struggle on her own to cope with a child - their only grandchild -when it seemed they had shed loads of money.  Well screw them, and in particular screw my grandfather, Harry Jones.

“You know what, Mr. Pond?  I’m really not interested in anything Harry Jones may have left me.  Just donate it to charity, because I don't want anything of his, seeing as he thought my mother wasn’t good enough for his son, and clearly wanted nothing whatsoever to do with me,” I stated v
ehemently.

“I think you should maybe hear the rest of the story before you make up your mind,” Felix su
ggested, as he raised his eyebrows at my reaction.

“You might be jumping to conclusions,” Liam pointed out, as he tugged on my hand to remind me he was still there.  “Might be best to
rein in that hot temper of yours.”

I supposed he was right - I might as well hear the whole sordid tale while I was there.  I took a deep breath and blew it out again, until I felt slightly calmer.

“Okay.  So what’s the rest of the story?”

“Harry Jones was renowned as a difficult and stubborn man, who ran his company with iron co
ntrol, and he was furious when his son defied him and set up his own building company in competition.  So he used his influence to make it very difficult for Alexander to get any of the more lucrative contracts, probably thinking this would bring him crawling back.  But Alexander was every bit as stubborn as his father, and still managed to get work, although it wasn’t the kind of work that most contractors would have touched if they’d had any choice.  I’m told that your grandmother, Cressida, was heartbroken by the turn of events, and she begged and pleaded for them to reconcile, especially as there was a baby on the way, who would be an heir for Jones Construction Limited.  My sources say that Harry was coming round to the idea of having a grandson, but then…”  Felix Pond’s words trailed away, as he looked at me sympathetically.

“I was a girl, not a boy,” I worked out.  “What a disappointment for the misogynistic bastard.”

“Cressida pleaded with him, but your grandfather was a very obstinate man and maintained that his son was dead to him, never expecting that this was about to become a fact.  Harry was totally devastated when he got news about the tragic accident that claimed your father’s life.  Cressida blamed him, knowing it was Harry’s influence in blocking contracts that had forced Alexander into taking on such a risky job in the first place.  I can tell you that at this time, probably at your grandmother’s behest, your grandfather did make enquiries in an effort to trace you and your mother.  However, he was told that your mother had taken you back to Ireland, and no trace could be found of either of you.”

“I suspect your mother probably didn't want to be found,” Liam commented.

“Can you blame her?”  I retorted.

“Whatever the reasons, Cressida and Harry failed to track you down.  It would seem Cressida never really got over the shock of losing her son, and when she died of a coronary thrombosis a short time after, most folk put it down to a broken heart.  That was the final blow for Harry.  He sold the bus
iness, and then became a virtual recluse, hardly ever leaving his house.  So, bringing us up to date, when your grandfather passed away, the coroner estimated that he’d been dead for over a month before his body was discovered.”

“What a sorry end to a sorry tale,” I murmured, shaking my head.  “But Harry brought it all on hi
mself, didn't he?”

“Not my place to comment, Miss Jones.  All I can tell you is that
Kline Humphries Pond are the executors of his will, and because you are the only surviving living relative, and therefore the sole beneficiary, we have been making exhaustive enquiries to trace you.  I'm sure you can appreciate that with a surname like Jones, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack to begin with.  However, your saving grace was having rather unusual Christian names,” he explained.

“I told you there couldn’t be many Seraphina Róisín Jones’ out there,” Liam smiled at me.

“You have my mother to thank for that,” I muttered.  She’d been the dreamy, imaginative soul who’d wanted to balance out such a boring surname, and she’d liked the idea of my name - Seraphina - being linked to hers - Angela - as the Seraphim are said to be the highest rank of angels in the bible.

“My assistant was like a dog with a bone, because she does love to solve a good mystery story.  Anyway, she kept Googling your name, and eventually, one day up popped the Starr Capital Ve
ntures web site.  You were listed as one of the creative designers, along with a photo of you, as well as the other key members of staff.  Getting an address where we could contact you via your job was just the breakthrough we’d been waiting for.”

Of course.  Liam had insisted recently that I be added to the SCV website.

“The funny thing is, once I’d seen your picture, I was virtually certain that you were the young lady we were looking for,” Felix smiled.

“Why is that?”  I queried.

“Because in going through Harry Jones’ personal effects, I’ve seen some photos of your grandmother, Cressida, when she was about your age.  And you are the absolute spitting image of her.”

“But I take after my mother…”  I said, confused to think this unknown relative could have had some bearing on my appearance.

“Then I imagine she must have looked very similar to her mother-in-law,” Felix shrugged.  “You’ll see for yourself when you receive all your grandfather’s personal effects.”

“So, with regard to the will,” Liam spoke to the solicitor.  “You said that Seraphina is her grandf
ather’s sole beneficiary.  What exactly does his estate consist of?” 

Typical Liam, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.

“Ah, yes.  Back to the nitty gritty, now that we’ve established beyond any reasonable doubt that you are indeed the correct Seraphina Róisín Jones, granddaughter of the late Harry William Jones.  The first thing to say is that when Harry Jones retired, he was a wealthy man.”

“But he frittered it all away when he became a recluse,” I surmised. 

“Oh, no, far from it, Miss Jones.  He became obsessed with playing the stock market, and in so doing, he managed to increase his fortune substantially.  So one of the things that you will be inheriting is an impressive portfolio of stocks and shares.”

I turned to Liam.

“I haven’t got a clue about anything like that, so you’re going to have to help me out here,” I said nervously, still unsure if I wanted to accept any of this.

“Of course I will, or if you prefer, I’ll put you in touch with an independent advisor,” Liam su
ggested, as he looked over at the solicitor.

“Yes, that might be the most sensible option,” he concurred.