Читать книгу A Cottage in the Country: Escape to the cosiest little cottage in the country - Linn Halton B. - Страница 9

"Can I speak to Sarah Manning, please, it's urgent?"

"Who's calling?"

"Lewis Hart."

"Hold the line, I'm putting you through."

Clearly, Sarah isn't there. It switches straight to her answerphone and I'm in no mood to leave a message. I'm so angry, my hands are shaking. As if the long drive home wasn't bad enough, when I passed Ash Cottage there wasn't just a For Sale sign outside, but it was almost obliterated by a Sold banner. Now I know what they mean when they say a red mist can descend out of nowhere.

I slam down the phone, desperately trying to regain control of my anger. I can't remember the last time I lost it – the feeling isn't a welcome one and reminds me of my youth. I simply can't believe that Sarah has sold Ash Cottage to someone else.

I try to straighten out my thoughts. The last couple of weeks have been a nightmare; planning a funeral messes with your head and I thought I'd made it clear I had every intention of buying Ash Cottage once it was on the market. Heck, I rang Sarah and left a message!

It dawns on me that I haven't checked my own messages for a while and, sure enough, the flashing icon tells me that was a mistake. There are two messages and they are both from Sarah. I let out a sigh, unable to stop myself from shaking my head at my own stupidity.

"Hello, Lewis, I'm ringing to let you know that Ash Cottage is officially on the market. I have no idea if your situation has changed and whether you are still interested, given recent events. I was sorry to hear the news about your mother, such an awful time for you. I'll await your call."

Damn! That must have crossed with the message I left her. What did I say? My mind tries to replay the phone call, but there was so much going on at the time. Maybe I only asked her to call me back. I meant to give her permission to match the asking price once the bank pressed the ‘go’ button. I listen to the second message.

"Lewis, I'm returning your call as requested. I don't know what you were going to say to me … um … oh, I hope this isn't going to be bad news for you. Ash Cottage is sold. If it makes you feel any better, an offer was made on it before I received the message to ring you. When we finally received the instruction to market it, there wasn't anything I could do without confirmation that the sale price was acceptable to you. I'm honour-bound to forward every offer that is made in a timely fashion, once a property is officially up for sale. This purchaser happened to be in the right place at the right time. Let me know when you are back and I'm sorry if your plans haven't changed, but there was nothing I could do."

It’s not Sarah’s fault, it’s mine. I understand her situation. For me nothing has changed, but she wasn’t to know that. This is a bitter blow I’m going to find very hard to accept. In my head Ash Cottage was already mine and I can’t believe some stranger has stepped in to snatch it away from me.