Chapter 6

Selena looked round the noisy room in despair and blocked out the angry flood of accusations being hurled at her father, who had been stripped of all his natural buoyancy by the events of recent days.

The drawing room of the Old Mansion was large and elegant. But the flower arrangement on the table, which Selena had taken such special pains with, was now withering and dropping petals. It was three days since the world in which she lived had shattered into broken pieces and, along with it, some of her most heartfelt convictions.

Joshua Lynch had been charged with fraud, false accounting and forgery and informed that other offences might yet be added to that terrifying tally. At first, everybody had been up in arms in defence of the older man. Not just his family, but his friends and neighbours as well for he was a popular figure. The fact that his employer and work colleagues stayed silent and kept their distance had been loudly condemned. But then, possibly people were worried about the security of their jobs. After all it was barely a week since Vento Leather had been bought by Herman, the vast corporate business empire run by Alejandro Perez. Possibly because of that, more cosmopolitan and powerful connection, the case had attracted a great deal of unpleasant publicity. Perhaps the biggest shock of all had occurred when Joshua Lynch, confronted with overwhelming evidence of his crimes, had chosen to confess his guilt. Selena had been truly devastated. That the father she adored and admired should have stooped so low as to steal money had appalled her, but she had been proud that he had ultimately had the courage to admit what he had done and accept the blame. When he had finally been allowed home on bail, he had taken Selena into his study for a private chat. There he had confided how the extravagant lifestyle he had been leading had led to steadily mounting debts that he could no longer handle. ‘I just borrowed a little one month from the Vento accounts to tide me over,’ her father explained heavily. ‘Naturally I intended to pay it back. Unfortunately Charlotte sprang her big fancy wedding on us without warning and that cost a fortune. Her mother spent another fortune comforting her when her marriage failed. Last year Karen needed the capital to set up her driving school business. As you know that was another disaster and I lost a lot on that venture. But I do realise that that’s no excuse for stealing.

You mustn’t think I’m blaming anyone either—’ ‘I don’t...I don’t.’ Selena throat was thick with tears as she gave the older man a comforting hug. She was well aware that nothing less than the very best was ever acceptable to her stepmother and her two stepsisters and that they expected her father to provide for their every need and want.

‘You see, I’ve never been very good at saying no to the people I love. I’m afraid that we’ve been living above our means for a long time in this house but I found it impossible to deny Elise anything. I love her so much, Selena. I don’t know what I’ll do if she decides to divorce me over this.’

After that illuminating conversation, Selena was now finding it very difficult indeed to stand by listening while the rest of her father’s family made him the target of their bitter accusations . He was a solicitor, whose main source of income had been earned by his employment at Vento Leather. A few hours a week, he worked for a handful of private clients, most of whom were elderly and whom he had inherited from his late father’s now collapsed legal practice.

‘They’ve frozen your bank accounts. My allowance hasn’t been paid. How am I supposed to pay my credit card bill?’ her elder stepsister, Charlotte, was demanding, her pretty face contorted with fury.

Selena wondered what would happen if she dared to suggest that perhaps it was time that the pampered princess looked for a regular job. Both her stepmother’s daughters still lived at home. Charlotte was twenty seven, a part-time model who treated her career like a hobby and expected her stepfather to fund the luxuries she enjoyed. Her sibling, Karen, was two years younger and had never held down a job for longer than six weeks.

‘What about the repayments on my sports car?’ Karen was demanding. ‘Where am I going to get the money to keep them up?’

Elise Lynch gave her silent husband a bitter look of tearful condemnation. ‘Until now, I never appreciated how lucky I was that my first husband was such an excellent provider.’ She lamented bitterly

Selena winced at the statement that she felt was unnecessarily cruel and wondered fearfully if her stepmother would stand by her disgraced husband, now that the gravy train had ground to a halt.

‘Yes, he was and I’m certainly not living up to that challenge.’ Slumped in his armchair in the corner, Joshua Lynch was sunk so deep in depression that he was a soft target for all such attacks.

‘If only you hadn’t admitted that you took the money! With a good lawyer, we could have fought the charges!’ Charlotte told him furiously.

‘We might have had a chance if Vento had still been under Miller’s ownership. But not now...Herman is huge and Alejandro Perez is a hard-hitter. In an organisation of that size, the rules are rigid and the resources unlimited. They’d pursue you to the edge of the grave for a penny, never mind what I’ve creamed off the accounts over the years,’ the older man framed bleakly. ‘I’m ruined.’

‘What matters is that you owned up to what you had done. I’m sure that that was a relief to everyone concerned and that you feel a little better now,’ Selena commented hastily.

‘Honesty is the best policy? Did you get taught that in Sunday School?’ Her stepmother sobbed with scorn. ‘You definitely didn’t pick it up at your mother’s knee. After all, she was your father’s secret bit on the side for years!’ Elise attacked Selena.

Selena reddened with the old sense of shame that she had never managed to shake off. It was true: her mother’s long-running affair with Joshua Lynch had been furtive and built on lies and pretences. Even so, while she had often been treated to such sneering reminders as a child, few had come her way since she had attained adult independence. ‘Look, I came over to—’ ‘Stick your nose in where it’s not wanted?’ Karen snapped.

‘So that we could all try to work out how best to deal with this situation,’ Selena countered doggedly. ‘If we can pay back the money that’s been taken, Dad might still be able to escape prosecution. Obviously the Candy Manor and the nursery could be sold. Then there’s the apartment in London—’

The very suggestion that the city apartment, much used by Elise and her daughters, should be put on the market roused Selena’s step relatives to a bitter harsh counter attack. But Joshua Lynch studied his only child with the first glimmer of hope he had displayed since his arrest. ‘Do you think an offer like that could make a difference?’

Selena gave a vigorous nod.

‘But if Manor is sold you’ll lose your job, the business you’ve built up and the roof over your head. Would you really do that for me?’ he prompted wonderingly.

‘Of course.’ Selena cleared her throat awkwardly. ‘Then there’s this place...’

Elise emerged from her handkerchief like a ferret scenting a rabbit. ‘This house is in my name and I’m not selling it or raising a loan on it!’

Selena had not been aware of that reality and she flushed and muttered a hasty apology.

‘You’ve got some nerve!’ Charlotte told Selena.

The phone rang. The police wanted her father to answer some further queries. Before Selena’s anxious gaze the older man turned a sickly grey shade. It hurt her to witness his obvious fear at the prospect of yet another visit to the police station.

With an air of resolution, Selena stood up. ‘I’m going to go to Vento Leather and ask to speak to whoever has the power to make a decision on your behalf.’

‘You’ll be wasting your time,’ Joshua mumbled. ‘I’m dead in the water, dead no matter what you do.’