Aunt Lucy's Lover. Miranda Lee

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СКАЧАТЬ the island and live there for at least one month.’

      ‘A month! But that’s ridiculous. I can’t afford a month!’

      ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to, if you wish to inherit. Your aunt’s wishes are clear. Provisions have even been made in the will to pay for the purchase of your airline ticket, in case you couldn’t afford one. Oh, and there’s another small condition. During this month, you are to allow a certain Mr. Slade to remain living in the same room he has occupied for the last three years, free of charge.’

      ‘How very peculiar! What happens if I don’t comply?’

      ‘Then the estate goes to the aforementioned Mr. Slade, whom Mrs. Hardcourt describes in her will as having been a loyal and loving companion to her over these past three years.’

      Jessica frowned. Was loyal and loving companion a euphemism for lover? She remembered her aunt as having been a handsome woman, with a good figure for her age. Although obviously in her fifties, it was not inconceivable she’d been having an intimate physical relationship with a man.

      ‘It was this Mr. Slade who found the will,’ the solicitor said. ‘It had apparently slipped down behind a drawer. He’s been living in and looking after the house and grounds since your aunt’s death.’

      ‘Not to mention searching for a will, which he obviously knew existed,’ Jessica pointed out dryly. For some reason, she didn’t like the sound of this Mr. Slade. Or was it just the complication of that odd condition she didn’t like? ‘I wonder why my aunt didn’t just leave everything to him in the first place, if they were so close?’

      ‘I really couldn’t say.’

      ‘No, of course not,’ Jessica murmured. The only way she was going to find out anything was to go there herself. But for a whole month? How was she going to wangle that without risking her job?

      ‘This Mr. Slade,’ she said, her mind ticking over. ‘What do you know about him?’

      ‘Very little. I did speak to him briefly on the telephone yesterday.’

      ‘And?’

      ‘He sounded surprisingly…young.’

      ‘Young?’ Jessica repeated, startled.

      ‘It was just an impression. Some quite elderly people have young-sounding telephone voices.’

      Jessica nodded. That was so true. The owner of the Sydney Grand was well into his sixties but sounded much younger on the telephone.

      ‘There’s a flight leaving for Norfolk Island next Sunday morning at seven,’ the solicitor informed her. ‘If you like, I can call the airline right now and see if they have a spare seat. If you go now, you’ll only have to stay four weeks to satisfy your aunt’s will. February this year only has twenty-eight days.’

      So it had. But four weeks away from the hotel at this time of the year? Her boss would be most put out. Still, what alternative did she have?

      ‘All right,’ Jessica agreed.

      Now that her mind was made up, she was quite eager to be on her way, her female curiosity more than a little piqued. She wanted to see the place for herself. And the island. And the mysterious Mr. Slade.

      Actually, she felt a bit guilty about him. If he’d genuinely loved her aunt and nursed her during her last days, surely he deserved more for his devotion than one month’s free board. Jessica decided that if he proved to have been a genuine friend to her aunt and was in any way hard up for money, she would give him a cash legacy. It was the least she could do.

      ‘Would you like the telephone number of your aunt’s house?’ the solicitor asked once his call to the airline had been successfully completed. ‘That way you can call this Mr. Slade yourself and arrange for him to pick you up at the airport when you arrive.’

      ‘All right,’ Jessica agreed again. It would be interesting to see how young he sounded to her. Maybe the solicitor thought fifty was young. He was nearing sixty himself.

      He jotted down her aunt’s number on the back of one of his business cards and handed it over to Jessica, who slipped it into her handbag.

      ‘Don’t hesitate to call me if you need any help,’ he said, standing up when she did so.

      Jessica shook his extended hand. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I will.’

      As she turned and walked out of the office, the sudden thought came that her life was never going to be the same again. Suddenly, she was a rich woman, an heiress.

      Strange. The realisation was vaguely unsettling. Jessica decided then and there not to tell anyone at work, or even any of her friends. Aside from the jealousy it might inspire, people treated you differently when you were rich, especially the opposite sex.

      Of course, there were a couple of people who already knew of her new financial status. That couldn’t be helped. But the solicitor was hardly going to present a problem in her day-to-day life. He wasn’t likely to make a play for her, either.

      Which left only Mr. Slade.

      Jessica almost laughed at the instant tightening in her stomach. Now she was being fanciful. Logically, Mr. Slade had to at least be in his fifties. Neither was he likely to be too enamoured with the woman who’d robbed him of a sizeable inheritance. He might very well resent her.

      Suddenly, the month she had to spend on Norfolk Island in the same house as Mr. Slade loomed as very awkward, indeed.

      Well, that was just too bad, Jessica thought fatalistically. She had every right to go there, and every right to find out what she could about her own and her mother’s past!

      CHAPTER TWO

      JESSICA’S watch said nine-thirty as she unlocked the front door of her flat. Her sigh was a little weary as she stepped inside and switched on the lights. She’d stayed extra late at the hotel tonight, getting things organised so that her PA could manage without her for the next month.

      In the end, she’d asked for her full four weeks’ holidays, saying she was suffering from emotional stress after the sudden death of a dear aunt. The hotel management hadn’t been thrilled with the short notice, but they hadn’t been as difficult about her request as she’d imagined they’d be. Clearly, they valued her as an employee and didn’t want to lose her.

      Jessica was well aware she did a good job, but it had always faintly worried her that she’d won her present position more for her model-like looks than her qualifications. Not that she didn’t have plenty of those, as well. A degree in hotel management and tourism, plus years of experience working in every facet of the hotel industry from housekeeping to reception to guest relations.

      Jessica closed the door of her near-new North Sydney apartment—an airy two-bedroomed unit with a lovely view of the bridge and harbour. She’d bought it only four months previously, the deposit alone taking every cent she had saved during her working life.

      But she’d craved her own place after sharing rented accommodation for years.

      Funnily enough, whilst she adored the bathroom and СКАЧАТЬ