‘I’m going to fight this, Annie. Everyone’s rallying round, so let’s not give up just yet.’
‘I believe in you, Lizzie,’ Annie said firmly. ‘I think it’s going to be a happy Christmas, after all. Oh—and there’s another knock at the door. I wonder who it is this time...’
Lizzie’s thoughts were racing. Her heart was thundering too. If only she’d found some sort of closure with Chico maybe she could stop thinking it was him every time.
‘Surprise!’
Lizzie gasped with amazement as her father and Serena pushed Annie out of the way as they entered the hall.
* * *
He cursed violently as if that could make the plane fly faster. At long last, he was in the air, and with any luck he’d make the funeral. He had to pay his respects. It was a mark of honour, and crucial to him. He’d brought Maria with him. She’d wanted to come once she’d heard his story, saying she felt that she and Lizzie’s grandmother were like sisters in arms.
Whatever Lizzie thought of him, her grandmother had meant a lot to him, and with Eduardo dead, and now Lizzie’s grandmother passing, it was like the end of an era, and the end of an era meant evaluating everything that had gone before. What mattered now was what happened next, as far as he was concerned, and the only thing he could be certain of was that he and Lizzie had unfinished business to sort out.
* * *
Just when everything seemed to be going right! She knew she shouldn’t have believed in miracles. There always had to be a counterbalance for anything good, her father had used to say, but Serena and her father in league with each other? Seriously? Only one thing could have united them, and that was the scent of money—which hardly augured well for the future of the estate.
Lizzie wasn’t sure of her legal rights when it came to protecting her late grandmother’s property, but she felt defensive as her parents strolled around, picking and touching and lifting and showing. It was up to her to protect what was left. To underline her growing concern, she could see the neck of a bottle of her father’s favourite type of Scotch peeping out of the pocket of his overcoat.
‘Come in,’ she said, though her parents were already well and truly in. ‘Welcome,’ she added faintly.
Her parents ignored her. Serena clearly didn’t want to waste time chatting, as she was already taking stock.
‘Isn’t that a Stubbs?’ Serena said as she eyed the gilt-framed painting of a horse. ‘And this one? Isn’t this a Van Dyck?’
‘In the style of,’ Lizzie’s father said, still without acknowledging Lizzie’s presence. ‘Even so, it’s worth something. We need to get these out of here right away.’
‘Now just a minute—’ Lizzie hurried across the hall as her father reached up an unsteady hand in an attempt to dislodge the valuable painting from its hook. ‘All this is in the hands of the administrator. We can’t take anything down. It would be stealing.’
‘From ourselves?’ Serena flashed, turning on Lizzie with an imperious stare. ‘Don’t get in our way,’ her mother warned. ‘We know what we’re doing. And we can do it faster without your interference.’
Lizzie glanced at Annie, whose normally rosy face had turned ashen. Serena had always bullied Annie, but Lizzie was determined to protect the loyal housekeeper from any potential unpleasantness.