Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? (23 page)

It was these
two sets of documents that she handed to Richard Dickinson and then
sat back, trying to be calm and not fidget as he looked through the
papers.

Eventually he
looked up at Rebecca sitting patiently in her chair.

‘You’re
thinking of investing in both of these?’

Rebecca shook
her head. ‘I don’t think I should really invest in both, it’s a lot
of money, but both are - options at the moment.’

Richard paused,
looking thoughtful. ‘Well, strictly speaking you could afford both.
It would leave your capital quite low bearing in mind the costs
that both of these projects could incur with future investment. It
would also mean that you would have to be very careful about
spending any more of the actual capital.’

Rebecca
nodded.

‘But I agree
with you, it would be unwise in the extreme to actually go ahead
with both.’

He sighed,
stretching out his long legs. ‘What is it you want me to tell you
Rebecca?’

Rebecca
shrugged. ‘I know I’m not very knowledgeable about these things but
one is clearly a good opportunity to buy a recognised and
profitable business and the other is - well a project I suppose. No
real gain to be made, that sort of thing. Am I right?’

‘You are,’
agreed Richard. ‘White‘s Packaging Solutions is a profitable
business. It’s well established and has grown significantly over
the last few years. But the recent valuation was at the very top
end to begin with. It was a starting point for negotiation
downwards. Your husband - I take it this is his project?’

Rebecca
nodded.

‘Your husband
has just added 1 million to the asking price. It’s simply not worth
it Rebecca.’

Rebecca felt
the room spin a little. ‘Why?’

‘Because you
will be paying far over the odds for a business that has just
experienced a huge spike in its growth and is unlikely to see
another of that size for some years. There is no possibility of
improving your initial purchase without significant investment. In
layman’s terms Rebecca, you are unlikely to get your money
back.’

It wasn’t the
news Rebecca had expected to hear. She sat in silence.

‘Parklands on
the other hand. Now that’s a different story. The business has been
starved of funds while its natural assets, the building and grounds
have been underutilised. There are 6 rooms on the upper floor which
have never been renovated, space for 6 extra guests. The reception
rooms are large, very large which means space available for
expansion out of just residential care; courses for example, day
visits offered via the many organisations in the county that look
after the elderly. Parklands have never looked at temporary care,
holiday stays for those whose carers need to take a break.
Investment is needed but the whole business is ripe for growth and
in the right hands is an ideal investment.’

Rebecca stared
at him. ‘You mean Parklands is a good investment and White's -
isn’t?’

Richard
laughed. ‘I suppose that’s exactly what I mean Rebecca. Of the two
investments I would definitely advise Parklands.’

When Rebecca
returned home Daniel was in quite a sunny mood. The level of
determination he was showing to buy White’s was quite stunning and
Rebecca couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if they came
back and said no to his latest figure.

‘Where have you
been?’ he demanded nursing a whisky as he looked past her into the
torrential rain.

‘Oh, I just had
a few bits and pieces to sort out.’

Daniel grunted.
He was not at all happy with this new relationship where Rebecca
had things to do that she didn’t feel the need to share with him.
It had been the other way round for so long.

‘By the way,
Helen and Emma are coming round for lunch.’

His face
darkened. ‘What! What on earth for?’

‘Because
they’re my friends and because they would like to see my - our new
house and because I invited them,’ answered Rebecca calmly.

‘For God’s
sake! Phone them up and cancel. We’ll go out for lunch instead.
Save you cooking.’

Rebecca watched
him stomp off in the direction of the snug and the whisky bottle.
Was it her imagination or did Daniel seem quite determined to keep
her away from her two old friends.

Putting her
dripping brolly in the stand and hanging up her coat, Rebecca
wandered into the kitchen, turned on the oven and started to unload
bits and pieces from the fridge.

‘Have you
phoned them?’

Daniel was
standing in the doorway.

‘No I haven’t
Daniel. I don’t want to cancel, as I said they’re my friends and I
want them to visit.’

‘So you’d
rather see your friends than go out to lunch with me!’

Rebecca stared
at him for a moment and he had the grace to drop his gaze before
adding huffily, ‘Well I hope you don’t expect me to make myself
scarce, not in this weather. I’m staying for lunch as well, this is
my house too don’t forget.’

Rebecca chose
not to point out that it was in fact none of the kind. The house
was well and truly hers but she kept her mouth closed and carried
on preparing lunch, taking out three wine glasses just as the
doorbell rang.

She was too
late to answer it. Daniel was there, welcoming them as though it
had been his idea all along. He had been upstairs and changed his
shirt which he wore with a cravat that Rebecca had never seen
before and stared at in disbelief.

‘Helen! Emma!
How good to see you both after so long. Come in come in!’ and he
took their brollies and wet coats and waved them in the direction
of the kitchen.

‘Bet you
couldn’t wait to have a peep at our new home eh?’

Rebecca glared
at him and stepped forward to kiss her friends.

‘Bloody Hell
Bec - it’s gorgeous!’

‘It’s a palace
- and I thought my house was nice!’

Rebecca
grinned. She couldn’t lie or pretend. She loved her new house.

She let them
admire the hall, ignoring Daniel’s attempts to get them into the
kitchen. She showed them the snug and the study, the living room,
the formal dining room, the vast conservatory and then led them
towards the room she loved the most, the huge kitchen with its
large dining table inviting you to sit down, the raspberry settees
positioned in front of the French doors giving a view of a rain
soaked but enormous garden and the little garden room next door
that invited you to curl up beside the fire.

Helen’s mouth
hung open and even Emma who was far more accustomed to enjoying the
finer things in life looked shell shocked.

‘Okay ladies, a
little wine before we eat?’ Rebecca glared at Daniel who ignored
her, seemingly determined to play the jovial host. ‘Rebecca pour
your friends some wine. Sit down ladies, sit and admire. Come on
Bec, get the wine poured.’

Once the
glasses were full Daniel insisted that they raise them in a toast
to their good fortune, their wonderful house, the Mercedes that
would shortly be arriving on the drive. He poured scorn on
Rebecca’s little car and her lack of knowledge, told them that he
had decided to buy White's because ‘they needed someone to take the
helm after losing their way’ and generally monopolised the
conversation while Rebecca silently took the quiche out of the
oven, took the salad out of the fridge, cut the ciabatta into
slices, laid out olives and relishes and a plate of new potatoes
drenched in butter and drank her wine down in one go as she darted
increasingly irate glances at the back of her husband’s neck.

‘So,’
interrupted Helen desperately as Daniel paused for breath and
Rebecca finally sat down. ‘What’s it like Becs? Winning all that
money, what on earth does it feel like?’

‘Oh you know
Rebecca,’ launched Daniel, ‘she hasn’t a clue about business and
how to control money and the like. She’s made some really bad
decisions so far.’

He looked
smugly around the table. ‘You need a business head when you’ve got
lots of money. I think we’ve decided that I’ll be making the
decisions from now on.’

The lunch was
much shorter than it would otherwise have been. Having eaten,
Rebecca took her friends into the toasty warm conservatory where
they curled up with a cup of coffee and watched the rain lash
against the windows. She suggested that Daniel may have work to do
but he shook his head violently and said that’s what he paid others
to do now and he insisted on joining them talking nonstop about his
plans for White’s, his general importance in the business and
Rebecca’s lack of knowledge about anything remotely resembling
business.

In the end,
taking pity on her friends anguished faces, Rebecca said that she
supposed they had to get back to pick up the children and both
Helen and Emma shot out of their seats with a grateful look in her
direction and said indeed they had and how lovely it had been
before they fled out into the rain.

Rebecca watched
them drive away, holding the door open despite the rain hitting her
in the face.

‘Close the door
Bec!’ Daniel shouted at her as he walked past. ‘I’ve got some work
to do, I’ll be in the study,’ and minutes later Rebecca could hear
the sound of his snores through the firmly shut door.

She spent the
rest of the afternoon on one of her raspberry chairs staring
outside.

She needed to
tell Daniel that White’s, even at the original price was a bad
idea, that the new price was suicide.

She needed to
tell him about Parklands, that not only had she decided that she
wanted to buy the business but that it was a good investment.

She needed him
to understand that she was not changing her car, that she was not
leaving Leeds, that she would be giving her friends a donation from
her winnings and that she had organised trust funds for the
children.

There was so
much she needed to tell him but instead she sat there watching the
rain fall, her cheeks wet with tears.

Daniel was
whistling again. He had done a lot of whistling lately and it was
beginning to grate on Rebecca’s already shredded nerves. She was
used to starting her days with peace and tranquillity around her,
not whistling. She glared at the back of his head and poured
herself a coffee.

‘You do realise
that we’ll have to go back to Darlington don’t you.’

It was said so
casually, so friendly that for a moment Rebecca didn’t really take
in its full meaning.

‘Do you still
need some clothes?’ she asked sitting at the table.

‘No I mean when
White's is mine. We’ll need to go back, we need to live in
Darlington.’

Rebecca almost
dropped her cup.

‘I mean I
really don’t know why you bought this house Bec. You must have had
a funny turn after getting all that money but we need to be in
Darlington, close to White's.’

He opened the
paper as though the conversation was already over.

‘No,’ whispered
Rebecca sliding her cup onto the table so it didn’t fall from her
shaking fingers. ‘No.’

‘Please let’s
not go down the ‘I want to live back in Leeds’ rubbish for God’s
sake. Get over yourself Bec, we moved to Darlington and that’s
where we live now. Did you think you could just make a decision to
move with no discussion?’

‘You did,’
answered Rebecca quietly.

Daniel closed
his paper throwing it onto the table. ‘Oh don’t start! We moved to
Darlington because we had to. I had to keep my job so you could
keep a roof over your head. I had to move to Darlington so that you
could carry on living the good life. I had to work my fingers to
the bone so that the children had clothes on their back. It’s not
quite the same as you winning millions and deciding to move to a
different town without telling me!’

His face had
its unattractive purple flush and he had jumped to his feet to
stride around the kitchen in agitation.

‘But that’s the
whole point Daniel, I have won millions and we can live wherever we
want and you don’t have to work your fingers to the bone and we
don’t have to live in Darlington.’

Rebecca’s voice
was rising and as she finished she was almost shouting as she stood
to face Daniel’s angry eyes.

‘Rubbish!’
shouted Daniel. ‘I’m about to buy a company in Darlington. Of
course I need to live there. Are you totally stupid?’

‘Don’t buy it,’
the words were out before Rebecca really had time to think about
them but it was too late to take them back.

‘Don’t buy
White's Daniel. It’s too much of a financial strain and…’

‘A financial
strain! You’ve just won 15.7 million. Of course it’s not a
financial strain.’

He leaned in
closely, a nasty twist to his mouth. ‘Or is it just that you can’t
bear me to spend any of this money Bec. Is that it?’

‘No! No of
course not, it’s just that…’

‘Oh don’t start
giving me your half-baked explanations about waiting a while and
planning and the other crap your bank manager is feeding you.’

‘It’s not half
baked, you’re not looking at the bigger picture Daniel.’

He threw back
his head and gave a great shout of laughter although it held little
amusement.

‘The bigger
picture? Don’t make me laugh! What do you know about finance and
planning?’

Rebecca sat
back down suddenly exhausted.

‘I know enough
to understand that buying White's at this inflated price is a bad
decision Daniel.’

‘You know
nothing! You know nothing about White’s, you know nothing about
business, you know nothing…’

‘Which is why I
took advice.’

He stopped his
pacing.

‘Advice? From
who…oh don’t tell me, the little bank manager? Tell me Bec, what
exactly is going on between you and the bank manager. Is he hoping
for a little finance of his own?’

His tone was
hard, nasty and Rebecca shook her head wearily.