Page 33 of Leafpoint Lighthouse

“Lyra!” someone shouted, and I glanced toward the road.

“Oh, no!” I whispered. “Not him.”

Keith Keating came closer, his boots letting him move faster than me. My feet were turning cold as they sank into the snow.

“I’ve an offer you can’t refuse!” he called with a huge smile.

“Leafpoint is not for sale. Please excuse me.”

I turned and began walking again, but Keith caught up with me.

“Seven hundred and fifty thousand,” he chortled. “Isn’t that a fine sum!”

“I’m not selling!” I snapped.

“My company wants this land.” Keith got in front of me.

“Your company knows what it is to want. Nothing you could offer would make me sell. Excuse me, but my feet are freezing!”

Keith blocked me from walking inside.

“Sign the paperwork,” he demanded.

“No! Leafpoint isn’t for sale!” I declared, exasperated.

“Everything and everyone has a price. Sell!” he ordered. “You live out here alone. Accidents can happen, and there’ll be nobody to help!”

“Was that a threat?” I gasped.

“Die!” William intoned as he flowed through the door. He became transparent, his lower body vanishing. I gaped as he angled towards Keith, who screamed and shoved me backwards. My arms windmilled, and I landed on my back. William chased Keith for a few beats, cackling as he did before returning to me.

Muttering under his breath, he materialised and scooped me up. “Silly shoes,” he muttered as I shivered in his embrace.

“It was only a few steps.”

“Until that dimwit stopped you.”

By the time we got inside, I was shivering violently. William had taken to murmuring to himself as he carried me upstairs.

“Undress and get into your warm nightclothes,” he ordered and disappeared.

I didn’t bother arguing and did as William said, climbing under the duvet. I was trembling uncontrollably and waited for the heat to soak into my bones. If not for Keith, I’d have been in the snow mere seconds, not several minutes, bickering with him.

William reappeared carrying a mug. “Hot chocolate. I think I made it correctly,” he remarked. I didn’t care. It was warm.

“That man. He was bothering you?”

“Mr Keating wants to buy the lighthouse and the land. One of those pushy idiots who just see pound signs. They fail to acknowledge the history or beauty of things. He thinks I’m poor and he can bully me,” I replied.

“Aren’t you?” William asked. “You don’t have the title.”

“No. But I got the property and the fortune. I am the heir, the oldest female. When Charles died with his sons, his daughter inherited everything but the title. She put the estate into a trust so men couldn’t take it from her.”

“Wise decision.”

“Since then, it goes to the eldest girl in each generation. That was me this time. But Sonia, who had it before me, had four boys. She cut them all off. I was her oldest granddaughter. But while I can live here, we’re not allowed to sell any of the Jasper assets. So, Keith can chase me from here to kingdom come, but I can’t sell even if I was inclined to,” I added, still shaking.

William fetched a blanket and wrapped it around me. He was frowning.