Anna shook her head in amazement. ‘I had no idea.’
‘Surely you wondered why so much work was done here this past year?’
‘I assumed the Wyndham Estate was responsible.’
He shook his head. ‘My total input was to give any advice your grandfather asked for.’
‘It was very good advice, Ryder,’ she conceded. ‘The entire cottage looks a picture. Though I’m surprised he bothered at his age. He knew very well he wouldn’t have long to enjoy it,’ she added sadly.
‘His own enjoyment was never his intention. He was making the place more saleable.’
‘He meant to sell it?’ she said, startled.
‘No.’ Ryder put his cup on the tray and got up. ‘Anna, this puts me in a very awkward position. Hector showed me his will quite recently, but you obviously know nothing about it.’
‘Not yet. Dad’s calling in on the solicitor on his way back this morning. He’ll ring me tonight.’
‘Good. He can put you in the picture. How long will you stay here?’ he added.
‘A few days, maybe. I’ll see how it goes.’ Anna got to her feet, eyeing him in challenge. ‘Do you mind if I stay for a while, Ryder?’
‘Of course not.’ He smiled bleakly. ‘After all, we were good friends once.’
‘Something you forgot one memorable evening,’ she said bluntly.
‘Anna, if I could take back the things I said that night I would. It was a pretty rough time for me. I apologised humbly when I knew the truth,’ he reminded her curtly.
Anna eyed him with scorn. ‘Come off it, Ryder. You don’t do humble.’
His eyes glittered coldly. ‘I had a damn good try in your case! I failed spectacularly, I grant you, but your grandfather told me to give you time, that you’d come round one day.’
‘Did he really? For once in his life he was wrong.’
He gave her a challenging look. ‘Was he? In London you wouldn’t let me through the door, but here you’ve done that twice in two days.’
‘Only because I needed something from you,’ she assured him. ‘Have you heard from Dominic lately?’
‘Yes. I told him about Hector. I wouldn’t pass on the number here without your permission so Dominic asked me to give you his condolences.’
‘If he contacts you again, give him the number by all means, but I doubt that he’ll need it.’
‘You’re not so friendly with my little brother these days?’
Her eyes clashed with his. ‘I never was in the way you mean. In any case Dominic lives in New York now—and soon he’ll be married to someone much younger and a lot more eligible than me,’ she added tartly. ‘Tell me, Ryder. Was it just my advancing years you objected to, or the irrefutable fact that I was your gamekeeper’s granddaughter?’
His face hardened. ‘That’s an insult to your grandfather.’
‘Then I apologise to him. Thank you so much for coming,’ she added graciously. ‘I’m sorry I wasted your valuable time.’
‘Not at all.’ He shook her hand with cold formality. ‘If you have any problems, don’t hesitate to get in touch.’
She’d crawl over hot coals first!
At the front door he paused to look down at her. ‘Take good care of yourself, Anna. Tom told me you developed pneumonia because you went back to work too soon after a dose of flu.’
Her eyes flashed. ‘Tom should mind his own business!’
‘As a brother and a doctor,’ he drawled, ‘I imagine he feels that your health is his business.’
‘True, but it’s very definitely not yours, Ryder Wyndham—or should I say Squire and pull my forelock?’
‘By all means if you want to, Anna,’ he said, infuriating her, and fixed her with a glacial blue look. ‘Tom told me you’d been ill for the simple reason that he wanted me to keep an eye on you. Here’s my mobile number. Call me if you need anything.’
‘How kind. But I won’t,’ she assured him, and held the door open wide.
‘Keep the card anyway.’ Ryder nodded casually and went down the path to the Land Rover waiting at the gate.
CHAPTER TWO
ANNA heard from her father before he began evening surgery. ‘What’s up, Dad?’ she said, surprised. ‘I thought you were ringing tonight.’
‘I just couldn’t wait that long to give you my news, darling—’
‘Hold on. Before you start, I’ve got news for you too. Ryder says Gramp bought the cottage from the estate years ago. Did you know about that?’
‘No—at least not until this morning. Father left the cottage to you, Anna.’
She sat down with a thump on one of the kitchen chairs. ‘What?’
‘You get the cottage, and he put a sum of money equal to its value in trust for Tom and me. Old Fanshawe’s a dry old stick, but he had a twinkle in his eye when he told me my father had been playing the stock market for years. The old devil. He let me assume that the estate was paying for the work on the cottage. And all the time he was turning it into a desirable property to leave to you. He made it over to you years ago, Anna. Are you still there?’
‘Just about,’ she said faintly.
‘I’m having trouble taking it in too,’ admitted John Morton. ‘I had no idea Father had so much money to leave. But I wish he’d left it differently, instead of landing you with the responsibility of the house.’
‘Knowing Gramp, he had his reasons, Dad.’
‘He obviously expected you to sell it.’
Anna looked round her with assessing eyes. ‘I’m not so sure about that. He knew how much I loved the place, so maybe he thought I’d live here.’
‘You can’t commute to London, Anna!’
‘True. But it would be a perfect weekend retreat for all three of us.’
‘That hardly seems fair.’
‘What does Tom say about it?’
‘I haven’t told him yet.’ John Morton’s voice softened. ‘Now, forget about the will for a minute—how do you feel, darling?’
‘Thunderstruck.’
‘I mean physically.’
Anna thought about it. ‘Is a sudden yearning for bacon sandwiches a good sign?’
‘Excellent. But I didn’t buy any bacon for you.’
‘It’s a fine afternoon. I’ll drive down to the village shop.’
‘Good idea. Buy plenty of milk and fresh fruit too. Take care of yourself, pet. I’ll ring you tomorrow.’
Anna put on the ancient sheepskin jacket always kept in her wardrobe at Keeper’s and went out to the car, delighted by the idea of her grandfather playing the stock market. Good for him, she thought proudly as she drove through cold late afternoon sunshine.
Anna left the village stores later with a bag full of shopping and a head buzzing with condolences and local news, but arrived home with a proud sense of achievement because she’d managed it all without feeling exhausted. Her own home, she reminded herself in triumph. Keeper’s Cottage was now officially her very own