Contents (57)
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sharon Gosling
Ezra looked up at her from Cullen’s chair and smiled. ‘Is it useful?’
Gilly blew out a breath, which seemed eloquent enough, though she still added, ‘Yeah.’
‘Then you keep it.’
‘Do you think you could keep an eye on things for me for a while?’ Rachel asked, aiming the question at the general group. ‘I’ve got some phone calls to make. The solicitor, the funeral home…’
Edie reached out and grasped Rachel’s hand. ‘Do whatever you need to do.’
Rachel took the phone from beneath the counter and went upstairs. When she finally got through to him, Cullen’s solicitor seemed genuinely saddened by the news of his client’s demise.
‘I am sorry,’ said Alan Crosswick. ‘What a character he was. I shall miss him – I’d only known him since I joined the company and took over his account a few years ago, but he was always good for a conversation. Even if he frequently avoided talking about the things I needed him to address. Like, for example, making a new will. I’m afraid the one in place was created before he himself took ownership of the estate. You’re probably not aware of this, but Cullen actually inherited what was left of the MacDonald estate when he was still a child – his father died when he was ten, in 1945. His mother held it in trust until he was twenty, and the will is a very basic “It passes to the next in the MacDonald family line”. I had been badgering him about it ever since I joined the company and reviewed his papers, because I got the impression he would have wanted to be a little more specific, especially since he didn’t have any children for the estate to pass to. He always assured me he was working on it, but nothing was ever forthcoming. I had planned to talk to him about it in the next couple of weeks, but alas, that was clearly not to be.’
Rachel shut her eyes. ‘But – what does that mean? He didn’t have any family, or at least none that he ever spoke about. He had no children, no siblings. What happens to the lighthouse now?’
‘I’ll have to investigate as per the original will to see if a natural heir can be found,’ he said. ‘If not… well, any estate remaining after death duties would go to the Crown.’
‘Right,’ Rachel said faintly.
‘I’m sorry, Rachel,’ Crosswick said. ‘I know the lighthouse is both your home and your livelihood. I’ll do my best to make sure you get first refusal in any sale.’
‘Thank you,’ Rachel said, automatically, though the idea that she would ever be able to afford to buy the lighthouse herself was laughable. She was beginning to feel numb. This time yesterday morning Cullen had been alive and well. Today he was gone and it seemed as if everything he’d created here could soon be gone, too.
‘Look,’ said the solicitor. ‘What I suggest for now is that you remain where you are. I will employ you in much the same way that Cullen did. Keep doing what you’ve been doing, looking after the place and running the bookshop so that it can at least pay for its own upkeep while it’s in escrow. In addition, I will ask you to arrange his funeral and, in due time, to sort out the gatehouse. Let’s take this one step at a time, and we’ll see where we end up. All right?’