“You’re spending more than you’re bringing in. I wanted to give you a heads-up because I don’t know who is managing your finances over there, but I think you need to take a look at the books. Normally I wouldn’t say anything, but since we’re friends, I thought I should give you a call and see if everything’s okay. You’re one of my favourite clients, and since our lunch last week, it’s been eating away at me. You didn’t mention anything going wrong, other than Phil’s resignation, even though I questioned you about it. So, I couldn’t help wondering if you were out of the loop.”

  Her head was spinning. She’d have to contact the accountant, Betty. Why hadn’t anyone alerted her to this? She knew they hadn’t operated in the black in recent months, but she hadn’t realised it was so bad. “Thanks for the call. You’re right, I wasn’t aware things had become so dire. We’ll see what we can find here.”

  “Look… I’m sorry about this, Debbie. I should’ve said something before now.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s our responsibility to manage our finances, not yours,” Debbie said.

  “Still, I’m sorry about this, Debbie. I hope you can get to the bottom of it.”

  “Thanks again,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’ll let you know what we discover.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure out a way forward,” he encouraged her.

  “Of course we will,” she said, although she didn’t feel nearly so certain as she sounded.

  Debbie set the stack of papers down on her desk with a sigh. Going over the monthly financial reports was something she’d always dreaded doing. It was the kind of paperwork she generally preferred to delegate to someone else, and for the past year, she’d delegated much of it to Phil. Now Phil was gone, it was back on her desk, and she’d been going over it carefully for the past hour. However, she couldn’t make much sense of it.

  She called her accountant and put her on speakerphone.

  “Hi, Betty,” she said. “It’s Debbie Holmes. How are you?”

  “Good to speak with you, Debbie. I’m glad you called. I had you on my list to phone today. We need to talk about your monthly reports.”

  “Yes, I think we do. I can’t make it out. It’s too confusing.”

  “Well, it shows that you’ve been making a consistent loss for the past six months.”

  “I know we’ve had a few down months, but six? How is that possible? Business is good. We’ve got plenty of clients—billable hours, too. I don’t understand.”

  Betty hesitated. “I spoke to Phil about this multiple times. He didn’t mention it to you?”

  Debbie pressed her hands to her forehead. “No, he said it would all be fine, that it was a normal fluctuation.”

  “You didn’t look at the reports?”

  Sweat broke out across her forehead. “No, I trusted him to do that. He and I had meetings, and he told me we were on target to grow by ten percent this year.”

  “That much is true,” Betty said. “You’re growing—as you say, your billable hours are up, as are your staff numbers. But your expenses were way up as well. You need to reduce your spending. As things stand, the partners won’t have any profit to share at year end.”

  Debbie shook her head. “Where are these expenses coming from?”

  “Clients, it looks like. Some of your largest clients seem to be costing you a lot to litigate. You should take a look at the line items, figure out where you’re haemorrhaging money, and make some changes, or your business won’t be operational within six to twelve months unless you can find a way to inject some cash into the bottom line.”

  After she hung up with Betty, Debbie stared at the printed reports for another ten minutes, her eyes flitting over each line item listed. These expenses didn’t make any sense, but every one of the clients who had high charges against their accounts were managed by Phil. They’d gone with him to the new legal firm as well. As former clients, they wouldn’t be very open to talking to her about their accounts. She’d already called them each to try to get them to come back to her firm, and most had stopped taking her calls.

  She dialled the first company, but as expected, her contact didn’t answer. She groaned as she hung up the phone. This was a nightmare. Why were the costs so high on those accounts? What had Phil been up to? It was all starting to make sense—his sudden and rapid departure, the missing money, the clients leaving en masse. There was something very underhanded that’d been going on beneath her nose for months, and she’d been too distracted and comfortable to notice.

  She’d trusted him.

  Her head spinning, she dialled the number for the local police. It took a long time, but finally she made it through the switchboard to a detective.

  “I’m not sure what you want us to do,” he said after she’d finished relaying to him what she’d discovered.

  “Can’t you investigate Phil for fraud?”

  He sighed. “There’s not enough to go on. You say there are additional expenses against the accounts, but you don’t have any proof of wrongdoing.”

  She scrubbed a hand over her face in frustration. This was going nowhere fast. “Yes, but I have a feeling…”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t investigate feelings. If you find some hard evidence or get a confession from your employee or a client, give me a call. Okay?”

  Once again, she hung up the phone, this time with a sense of deep frustration. It seemed impossible that the police weren’t interested in investigating the fraud that she suspected had happened within her company. But it was true that she couldn’t prove it. She wasn’t even certain it had occurred. She’d have to look into it more deeply to see if she could discover anything concrete.

  “Evelyne!” she called out through the open door of her office.

  Her assistant hurried inside. “Yes?”

  “Can you please take a look through these reports?” She handed the stack of papers over to Evelyne.

  “Sure. What am I looking for?”

  “Wherever you see a number that looks high in the expenses column, I want you to look it up and find the individual transactions. I’m looking for patterns. I want to know where this money is going. Thank you so much. This will really help me out—I’m struggling with all this extra client work and everything else that’s going on around here.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  After Evelyne left with the reports, Debbie leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief. Evelyne was very good at her job. She’d comb through the company finances, and if there was anything to find, she would find it.

  There was a knock at the door, and Wendy walked in with a piece of paper in her hand. “Do you have a moment?”

  “Sure, come on in.”

  Wendy sat in the chair in front of Debbie’s desk. Her red curls were pretty around her face. Her brown eyes sparkled, and she smiled, displaying a dimple in her left cheek. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you, but it’s hard to get a hold of you lately.”

  Debbie threw her hands in the air with a laugh. “Sorry! It’s been crazy. But I’m here now. So, how can I help you?” She leaned forward to listen.

  Wendy placed the piece of paper on the desk in front of Debbie. “This is my letter of resignation.”

  “What?” Debbie’s stomach tightened into a knot. “You can’t leave…”

  “I’ve been offered a place elsewhere. And with Phil leaving, I can see the writing on the wall, Debbie. We all can. I know it’s time for me to move on. And I’m sorry that I’m leaving you like this—I know it puts you in a difficult position. But I have to think about my career and my family. I’ve got three children, and I need to put food on the table. I’m sure you can understand.”

  Debbie nodded tightly. “I understand, of course.”

  “Again, I’m sorry. I’ve communicated my intentions to my clients. I’ll let the rest of the partners know by the end of the day.”

  After Wendy had left Debbie’s office, she felt as though she’d been run over. How many things could go wrong in such a short stretch of time? She knew what this meant. The partners had been talking about Phil’s departure. They would all leave as soon as they’d found somewhere to go, and the company would be split into pieces. The firm was called Holmes, Parkes & Ogden. Phil Parkes had left. Wendy Ogden had handed in her resignation. The only named partner left was Debbie, and she was close to retirement. It was the end of her firm.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Two months later, it was February, and the divorce papers were still unsigned. Her lawyer had spoken to Duncan’s lawyer, who’d miraculously found an entirely different bank account and several real estate investments that weren’t included in the original filing. It was time to finalise the divorce. Before long, there would be nothing tying the two of them together other than their shared children and grandchildren.

  Christmas had been interesting. She’d had to face Duncan at Brandon’s house as they ate a meal together and opened gifts with the kids. But they’d managed to work their way through the day without an argument. His girlfriend had attended with him and had gone out of her way to be polite. Gwen supposed she couldn’t ask for more than that at this stage in their relationship.

  She sat in her car, looking out over the old bed and breakfast. At least she had this one thing to look forward to. The purchase would be processed as soon as the divorce was finalised. The property would be hers. And this morning, she was meeting with a series of contractors to talk to them about the possibility of doing the work she needed them to do. She’d already hired an architect who’d drafted a design that she loved, and she was excited about the next step.

  The first contractor arrived in a large, shiny truck. He pulled up onto the curb and leapt out of the truck, waving at her. She stepped out of her vehicle and walked him through the building. Then she laid out the draft of the plan on her car bonnet to show him.

  He mentioned that they would need to consider a new sewage system, since the old one used on the block was septic, and now there was a town system available. And she might as well redo the entire plumbing for the old building, if she was going to do that. And that would add a substantial amount to the overall costs of the project.

  She swallowed that down with a smile and shook his hand to say goodbye. He promised to shoot through an email with a quote later that week.

  The next contractor arrived and had much the same reaction. He was excited about her project but pointed out several weaknesses in the structure, as well as the sewage system. He also said she should replace the electrical wiring, since it was old and wouldn’t pass inspection. More expense. Her stomach was beginning to churn. Thankfully, she had more than enough in her account to cover the additional items, but it still made her anxious. And she was frustrated that the inspector she’d hired hadn’t included the issues in his property report.

  After the third contractor left, she felt as though she might be going to have a panic attack. She lay down across the back seat of her car and tried breathing slowly and deeply as she stared at the carpeted ceiling. This was too much. What was she thinking, taking on a project of this size? No! She couldn’t do it. It was overwhelming. She was a housewife, a mother. What did she know about running an inn or managing a restaurant?

  She’d taken on projects before. Maybe not this size, but she’d been overwhelmed more than once in her life. Taking care of four children had been a challenge. And she’d handled that. It hadn’t always gone well, but she’d managed to raise four independent, healthy adults who were confidently managing families of their own. She wasn’t going to be intimidated by this undertaking. One step at a time. That’s all it took.

  With a smile to herself, she sat up and saw Debbie and Joanna standing on the front stoop, looking around.

  “Hello!” she called, waving at them.

  They marched down to greet her with hugs.

  “How did it go?” Joanna asked.

  “It was great,” Gwen replied. “But there’s a lot more work to do than I realised.”

  “That’s to be expected,” Debbie said. “There’s always more work than you think when it comes to old buildings.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Gwen said. “I was having a little panic attack in the back of my car, but I’m feeling a bit better now. I’m glad the two of you are here.”

  “Don’t panic,” Joanna said. “You’re the strongest person I know. You can do this.” She squeezed Gwen’s hand.

  Gwen’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you. You’re such a great cheer squad.”

  Debbie embraced her. “We’re proud of you. Aren’t we, Jo?”

  “Absolutely. And I’m going to be your first guest.” Joanna smiled.

  “I’ll bring Caleb, too,” Debbie replied. “We’re always up for a romantic getaway.”

  They always knew what to say to help Gwen feel better. She sniffled and looked up at the gorgeous building in front of them. It was majestic, with its old-world charm. She tried to picture how it would be after the work was done. It was going to be amazing. She only hoped she could pull it off without having a complete breakdown.

  She grinned. “Thanks, ladies. You’re the best.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Emily peeked out from behind the couch. There was no one around, so she tiptoed across the small lounge room and sneaked into the hall closet. As she shut the door behind her, it squeaked loudly, and she grimaced. There were slats on the door, so she was able to see out. Down the hallway, a three-year-old boy crept along the carpet, eyes darting back and forth and a huge grin on his face. Mason was looking for her.

  They’d been playing hide-and-seek for fifteen minutes, and Emily was certain he would never want to stop. Mia was hiding under Mason’s bed, but since she’d hidden in the same place the last two times, it wouldn’t be long before her brother discovered her. She’d squeal and laugh and stamp her feet up and down, just as she had each time. Mason found it frustrating that she didn’t look for somewhere new to hide.

  It was her last week staying with Wanda and the kids. Next week, she would be back on campus getting ready for the new semester to start, and she was looking forward to it. She’d gotten some work in Sunshine over the summer at a vacation childcare centre. But between looking after fifty preschoolers all day and then coming home to Mason and Mia at night, she’d had more than her fill of playtimes and toy-strewn floors. As much as she loved children, and she really did, she was ready to get back to her dorm room and Madi’s partying just so she could finally have some rest.

  Over the summer, she’d done everything she could to help her sister out. She’d played with the kids and taken them out whenever she had the time. She’d done dishes, laundry and housework. And she’d babysat so Wanda could go on a few dates. The dates hadn’t gone anywhere, but her sister swore that she felt alive for the first time in years, especially after having gone through chemotherapy the previous year. She had a new lease on life, and she was ready to get out and about on the town. Emily was glad she could help her sister to do that, and she was beyond grateful that Wanda was in remission. She hated to think how Mason or Mia would cope with losing their mother. Emily wasn’t ready to deal with losing Wanda herself—how could she help her niece and nephew face it? Thankfully, she didn’t have to. Wanda was well again.

  Christmas with the kids had been everything she’d hoped it would be. They were excited about every aspect of the holiday, and it had brought Emily and Aaron so much joy. The two of them had gone with Wanda and the kids to the Carols by Candlelight on Sunshine Beach. They’d driven the kids around to look at Christmas lights. They’d had several BBQs while watching the sun set over the ocean. And they’d helped decorate the tree, buy and wrap the gifts, and had watched with delight as the children emerged on Christmas morning with bleary eyes to see what Santa had left them.

  Emily couldn’t wait to celebrate the holidays with her own children, but she knew that could be many years away. She and Aaron had only recently begun dating, and as much as she cared about him, she didn’t know for certain where they were headed. Would he want to marry her? She couldn’t say. It was too soon, and they hadn’t spoken of it yet. But she knew she would never find someone she loved more than him. He was the one for her. Hopefully he would see that too—someday.

  Squeals emerged from Mason’s bedroom. He’d found his sister. She could hear him complaining that she should find a new place to hide next time, as she made it too easy. Emily smiled to herself, covering her mouth with one hand to keep from giggling out loud.

  “Come on, Mia. Help me find Aunty Emily,” Mason said.

  He emerged from the bedroom, and Emily watched as he searched the laundry room, the kitchen, and then the lounge room. Mia trundled after him, asking questions and generally getting in the way. Finally, he reached the hall closet and tugged the door open.

  Emily shouted, “Boo!”

  Mason startled, his eyes wide. Then he grinned. Mia burst into tears.

  Emily quickly scooped up her niece and kissed her cheeks, laughing. “Oh, dear. It’s okay. I’m sorry I scared you.”

  Mason jumped up and down. “I found you. I found you.”

  “You sure did. You’re good at finding.”

  She made each of them an ice cream. Mia sat in her high chair, smiling, ice cream dripping down her chin even as tears still glistened on her cheeks. Wanda was out shopping. She was taking the opportunity to get every last errand done before Emily left for university again. She didn’t want Emily to leave and had tried to convince her to stay and commute, but Emily needed to have the space to study. She was already finding nursing school far more difficult than she’d anticipated, and she knew the subjects would only get more challenging as she progressed through the course.

  The doorbell rang. Emily checked that the kids were fine and hurried to answer it. It was Aaron. He leaned against the doorframe with a grin on his handsome face.

 

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