Dan had been sitting at the desk but he stood up and began to pace, the phone pressed firmly to his ear.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m sorry, Dan, but I am. I suppose Rowena may not have realised the problem but I can’t see how you were advised it was okay.”

“But we were.” Dan clasped his free hand to his forehead. “Or at least Rowena was. She did all the paperwork. But she’s always been thorough, and the bank agreed.”

“Well, I can’t say who’s at fault. The problem is, just having that loan could cause Rowena to lose her executor position. She could be taken to court over it and your rights could be in jeopardy.” Glen paused. “It would give your cousin a much stronger case should she choose to pursue it.”

Dan sank back into the chair. “I can’t believe it.”

“I’m sorry, Dan. I’ve been over and over it. There’s nothing else I can suggest but if you get rid of the loan we might be able to smooth it all over. Can I leave it with you?”

“Yes, I’ll…”

“I’ve got another call, Dan. Get back to me when you’ve sorted things out. I’ll take a look at it for you and make sure you’re back inside the terms of the will. Talk soon.”

Dan slowly replaced the phone and then stared at it, half expecting it to ring again with Glen pronouncing more bad news. How could this have happened? He thought he’d done everything correctly. His accountant and his bank manager had agreed to the second loan. Rowena had put her signature to their proposal. Damn it, the bank had all his information. How could they have agreed to lend him the extra money if it wasn’t legal?

The knots tightened across the back of his neck. Just when he thought the news couldn’t get any worse it had. He dug his fingers into his shoulders. What were they going to do? He’d chosen not to tell Paula about the will and now that there were more complications it felt like it was too late. He couldn’t tell her how stuffed up everything was. It was enough one of them was sick with worry.

He’d have to talk to Rowena. She would be distressed at the news as well. He was sure she wouldn’t have knowingly okayed anything that wasn’t legal. She was a straight as they came. Somehow she’d been given the wrong advice.

It was ironic that people were leaving their properties after years of drought and Dan was in an area where he was managing to survive but could end up losing his property anyway. What was the point?