Winds of Change (10 page)

‘No, but they can't be pleased about this.' She patted her stomach where the tiny creature who was causing her so much discomfort lay hidden, not even making a bump yet.

‘We'll manage,' he said quietly. ‘I'm not letting you face this on your own and I'll create a huge fuss if anyone tries to get rid of my baby.' He paused and added, ‘You included.'

His expression was so serious she knew he meant it. Since she'd told him, Tim seemed much more mature, while she felt more vulnerable, more lacking in confidence than ever before.

He parked his ratty old car in the street and came round to open her door. Normally she'd have got out already but today she was dreading facing his parents.

His mother came to the front door looking very solemn and Nikki reached for Tim's hand.

Mrs Heyter gave her a wry smile. ‘You look terrified. Am I so fierce? Oh, Nikki, don't cry. Hush now.'

She was enfolded in a warm embrace. ‘It's the hormones, Mrs H. I even cry at the news on TV if it's sad. I can't help it.'

‘I was just the same with Tim. Come and sit down.'

Mr Heyter was hovering by the window looking uncomfortable. He nodded to her and took a seat next to his wife, but left her to do the speaking.

‘Tim says you're not sure whether to keep the baby or not.'

Nikki hesitated. She'd seen another of those videos on the Internet that morning and, even at seven weeks, had been able to see a baby's heart beating and the outline of its little body. That had shaken her. ‘I do want to keep it, but Mum wants me to have an abortion and she's due back from Australia soon.'

‘We want you to keep it, too,' Mrs Heyter said, ‘but it's not going to be easy. We've not told Tim yet, but Jim's firm is making a lot of people redundant. He's been offered another job, only it means us moving up to Newcastle upon Tyne. That was why he went on this course.' She looked at her husband, who nodded solemnly.

Nikki clutched Tim's hand even more tightly.

‘We can give you a bit of money towards setting up together in a flat. Would your mother help too, Nikki?'

‘I don't think so. She said if I kept the baby, I'd be on my own and I can't stay with her afterwards because
she
doesn't want to be involved in raising another child.'

Their soft murmurs of sympathy nearly had her in tears again. ‘My aunt rang up from Australia and said she'd help, but I don't think she has much money and anyway, even if she wasn't living on the other side of the world, she's no good at standing up to Mum and Uncle Sebastian. She's, like, the family doormat, poor thing.'

‘Well, there's no rush to do anything tomorrow, is there? We're not moving for a couple of months because Jim has to help close things down at this end. But with two other children to raise, we can't do as much as we'd like for you and there simply isn't room for you to come to us.'

As they drove home, Nikki thought how kind the Heyters had been and tears welled in her eyes again.

‘What's the matter?'

‘I'm thinking how kind your parents were, even though they've got their own problems. And my mother is . . .' She didn't try to finish the sentence, didn't need to. He'd met her mother. He knew what her mother was like. She wasn't unfair or anything, but she always felt she knew best.

The school nurse had been kind too, and, next week, Nikki was seeing a counsellor.

But though she tried to put on a brave face, she was terrified. She woke at night just about shivering with fear. She wasn't ready to become a mother, didn't know the first thing about babies, didn't want to give up her plans for university. She'd worked so hard to get on to an engineering course.

Her mother was right about one thing. She had been stupid. She shouldn't have risked anything once she realized she'd forgotten her birth control pills.

Lou knocked on the door of the flat, grateful there was a lift. When Miranda opened it, he said nothing about the fact that she'd obviously been crying, just reached up from his wheelchair and pulled her down for a quick hug. ‘Clever woman! It can't have been easy.'

‘No. I hardly got any sleep last night for worrying.'

He held out the bag. ‘Wine. For our celebration.' He rolled inside, stopped and whistled softly. ‘You'll have to clear me a path through the debris first.'

‘I wouldn't have brought this much furniture with me, but Sebastian is still checking whether these really are my things and I thought if I left them behind, I might never see them again. It's a terrible thing not to trust your own brother.'

‘I get the impression he's not one of Sally's favourite people, either.'

‘What if he refuses to see her?'

He laughed heartily. ‘No one refuses Sally Patel. That woman will be a judge one day soon, mark my words.' He rolled his chair forward as far as he could, shaking his head as he stared round. ‘You can't possibly sleep in this chaos. Why don't you move your personal possessions to my house today and just use this place for storage? I was going to offer to stay the night with you here, but there's not enough room for my hot rod.'

He rolled his wheelchair to and fro, making vrooming noises, and managed to draw a feeble smile from her.

‘You said you wanted to find somewhere else to live, Lou. I thought I'd move in with you then.'

‘I want to do that quickly, so we'll get on to it first thing tomorrow. Come and stay for a few days, try me out as a house sharer. My spare bedroom's bigger than your main bedroom. Your things will be quite safe here. After all, we changed the lock and put in a security system, didn't we?'

She hesitated, the old Miranda still afraid to take this step, then what she thought of as her new self took over. ‘I'd love to stay with you, Lou. I hate this place. It makes my soul shrivel.'

‘It makes me want to sue the architects.'

She packed some things and followed him in her car, which, thank goodness, was registered in her own name; one of the few major presents her father had given her during a period when he was annoyed with Sebastian. Sighing in relief, she took first her suitcase then her computer up to the guest bedroom. She felt completely at ease here, at ease with him, too.

If only . . .

That evening Lou fell asleep as they watched TV and she studied him while keeping an eye on the antiques programme. He must have been good-looking as a young man, and still had quite a presence, but he'd been absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. He never complained but she'd seen him wincing a few times as if in pain. She'd try to make him rest regularly.

The next thing she knew he was waking her up, laughing at the way they'd both fallen asleep, and chivvying her along to bed.

As she snuggled down, she thought how easy it would have been to fall in love with a man like him. But he'd made it very plain that he didn't want that, and anyway, it'd be stupid when there was no future in a relationship. She wasn't stupid.

He couldn't stop her getting fond of him, though, as a dear friend. She already felt as if she'd known him for years.

Sebastian eyed Sally Patel across the desk. When she'd rung him personally, he'd not liked to refuse to see her because she was so well respected in the legal community. She'd said, ‘just for a preliminary chat', so he hoped it wouldn't take long. He sighed. ‘I don't understand why Minnie is making such a fuss.'

She smiled sweetly. ‘To whom are you referring?'

‘You know very well – my stepsister, your client.'

‘My client is called Miranda.'

He felt anger rise but reined it in. ‘The family have always called her Minnie.'

‘She put up with that only because of her father. Now that he's dead, she's made it plain that she wishes to use her real name, and that's the only one we'll be using in court.'

He corrected himself grudgingly. ‘
Miranda
, then. She won't manage to overthrow the will, even with your help, Sally. I made very sure everything was done properly.'

She smiled, a gentle yet relentless smile that had put fear into the hearts of many a wrongdoer – and their legal representatives. Even he didn't like that smile.

‘That remains to be seen. Apparently your father was starting to show signs of Alzheimer's and you knew it.'

‘How did you find that out? Anyway, it hadn't progressed so far that he didn't understand what he was doing. I got that from the doctor in writing.'

Her smile didn't falter. If anything, she looked more confident.

‘And even if you do manage to get a few things changed in the will, it'll cost Min— oh, very well,
Miranda
, what the estate's worth in legal fees. Where's the win for her in that?'

Glee danced in her eyes. ‘As I shall be doing this job pro bono, your sister won't have to pay me any legal fees. It's only you who'll be out of pocket.'

‘Why the hell would you do that, Sally? You don't know her from Adam.'

‘I always enjoy a good tussle and I owe Lou Rayne a lot. He cares about Miranda. I can't do much for him now, but he's happier knowing I'll be looking after her . . . when he no longer can.'

‘You're bluffing.'

‘Am I? We shall see. In the meantime, I'd like to agree on an income for Ms Fox, a
reasonable
income from her father's estate, as the will specifies. I spoke to your fellow trustee and we agreed on a figure. Your initial offer was totally unacceptable.'

‘Tressman and I had already decided what would be suitable – generous even – for a woman of Minnie's age living quietly.'

The look Sally gave him made him adjust his collar, which suddenly seemed too tight.

‘Why should Ms Fox want to live quietly? I'm two years older than she is and I don't consider my life over yet. Not nearly over.' Sally's foot began tapping. ‘So . . . are we agreed?'

‘For the time being. As a temporary measure. We'll await the outcome of her legal challenge.'

‘I hadn't realized how mean you were, Sebastian Fox.'

He blinked in shock at her frank insult. ‘I prefer to call it prudent. I'm her trustee. I must be careful with her money.'

‘Miserly would be a more accurate term. But we'll leave it at that for the moment. There's just one other thing to sort out. I believe your wife borrowed some of your stepsister's jewellery without her permission. If you'll send the pieces round to me by noon tomorrow, we can clear the slate about that.'

‘Surely it can wait till after the ball?'

‘I'm afraid not. My client is keen to get the jewels valued.'

‘Oh, very well. I'll send the jewellery directly to Minnie.' He caught her eye and amended it again to, ‘
Miranda
.'

‘I'd prefer to check for myself that everything's in order. Things can so easily get . . . mislaid.'

When Sally had left, he rang his wife. ‘Could you bring Minnie's jewellery into the office this afternoon, Dorothy? I'm afraid we have to give it back.'

‘But you said I could borrow it for the ball. She never uses it, after all.'

‘Yes. But she's being awkward. Do this for me.'

‘I'll bring it round about two thirty. Regina and I are going to lunch at the club first.'

‘That'll be fine. Make sure you keep Regina on side. We don't want her supporting Minnie in any way.'

‘Yes, of course.'

When he'd put the phone down, he began to doodle on his notepad, his favourite way of concentrating his thoughts on a problem. Minnie wasn't going to get away with this, Sally or no Sally. He suddenly drew a triumphant flourish across the pad as a possible solution came to him. She'd been hospitalized for depression. With a little careful groundwork beforehand, he'd be able to suggest that this was why their father had wanted someone else to look after her money. He might even be able to go further.

Even Sally Patel couldn't win every single case.

He'd have to tread very carefully, though.

On his way home, Sebastian decided to stop briefly at Minnie's flat to check that the move had gone smoothly and make his ongoing presence felt.

He rapped on the door, then knocked again. She must be out. Good. He could check what she'd taken from the house. Pulling his key out, he tried to insert it in the lock, but it no longer fitted. When he studied it closely, he could see that it was a new lock.

The bitch! She didn't own this flat, the trust did. She had no reason whatsoever to refuse him access. He went downstairs and found the caretaker, a slovenly woman who lived in a small flat at the rear.

‘I need to get into Flat Thirty.'

‘The new tenant's just moved in. She's a female.' She consulted a list. ‘A Ms Fox.'

‘I'm her brother.' He handed her one of his cards. ‘And her lawyer.'

‘Ah.'

He waited while she studied him thoughtfully. ‘Well?'

‘You're Sebastian Fox, eh.'

‘Yes. If that's any of your business.'

‘Well, it is my business, sir, because I'm the caretaker here. I've been told by Ms Fox to let no one into the flat, whatever excuse they give. And you've been named as one who might try to claim he's an exception.'

‘I am an exception. I'm Miss Fox's trustee. The trust owns the flat. She doesn't. So I have every right to inspect it.'

She shrugged. ‘I wouldn't know about that. You'll have to arrange it with her. All I know is, she says not to let you in. Well, I'd not let any man into a woman's flat unless she told me herself it was all right. You can't be too careful these days.'

‘Do I look like a damned criminal?'

Another shrug was his only answer and before he could stop her, she closed the door in his face.

He hesitated but the interview with Sally Patel still rankled. And he
was
the trustee. He took out his mobile phone and rang a locksmith he'd used before, then went up to wait outside the flat, pacing up and down the corridor impatiently.