grown up. Why on earth would she give it all up just to return ten years down the line? It was peaceful and Bluebell Hill was a gorgeous place to live, she couldn’t deny that. It just wasn’t for her. Bluebell House held too many bad memories, memories of her former self; a desperate, angry, bitter person. The rooms held so much more for her than their furniture. There were feelings, emotions, things she couldn’t forget, that hung in the darkest corners of the house like ghosts. No. London was where she was supposed to be. London was where her life was now. London was her home. Not Bluebell House or Bluebell Hill. She hadn’t worked hard to build herself a new life for it only to come tumbling down. There was no way she would do that, not even if someone paid her. She’d only stepped back inside that very day, taken a look around the empty, joyless rooms, and that was all that she’d needed to make her decision. As soon as she’d opened the front door and stepped over the threshold, every memory, every feeling from her past had come flooding back. Her mind had been made up before she’d even realised it. Her decision was that she didn’t want Bluebell House, nor any of the shadows that lay within it. She wanted to be rid of it. She wanted it to be somebody else’s responsibility. She wanted the sheer weight of it completely off her shoulders. Bluebell House had never been her home. She’d known it all along. Yes, she’d spent the formative years of her life there but even then, she’d felt detached, like a stranger in her own home, which was exactly how she felt now almost ten years down the line. Some things would never change.
‘I don’t believe Bluebell House was ever mine to keep, Esme,’ Jessica said firmly. ‘I think it’s best that I pass it onto a new family. That’s my decision. I’m going to sell Bluebell House.’
Esme placed her coffee cup down. She was smiling but Jessica could see that the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘We’d better get in touch with an estate agent then, dear. Get Bluebell House put on the market as soon as possible, ready for potential viewers and buyers. The sooner we get the ball rolling, the better for everyone involved.’
And Jessica couldn’t have agreed more.
