Written in the Stars (22 page)

‘I’m not sure, but I’ll probably unload a few. I’m thinking of buying a place of my own. I would have done it years ago if hadn’t been for Kirsty. I always felt that it was easier to stay here, where you and Vince could help keep on an eye on her as well, especially if I needed to be away.’

‘Have you any idea where you’d like to go?’

‘Oh, somewhere on this side of the harbour… not too far away. I’ll have a look around the estate agents. I bumped into a chap I went to college with the other day by the name of Bridgestone. He’s into property development in a big way, and I’ve arranged to meet him in a day or two to have a look at some property his company has an interest in.’

‘Have I met him?’ Norah asked.

‘Yes, he came to one or two barbecues around that time. You’d have remembered him; tall, good looking fellow with a mane of blonde hair.’

‘Yes, I seem to recall one of Kirsty’s girlfriends going gaga over one of your college friends.’

‘Lloyd was the original playboy.’ Steve chuckled. ‘No girl was safe while he was around, but apparently he’s had a change of heart.’ He chuckled again. ‘He’s getting married to someone he met while he was in Queensland. According to him she’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. She must be something very special for him to give up his philandering ways.’

‘And what are you going to do about that place in Wales?’

‘I’ve agreed to let the Suzi Spencer live there until it’s sold,’ Steve replied. ‘Apparently she’s still hoping to find enough money to buy my share. She wants to turn it into a venue for receptions or conferences.’

‘It’s been dragging on for a long time now, hasn’t it?’

‘Yes, far too long.’ Steve suddenly realised that the whole situation had caused him a lot of unnecessary concern; it had been like a millstone around his neck. ‘I’ll get on to my solicitor and get it straightened out one way or the other.’ He stood up and stretched. ‘I’ll give him a bell first thing in the morning; it’s time it was settled.’

Chapter Twenty Six

Suzi stormed into the house, threw the car-keys onto the table by the front door, and made her way into the sitting room. She poured herself a generous measure of whiskey and then dropped down onto the sofa. Why were those men threatening Mark? And who was this Wilcox? She guessed that he must have lent Mark money and now wanted it back.

Anger now replaced fear as she thought about what had happened.
I wonder if it’s got anything to do with his gambling
.
It must be
, she thought.
After all
,
he’s already abused my trust by taking money from the restaurant account without telling me
. The other question that required an answer now seemed far more important. Had he jeopardized the restaurant by using it as collateral in some underhand way to borrow money?

Those men had hinted that something would happen to the place if Mark did not pay what he owed this Mr Wilcox. And anything to do with the restaurant included her, so she was being threatened too.

‘I should have put a stop to his gambling right from the start,’ she muttered, and then gave a bitter little laugh. She sounded like an irate wife. Just as well she hadn’t said yes to his marriage proposal—that wasn’t the sort of life she wanted.

In an effort to calm her mind, Suzi wandered over to the window and gazed at the blaze of spring colour that bordered the driveway. Aub had managed to coax the garden back to life in just a few short weeks by clearing away the debris and planting quick flowering annuals. It looked as pretty as a picture. The buzz of the telephone cut into her thoughts. It was Mark.

‘Suzi, I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to explain things this afternoon.’ He sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. ‘I need to talk to you about the situation. Can I come over to see you before I start evening preparations?’

‘Okay, but your explanation had better be good.’

Mark arrived half an hour later with an abject look on his face. He followed Suzi into the sitting room and waited to be told to sit down. Without any preamble, he explained that he had borrowed the money from Wilcox on the understanding that he would repay the capital plus interest within a stipulated time. Then he went on to say that his period of grace had expired.

‘He let me borrow more when I convinced him that I could repay the money…’ Mark stopped as Suzi injected.

‘So you continued to borrow in the hope that you would back another winner?’

‘Yes,’ Mark replied, with a sob in his voice. ‘But when I lost three races a row, it snowballed.’ He spread his hands in a gesture of hopelessness. ‘I can’t lay my hands on that sort of money at short notice.’

‘How much?’

‘Five and a half thousand pounds.’

Suzi stared at him in disbelief.

‘How did you allow yourself to get into such a predicament?’ She tried to hide her disgust as she questioned him about the arrangements he had made to repay the loan, and what percentage he was charged.

‘That’s exorbitant,’ she said, when he quoted the rate of interest. ‘Why on earth did you agree to that figure?’

‘There wasn’t any choice,’ Mark replied. ‘After all he held all the aces.’

‘When were you expected to pay what’s owing?’

Mark grimaced. ‘It’s already days overdue. Like I said, I’ve exhausted my goodwill,’ he groaned softly. ‘And now he’s demanding his money.’

‘And his thugs will smash up the restaurant if you don’t pay?

‘I don’t know, I…’ He lapsed into silence.

‘Well?’ Suzi’s question seemed to jolt Mark.

‘I don’t know.’ He grimaced again. ‘Yes, I suppose so. That’s how they work isn’t it? By intimidation.’

‘What about your father; can’t he help you?’

‘Dad hasn’t got that sort of money lying around.’ He went on to explain that Ben did not have access to any more than a few hundred pounds at the most. He might sell some shares to get the cash, but it could be weeks before he received a cheque from the brokers. ‘By that time the interest would have doubled.’

‘What about Gary? He started you on this stupid idea. Have you phoned him?’

‘I’ve left a message on his answer-phone, but I think he’s on the Italian Riviera.’

‘Then phone his mobile.’ Suzi almost spat the words.

‘He doesn’t take it with him.’

Suzi felt sick inside as she considered what might happen if the money was not repaid quickly. These men might start by smashing up the place, but then they might physically assault them too. So she was in as much danger as Mark unless he paid what was owed. Anyway it didn’t matter what happened now—it was the end of her dream—the end of the restaurant and everything they had worked for over the past two years.

Without saying another word, she crossed over to the bureau and pulled out her cheque book. It was fortunate that she had not made arrangements to channel the money from the sale of her house into any other account as yet, so there was more than enough to cover the debt. She signed a blank check, tore it out and handed it to him.

‘When you find out exactly what you owe you can write in the amount,’ she said, in a strained voice. ‘Phone the man, tell him you have the money, and get down to the bank first thing in the morning.’ She closed the cheque book ‘Don’t bother to thank me; I’m doing it for my own safety. I don’t want to be disfigured or crippled for life.’ She stood up. ‘Now get out.’

Mark climbed wearily to his feet and mumbled a reply. He stopped at the doorway. ‘Sorry, Suzi. Really I am.’

As he climbed into the car, she called out,

‘I’ve arranged for Narelle look after things tonight. I’ll expect you to phone me in the morning as soon as you’ve settled everything.’

After he had gone, Suzi stood gazing absentmindedly at the wheel tracks on the gravel drive, and her mind slipped back to the day she had chanced upon Steve Pardoe in the house. There had been tyre marks on the drive that day too. It had been a day to remember in so many ways—she had just learned that she was not the sole heir to Caxton Manor, and had unwittingly found the man she wanted more than anything else in the world.

The joy of moving into Caxton Manor had been tarnished by the knowledge that she would never own it outright, and that it would probably be sold to settle the inheritance. Everything seemed to have gone wrong lately. She should never have become romantically involved with Mark in the first place. He had assumed she was prepared to consider marriage at some future date, but thank goodness she had rebuffed his sexual advances. And to top it off, her best friend had migrated to New Zealand.

A tear formed and slipped down her cheek. She felt so forlorn—there was no one she could turn to, no one to share her pain, no one to offer a word of advice. If Judith Brinstead hadn’t moved to Cornwall things might be different, but of course it wouldn’t be wise to embroil her in the problems her brother had created. Neither Ben nor Jane would understand, and even if they did, their sympathies would lie with Mark; that was only natural. Her only true friend, and confidante, Charlize, was thousands of miles away in New Zealand.

‘I’ll give her a ring,’ Suzi said, crossing over to the phone. But as she picked up the instrument, she remembered the time difference and realised she would have to wait until evening.

When she finally got through to Charlize, all she could do was cry. It was some minutes before she was able to explain what had happened to upset her so much. There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone as she finished speaking.

‘I wish there was something I could do for you,’ Charlize said, ‘I really do. I feel so helpless, here on the other side of the world. I don’t even know what to suggest.’

They were still talking when the front doorbell rang.

‘There’s someone at the door,’ Suzi said. ‘I’ll phone you back as soon as I work something out.’

She opened the front door to find Narelle standing on the doorstep.

‘I’m sorry to bother you,’ the woman began, hesitantly. ‘but I need to talk to you. I was going to ring, but I felt it would be better to talk to you in person.’ She paused as Suzi’s brow creased with a puzzled look. ‘If it’s not convenient, then I’ll…’

‘No, it’s all right, Narelle, come in.’

The woman began by saying that it was probably none of her business, but she had become concerned about certain things, and felt she should say something. She told Suzi that everyone at the restaurant was conscious of an underlying current of discontent between her and Mark, and she had become quite disturbed about the situation. Apparently a number of their regular customers had commented about it too. Then she went on to list the number of complaints she had received that evening about the meals.

‘It was as if he didn’t care what he served up,’ she complained. ‘I seemed to spend half the night apologising.’ She tried to force a smile on her face. ‘And we’re all concerned about you, too.’

‘About me?’

‘Yes, you came back from your holiday full of life, and then a couple of weeks later it just seemed to drain away. We thought it had something to do with your friend going to New Zealand, but maybe it’s something deeper.’ Narelle twisted her hands nervously. ‘Like I said, it’s probably none of my business, but we’re very fond of you, and we don’t like to see you unhappy.’

Suzi bit her bottom lip as the other woman looked at her anxiously.

‘I appreciate your concern, Narelle, and I acknowledge that there is a problem, but I hope it’ll be resolved within the next day or two. I can’t explain things at this stage, but it’ll be sorted out one way or another.’ She clasped the woman’s hand. ‘Thank you for your consideration, I really do appreciate it.’

‘I haven’t told anyone I was coming to see you,’ Narelle said, climbing to her feet, ‘and I won’t say anything to the rest of the staff.’

After the woman had gone, Suzi poured herself a whiskey and sank down on to the sofa. As she climbed the stairs to bed, she thought about Charlize’s last words. ‘Why don’t you come down for a visit?’

‘That wouldn’t solve anything,’ she murmured. It would be unwise just to walk away from the problem. Anyway she couldn’t trust Mark to take care of things in her absence, and it wouldn’t look good if she left the house empty. No, she would have to stay and sort everything out before she could even consider her friend’s offer.

She woke half a dozen times during the night and on two occasions found she had been crying in her dreams. The morning light came as a blessed relief. Dragging herself out of bed, she showered, dressed, and hurriedly put on her makeup. Unable to eat because of the fear that gnawed away at her insides, she forced down a cup of coffee and then drove to the restaurant. The sense of foreboding increased as she opened the door. There was nothing amiss, although the burglar alarm had not been activated.

She checked the phone for messages, but there was none. Then she walked through to the kitchen and surveyed the room. Everything had been cleaned and put away as normal. Suzi ran her fingers over the workbench as she considered what to do.

‘I don’t know that I want to be involved with this place anymore,’ she murmured, ‘now that everything’s turned sour.’

The ringing telephone caught her attention. It was Mark.

‘I’m at the bank,’ he said, in strangled voice. ‘But there seems to be a problem.’

‘Don’t bother to try and explain things,’ Suzi said, angrily. ‘Just wait there for me.’

The bank clerk had queried the cheque because the amount had not been filled in when Mark presented it. He was not happy with Mark’s explanation that it had been agreed that he was to fill in the amount himself, and that he had omitted to do this in his hurry. The clerk had refused to carry out the transaction until he was certain that everything was in order.

It took the best part of a half-hour to sort everything out and transfer the money. Suzi was shaking with rage when she emerged from the bank.

‘Why didn’t you fill in the amount as soon as you knew what it was?’ she demanded. ‘If you ever put me through anything like that again, I’ll...’ She left the threat hanging in the air. As Mark attempted to say something, she cut him short. ‘I’ll see you back at the restaurant.’

When Mark arrived, he answered a telephone call, but while he was talking, he cast furtive glances in her direction and nodded his head. As he put the phone down, Suzi gestured to the phone.

‘Have you sorted it all out?’

Mark hesitated. ‘Yes, and no. Wilcox claims that I still owe him five hundred pounds.’

‘How much more is he going to demand?’ Suzi’s voice was almost a shriek. Unable to take any more, she turned on her heel and hurried out of the building.

She drove her down the road to her own bank, where, with trembling fingers, she made out a withdrawal slip for another five hundred pounds. Barely able to hold back her tears she headed back to the restaurant. As she turned the corner, Suzi saw two men climb out of a car and push open the door.