door.’
‘Then try calling her up.’
‘Don’t be cute, it doesn’t suit you. A door,’ she persisted, ‘which happens to be every bit as much yours as hers…’
‘Don’t let’s get into that again. My mother left the house to Alicia for a very good reason…’
‘You’re her son, the eldest child. You were entitled…’
‘If the circumstances had been different I’m sure we’d have both inherited, but you’re getting into some very dangerous territory now so let’s drop it and finish our breakfasts. I’ll have some more eggs if there are any.’
Getting up from the table she snatched up the pan and came to ladle the last two spoonfuls on to his plate.
‘When you do talk to her,’ she said tersely, ‘I think you should make it plain that it’s a bad idea for her to stay.’
‘Who says she’s going to?’
‘That’s what I’ve heard, but she’s got to be rolling in it now, so she could live anywhere. It doesn’t have to be here.’
‘Holly Wood is her home.’
‘No! It’s our home. She hasn’t lived here for at least twenty years, and she’s hardly set foot in the place these past two years.’
‘And we know why.’
Though the muscles in her jaw knotted, and she felt herself yearning for Craig’s support, she chose to ignore the reminder as she said, ‘Does she have any idea how upset you were when your mother cut you out of her will? Have you ever told her?’
‘She wouldn’t need telling, and it was you who suffered most over that, not me. As far as I’m concerned Alicia deserves the Coach House.’
At that Sabrina’s eyes flashed with temper. ‘Do you knowwhat I think?’ she snapped angrily. ‘I think you’re afraid of her.’
He blinked in astonishment.
‘You never confront her over anything,’ she accused him heatedly. ‘You let her get away with treating me as though I’m some kind of pariah, and now she’s back here and about to make my life intolerable, you’re simply going to sit back and let her.’
‘You’re making a lot of assumptions…’
‘Because I know you, Robert Paige. You’ll bury yourself in your work, the way you always do, and pretend nothing’s going on. Well, let me tell you this…’
‘Enough!’ he barked. ‘I don’t know why you’re getting yourself into such a state over this. Much less can I fathom why you’re behaving as though you’re the injured party, when we both know that’s very far from the case.’
Flushing darkly, she said, ‘Well, thank you for your support. I should have known you still blame me for what happened…’
‘Because you’re the one who did it, Sabrina. You and Craig. If you hadn’t had an affair my family wouldn’t have been torn apart the way it was, and my mother wouldn’t have had to live in dread of you and Alicia fighting in front of her again the way you did when it all came out. That’s why she stopped Alicia coming here, you know that as well as I do. She couldn’t bear the thought of a repeat performance, or of other people finding out, not because of what it would do to her, but because of how shaming it would be for me if the whole world knew that my wife had cheated on me with my own brother-in-law. That’s why Alicia hardly saw my mother until she was in the hospice, to spare her the fear of another showdown, and that’s why my mother left the house to her, to try to make up for the way she’d shut her out. So yes, Sabrina, you carry the blame for what happened, along with Craig, but he’s dead now, so you’re on your own with it, and though I might have forgiven you, I don’t imagine for one minute that Alicia has, or ever will.’
Annabelle didn’t hang around to hear her mother’s response to Robert’s diatribe, she was too afraid she’d come stormingout of the kitchen and bump right into her. So turning silently on her bare feet she ran quickly back along the hall and up the carpeted staircase to her own personal domain at the far end of the first
‘Then try calling her up.’
‘Don’t be cute, it doesn’t suit you. A door,’ she persisted, ‘which happens to be every bit as much yours as hers…’
‘Don’t let’s get into that again. My mother left the house to Alicia for a very good reason…’
‘You’re her son, the eldest child. You were entitled…’
‘If the circumstances had been different I’m sure we’d have both inherited, but you’re getting into some very dangerous territory now so let’s drop it and finish our breakfasts. I’ll have some more eggs if there are any.’
Getting up from the table she snatched up the pan and came to ladle the last two spoonfuls on to his plate.
‘When you do talk to her,’ she said tersely, ‘I think you should make it plain that it’s a bad idea for her to stay.’
‘Who says she’s going to?’
‘That’s what I’ve heard, but she’s got to be rolling in it now, so she could live anywhere. It doesn’t have to be here.’
‘Holly Wood is her home.’
‘No! It’s our home. She hasn’t lived here for at least twenty years, and she’s hardly set foot in the place these past two years.’
‘And we know why.’
Though the muscles in her jaw knotted, and she felt herself yearning for Craig’s support, she chose to ignore the reminder as she said, ‘Does she have any idea how upset you were when your mother cut you out of her will? Have you ever told her?’
‘She wouldn’t need telling, and it was you who suffered most over that, not me. As far as I’m concerned Alicia deserves the Coach House.’
At that Sabrina’s eyes flashed with temper. ‘Do you knowwhat I think?’ she snapped angrily. ‘I think you’re afraid of her.’
He blinked in astonishment.
‘You never confront her over anything,’ she accused him heatedly. ‘You let her get away with treating me as though I’m some kind of pariah, and now she’s back here and about to make my life intolerable, you’re simply going to sit back and let her.’
‘You’re making a lot of assumptions…’
‘Because I know you, Robert Paige. You’ll bury yourself in your work, the way you always do, and pretend nothing’s going on. Well, let me tell you this…’
‘Enough!’ he barked. ‘I don’t know why you’re getting yourself into such a state over this. Much less can I fathom why you’re behaving as though you’re the injured party, when we both know that’s very far from the case.’
Flushing darkly, she said, ‘Well, thank you for your support. I should have known you still blame me for what happened…’
‘Because you’re the one who did it, Sabrina. You and Craig. If you hadn’t had an affair my family wouldn’t have been torn apart the way it was, and my mother wouldn’t have had to live in dread of you and Alicia fighting in front of her again the way you did when it all came out. That’s why she stopped Alicia coming here, you know that as well as I do. She couldn’t bear the thought of a repeat performance, or of other people finding out, not because of what it would do to her, but because of how shaming it would be for me if the whole world knew that my wife had cheated on me with my own brother-in-law. That’s why Alicia hardly saw my mother until she was in the hospice, to spare her the fear of another showdown, and that’s why my mother left the house to her, to try to make up for the way she’d shut her out. So yes, Sabrina, you carry the blame for what happened, along with Craig, but he’s dead now, so you’re on your own with it, and though I might have forgiven you, I don’t imagine for one minute that Alicia has, or ever will.’
Annabelle didn’t hang around to hear her mother’s response to Robert’s diatribe, she was too afraid she’d come stormingout of the kitchen and bump right into her. So turning silently on her bare feet she ran quickly back along the hall and up the carpeted staircase to her own personal domain at the far end of the first
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